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Russia/Trump investigation thread; Down the never ending rabbit hole

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    BlackDragon480BlackDragon480 Bluster Kerfuffle Master of Windy ImportRegistered User regular
    edited September 2017
    Shadowhope wrote: »
    Cello wrote: »
    Xaquin wrote: »
    It would make me so happy if spicer took these guys all down

    I don't really think he can or will, but it'd be nice!

    I would forgive his Emmy appearance for this

    He could host every Emmy show for the rest of time for all I care

    If Spicer takes down Trump, I will pray that the Pope not only meets him, but gives him a high-five.

    He was able to meet Francis last month, after his firing/resigning kerfuffle along with other world government officials, at the Vatican's invitation. It was a networking event for "Catholic Legislators".

    BlackDragon480 on
    No matter where you go...there you are.
    ~ Buckaroo Banzai
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    Mild ConfusionMild Confusion Smash All Things Registered User regular
    OptimusZed wrote: »
    According to Axios, Sean Spicer took "copious" notes during and after the campaign. They're saying he told them this himself.

    Spicer still doesn't have a Russia lawyer that I'm aware of.

    Edit; tweet contains link

    Anyone else notice the line, "Potential Mueller honeypot - Spicey texts"?

    Rawr

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    PreacherPreacher Registered User regular
    I'd be willing to bet hard currency that Spicer doesn't have shit and isn't providing shit to Mueller. If anything its probably trump dirty tricks to make it seem like he has anything worth pursuing.

    I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.

    pleasepaypreacher.net
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    OptimusZedOptimusZed Registered User regular
    Mueller can just subpeona the notebooks, and hit Spicer for obstruction if they aren't immediately made available.

    Unless Spicer has actual inside stuff that he didn't write down, he's not getting a deal.

    We're reading Rifts. You should too. You know you want to. Now With Ninjas!

    They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
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    PreacherPreacher Registered User regular
    My issue is its a waste of time. There is no proof the notebooks exist, nor what was written in any of them. Just something to spin wheels on.

    I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.

    pleasepaypreacher.net
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    OptimusZedOptimusZed Registered User regular
    I doubt something as trivial as a stack of notebooks is going to significantly tax the crew Mueller has put together.

    The only way Spicer would set back the investigation is if he turns states and then actively misleads them.

    We're reading Rifts. You should too. You know you want to. Now With Ninjas!

    They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
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    GaddezGaddez Registered User regular
    I'm imagining Mueller walking into the room and finding spicer seated in front of a roaring fire, casually reading a biography of Ronald Reagan from one hand while gently swirling a snifter of brandy; he waits for a moment before spicer acknowledges him.

    "I was wondering how long it would take for you to get here"
    "You have the notes?"
    "Oh yes, but you'll need to do something for me first"
    "I could just supena them you know."
    "You could, but that would take time and I'm willing to give you them here and now if you swear to do this one thing."
    "... what do you want."

    Spicer turns and looks into Muellers eyes for the first time, showing a level of cold righteous fury the veteran of decades of law enforcement had never seen before, and takes a half step back instinctually.

    "Humiliate the shit out of him on national television"

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    VishNubVishNub Registered User regular
    edited September 2017
    Even if the most charitable interpretations of all this are true: I am not willing to give spicer a redemption arc. He signed up for this shit. He didn't quit. He was fired (sort of).

    VishNub on
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    OghulkOghulk Tinychat Janitor TinychatRegistered User regular
    There will be at least 100 historical/biographical/autobiographical books about this period in American history, and they will all be fucking crazy.

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    ViskodViskod Registered User regular
    edited September 2017
    VishNub wrote: »
    Even if the most charitable interpretations of all this are true: I am not willing to give spicer a redemption arc. He signed up for this shit. He didn't quit. He was fired.

    Spicer quit. It even surprised Trump when he followed through with his threat and actually did.

    Viskod on
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    Inkstain82Inkstain82 Registered User regular
    Oghulk wrote: »
    There will be at least 100 historical/biographical/autobiographical books about this period in American history, and they will all be fucking crazy.

