Mueller closing in on Trump in Russian probe

I don't think so. I think it will be other way around. They are already making changes to the memo. IF we see it tomorrow, it is not the one voted on Monday. Nunes has made changes and so has the White House.

 

The Hill reports, "President Trump has privately told associates that he believes a contentious memo compiled by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee could be used to discredit the investigation into Russia's role in the 2016 presidential election."

Apparently, the speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, is not aware of the President's true sentiments. Ryan is taking the position that attack on the FBI is clearly not an attack on the FBI.

"Congress doing its job in conducting legitimate oversight over a very unique law, FISA, and if mistakes were made and if individuals did something wrong then it is our job as the legislative branch of government to conduct oversight over the executive branch if abuses were made," Ryan said. "What this is not is an indictment on our institutions of our justice system. This memo is not an indictment of the FBI, of the Department of Justice."

Noting that Ryan sounds every bit like a very gullible fool who seems clueless as to what is happening, let us examine Ryan's statement. First off, Republicans -- and Trump -- have been citing this same memo in an effort to erode confidence in the FBI and Mueller’s probe. On the surface, Ryan statement is a misrepresentation of the facts, a politically motivated lie.

Wading through the "if's" in this assault on our justice department and FBI, who might these individuals be? Comey, well, he's gone. Peter Strzok, he's gone, too. Strzok's girlfriend, Lisa Page, no longer with the FBI; like Strzok, she has been gone for months. How about Trump's whipping boy, Andrew McCabe. He resigned on Monday. It can't be Chris Wray, Trump's personal choice for FBI director.

Assuming Ryan was talking about current leadership in the FBI who "did something wrong" ... maybe, most are dying to hear just who Ryan is talking about.

What abuses were made ... maybe? Certainly not the FISA warrant for Carter Page. There was an enormous amount of affidavits that resulted in that warrant.

Once again, many are anxious to hear what Ryan is talking about.

That is, if he knows what he is talking about.

 

With freedom....always comes responsibility. Something the left has never understood.

 

Hillary most likely would have gotten rid of Comey also. Comey overstepped his bounds determining whether or not to prosecute HRC. He should have been fired on those grounds alone. From HRC's point of view, he did tamper with the election, making statements for which he had no business. If I recall,, all new administrations get rid of previous appointees. You just want to defend "deep state".

 

That is a subjective opinion for deep state supporters.

 

You will be in for a surprise. Dems have thrown everything out but the kitchen sink in order to discredit those that would expose "deep state" and the militarization of Federal agencies. The IRS was the 1st real indication.

 

I think Hillary would have kept him after all it is clear he was in the dems corner.

 

Here come the memo dems, LOL This is going to be sooooo funny

 

This thread is so old it has a grey beard. Time to shut it down. The OP has replaced it with 2 or 3 others younger that have the same nonsense theme.

 

I told you dummycrats Trump would not be prosecuted Too bad sooooooo sad.

 

The Nunes memo has been released. Now things really get interesting. More on this later. Time to evaluate.

 

The attempt here is to place all the evidence over the past five months onto one thread.

Do you have a problem with that? Obviously, you do because the thread has been very successful, and you don't like that. Better to hide all the evidence, right? Let people forget it? Well, that is not going to happen.

 

LOL. with what the memo exposed today Muller could never get a conviction on anything, zip, zero. nada.

 

It is interesting that the stock market took its biggest dive since 2008, the DOW dropping over 660 points. Perhaps, on a day that Nunes memo was released, Wall Street is beginning to realize just how incompetent Trump is as he attacks the very fabric of our democracy, the rule of law. Trump is relentless in his attack on our justice department and top law enforcement agency. He is not only incompetent, he is dangerous.

“I think it’s terrible,” Mr. Trump said of the actions described by the memo, which accuses federal law enforcement officials of abusing their authority when they sought permission to surveil a former Trump campaign adviser, Carter Page.

“It’s a disgrace what’s happening in our country,” Mr. Trump added. “A lot of people should be ashamed of themselves, and much worse than that.”

