The Trump Card...

blackpup · Oct 24, 2019

Found this on Instapundit

Hawley to Introduce Bill to Move Federal Agencies out of Washington D.C. to Economically Stagnant Areas | National Review

The “Helping Infrastructure Restore the Economy (HIRE) Act” would move 90 percent of the positions within ten executive agencies.

www.nationalreview.com

I wonder what the results if any would be if by some unimaginable chance this bill actually were enacted into law ?

muttly · Oct 24, 2019

The Swamp creatures should be getting nervous now:

Durham's investigation into possible FBI misconduct is now criminal probe, sources say

U.S. Attorney John Durham's ongoing probe into potential FBI and Justice Department misconduct has transitioned into a full-fledged criminal investigation, two sources familiar with the investigation told Fox News on Thursday night.

www.foxnews.com

Turtle · Oct 25, 2019

I should have noted, I'm not in DC just for the eye-watering, camera-lens blurring poopie smell. I'm doing Nats World Series t-shirt runs.

Moot · Oct 25, 2019

A bit premature. I think it will go 7 games. I like both teams.

ATeam · Oct 26, 2019

Depending on the person making the comment, it has been said that 25-35 Republican senators would vote to remove Trump from office if the impeachment vote to convict was held by secret ballot. If you assume all Democrats the two independents in the Senate vote to convict, 20 Republican votes would be needed to reach the constitutionally required 2/3 majority (68 votes). At present, those votes are not there on a public vote. But if the commentators are correct and 25-35 secret-ballot votes exist, and if the rules are changed to conduct the vote by secret ballot, Trump's conviction and removal from office becomes more likely.

Those are two big ifs. (1) Is it true that 25-35 Republican senators would vote to convict and remove Trump if voting was done by secret ballot? And (2), could the rules be so changed?

Moot · Oct 26, 2019

If the rules are changed and the Senate gets a secret vote, if it ever gets that far; it will be more proof of Washington as The Swamp and the existence of the Deep State.

Washington D.C., our nation's capitol and the birthplace of opaque transparency . Turtle's picture captured the essence of the city and our leaders. Less the poopie smell.
.

Turtle · Oct 26, 2019

ATeam said:
Those are two big ifs. (1) Is it true that 25-35 Republican senators would vote to convict and remove Trump if voting was done by secret ballot? And (2), could the rules be so changed

Can you see it? Can you see it? How that's literally living in a dream fantasy world?

Turtle · Oct 26, 2019

Woman wearing a hijab working the entrance to a Walmart parking lot in Alexandria, VA.

Hard to see the sign, but I'm pretty sure it says,

"Will pray for food"

Bad Turtle! Bad!

muttly · Oct 26, 2019

Not only would they be cancelling the votes of over 60 million people, but they would have to change the rules and vote in secrecy. Interesting...

Turtle · Oct 26, 2019

muttly said:
...but they would have to change the rules and vote in secrecy...

I'm shocked that Democrats would even consider changing the rules just as a means of getting their way.

Oh, wait. No I'm not.

ATeam · Oct 26, 2019

Trump's view of himself and himself as president is noteworthy.

Jul 22, 2016: "Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it."
Jan 16, 2018: "I think that would qualify as not smart, but genius ... and a very stable genius at that!"
Aug 21, 2019: "I am the chosen one."
Aug 23, 2019: "Our great American companies are hereby ordered to ...."
Oct 7, 2019: "...if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits..."
Oct 12, 2019: Trump referred to the beginning of his presidency as "when I took over the United States.'"
Oct 25, 2019: "But here’s the thing: I don’t have teams. Everyone is talking about teams. I’m the team."

ATeam · Oct 26, 2019

With all eyes on the impeachment inquiry in the House, it's easy to let the courts fade from view. How is Trump doing in the courts? Here's a review of three cases:

1. Blumenthal v. Trump, an emoluments case. Judge denied Trump's motion to dismiss and ruled the plaintiffs have standing to continue the case.

2. Maryland and DC v. Trump, an emoluments case. After a three-judge Appeals Court panel ruled in favor of Trump and ordered the case thrown out, that court's full bench decided to take up the case which will be heard on 12/12/19.

3. CREW v. Trump, an emoluments case. U.S. District Judge George B. Daniels dismissed the case on December 21, 2017, holding that plaintiffs lacked standing. On appeal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed the dismissal, reinstated the suit, and remanded the case to the district court for further proceedings.

