The Next President of the United States

[MintTrav]

The Director of National Intelligence is a Cabinet-level position which leads a group of 17 intelligence agencies, including the CIA, FBI, Homeland Security, Drug Enforcement, the intelligence branches of each of the defence forces, and several other agencies. The role is being covered by an interim, pending appointment of a permanent Director. Trump tried to appoint Congressman John Ratcliffe (one of the most conservative Representatives and one of Trump's biggest supporters) last year, but he met with a lot of opposition due to Ratcliffe's lack of relevant experience, and the nominee ended up withdrawing.

Now the President has come up with a new nomination - John Ratcliffe. Ratcliffe attended confirmation hearings this week and didn't impress. This is him trying to answer Kamala Harris. If he gets this nervous, it's hard to see how he is capable of doing the job. However, it looks like his appointment will be confirmed.

[MintTrav]

Kapow! Kayleigh turns the tables on the press with a prepared reply to sign off todays presser.

She did get it wrong on Fox, but she is a true Trump representative, going on the attack instead of trying to explain.

[MintTrav]

The Justice Department is dropping the charges against General Michael Flynn. The President says he is an innocent man, and should never have been charged, and the investigation of him was treason. It's not quite that simple. For one thing, Flynn pleaded guilty.

Flynn had calls with the Russian Ambassador during the transition period, which the FBI knew about as they were tapping him. They interviewed him and he denied it. It's a bit more nuanced, but that's the core. When they showed what they had, he agreed to a deal, and pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. It has rumbled on slowly ever since, with sentencing repeatedly deferred. Now the Justice Department says that he did lie, but the investigation wasn't justified, so it doesn't matter that he lied.

The lead prosecutor filed his resignation from the case with the Court shortly before the announcement, indicating his disagreement with the action. The Department is under different leadership since Trump appointed Bill Barr as Attorney General. Barr had already brought external lawyers into the case and the withdrawal papers were not signed by any career staff member of the DOJ. Barr says "It's on the question of materiality that we feel really that a crime cannot be established here because there was not, in our view, a legitimate investigation going on."

Democrats are outraged. Adam Schiff said that Flynn was not exonerated, "but it does incriminate Bill Barr in the worst politicisation of the Justice Department in its history."

It's unlikely, but still possible that the Judge might refuse the application to withdraw the charges. The last time they were in Court, he was very harsh on Flynn and said he thought he should have been charged with a more serious crime. It's all a big comedown for the General, who was one of the people vetted to be Trump's Vice President.

Click to see full-size image.

[Marky147]

Ratcliffe another puppet, then.

Can't stand McEnany from what I've seen of her in interviews and on TV, but hard not to be impressed with how she handles the press. Is that because Sanders and Spicer were so bad?

So Flynn writes a couple books and that covers any lost earnings?

[TightEnd]

Mike Pence caught on hot mic delivering empty boxes of PPE for a PR stunt.

https://twitter.com/mattmfm/status/1258750892448387074?s=19

For fucks sake.

[bookiebasher]

Has the DOJ ever dropped a case before when a person has pleaded guilty ?

As Trump repeatedly says , you have never seen nothing like it before , an incredible job .

[bookiebasher]

Mike Pence caught on hot mic delivering empty boxes of PPE for a PR stunt.

https://twitter.com/mattmfm/status/1258750892448387074?s=19

For fucks sake.

Trump and Pence , the deadly duo of Chucklebrothers.

Never seen anything like it.

[MintTrav]

Ratcliffe another puppet, then.

Can't stand McEnany from what I've seen of her in interviews and on TV, but hard not to be impressed with how she handles the press. Is that because Sanders and Spicer were so bad?

So Flynn writes a couple books and that covers any lost earnings?

He has genuinely suffered. You don't get mega-rich from being a General and he had to sell his house to cover his legal fees. There were mutterings about Trump bailing him out, but it didn't happen, I think mainly because of how it would look. There is already talk about him suing the Feds, but that's very difficult to win - the police are allowed to get things wrong, so he would have to prove they wilfully acted unlawfully. A couple of books would be the best option. A few are suggesting that Donald will bring him back into the White House, as much to rub their noses in it as anything, but he's gotta have less to offer at this stage through being out of the loop for so long.

