Trump

[jdmee]

To be fair, we should be able to expect our presidents to be above reproach. It's why they've always released tax returns. It's why we do extensive background investigations, even if there were no convictions. It's why people wanted Clinton to be impeached for consensual sexual activity.

Nobody wanted Clinton to be impeached for consensual sexual activity.

[jdshock]

Nobody wanted Clinton to be impeached for consensual sexual activity.

Do you believe president's are actually "innocent until proven guilty" or do you believe we should hold them to a hire standard?

Because if you truly believe that, then you have to think Clinton is "innocent" since he was acquitted, and therefore, not guilty.

[CBB_Fan]

I've voted for Johnson twice, and I've never voted for a Democrat for President.

Donald Trump is my least favorite Presidential candidate, let alone winner. You may think I'm calling him illiterate as baseless smear to make him seem unintelligent, but that is not my purpose. I'm simply calling it as I see it. He avoids reading. He needs cliff-notes. He prefers to watch TV than read policy.

As far as personal failings go, it isn't nearly as big as him abusing his power to creep on women or refuse to pay workers, but it is something I can't stand in a President. When he is signing Executive Orders without reading them (ie, when he put Bannon on the Security Council) it is a national security problem.

If he was making an honest attempt to take in as much information as possible, to get to where a President needs to be I could accept some of his gaffes. But I see a President that either shirks that duty or is incapable of fulfilling it. That is unacceptable to me.

As far as Sessions go, nothing he did was wrong and he was fully in his rights (and duties) to meet with Russia. The issue is that he perjured himself. Even worse, he is supposed to be the nation's top lawyer and he perjured himself volunteering information that wasn't even asked for. That is gross incompetence.

[jdmee]

You are right, it is because he lied under oath just like Sessions just did during his confirmation hearing.

Correct it was about perjury. Giving both instances what was the context of the question and answer? Can you see the difference or are you just being partisan? The question and answer were both in context of the campaign.

Per CNN.

SEN. AL FRANKEN: "If there was any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of this (2016) campaign, what would you do?," the Minnesota Democrat asked.

SESSIONS: "I'm not aware of any of those activities. I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians."

SEN. PATRICK J. LEAHY: Several of the President-elect's nominees or senior advisers have Russian ties. Have you been in contact with anyone connected to any part of the Russian government about the 2016 election, either before or after election day?" the Vermont Democrat asked in a questionnaire.

SESSIONS: No.

Where is the lie?

[jdmee]

Do you believe president's are actually "innocent until proven guilty" or do you believe we should hold them to a hire standard?

Because if you truly believe that, then you have to think Clinton is "innocent" since he was acquitted, and therefore, not guilty.

Just as much as OJ is.


I don't believe that they should be subjects of witch hunts. The Clinton impeachment and this were/are witch hunts.

[pinstripers]

Nobody wanted Clinton to be impeached for consensual sexual activity.

Consensual between the boss and an employee is not consensual

[John Higgins]

jdmee is 100% correct, this is nothing but another fake news story.

The written question by Sen. Leahy was specifically asking about whether Sessions had spoken to Russian officials about the 2016 election. Sessions simply answered "no." As far as anyone knows, that is factual. He never said that he has not spoken to any Russian officials and more importantly that wasn't even the question being asked.

The question during the confirmation hearing from Franken is being shown completely out of context by the media. Go look at the full transcript of the question. The question was whether Sessions as a surrogate for the Trump campaign or anyone else had been in ongoing contact with intermediaries or the Russian government about alleged information that Russian operatives claimed they had about Trump personally and financially. Sessions answer was, "I'm not aware of those activities, I have been called a surrogate a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians and am unable to comment on it."

He's not talking about any contact with Russian officials, he's talking about as a surrogate if he was in ongoing contact with Russian officials or intermediaries about alleged embarrassing information that Russia had about Trump. The media is manufacturing another story out of thin air.

[jdshock]

Just as much as OJ is.


I don't believe that they should be subjects of witch hunts. The Clinton impeachment and this were/are witch hunts.

Honestly didn't expect that response. Fair enough.

[Kung Wu]

Just as much as OJ is.


I don't believe that they should be subjects of witch hunts. The Clinton impeachment and this were/are witch hunts.

Yeah but Clinton actually was a witch, so . . .

[Eric]

Haha... Pence had national security emails on his AOL emails. I hope if you are outraged by clintons you are just as outraged by this.

Pence used a private email account to conduct government business, just like Clinton.

The emails contained discussions about "sensitive matters and homelands security issues."

Pence' private emails were hidden from public records requests, just like Clinton.

Pence's private email was hacked, eliminating the "but her homebrew server" distinction without a difference. The account was compromised in June, yet Pence never disclosed the breach or the fact that he had a private account that he used for state business.

Pence routinely criticized Clinton's private sever throughout the campaign, including saying that "Clinton operated in such a way to keep her emails [ ] out of the public reach, public accountability."

But it's only heinous when those other sonsabitches are doing it.

[RoyalShock]

I propose a do-over.

[SB Shock]

Will Schumer resign?

On Monday while President Obama was taking part in a global nuclear security summit in South Korea, he was caught on tape asking for Russian President Dmitri Medvedev for “space.”

“This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility,” Obama implored.

What over secret conversation did Obama have with the Russians? How do we know that Obama didn't arrange with the Russians to Hack Hillary? It no secret that Obama didn't like Hillary. Obviously there was a lot of weird stuff stuff with the Russians where Obama refused to confront them. So if there is going to be an investigation - lets make sure the Obama administration is investigated.

