Mueller investigation

[Underseer]

https://twitter.com/bad_takes/status/1032410511902691328?s=19

FOX guest: a guilty plea doesn't mean someone is guilty.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

https://twitter.com/bad_takes/status/1032410511902691328?s=19

FOX guest: a guilty plea doesn't mean someone is guilty.

Through the looking glass... or looking prism.

 

[Toni]

https://twitter.com/bad_takes/status/1032410511902691328?s=19

FOX guest: a guilty plea doesn't mean someone is guilty.

Legally, it does mean exactly that: the person is legally guilty. But the FOX guest is correct: people do plead guilty to crimes they did not commit because they make a deal which includes a guilty plea for consideration of waiving some charges or lighter sentencing or both. I saw that on Law and Order a bunch of times. Also, it is true. Sadly, a lot of otherwise marginalized people are coerced or badgered or simply guided into pleading guilty if their lawyer thinks it is their best interests or if his/her caseload is too heavy to make a real go of representing their client.

Now, I don't think this applies in this case. I think Cohen is singing for all he's worth because he has finally decided that he values his self respect just a bit.

 

[Angry Floof]

Toni, you're way more generous than I am.

This is just a violation of Federal Election Commission rules.

By the way, that is false. Indeed, even great legal minds who studied under Dershowitz, this morning are calling all of this out on Twitter that we are in felony territory right now. We are in the territory of a conspiracy to throw an election, and the fact that Trump paid back Michael Cohen and that Michael Cohen did all this stuff at Trump's instruction implicates the President in a felony... It's literally a conspiracy against the United States of America, plus potentially all sorts of other crimes.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

I think Cohen is singing for all he's worth because he has finally decided that he values his self respect just a bit.

I don't think it has much to do with Cohen's self-respect, but with the fact that he saw Trump throwing him under the bus in order to survive, so he's backing that bus up over Trump. He doesn't want to be the fall guy, so he's shifting the blame back where it belongs and he was smart enough to get the documentation for his side of the story along the way due to his having seen Trump do this exact same thing to others in the past.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

https://twitter.com/bad_takes/status/1032410511902691328?s=19

FOX guest: a guilty plea doesn't mean someone is guilty.

Legally, it does mean exactly that: the person is legally guilty. But the FOX guest is correct: people do plead guilty to crimes they did not commit because they make a deal which includes a guilty plea for consideration of waiving some charges or lighter sentencing or both. I saw that on Law and Order a bunch of times. Also, it is true. Sadly, a lot of otherwise marginalized people are coerced or badgered or simply guided into pleading guilty if their lawyer thinks it is their best interests or if his/her caseload is too heavy to make a real go of representing their client.

Now, I don't think this applies in this case. I think Cohen is singing for all he's worth because he has finally decided that he values his self respect just a bit.

You are right but the fox guy is taking what happened out of context. His plea was not an Alford plea but instead came with a confession that he answered for with the judge.

 

[Copernicus]

I think Cohen is singing for all he's worth because he has finally decided that he values his self respect just a bit.

I don't think it has much to do with Cohen's self-respect, but with the fact that he saw Trump throwing him under the bus in order to survive, so he's backing that bus up over Trump. He doesn't want to be the fall guy, so he's shifting the blame back where it belongs and he was smart enough to get the documentation for his side of the story along the way due to his having seen Trump do this exact same thing to others in the past.

I agree. This is exactly the same thing that motivated John Dean--the feeling that he did not want to be made into the fall guy. Cohen is no saint, but he is no martyr either. Not for someone like Donald Trump.

 

[Angry Floof]

ECM did a great live video today for #resistancelive. I'd quote more of her but I think you should go and listen yourself. Don't mind her mannerisms. She has much useful info and expertise.

Today she offered a ton of legal explanation plus some deeper connections regarding Pence, Manafort, and Cohen, who was until a few months ago the deputy chairman of the RNC Finance Committee.

So it appears there's conspiracy all over the place from people who have been pulling fake conspiracies out of their asses left and right.