I didn't think Sanders and Spicer were that bad. They were pugnacious and got the message across, though they undermined themselves from time to time. Spicer got dealt a bad hand, with Trump telling him he had to say stuff that was ridiculous if he wanted to keep his job.

[Marky147]

Ratcliffe another puppet, then.

Can't stand McEnany from what I've seen of her in interviews and on TV, but hard not to be impressed with how she handles the press. Is that because Sanders and Spicer were so bad?

So Flynn writes a couple books and that covers any lost earnings?

He has genuinely suffered. You don't get mega-rich from being a General and he had to sell his house to cover his legal fees. There were mutterings about Trump bailing him out, but it didn't happen, I think mainly because of how it would look. There is already talk about him suing the Feds, but that's very difficult to win - the police are allowed to get things wrong, so he would have to prove they wilfully acted unlawfully. A couple of books would be the best option. A few are suggesting that Donald will bring him back into the White House, as much to rub their noses in it as anything, but he's gotta have less to offer at this stage through being out of the loop for so long.

I didn't think Sanders and Spicer were that bad. They were pugnacious and got the message across, though they undermined themselves from time to time. Spicer got dealt a bad hand, with Trump telling him he had to say stuff that was ridiculous if he wanted to keep his job.

I saw the thing about some fund to help them, but didn't look into it any deeper. Really went through the mill, but can't really feel too sorry for him?

You're almost certainly right, and just a case of them annoying me

[MintTrav]

Has the DOJ ever dropped a case before when a person has pleaded guilty ?

As Trump repeatedly says , you have never seen nothing like it before , an incredible job .

I don't know, but I bet Michael Bromwich does. Bromwich used to be Inspector General of the DOJ. He also prosecuted Oliver North in the Iran-Contra Affair, investigated the Lockerbie crash and the CIA Cocaine controversy, uncovered both the FBI and Houston Police Laboratory scandals and led the legal teams representing Judge Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford and former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, as well as loads of other stuff. If anyone will know, he will:

“I have been in and around DOJ since 1983. I have never seen a case dropped after someone has pled guilty and the underlying facts demonstrate beyond any shadow of a doubt he is guilty.  This is simply a pardon by another name. A black day in DOJ history.” https://twitter.com/mrbromwich/status/1258484189869080577

Click to see full-size image.

[MintTrav]

Megyn Kelly has snared the first TV interview with Tara Reade. I haven’t watched much of this, but the bits I’ve skimmed seem to just be repeats of what she’s said before, so I don’t think I’m going to watch it through. She says she thinks Biden should pull out, and that’s probably the only new thing in the interview. If more women make allegations against Biden, this could become a big deal. If they don’t, it’s likely to fade as an issue.

[MintTrav]

The Biden campaign has decided to hold virtual live rallies for various key locations and kicked off yesterday with one in Jacksonville, which somehow didn’t broadcast. Considering what happened with the one later last night for Tampa, not broadcasting was probably the better option.

The Tampa one consisted of 40 minutes of introduction by local politicians in Tampa and national ones from Florida, and a high schooler, followed by Biden from his home. It didn’t go well, with lots of freezing, dead air, pictures out of sync with sound, and black screens. When it came to Joe’s turn, there was a bit of “Am I on?”, and then he proceeded to refer to Congresswoman Kathy Castor as “Representative Castro” and call a statement of Trump’s a “bald-faced lie”.

In fairness, they’ve only had two months to get prepared for these. Can’t wait for the next one.

[bookiebasher]

https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/bill-barr-tests-negative-for-integrity

[Doobs]

Mike Pence caught on hot mic delivering empty boxes of PPE for a PR stunt.

https://twitter.com/mattmfm/status/1258750892448387074?s=19

For fucks sake.

This has been shown to be a doctored video. 

[TightEnd]

thanks

Not helpful if everyone is faking the stories!