[SB Shock]

And now we are hearing that Flynn met with russian envoy in December when 1. Flynn said it was phone calls only 2. It was in trump towers 3. Trumps son in law was at the meeting and he is an advisor to trump. 4. Trump claimed to not know anyone on his team was talking with russia.

Lol, can't wait for the mental gymnastics on this.

What does it matter?

[SB Shock]

I propose a do-over.

It is funny the democrats are crying about a democrat being elected. Had the media done their job during the republican primary - no way does Trump get the republican nomination. But they wanted to sabotage the republican process - well they now reap what they sowed. Unintended consequences.....

They then cry over the hacking of the DNC by Russia - when they knew they had been compromised for over a year and did nothing. Plus not only were the Russians hacking us, but the Chinese and Iranians and the Obama administration has refused to confront any of these countries. The reality is "Hacking" is the 21st century fancy word for "espionage".

[SB Shock]

Im fine with an investigation into both the trump and obama admin regarding this because obamas admin has nothing to hid.

Here's the timeline as we know it:

July 8, '16 - Trump advisor Carter Page visits Moscow & receives an offer to broker a 19% equity sale in a massive Russian oil deal if Trump will lift US/EU sanctions related to the invasion of Ukraine. These sanctions have crippled the Russian economy & hamstrung their oligarchy.

March '16 - Trump hires Paul Manafort, known for his ties to pro-Russian Ukrainian politicians, and forms a foreign policy advisory committee that includes J.D. Gordon and Carter Page. The committee is headed by Jeff Sessions.

April 26, '16 - Trump gives his first foreign policy speech where he notably calls for a softening of relations between the US and Russia - a departure from his previous stance. Russian diplomat Sergey Kislyak is in attendance.

July 7, '16 - Carter Page visits Moscow to give a speech scolding the US as hypocritical on democracy and corruption, a key Putin propaganda talking point later repeated by Trump.

July 11-15, '16 - Trump's team makes one tweak to the RNC platform: a pro-Russia softening of our stance on their invasion of Ukraine. The effort is led by J.D. Gordon.

July 19, '16 - Trump Nat Sec Advisor and now Attorney General Jeff Sessions, along with members of his advisory team including Carter Page and J.D. Gordon, meet with Putin envoy Sergey Kislyak.

July 19, '16 - Frank Mermoud leads the Republican coordination of the diplomatic corps at the RNC. He's a former Paul Manafort associate from Manafort's time in Ukraine and has deep business interests in Ukraine. Also working with the foreign dignitaries programme is former Manafort aid Philip Griffin - listed as one of the most influential Americans to work in Ukraine.

July 22, '16 - Wikileaks dumps the DNC emails on the eve of the DNC, helping hold down Clinton's favorability among an incensed left & boosting Trump's RNC bump while holding Clinton to her lowest polling of the cycle.

July 27, '16 - Trump tells the press that he would consider lifting sanctions on Russia & "jokingly" instructs Russia to continue to hack Clinton "if they're listening." It would be his last press conference of the election.

August 18, '16 - Paul Manafort was forced out of the campaign for his ties to a black ledger of Russian funds used to destabilize Ukraine. His daughter described the payments he received from Ukraine as "blood money."

September 8, '16 - Sessions meets with Russian diplomat Kislyak privately in his Senate office.

September 8, '16 - Trump appears on a Russian propaganda TV channel in an interview.

October 20, '16 - During talk by the Trump campaign that the election is rigged against them, Kislyak's office offers to send election monitors to the US.

December 8, '16 - Carter Page visits Moscow again with undisclosed business.

December '16 - Kislyak meets with Gen. Mike Flynn and Trump's son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner in Trump Tower.

December 29, '16 - Flynn has multiple calls with Kislyak to discuss that week's increased sanctions on Russia by then Pres. Obama.

January 10, '17 - During his confirmation hearing before the Senate, Sessions is asked if he's aware of contact between Trump campaign officials and the Russian government, a question he chooses not to answer though he instead offers that he himself did not have those communications.

February '17 - Flynn resigns after lying to VP Pence regarding his discussions with the Russian ambassador, as well as likely making false statements to FBI investigators regarding the same.

Sessions was clearly very misleading in his sworn testimony and has now recused himself of the investigation into ties between Russia and the Trump campaign (despite Trump's press secretary stating on the same day that there was nothing to recuse himself for). Democrats are calling for his resignation. Republicans continue to stick with Trump and refuse a broader investigation headed by an independent counsel, after previously offering assurances that the Justice Department headed by Sessions could handle the inquiry.

Oh the double standard - where were you when the Obama adminstration was doing:

1. fast and furious
2. Executive orders that violated the 2nd and 5th admendments
3. IRS targeting conservative groups
4. Justice department illegally spying on AP journalists
5. Solyndra - $535 million given to a company who goes bankrupt (company gave $$$$ to Obama)
6. Had "off the record" meeting with Lobbyist out of the White House to circumvent disclosure requirements
7. Remember the special Obamacare exemptions that were given to certain union organization that support Obamacare?
8. Obama and Clinton campaign has violated campaign finance laws. Obama campaign was fined. Clinton campaign has gotten away with the chinese influence.
9. Lying about Benghazi
10. Hillary (as Secretary of State) violating the espionage act.
11. AG Holder was asked to investigate himself after Holder lied under oath about the Fox's Rosen illegal email monitoring without proper court authority.
12. NID Clapper lied under oath about NSA collecting information on U.S. citizens.
13. Obama adminstration tried to circumvent the 2nd admendment by implementing "Operation choke point" by driving legal gun dealer out of business by making banks not to do business with them.
14. Clinton foundation.......

Since the Republicans are in control right now - I'm sure there that if some laws were broken then somebody will be held accountable unlike in the Obama administration where nothing was investigated and nobody was held accountable.