The US Presidency 2020

[Remius]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/17/politics/bolton-book-trump/index.html

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/bolton-in-book-accuses-trump-of-obstruction-of-justice-as-a-way-of-life-asking-chinas-xi-for-2020-help


Anyone surprised by any of this...?

 

[OldSolduer]

Trump has been waiting for Seattle or the Governor to call out the guard. If local authorities fail to act then the President could Federalize the Guard and or activate the Army Reserve which used to have a number of MP units.

Can the President actually do that by law?

 

[blacktriangle]

The Mayor and Governor are dems...it's pretty obvious they are trying to force the President's hand in the matter. Trying to bait him into acting in Seattle, so they can then jump all over it.

The Governor has already made it clear that he wants to POTUS one day, and I'm sure Mayor Durkan would love to see what the party could do for her in the future.

My mom is from the Seattle area, and I loved my time in Washington State...but I don't think we will be going back after this.

 

[QV]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/17/politics/bolton-book-trump/index.html

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/bolton-in-book-accuses-trump-of-obstruction-of-justice-as-a-way-of-life-asking-chinas-xi-for-2020-help


Anyone surprised by any of this...?

Surprised that they (the establishment) will do anything they can to remove/prevent re-election of Trump?  No.

Do I think they (MSM/Democrats/Republicans who despise Trump) will make great hay with this? Yes.

When it's all boiled down do I think there will be anything of real substance? No.  Will it be damaging to Trump anyway? Yes.

Am I eagerly anticipating action from DOJ (AG Barr, US Attorney Durham) on the criminal activities committed by senior US government officials before, during, and after the presidential election of 2016? Yes.  But will they still get away with it? It depends on who wins the next election, which is why all stops are being pulled to oust or prevent his re-election.

 

[mariomike]

Saw this in Canadian Politics,

(PS: Trump was right again. Fake news is the enemy of the people. Don't hate me.)

If you insist on injecting him into Canadian Politics, there's plenty to read on his attacks against what he refers to as, "The enemy of the people."
https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ALeKk00nIEsWjUUfcr5crzCJJrfN_eG62A%3A1592432527913&ei=j5fqXv2WN4iZwbkP8oq9sA8&q=%22enemy+of+the+people%22+trump&oq=%22enemy+of+the+people%22+trump&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWIQDFAAWABg95oJaABwAHgAgAEAiAEAkgEAmAEAqgEHZ3dzLXdpeg&sclient=psy-ab&ved=0ahUKEwi9mp658YnqAhWITDABHXJFD_YQ4dUDCAs#spf=1592432680719

 

[QV]

Leading up to this next election I think we will see the alleged Trump scandals reach a crescendo we never thought possible, it will be a last ditch all in effort.  Considering all those who are implicated in abusing law enforcement, intel community, and FISA court authorities via the Durham probe, they absolutely need Biden in to issue pardons, replace the AG, and make it all go away.  It should be absolute fireworks.

 

[Remius]

Leading up to this next election I think we will see the alleged Trump scandals reach a crescendo we never thought possible, it will be a last ditch all in effort.  Considering all those who are implicated in abusing law enforcement, intel community, and FISA court authorities via the Durham probe, they absolutely need Biden in to issue pardons, replace the AG, and make it all go away.  It should be absolute fireworks.

I'm sure plenty of more people who were in his immediate circle will come out with more stuff.

So far two secretaries of defence, two chiefs of staff and others.  Not sure that has ever happened before. 

I'm with you when it comes to his opponents.  But I'm sure that no other president has had this many people from his own team come out and criticize him the way they are.  Certainly not leading into an election.

 

[Remius]

Another Supreme Court disappointment for Trump.

https://www.businessinsider.com/supreme-court-daca-decision-trump-obama-2020-6

 

[QV]

I'm sure plenty of more people who were in his immediate circle will come out with more stuff.

So far two secretaries of defence, two chiefs of staff and others.  Not sure that has ever happened before. 

I'm with you when it comes to his opponents.  But I'm sure that no other president has had this many people from his own team come out and criticize him the way they are.  Certainly not leading into an election.