Trump is using innuendo and inference in his attack on the DOJ. He does not name the individuals, and neither does the memo, except for McCabe. Not only is McCabe already gone, but the accusation made against him is in serious question. Among those who are currently serving, who is he talking about? Trump never says. His accusations are implied and always non-specific.

Is he accusing Rod Rosenstein? Rosenstein is a dedicated professional and a Republican who has served three Presidents. He was nominated by Trump, and at the time of his confirmation as Deputy Attorney General in April 2017, he was the nation's longest-serving U.S. attorney.

Is he accusing Chris Wray, another Trump appointee and another Republican? Wray is also a dedicated professional who served under President George W. Bush as an Assistant Attorney General. He is a recipient of the Edmund J. Randolph Award, the Justice Department's highest award for public service and leadership.

It is completely ludicrous that these two highly respected Republican officials are attempting to undermine the Trump Presidency. Yet, that is exactly what Trump is saying.

Were it not so tragic, this whole thing would be a joke. Trump is providing a scenario that Hollywood would toss in a New York minute because it is simply too outrageous. He is accusing the DOJ and the FBI of being biased against him going back to the 2016 Presidential elections.

The FBI was investigating Hillary Clinton and her practice of using a private server. Apparently, everyone not named Trump was aware of this investigation months prior to Election Day. Comey closed the investigation in July, then reopened it eleven days before the election. Clinton's huge lead in the polls evaporated and she lost the election.

During this whole time, the FBI was also looking into the activities of the Trump campaign staff, Sessions, Papadopulous, Manafort, Gates, Carter Page, and company. That investigation began in July 2016 and nobody knew about it.

If the FBI leadership was biased against Trump, why is it they kept the investigation of Trump under wraps while publicly investigating Clinton and literally throwing the election for Trump on Oct. 28, 2016?

Senator John McCain has an answer to that question.

"The latest attacks on the FBI and Department of Justice serve no American interests — no party's, no president's, only Putin's," McCain said. McCain added that "Special Counsel [Robert] Mueller's investigation must proceed unimpeded."

Our nation’s elected officials, including the president, must stop looking at this investigation through the warped lens of politics and manufacturing partisan sideshows, McCain wrote in his statement. If we continue to undermine our own rule of law, we are doing Putin’s job for him.

 

The New York Times reports, "WASHINGTON — House Republicans released a disputed memo on Friday compiled by congressional aides that accused the F.B.I. and Justice Department of abusing their surveillance powers to spy on a former Trump campaign adviser, Carter Page.

"But the memo falls well short of providing the material promised by some Republicans: namely, that the evidence it contained would cast doubt on the origins of the Russia investigation and possibly undermine the inquiry, which has been taken over by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III."

In other words, let us assume that everything said in the memo is factual and complete; that McCabe actually said the sole basis for the FISA warrant was the Steele dossier. I know, all that is a reach, but, for the sake of argument, let us assume that the memo is completely forthcoming.

Carter Page is an obscure character in all this, and interest in him began in 2013, long before the idea of the Presidency was a twinkle in Trump's eye. What does this memo have to do with the Russian investigation?

What does it have to do with the fact than nine of Trump's closest associates, including his current A.G., his former campaign manager, his former NSA, his son, and his son-in-law have had connections to the Russian government?

What does it have to do with the fact that our intell agencies have concluded Russia interfered in our election on Trump's behalf?

What does it have to do with the fact that two of Trump's closest associates have been indicted, one being his former campaign manager? Two others, including his former NSA, have pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, and they have been assisting the special prosecutor for months.

What does it have to do with the fact that Trump's son, son-in-law, and campaign manager were caught collaborating with representatives of the Russian government in a meeting that at Trump's home, Trump Tower?

So, you see, even if the memo is completely honest and above board -- and that is a stretch -- it does not have a damn thing to do with the Russian investigation.

 

The Memo show all this is a lie. Time to give it up.

 

Pathetic responses from two of Trump's defenders.

That says it all, I guess.

 

Glad you're still around Sandy.. Thought you were in hiding. The jig for the deep state is up and I want you around to see it.

 

Me too. LOL

 

So, the left are hell bent on making Pence president. I find this hilarious because Pence is a dyed in the wool social conservative. Pence has stayed out of all the Russia nonsense and is not on Mueller's radar.