Thus, all three emoluments cases remain live and are proceeding. In all three cases, the most-recent rulings have gone against Trump.

Also of interest (to me at least) are four other cases:

1. The case in which Trump is suing to quash a New York State subpoena that would provide the Manhattan D.A. with Trump's tax records. At the appellate level, both sides have agreed to certain conditions that are likely to speed this case to the Supreme Court, which both sides appear to want..

2. The case in which Trump is suing to quash the subpoena that would provide the House Oversight Committee access to the Trump financial data specified in the subpoena.

3. The case in which Trump is suing to quash the subpoena that would provide the House Ways and Means Committee access to the Trump financial data specified in the subpoena.

4. The case in which the Justice Department was recently ordered by the Court to release certain grand jury materials from former special counsel Mueller’s investigation to the House Judiciary Committee amid its impeachment inquiry.

It is tedious to track these cases. I'll try to provide a better summary as time permits.

muttly · Oct 26, 2019

Trump: "Something very big has just happened!"

Ragman · Oct 26, 2019

ATeam said:
Trump's view of himself and himself as president is noteworthy.

Jul 22, 2016: "Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it."
Jan 16, 2018: "I think that would qualify as not smart, but genius ... and a very stable genius at that!"
Aug 21, 2019: "I am the chosen one."
Aug 23, 2019: "Our great American companies are hereby ordered to ...."
Oct 7, 2019: "...if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits..."
Oct 12, 2019: Trump referred to the beginning of his presidency as "when I took over the United States.'"
Oct 25, 2019: "But here’s the thing: I don’t have teams. Everyone is talking about teams. I’m the team."

Patrick Cockburn: Is Donald Trump a fascist? He’s not Mussolini or Hitler just yet – but he’s not far off

The US president is just one of a string of populist nationalist leaders taking power across the world. But will his presidency follow the lead of Erdogan in Turkey and veer ever deeper into authoritarianism?

www.independent.co.uk

Four-star US army general compares Trump to Mussolini after ‘watershed moment’ for America

'No room for humorous media coverage. This is deadly serious. This is Mussolini'

www.independent.co.uk

I think the answer is evident.

muttly · Oct 26, 2019

Ragman said:
Patrick Cockburn: Is Donald Trump a fascist? He’s not Mussolini or Hitler just yet – but he’s not far off

The US president is just one of a string of populist nationalist leaders taking power across the world. But will his presidency follow the lead of Erdogan in Turkey and veer ever deeper into authoritarianism?

www.independent.co.uk

Four-star US army general compares Trump to Mussolini after ‘watershed moment’ for America

'No room for humorous media coverage. This is deadly serious. This is Mussolini'

www.independent.co.uk

I think the answer is evident.

McCaffrey is a Never Trumper. Employees still have free access online to those two and have at least 3 liberal leaning newspapers still available.

Turtle · Oct 26, 2019

A 4 star General, someone who is supposed to be (Muttly beat me to it as I was typing this) well trained by the US military, is supposed to be smart, is supposed to be trained in logical thinking, is supposed to be trained to set aside hyperbole, thinks Trump canceling subscriptions to the Times and to WaPo, publications that every federal employee has access to regardless, is a watershed moment, and then invoked Mussolini. That is so ridiculous as to be laugh out loud funny. Seriously. Laugh out loud funny.

And at the same time makes me suspicious and a little sad at the quality of people who can attain the rank of General in our military. I still have a lot of respect for our military, but this diminishes it just a smidge.

Turtle · Oct 26, 2019

ATeam said:
Trump's view of himself and himself as president is noteworthy.

Well, he should be impeached for that!

ATeam said:
It is tedious to track these cases.

It's also meaningless until the Supreme Court rules on them.

ATeam · Oct 27, 2019

Turtle said:
It's also meaningless until the Supreme Court rules on them.

Yes and no. If you focus on the cases alone, yes, you are correct. The Supreme Court has the final say.

But the lower court rulings have impacts beyond the cases themselves. We've already seen a judge in one of these cases reference another of these cases. The judges are paying attention to the rulings made by other courts.

The recent finding by a court that the House impeachment inquiry is legitimate and constitutional was made in case #4 listed above. While that ruling was made as part of the case, it also becomes part of the ongoing political debate and perhaps influential in it. Republicans have been questioning and/or condemning the impeachment inquiry process followed by the House. Their argument/talking point is defeated by the court finding. Unless and until a higher court finds otherwise, the House impeachment inquiry process is officially constitutional.