I don't think it has happened, ever.  But why didn't we hear any condemnation from these same people about any of this: 

When President Obama or his administration decided not to send the Iran treaty to the U.S. Senate for ratification, or refused congressional subpoenas in the Fast and Furious gun-running scandal, or nullified current federal immigration law by executive orders, or monitored the communication data of Associated Press journalists or allowed the IRS to politicize its mission before an election, or was caught on a hot mic offering a seeming quid pro quo of diminishing U.S. missile defense in Europe in exchange for the Putin regime’s providing him space during his own 2012 reelection effort, or used unsubstantiated opposition research from a hired foreign national to interfere in, and surveil, an oppositional political campaign and to disrupt a presidential transition, there were many who then argued that he was violating the Constitution.

Aren't you at all curious why it is so one sided, particularly with all that has been and continues to be revealed?  The underlined portions below alone are explosive but we don't hear much about it. 

In secret and while under oath in front of a House Intelligence Committee, Clapper admitted that he had no proof for his charge of treasonous Trump-Russian collusion.

In other words, a retired general was knowingly lying to the public. He was implying that his president was treasonous, while swearing under oath at roughly the same time that such a charge had no basis in fact. And that was not the first time this decorated retired military officer had lied — Clapper by his own admission earlier gave false testimony under oath to a congressional committee.

McCaffrey has not rescinded his charge that the president of the United States was under the sway of a foreign leader, despite 22 months and over $30 million invested in a comprehensive investigation by Robert Mueller that found no basis in fact for allegations of treason such as the one McCaffrey lobbed.

https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/06/not-so-retiring-retired-military-leaders/

 

[FJAG]

Currently reading Holding the Line: Inside Trump's Pentagon with Secretary Mattis by Guy Snodgrass, a former Navy fighter pilot and senior speech writer for Mattis.

So far it's a very balanced view of both Trump and Mattis. Credit is given where due and criticisms are made where equally due. Obama is mentioned too, rarely favourably.

One of those 'watching high end political sausages being made' books.

:cheers:

 

[FJAG]

Currently reading Holding the Line: Inside Trump's Pentagon with Secretary Mattis by Guy Snodgrass, a former Navy fighter pilot and senior speech writer for Mattis.

So far it's a very balanced view of both Trump and Mattis. Credit is given where due and criticisms are made where equally due. Obama is mentioned too, rarely favourably.

One of those 'watching high end political sausages being made' books.

:cheers:

Have now finished the book and I highly recommend it. Very good look at the major events from a front-office worker. Interesting highlites into the blading and backstabbing that goes on at these levels.

This is not an anti-Trump book although much of the emphasis is on how difficult a job it is working in the Trump administration regardless of your best intentions.

:cheers:

 

[Xylric]

Have now finished the book and I highly recommend it. Very good look at the major events from a front-office worker. Interesting highlites into the blading and backstabbing that goes on at these levels.

This is not an anti-Trump book although much of the emphasis is on how difficult a job it is working in the Trump administration regardless of your best intentions.

:cheers:

One of the things that I have noticed is a trend with this sort of book is that, when done properly, you walk away with the impression that author never lets the fact that there was an adversarial element to the interactions get in the way of the respect for the position. Sadly, most of the ones that I have read are not done properly.

 

[FJAG]

Speaking of "tell-all" books:

Federal judge denies Trump administration's attempt to block release of Bolton's book

By Katelyn Polantz, CNN

Updated 11:13 AM ET, Sat June 20, 2020

A federal judge has denied the Trump administration's attempt to block the upcoming publication of a book by former national security adviser John Bolton.

Judge Royce Lamberth of the DC District Court wrote in a 10-page decision Saturday morning that the Justice Department's arguments weren't enough to stop the book's release. He cited how the book, which is scheduled to be released Tuesday, had already been widely distributed, and could easily be distributed further on the internet, even if the court said it could not be.
"For reasons that hardly need to be stated, the Court will not order a nationwide seizure and destruction of a political memoir," Lamberth wrote.

The judge's ruling Saturday quickly dispels a long-shot attempt by the Trump administration to stymy the book's release -- an attempt roundly condemned as antithetical to the First Amendment. But Lamberth's decision also keeps alive major risks for Bolton, such as the administration's effort to claw back proceeds from the book, including from any movie and TV rights, and other consequences for disclosing classified information.

Lamberth also noted Bolton could still be exposed to criminal liability.
...