 

The premise of the Nunes memo is false. If the premise is false, the memo itself is false and disingenuous.

The memo assumes the Steele dossier was the basis of the FISA warrant. That is false, and the memo contradicts itself. The memo explains how the testimony of George Papadopulous was the basis of the warrant. "The Papadopoulos information triggered the opening of an FBI counterintelligence investigation in late July 2016 by FBI agent Pete Strzok." In addition, there are countless pages of corroborating evidence that support the application of a FISA warrant. Beside the Papadopulous statement, no mention is made of the supporting documents.

This was not the first warrant issued against Page. The memo states, "The FBI and DOJ obtained one initial FISA warrant targeting Carter Page and three FISA renewals from the FISC." This is not new ground. Useful information had been obtained by previous warrants, and the judge ruled the process should continue.

The memo supports the false premise with a false statement. It says, "Deputy Director McCabe testified before the Committee in December 2017 that no surveillance warrant would have been sought from the FISC without the Steele dossier information." The memo did not quote McCabe.

This assumes the absurd. A deputy director of the FBI knows the protocol for obtaining a FISA warrant. It is not an easy process and it goes through several hands at the FBI and DOJ before submission to the judge. It is almost humorous to assert that McCabe would testify that the warrant would not have happened without the dossier.

The memo further assumes that the FISA judge was stupid and totally ignorant of matters concerning the Steele dossier. The memo maintains that this ignorant judge granted a FISA warrant against an American citizen on the sole basis of the dossier. That simply could not happen, and I am dismayed that duly elected congressmen could assert such a preposterous scenario.

One last thing. "This memo totally vindicates 'Trump' in probe," Trump tweeted Saturday morning. "But the Russian Witch Hunt goes on and on. Their was no Collusion and there was no Obstruction (the word now used because, after one year of looking endlessly and finding NOTHING, collusion is dead). This is an American disgrace!"

The memo does not mention the Russian interference in our election and the allegation that Trump collaborated with Russia. Nor does it say a word about the allegation that Trump is obstructing justice. One has to wonder if Trump read the memo.

In a word, Trump was simply lying again. To him, it is a talent. He calls it "truthful hyperbole."

 

Trump added more evidence that he is attempting to obstruct justice. He does not have to be successful. If he is attempting to interfere in the Russian probe, he is guilty of obstruction. The best witness against Trump is Trump. The man is incredibly stupid.

Trump tweeted, "The top Leadership and Investigators of the FBI and the Justice Department have politicized the sacred investigative process in favor of Democrats and against Republicans - something which would have been unthinkable just a short time ago," Trump wrote. "Rank & File are great people!"

That is a very interesting tweet, and it begs a question. Who is he talking about?

Put a different way, who are the Republican leaders he appointed that favor Democrats? He never says.

It gets worse. Republicans who cheer on the memo also fail to tell us who they are talking about when they use the term "leadership."

Representative Chris Stewart, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, made the Sunday rounds. He talked about how the "leadership" in the FBI and DOJ had abused the application process for a FISA warrant. Despite much rhetoric he never once told viewers who he was talking about.

Why is that? They can't provide the names. They are asserting the absurd. So they, including Trump, are forced to use non-specific, broad characterizations otherwise known as meaningless rhetoric.

BTW, Stewart changed his story concerning McCabe statement. At first he said McCabe said what the memo claims he said. Stewart changed that to McCabe "indicated" that the warrant wouldn't have been served without the dossier. McCabe was not quoted. He was paraphrased in the memo, and many doubt he said that because it simply does not make sense (see OP).

 

These are Trump apologists. This is the best they can do? Earlier, it was difficult to defend Trump. Now, it is practically impossible. Even Republicans are turning on him now.

These three Trump fans prove that point with meaningless rhetoric.

 

Really? If Trump is removed, Pence is President. That is meaningless?

 

Your post reveals your own issues. You are so hopelessly partisan that you can't imagine anyone with a political interest putting country before party.

It's not about getting trump out for the same of getting a "non-democrat" out only to be replaced by a republican instead. It's about the betterment of the country. Most democrats put country before party. I know that's a foreign concept to you.