    I suspect in 500 years, if there are historians, this will be the interesting blip a few decades before full American collapse

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    VeeveeVeevee WisconsinRegistered User regular
    Viskod wrote: »
    VishNub wrote: »
    Even if the most charitable interpretations of all this are true: I am not willing to give spicer a redemption arc. He signed up for this shit. He didn't quit. He was fired.

    Spicer quit. It even surprised Trump when he followed through with his threat and actually did.

    Because they brought in The Mooch, who was subsequently fired before his official start date.

    Just the best people.

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    shrykeshryke Member of the Beast Registered User regular
    edited September 2017
    Oghulk wrote: »
    There will be at least 100 historical/biographical/autobiographical books about this period in American history, and they will all be fucking crazy.

    Our grandkids are gonna think we are making shit up. One way or the other.

    shryke on
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    Mx. QuillMx. Quill I now prefer "Myr. Quill", actually... {They/Them}Registered User regular
    shryke wrote: »
    Oghulk wrote: »
    There will be at least 100 historical/biographical/autobiographical books about this period in American history, and they will all be fucking crazy.

    Our grandkids are gonna think we are making shit up. One way or the other.

    One day, a teenager working in a library will take a look at the title of a book, and ask one of the other staff members, "You're sure this doesn't go in the Fiction section?"

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    OptimusZedOptimusZed Registered User regular
    The best part of future history classes will be how they have to spend a semester training students to distinguish between actual historical record and the raft of bullshit that this point in history is also producing that are only situationally distinguisable from each other.

    We're reading Rifts. You should too. You know you want to. Now With Ninjas!

    They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
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    jothkijothki Registered User regular
    OptimusZed wrote: »
    The best part of future history classes will be how they have to spend a semester training students to distinguish between actual historical record and the raft of bullshit that this point in history is also producing that are only situationally distinguisable from each other.

    Assuming that our side eventually wins, of course. If we don't, Trump could end up becoming the next General Lee.

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    silence1186silence1186 Character shields down! As a wingmanRegistered User regular
    jothki wrote: »
    OptimusZed wrote: »
    The best part of future history classes will be how they have to spend a semester training students to distinguish between actual historical record and the raft of bullshit that this point in history is also producing that are only situationally distinguisable from each other.

    Assuming that our side eventually wins, of course. If we don't, Trump could end up becoming the next General Lee.

    We'll tear down his statue in a hundred years as well then.

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    tbloxhamtbloxham Registered User regular
    jothki wrote: »
    OptimusZed wrote: »
    The best part of future history classes will be how they have to spend a semester training students to distinguish between actual historical record and the raft of bullshit that this point in history is also producing that are only situationally distinguisable from each other.

    Assuming that our side eventually wins, of course. If we don't, Trump could end up becoming the next General Lee.

    Eh, without freedom and democracy the lionization of heroes and political figures doesn't really happen like that. Its why absolute monarchies and dictatorships focus on religion as 'hero'. God (whose ways are ineffable and mysterious) gives them power and you must accept that, because you love God. Once you have democracy, and the people perceive themselves to hold real power (which you can't really do if you are a worse democracy than the US is right now) then you can lionize the figures of history. You (the people) gave them power, and now I as leader have inherited that mantle. Thus you must accept me, because you liked them.

    So, at very least you can be sure that if Trump is genuinely loved by a large fraction of the US populace, it will mean that he lost, and failed to destroy our society.

    "That is cool" - Abraham Lincoln
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    KruiteKruite Registered User regular
    jothki wrote: »
    OptimusZed wrote: »
    The best part of future history classes will be how they have to spend a semester training students to distinguish between actual historical record and the raft of bullshit that this point in history is also producing that are only situationally distinguisable from each other.

    Assuming that our side eventually wins, of course. If we don't, Trump could end up becoming the next General Lee.

    We'll tear down his statue in a hundred years as well then.

    If he puts up a statue of himself I might burst a blood vessel

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    ButtersButters A glass of some milks Registered User regular
    Viskod wrote: »
    VishNub wrote: »
    Even if the most charitable interpretations of all this are true: I am not willing to give spicer a redemption arc. He signed up for this shit. He didn't quit. He was fired.