See rest of article as well as full text of the decision here

:cheers:

 

[brihard]

Speaking of "tell-all" books:

See rest of article as well as full text of the decision here

:cheers:

Trump is literally claiming this as a “BIG COURT WIN” on Twitter. Trying to somehow take the fact that he literally and clearly lost the case, and spin it based on minor aspects of the judge’s commentary.

He wanted the book blocked, sued to get it blocked, and failed to get it blocked. BIG COURT WIN.

 

[FJAG]

Trump is literally claiming this as a “BIG COURT WIN” on Twitter. Trying to somehow take the fact that he literally and clearly lost the case, and spin it based on minor aspects of the judge’s commentary.

He wanted the book blocked, sued to get it blocked, and failed to get it blocked. BIG COURT WIN.

I expect Trump is revelling in these words in the decision:

... Defendant Bolton has gambled with the national security of the United States. He has exposed his country to harm and himself to civil (and potentially criminal) liability. ...

:cheers:

 

[brihard]

I expect Trump is revelling in these words in the decision:

:cheers:

Indeed he likely is, which is telling. He is celebrating a supposed victory based on a court excoriating Bolton while denying a government application for injunction. That’s a political point scored for a Trump. If, however, his primary concern were actually the compromise of SCI, that should be the much more significant matter, and there’s no ‘win’ of any magnitude in this given that the horse is out of the barn/country, to paraphrase the judge. So, does Trump care more in this particular instance about America’s national interest, or his own political interest? You decide.

If, in fact, criminal offences have been committed in the disclosure of classified information, I’m sure we’ll see an indictment in fairy short order.

 

[Good2Golf]

If by ‘political point scored’, we understand putting a band-aid on the hole one shot in one’s foot (Trump brought Bolton on board, not the Democrats) then yes...but a personal political point scored, not even a point in the world of partisan politics.

 

[brihard]

Trump does not enjoy a reputation for taking ownership for choices and actions that don’t end well. He loudly trumpets and gleefully celebrates the firing of his own selected administration officials. I see no reason we should expect him to suddenly adopt an ethic of accountability now.

If Trump believes that each of these individuals are the failures he ultimately presents them to be- then whose failures are they?

 

[FJAG]

Quite frankly it's no longer a matter of what Trump thinks; it's whether or not his base is catching on to the extent of the Sh*t-show he's running. Regretfully, I'm not very optimistic about that.

And now there's this:

Attempt to fire powerful NY prosecutor appears to be latest move to protect Trump

Analysis by Stephen Collinson, CNN  Updated 12:06 PM ET, Sat June 20, 2020

The Trump administration's attempt to oust one of America's most powerful prosecutors raises fresh and glaring suspicions about its assault on the independence of the justice system and its respect for the rule of law that underpins constitutional governance.

Attorney General William Barr's declaration he replaced Geoffrey Berman of the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York renewed the debate over the extent to which Barr is acting on President Donald Trump's interests rather than the nation's. The office of Berman, who is refusing to quit, is leading a probe into Trump's lawyer Rudolph Giuliani and associates and has also indicted a Turkish state-owned firm involved in an Iran sanctions-busting case which Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has raised with Trump.

Scores of former Justice Department officials had already called for Barr to quit over a series of interventions that appear specifically designed to benefit Trump politically. Berman's refusal to go quietly meanwhile set off a new crisis and governmental showdown for an already reeling administration that is struggling to cope with a pandemic, a consequent economic crisis and a national reckoning on race.

The President had been thinking of removing Berman for two years and believes that the investigation into Giuliani is an attempt to damage him politically, two sources told CNN's Kevin Liptak. But Friday night's dramatic events stoke fresh intrigue of exactly why Barr and Trump are suddenly so keen to oust Berman -- a Trump donor who was installed by the Trump administration in 2018 -- less than five months before the election.

Berman, before walking into his office in downtown New York Saturday morning, told reporters, "I issued a statement last night, I have nothing to add to that this morning. I'm just here to do my job."

Fundamentally, the episode reveals the extent to which a President with authoritarian impulses, who has worked constantly to challenge the justice system's independence and sought to force it to act in his own personal interests, is prepared to act with impunity in the wake of his Senate acquittal by fellow Republicans on impeachment charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

...

See rest of article here

:worms:

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

But Bruce ... you are not most people.  ;D