The "follow the money" angle
Seva Gunitsky
We don't know that Trump was involved in any way with that. Obviously, it's kind of his wheelhouse, New York City real estate, so I am sure he at least heard about it. But we don't know if he has any direct connections.
But it's not even necessary for him to have any direct connections here. They're only asking for some relief in this case, in return for certain compromising documents. So the interesting thing for me is, was there pressure placed on the U.S. Attorney's Office by the administration, by the Department of Justice? What we know is that Preet Bharara, the attorney in charge of the case, was fired in early March, and shortly thereafter the Prevezon case was dropped.
Sean Illing
And we still have no explanation about this?
Seva Gunitsky
Not as a far as I know. They had been ready to prosecute, witnesses were flown in, it was all set to go, and it was settled rather unexpectedly. So I think this is a case that hasn't really entered the public consciousness yet. But I'm sure that [special counsel Robert] Mueller's team is looking at it.
Here's the thing PK you're line of reasoning does not dismiss malfeasance on Trump & Co - It embraces it, after a fashion, but it puts the blame for it not on them but on the conduct of previous administration, and the flawed & failed candidacy of Hillary Clinton.
At a minimum we have a thing called 'the rule of law' which until recent years always held up. The above statement does not mesh with the rule of law, it does not mesh with general or specific ethics at all.
I'm not going into whether or what Trump is guilty of as I await the findings of Mueller most of which is fairly leak free until Trump himself mentions it in an interview.
It doesn't even feel like you're defending Trump so much as further condemning Clinton. I'm ok with that I guess, I'm not a fan; but it does not absolve the current administration/congress of their current activities
It's funny watching the board Democrats attack pk and label him a conservative. The man who backed BERNIE SANDERS of all people during the election.
Let me go laugh for a few minutes before I get some yummy McDonald's.
Don't be so sure. I read an interesting quote the other day regarding the healthcare fiasco:
"There is only one dynamic that is different from this year and past GOP struggles to repeal Obamacare and that is President Donald Trump," said Doug Heye, a former communications director at the Republican National Committee. "Throughout this process, he has essentially stayed on the sidelines, instead of using his enormous influence with his base to push the bill forward and increase its popularity."
We're not seeing massive swings against the President, but Republicans are laying the groundwork for the eventual disavowal. 'We coulda did healthcare except TRUMP!' 'We coulda done taxes but TRUMP!' I mean, as many people on this very board have pointed out, the Democrats' entire platform is 'Trump bad!' and it is wildly effective for them. It won't be that hard to convince the populist base that the whole GOP got tricked by the New York billionaire. We're not talking about Eisenhower here, Trump has called himself a Republican for about ten minutes and has never adhered to party orthodoxy.
Hasta pronto, porque la vida no termina aqui...
America, stop pushing. I know what I'm doing.