    Spicer quit. It even surprised Trump when he followed through with his threat and actually did.

    He quit because he was being demoted though. Spicer was both Press Secretary and Communications Director and the Mooch was being brought in as director and probably would replace him entirely eventually. So yeah he quit but he was slowly getting fired.

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    ViskodViskod Registered User regular
    No, he objected to Scaramucci personally. It had nothing to do with communications director as a job.

    He was not getting demoted, he was only pulling double duty temporarily as Communications Director because their other one quit.

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    ButtersButters A glass of some milks Registered User regular
    Viskod wrote: »
    No, he objected to Scaramucci personally. It had nothing to do with communications director as a job.

    He was not getting demoted, he was only pulling double duty temporarily as Communications Director because their other one quit.

    I thought he was wanting to stay in the Director role and maybe give Press Secretary to Huckabee's demonspawn but maybe I'm making that up.

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    ElkiElki get busy Moderator, ClubPA mod
    That far future retrospective of the conclusion of the Russia investigation is way too speculative and open ended, and can wait until the Russia investigation ends.

    smCQ5WE.jpg
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    Commander ZoomCommander Zoom Registered User regular
    The notion of Spicer being the one to bring Trump down calls to mind, very strongly, Wormtongue literally stabbing Saruman in the back.

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    HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    I wouldn't credit Spicer too much, there's a lot of people who did things - with intention or otherwise - that could bring this whole house of cards down. We're just coming off a fucking bizarre weekend where Hollywood decided to hug it out with Spicer for some fucking reason so let's not hero the guy up.

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    LabelLabel Registered User regular
    I doubt hollywood decided for bizarre reason. There's almost certainly money behind the decision somewhere. And that will continue until we the american people decide to make it clear that putting Spicer on TV is not something we are going to reward financially.

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    Mild ConfusionMild Confusion Smash All Things Registered User regular
    Does Spicey have any connections to Russia?

    Aside from working as Trump's mouthpiece, of course.

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    PellaeonPellaeon Registered User regular
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/09/21/every-contact-between-trumps-team-and-russian-actors-graphed/?utm_term=.2e7f8ba17690

    Wapo charting out all the contacts between team Trump and team Russia. Also a cool interactive timeline at the end that would probably even better on not-mobile.

    But remember, there was absolutely no contacts or business dealings with Russians, no sir, none.

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    ButtersButters A glass of some milks Registered User regular
    Henroid wrote: »
    I wouldn't credit Spicer too much, there's a lot of people who did things - with intention or otherwise - that could bring this whole house of cards down. We're just coming off a fucking bizarre weekend where Hollywood decided to hug it out with Spicer for some fucking reason so let's not hero the guy up.

    I don't think anyone in this thread is really doing that

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    shrykeshryke Member of the Beast Registered User regular
    Label wrote: »
    I doubt hollywood decided for bizarre reason. There's almost certainly money behind the decision somewhere. And that will continue until we the american people decide to make it clear that putting Spicer on TV is not something we are going to reward financially.

    More likely it's just because he knows some people. Spicer has apparently been a fixture of the DC cocktail party scene for ages now and was well liked by that incestuous gangbang. He just wants to go back to being everyone's pal and lots of people want to let him.

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    enlightenedbumenlightenedbum Registered User regular
    Failure is literally impossible in DC.

    Self-righteousness is incompatible with coalition building.
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    SolarSolar Registered User regular
    Spicer is not forgiven for his role in the fascist government

    But if he turns on them and repents his ways he may be

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    HevachHevach Registered User regular
    Solar wrote: »
    Spicer is not forgiven for his role in the fascist government

    But if he turns on them and repents his ways he may be

    Turning on them does not require or imply that he's repented his ways. The guy in Inglorious Basterds was still a Nazi, he was just a Nazi who saw which way the wind was blowing and made sure he ended up on the side of it that didn't involve a noose around his neck.