 

[barbos]

Looks like an intervention by Roskomnadzor, barbos. Try Sputnik's article on the same story: Russia's Sukhoi Plans to Supply SSJ100R Planes to Iran Despite US Sanctions

No, Roskomnadzor says so when does so. It's blocked on website itself.

Yes, that error is the server blocking access. Maybe you should try spoofing your IP before connecting from your work computer at The Agency.

I undermine american democracy from home.

 

[Underseer]

https://hillreporter.com/trump-if-i...uld-be-very-poor-and-markets-would-crash-6228

Trump argues that we can't impeach him because that would cause the stock markets to crash.

I like this new line of argument because it shows that he knows what his base doesn't: that impeachment is all but inevitable at this point.

 

[Underseer]

I think Cohen is singing for all he's worth because he has finally decided that he values his self respect just a bit.

I don't think it has much to do with Cohen's self-respect, but with the fact that he saw Trump throwing him under the bus in order to survive, so he's backing that bus up over Trump. He doesn't want to be the fall guy, so he's shifting the blame back where it belongs and he was smart enough to get the documentation for his side of the story along the way due to his having seen Trump do this exact same thing to others in the past.

Cohen is the son of a Holocaust survivor who spent decades working for a white supremacist who thinks Nazis are "very fine people."

Self-respect left the building decades ago.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

https://hillreporter.com/trump-if-i...uld-be-very-poor-and-markets-would-crash-6228

Trump argues that we can't impeach him because that would cause the stock markets to crash.

I like this new line of argument because it shows that he knows what his base doesn't: that impeachment is all but inevitable at this point.

So the Trump bus has passed the "I can't be impeached because I'm innocent" stop and is currently boarding passengers at the "I can't be impeached because it would be bad for the country" station. I know he's hoping the bus will reach the "I can't be impeached because I dissolved Congress", but I don' think it'll get there.

 

[James Brown]

"Nice stock market you got there. Be a shame if anything happened to it."

 

[Keith&Co.]

"Nice stock market you got there. Be a shame if anything happened to it."

But he keeps bragging about how very high he's pushed the stock market. Seems like we would then have plenty of room for the stock market to take a hit or two, wouldn't we?

I mean, if we impeach the Orange Turd, and the stock market dips ALL THE WAY down to where it was when Obama left office, we won't suddenly be eating dogfood...

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

"I give myself an A+. I don't think any President has ever done what I have done," Trump said.

"We haven't even been 2 years. Biggest tax cuts in history. Soon to be two unbelievable Supreme Court justices, I'm sure that Justice Kavanaugh will be approved. Justice Gorsuch has been a star. You look at all the things we have done with regulations, the economy is the best it has ever been in history. The only thing I'm doing badly in is the press doesn't cover me fairly," Trump said.

link

What? No mention of peace on the Korean Peninsula?

"Tariffs against America imports have never been higher! And what President has ever been as forceful and crude against our allies?"

 

[Koyaanisqatsi]

From July, but still applicable since he's just been repeating the same lies: PBS Fact Checks Trump's Claims On Historic Economic Gains. Snippet:

ECONOMY AND TRADE

TRUMP: “We’ve accomplished an economic turnaround of historic proportions.” — remarks Friday on a new economic report.

THE FACTS: That doesn’t square with the record. Trump didn’t inherit a fixer-upper economy.

The U.S. economy just entered its 10th year of growth, a recovery that began under President Barack Obama, who inherited the Great Recession. The data show that the falling unemployment rate and gains in home values reflect the duration of the recovery, rather than any major changes made since 2017 by the Trump administration.

While Trump praised the 4.1 percent annual growth rate in the second quarter, it exceeded that level four times during the Obama presidency. But quarterly figures are volatile and strength in one quarter can be reversed in the next. While Obama never achieved the 3 percent annual growth that Trump hopes to see, he came close. The economy grew 2.9 percent in 2015.

The economy faces two significant structural drags that could keep growth closer to 2 percent than 3 percent: an aging population, which means fewer people are working and more are retired, and weak productivity growth, which means that those who are working aren’t increasing their output as quickly as in the past.

