SSHoya
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Post by SSHoya on Jan 26, 2018 7:14:05 GMT -5
Third, in contrast to the many valid reasons to criticize McGahn’s White House tenure, this episode illustrates—at least in this instance—the White House counsel’s deft performance of his duties under difficult circumstances, perhaps even skillful management of a particularly ornery client. McGahn has not always behaved so admirably; he reportedly was willing to carry out Trump’s earlier instruction to pressure Attorney General Jeff Sessions not to recuse himself from this investigation. But in this instance, he allegedly managed to ride out a presidential temper tantrum, both offering the president reasonable advice and declining to carry out a presidential order clearly not made in good faith. www.lawfareblog.com/trumps-effort-fire-mueller-reactions-new-york-times-reportThis also accounts for earlier reporting that McGahn had researched the obstruction of justice statute in January 2017 after Flynn's lies to the FBI and why he spent almost 2 full days being interviewed by Mueller. Perhaps McGahn realized that if he communicated Trump's request to fire Mueller he'd potentially be aiding and abetting obstruction of justice by Trump. foreignpolicy.com/2017/12/20/white-house-counsel-knew-in-january-flynn-probably-violated-the-law/
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SSHoya
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Post by SSHoya on Jan 26, 2018 11:22:35 GMT -5
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SSHoya
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Post by SSHoya on Jan 26, 2018 17:04:25 GMT -5
Thursday night's New York Times report of the president’s failed move in June 2017 to dismiss Special Counsel Robert Mueller lays out a basic narrative: President Trump ordered Mueller’s firing, but relented when White House counsel Don McGahn threatened to resign over the matter. Yet it leaves a number of interesting questions unanswered. More detail may still emerge about the conflict between the president and his White House counsel. In the meantime, reasonable speculation is all that is available to fill in the gaps. www.lawfareblog.com/mcgahns-defense-office-white-house-counsel
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2018 17:24:27 GMT -5
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SSHoya
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Post by SSHoya on Jan 26, 2018 17:59:27 GMT -5
18 USC 1513(e) Whoever knowingly, with the intent to retaliate, takes any action harmful to any person, including interference with the lawful employment or livelihood of any person, for providing to a law enforcement officer any truthful information relating to the commission or possible commission of any Federal offense, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both. 18 USC 371 If two or more persons conspire either to commit any offense against the United States, or to defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose, and one or more of such persons do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy, each shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. Conspiracy to obstruct justice if it can be proved that the concerted effort against Baker, McCabe, and Rybicki was intended to retaliate or interfere with their lawful employment at the FBI assuming they have all provided truthful information to Mueller. Trump is on the record against McCabe and it looks as if he will be retiring when first eligible. Jim Baker (who hired me at the Office of Intelligence Policy and Review, the predecessor component to DOJ/National Security Division and Jim Rybicki who I knew as Chief of Staff at NSD) have apparently been reassigned after Wray was urged by Sessions (as ordered by Trump?) to do so. Is this considered interference with lawful employment? Typically, a new Director at FBI would usually seek to have his own team anyway. Is that Wray's position on this matter? Or would he ever concede that he changed his staff, in part, because of the pressure from Sessions and his need to appease Trump? Wray knew Baker when both were in the Bush Administration, Wray as a political appointee and Baker a career DOJ lawyer. I don't think Jim Rybicki was known to Wray. Interesting questions.