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    Commander ZoomCommander Zoom Registered User regular
    edited September 2017
    Likewise, in my reference/mental image above, Wormtongue's final act of betrayal did not change who he essentially was. He just picked a target who deserved it.

    Commander Zoom on
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    Fuzzy Cumulonimbus CloudFuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud Registered User regular
    http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/351696-clapper-conceivable-trump-was-picked-up-on-manafort-wiretap
    Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper in an interview late Wednesday night would not rule out the possibility that a wiretap of Paul Manafort picked up conversations with President Trump.

    Clapper told CNN's Don Lemon that he had no knowledge of a FISA warrant targeting Manafort, Trump's former campaign manager, and said that he "stands on" his previous statements claiming there was no wiretap of Trump Tower.

    “Is it possible the president was picked up in a conversation with Paul Manafort?” Lemon asked.

    “It’s certainly conceivable,” Clapper replied.

    “Is it likely?” Lemon then asked.

    “Uh, I can’t say," Clapper responded. "I — uh — wouldn’t wanna go there, but I will say, it’s possible.”


    Clapper, who served in the Obama administration, reminded Lemon that FISA warrants are classified, and that he wouldn't be able to discuss them if he did have knowledge of their use.
    Clapper also responded to a Washington Post report that Manafort offered to brief a top Russian oligarch on the Trump campaign. Clapper told CNN that Russia may have viewed Manafort as a "witting accomplice" to interference in the 2016 election.

    "They would regard him perhaps as a witting accomplice as part of their overall campaign to interfere with the election," Clapper said. "So if they had a witting and willing participant who would engage with them, talk with them, who in their mind had some inside access or influence in the campaign ... I think they would view that as a favorable line of exploitation."

    Clapper has said in the past that Watergate, which famously brought down former President Richard Nixon, "pales" in comparison to the allegations that sparked multiple investigations into Russian meddling in the election.

    "I think [if] you compare the two, that Watergate pales really, in my view, compared to what we're confronting now,” he said in July.

    "So the question is: How long can these assaults go on and the institutions not be irrevocably damaged? I honestly can't say," he added at the time.

    Article from The Hill though this is generally trending on Twitter in various formats. Author is John Bowden.

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    Mild ConfusionMild Confusion Smash All Things Registered User regular
    Rachel Maddow's opening story last night was about a young man that kept a diary during Watergate that ended up getting used during that investigation. So it's very possible Spicer's notes could be subpoenaed and provide useful information.

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    Harry DresdenHarry Dresden Registered User regular
    Rachel Maddow's opening story last night was about a young man that kept a diary during Watergate that ended up getting used during that investigation. So it's very possible Spicer's notes could be subpoenaed and provide useful information.

    Writing notes about him seems to be Trump's Kryptonite.

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    MarathonMarathon Registered User regular
    Rachel Maddow's opening story last night was about a young man that kept a diary during Watergate that ended up getting used during that investigation. So it's very possible Spicer's notes could be subpoenaed and provide useful information.

    Writing notes about him seems to be Trump's Kryptonite.

    "People making a record of the terrible things I do and say, my one weakness!"

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    BlackDragon480BlackDragon480 Bluster Kerfuffle Master of Windy ImportRegistered User regular
    Rachel Maddow's opening story last night was about a young man that kept a diary during Watergate that ended up getting used during that investigation. So it's very possible Spicer's notes could be subpoenaed and provide useful information.

    Writing notes about him seems to be Trump's Kryptonite.

    This just helps prove my point, that everyone should watch the Wire, if only to hear Stringer Bell's advice.

    No matter where you go...there you are.
    ~ Buckaroo Banzai
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    ButtersButters A glass of some milks Registered User regular
    Rachel Maddow's opening story last night was about a young man that kept a diary during Watergate that ended up getting used during that investigation. So it's very possible Spicer's notes could be subpoenaed and provide useful information.

    Unfortunately I don't think Spicer ever had the level of access to make him all that important at least not since Trump took office. Among his many struggles at the podium he was often unable to comment on the specifics of the President's position on issues and there were many reports that he didn't interact with Trump directly as much as he should have.

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This discussion has been closed.