Both of those factors are largely beyond Trump’s control.

TRUMP: “One of the biggest wins in the report, and it is, indeed a big one, is that the trade deficit — very dear to my heart because we’ve been ripped off by the world — has dropped.” — remarks Friday.

THE FACTS: Trump is correct that a lower trade deficit helped growth in the April-June quarter, but it’s not necessarily for a positive reason.

The president has floated plans to impose import taxes on hundreds of billions of dollars of foreign goods, which has led to the risk of retaliatory tariffs by foreign companies on U.S. goods.

This threat of an escalating trade war has led many companies to increase their levels of trade before any tariffs hit, causing the temporary boost in exports being celebrated by Trump.

Richard Moody, chief economist at Regions Financial, said the result is that the gains from trade in the second quarter will not be repeated.

TRUMP: “We’re having the best economy we’ve ever had in the history of our country.” — remarks Thursday in Granite City, Illinois.

THE FACTS: This is not the best the U.S. economy has ever been.

The unemployment rate is near a 40-year low and growth is solid, but by many measures the current economy trails other periods in U.S. history. Average hourly pay, before adjusting for inflation, is rising at about a 2.5 percent annual rate, below the 4 percent level reached in the late 1990s when the unemployment rate was as low as it is now.

Pay was growing even faster in the late 1960s, when the jobless rate remained below 4 percent for nearly four years. And economic growth topped 4 percent for three full years from 1998 through 2000, an annual rate it hasn’t touched since.

 

[Underseer]

From July, but still applicable since he's just been repeating the same lies: PBS Fact Checks Trump's Claims On Historic Economic Gains. Snippet:

ECONOMY AND TRADE

TRUMP: “We’ve accomplished an economic turnaround of historic proportions.” — remarks Friday on a new economic report.

THE FACTS: That doesn’t square with the record. Trump didn’t inherit a fixer-upper economy.

The U.S. economy just entered its 10th year of growth, a recovery that began under President Barack Obama, who inherited the Great Recession. The data show that the falling unemployment rate and gains in home values reflect the duration of the recovery, rather than any major changes made since 2017 by the Trump administration.

While Trump praised the 4.1 percent annual growth rate in the second quarter, it exceeded that level four times during the Obama presidency. But quarterly figures are volatile and strength in one quarter can be reversed in the next. While Obama never achieved the 3 percent annual growth that Trump hopes to see, he came close. The economy grew 2.9 percent in 2015.

The economy faces two significant structural drags that could keep growth closer to 2 percent than 3 percent: an aging population, which means fewer people are working and more are retired, and weak productivity growth, which means that those who are working aren’t increasing their output as quickly as in the past.

Both of those factors are largely beyond Trump’s control.

TRUMP: “One of the biggest wins in the report, and it is, indeed a big one, is that the trade deficit — very dear to my heart because we’ve been ripped off by the world — has dropped.” — remarks Friday.

THE FACTS: Trump is correct that a lower trade deficit helped growth in the April-June quarter, but it’s not necessarily for a positive reason.

The president has floated plans to impose import taxes on hundreds of billions of dollars of foreign goods, which has led to the risk of retaliatory tariffs by foreign companies on U.S. goods.

This threat of an escalating trade war has led many companies to increase their levels of trade before any tariffs hit, causing the temporary boost in exports being celebrated by Trump.

Richard Moody, chief economist at Regions Financial, said the result is that the gains from trade in the second quarter will not be repeated.

TRUMP: “We’re having the best economy we’ve ever had in the history of our country.” — remarks Thursday in Granite City, Illinois.

THE FACTS: This is not the best the U.S. economy has ever been.

The unemployment rate is near a 40-year low and growth is solid, but by many measures the current economy trails other periods in U.S. history. Average hourly pay, before adjusting for inflation, is rising at about a 2.5 percent annual rate, below the 4 percent level reached in the late 1990s when the unemployment rate was as low as it is now.

Pay was growing even faster in the late 1960s, when the jobless rate remained below 4 percent for nearly four years. And economic growth topped 4 percent for three full years from 1998 through 2000, an annual rate it hasn’t touched since.