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SSHoya
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Post by SSHoya on Jan 27, 2018 8:07:42 GMT -5
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SSHoya
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Post by SSHoya on Jan 27, 2018 17:04:35 GMT -5
Why have these stories started to appear in the last six to seven weeks? Why such a different account of what McGahn told Trump in late January 2017? Why leaks now about McGahn’s actions seven months ago to defy the President on firing Mueller? Why are we hearing now that McGahn was “fed up” with Trump last June? Why are we just learning that “McGahn has considered resigning on at least two occasions”? Is McGahn or a McGahn ally trying to set the record straight because of some development in the Mueller investigation? As Mueller’s interview of Trump approaches, are people in the White House trying to remind the President of the costs of a confrontation with or dismissal of Mueller? Is McGahn setting the groundwork to leave the Administration, as Kristol and others speculate? www.lawfareblog.com/whats-mcgahn-revisionism
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SSHoya
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Post by SSHoya on Jan 28, 2018 11:07:18 GMT -5
I wonder if Mueller has already substantially completed a money laundering case against Trump and/or Kushner and/or the Trump Organization since it is primarily a paper case. That's why he's moved onto the obstruction of justice charge. It took about a 18 months or so to bring the money laundering charges contained in the indictment against Manafort and Gates. “I've felt all along in the Russia investigation that the most important issues were those that had the potential of exerting a continuing influence over the administration and over U.S. policy,” Representative Adam Schiff of California, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told me Friday. “And if the Russians were laundering money through the Trump Organization, the Russians would know it, the president would know it, and that could be very powerful leverage.” www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/01/theres-a-potential-for-russian-leverage-here/551024/The evidence of obstruction is simply overwhelming at this point. “Mueller and his team surely have evidence on obstruction of justice that has not yet been made public,” writes Jeffrey Toobin in the New Yorker. “But even on the available evidence, Trump’s position looks perilous indeed. The portrait is of a President using every resource at his disposal to shut down an investigation—of Trump himself. And now it has become clear that Trump’s own White House counsel rebelled at the President’s rationale for his actions.” www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2018/01/28/if-trumps-own-advisers-think-he-has-obstructed-justice-how-could-republicans-decide-otherwise/?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-a%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.1ce7f8905335
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SSHoya
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Post by SSHoya on Jan 29, 2018 7:44:47 GMT -5
One of Trump's "best people", Paul Manafort, B '71, L '74. You know the old saying, birds of a feather flock together. When Paul Manafort officially joined the Trump campaign, on March 28, 2016, he represented a danger not only to himself but to the political organization he would ultimately run. A lifetime of foreign adventures didn’t just contain scandalous stories, it evinced the character of a man who would very likely commandeer the campaign to serve his own interests, with little concern for the collective consequences. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/03/paul-manafort-american-hustler/550925/
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 29, 2018 10:10:50 GMT -5
RELEASE THE MEMO IT WILL PROVE *squints at article* even the Trump administration itself suspected Carter Page of being a Russian spy?
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SSHoya
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Post by SSHoya on Jan 29, 2018 11:07:11 GMT -5
Hey Republicans, proud of your leadership? Whatever happened to the so-called law and order party. Biggest hypocrites ever. Party over country every single time. While an occasional voice of sanity pops up now and then — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) (on a good day), retiring Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) (every day) — none of the voices urging strict oversight of President Trump, protection for the special prosecutor and a willingness to shut down the smear campaign against the FBI are in the Republican leadership in either house. Both Ryan and McCarthy are complicit in the counterattack on the FBI and the special prosecutor. They set the tone for the nonstop assault on Mueller and the Justice Department, setting their caucus loose to create a fog of confusion. They see their roles as the defense team for Trump, not the leaders of a co-equal branch of government obligated to check the excesses of the executive. They in all likelihood will not insulate the special prosecutor nor prevent Nunes from damaging national security or doing lasting damage to the FBI. www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2018/01/29/republican-house-leaders-are-complicit-in-obstruction/?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-e%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.8719e1d2eaec
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EasyEd
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Post by EasyEd on Jan 29, 2018 13:19:56 GMT -5
Exit Andrew McCabe. Tip of the iceberg of a major scandal.
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SSHoya
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Post by SSHoya on Jan 29, 2018 13:51:58 GMT -5
When I was released from active duty from the U.S. Navy I used my accrued leave time (called terminal leave in the parlance of the day) to begin work at the Department of Justice even though I was still commissioned and technically on active duty. That was a period of 20 days. When I retired from the Department of Justice, I used my accrued leave time to depart early (including use of accrued sick leave) to add to my years of creditable service. Anyone who knows federal personnel practices would not be surprised by this. A person close to the matter confirmed that McCabe will still formally retire in March, but is leaving the deputy director position now, and plans to use leave time to fill out his remaining time at the FBI. www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fbis-andrew-mccabe-leaving-deputy-director-job-will-retire-in-march/2018/01/29/35b1bbd4-051c-11e8-b48c-b07fea957bd5_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_mccabe-112pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.f81d4443e2baMcCabe is an SES employee. He can either choose to be paid for his unused accrued annual leave or use his accrued annual leave to physically depart the FBI now and still retire in March when he is eligible. Note: SES and certain other senior employees may carry 70 days forward and they earn annual leave at the maximum regardless of their years of service. Separate earning and carryover rules apply to postal employees depending on their pay system, which in turn depends on their bargaining status. www.fedweek.com/reg-jones-experts-view/unused-annual-leave-payout-retirement/It is similar to the system in the military but is apparently called "transition leave" not "terminal leave" as when I left active duty in 1984: At retirement, the leave you have accrued through your retirement date may be sold (limit of 60 days per career), used as transition leave, or split between these two options. You must decide what is best for you. Because it is difficult to cancel an approved retirement, it is best to decide your course of action before submitting your retirement request. The following factors may affect your decision: www.military.com/money/retirement/military-retirement/transition-leave-overview.html
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EasyEd
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Post by EasyEd on Jan 29, 2018 14:02:32 GMT -5
And McCabe suddenly decided to clear out by noon today. Mere coincidence? I am fully aware of Civil Service rules since I did the same thing when I retired. But I did not suddenly decide that one morning when a memo was about to be released that might have implicated me in all kinds of bad things. Stay tuned. More to come.
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SSHoya
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Post by SSHoya on Jan 29, 2018 14:10:38 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Jan 29, 2018 14:29:57 GMT -5
And McCabe suddenly decided to clear out by noon today. Mere coincidence? I am fully aware of Civil Service rules since I did the same thing when I retired. But I did not suddenly decide that one morning when a memo was about to be released that might have implicated me in all kinds of bad things. Stay tuned. More to come. The President, Republicans, and the MAGA media have been smearing this guy for months and POTUS dispatched his staff to dig up dirt on him. What info do you think Nunes got from the FBI that the FBI didn't have already? Just spitballing here but what if he was forced out because the President simply wanted it to happen? Would that upset you ED, or do you only care about these things if the person abusing power is not a Republican? All three have been forced out...
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tashoya
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Post by tashoya on Jan 29, 2018 15:18:52 GMT -5
This is the scandal then? Okay.
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SSHoya
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Post by SSHoya on Jan 29, 2018 16:07:35 GMT -5
Trump sycophants/enablers/supporters must be very very proud of this petty you call President. Classy guy. You'd want your kid to grow up to be like Trump, right? Trump demanded to know why Comey was allowed to fly on an FBI plane after he had been fired, these people said. McCabe told the president he hadn’t been asked to authorize Comey’s flight, but if anyone had asked, he would have approved it, three people familiar with the call recounted to NBC News. The president was silent for a moment and then turned on McCabe, suggesting he ask his wife how it feels to be a loser — an apparent reference to a failed campaign for state office in Virginia that McCabe’s wife made in 2015. www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-s-gripes-against-mccabe-included-wife-s-politics-comey-n842161As far as I'm concerned, all of Trump's public statements attacking the FBI is evidence of his corrupt intent for purposes of an obstruction of justice charge.
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EasyEd
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Post by EasyEd on Jan 29, 2018 19:12:02 GMT -5
I think it is extremely important to know if the FBI or other federal agencies have been acting in a partisan way by skewing investigations in such a way as to favor one candidate over another; or, by selectively leaking to the press information they regard as damaging to one candidate or the President.
If Trump has evidence suggesting some top level persons at the FBI have acted in a partisan way, he has every right, in fact a duty, to have them removed.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 29, 2018 19:33:29 GMT -5
I think it is extremely important to know if the FBI or other federal agencies have been acting in a partisan way by skewing investigations in such a way as to favor one candidate over another; or, by selectively leaking to the press information they regard as damaging to one candidate or the President. If Trump has evidence suggesting some top level persons at the FBI have acted in a partisan way, he has every right, in fact a duty, to have them removed. Yes, they were favoring one candidate (Clinton) over the other (Trump) that's why Comey announced an investigation into one candidate (Clinton) a week before the election and then waited until after the election to announce Trump's..... Makes sense... The only right you're giving Trump, is the right to have lapdogs at the FBI and DOJ, and to create the same partisan environment you claim to be concerned about.
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