Yes, but Republican voters use alternative facts, whereas you are using regular facts, therefore they are right and you are wrong. Also, truth is not truth. Something something fake news. Change the subject to Hillary Clinton. Uranium One.

 

[Elixir]

From July, but still applicable since he's just been repeating the same lies: PBS Fact Checks Trump's Claims On Historic Economic Gains. Snippet:

ECONOMY AND TRADE

TRUMP: “We’ve accomplished an economic turnaround of historic proportions.” — remarks Friday on a new economic report.

THE FACTS: That doesn’t square with the record. Trump didn’t inherit a fixer-upper economy.

The U.S. economy just entered its 10th year of growth, a recovery that began under President Barack Obama, who inherited the Great Recession. The data show that the falling unemployment rate and gains in home values reflect the duration of the recovery, rather than any major changes made since 2017 by the Trump administration.

While Trump praised the 4.1 percent annual growth rate in the second quarter, it exceeded that level four times during the Obama presidency. But quarterly figures are volatile and strength in one quarter can be reversed in the next. While Obama never achieved the 3 percent annual growth that Trump hopes to see, he came close. The economy grew 2.9 percent in 2015.

The economy faces two significant structural drags that could keep growth closer to 2 percent than 3 percent: an aging population, which means fewer people are working and more are retired, and weak productivity growth, which means that those who are working aren’t increasing their output as quickly as in the past.

Both of those factors are largely beyond Trump’s control.

TRUMP: “One of the biggest wins in the report, and it is, indeed a big one, is that the trade deficit — very dear to my heart because we’ve been ripped off by the world — has dropped.” — remarks Friday.

THE FACTS: Trump is correct that a lower trade deficit helped growth in the April-June quarter, but it’s not necessarily for a positive reason.

The president has floated plans to impose import taxes on hundreds of billions of dollars of foreign goods, which has led to the risk of retaliatory tariffs by foreign companies on U.S. goods.

This threat of an escalating trade war has led many companies to increase their levels of trade before any tariffs hit, causing the temporary boost in exports being celebrated by Trump.

Richard Moody, chief economist at Regions Financial, said the result is that the gains from trade in the second quarter will not be repeated.

TRUMP: “We’re having the best economy we’ve ever had in the history of our country.” — remarks Thursday in Granite City, Illinois.

THE FACTS: This is not the best the U.S. economy has ever been.

The unemployment rate is near a 40-year low and growth is solid, but by many measures the current economy trails other periods in U.S. history. Average hourly pay, before adjusting for inflation, is rising at about a 2.5 percent annual rate, below the 4 percent level reached in the late 1990s when the unemployment rate was as low as it is now.

Pay was growing even faster in the late 1960s, when the jobless rate remained below 4 percent for nearly four years. And economic growth topped 4 percent for three full years from 1998 through 2000, an annual rate it hasn’t touched since.

Yes, but Republican voters use alternative facts, whereas you are using regular facts, therefore they are right and you are wrong. Also, truth is not truth. Something something fake news. Change the subject to Hillary Clinton. Uranium One.

And why haven't they arrested that Ben Gozzy guy yet?

 

[blastula]

I think Cohen is singing for all he's worth because he has finally decided that he values his self respect just a bit.

Were you thinking of this story?

Why Michael Cohen Agreed to Plead Guilty—And Implicate the President - WSJ

A personal turning point for Mr. Cohen was a conversation with his father, Maurice Cohen, a Holocaust survivor.

Mr. Cohen’s father urged him not to protect the president, saying he didn’t survive the Holocaust to have his name sullied by Mr. Trump, according to a person who was told about the conversation. The elder Mr. Cohen couldn’t be reached for comment.

Not sure I buy it, but I guess it's possible. Kind of a like a reverse Frank Pentangeli moment.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Ya, that shit sounds completely made up. A stern and tender talking to about family honour from a Holocaust survivor to give him a Come to Jesus moment and finally realize the value of honesty and integrity? The Trump Circus is a reality show, not an ABC After School Special.