440

Post Andy McCabe’s firing-which is probably obstruction of justice or at least needs to be seen as part of the larger pattern of Trump’s obstruction-there clearly has been a stepped up and coordinated campaign against Mueller. As to why now there are probably a lot of reasons-Trump’s feeling even more arrogant after firing McCabe, his lawyers just saw some of the questions he will have to answer in a Mueller interview, Cambridge Analytica is again in the news for using Facebook data for the Trump campaign.

UPDATE: Of course, Mueller allowed Trump to skate on a Mueller interview-we now know from the Mueller Report that it was around the time I initially wrote this chapter-March, 15 2018-that John Dowd was successfully able to bully Mueller into letting it go whileTrump clearly perjured himself on any number of his written answers-again with no consequences…

FN: Will there ever be consequences for Trump’s many egregious, obstructive, and illegitimate actions? You’ll have to ask Pelosi and Friends. It is a happy development that a full third of House Democrats now favor impeachment.

Particularly welcome yesterday was Jim Himes-on Intel-as he’s sounded like an impeachment phobe in the past.

You particularly have to like Himes rationale for his support-it’s a time not for prudence but moral clarity and conviction. With all the talk of political calculus-ie, prudence-it’s clear that at least within the Democratic party the winning argument is for impeachment on a matter of principle-Warren’s move up in the polls correlates pretty closely with when she came out for impeachment.

Now Eric Swalwell, another-floundering-2020 candidate is out full throatedly for impeachment.

Good for him but honestly he’s a little late to the game-as a member of both Judiciary and Intel-one of only three members to see all the unredacted material Coverup Barr has released to select Congressional members so far-it would have helped him to have gotten there much sooner.

And now that he’s there he needs to advocate for his position to his good friend Pelosi as well as to Schiff and Nadler-though Nadler’s largely there already.

Regarding the more unredacted Mueller Report It’s itself a scandal that so few members of Congress-even among Democrats-have read everything available.

End of FN.

Regarding the McCabe firing it’s even worse than that-as documented in Chapter A-when Jeff Sessions fired McCabe for alleged ‘lack of candor’ he was aware that McCabe was actually investigating himself for perjury before Congress.

End of UPDATE.

And then there’s the news that Mueller has subpoenaed Trump Organization. This is something Trump had claimed was a bright red line. It turns out Mueller doesn’t recognize any red lines from Herr Trump.

UPDATE: In retrospect this was too optimistic-post the MR it has emerged that Mueller largely did stay away from investigating Trump’s finances.

Now it’s on Schiff, Maxine Waters, and Richard Neal-who’s been way too cautious-to bring them to light.

Regarding specifically the Trump Organization it remains unclear what Mueller uncovered-though TO is the subject of other investigations-by Congress, SDNY, etc.

“The special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, has subpoenaed the Trump Organization in recent weeks to turn over documents, including some related to Russia, according to two people briefed on the matter. The order is the first known instance of the special counsel demanding records directly related to President Trump’s businesses, bringing the investigation closer to the president.”

“The breadth of the subpoena was not clear, nor was it clear why Mr. Mueller issued it instead of simply asking for the documents from the company, an umbrella organization that encompasses Mr. Trump’s business ventures. Mr. Mueller ordered the Trump Organization to hand over records related to Russia and other topics he is investigating, the people said.”

As to why a subpoena rather than asking for the documents-there are a few possible reasons. One is Mueller may not have trusted Trump Org to hand over all relevant documents and information. Or maybe he wanted to send a message-like with Manafort.

Back to the Times:

“The subpoena is the latest indication that the investigation, which Mr. Trump’s lawyers once regularly assured him would be completed by now, will continue for at least several more months. Word of the subpoena came as Mr. Mueller appears to be broadening his inquiry to examine the role foreign money may have played in funding Mr. Trump’s political activities. In recent weeks, Mr. Mueller’s investigators have questioned witnesses, including an adviser to the United Arab Emirates, about the flow of Emirati money into the United States.”

FN: But this line of inquiry regarding George Nader and the UAE-the August 4, 2016 Trump tower meeting with UAE and Saudi Arabia- didn’t make it into the Mueller Report.

It’s clear Mueller’s investigation won’t be wrapping up soon, likely not in 2018-which makes the House GOP’s scuttling of the Russia investigation even less defensible.

“In 2015, a longtime business associate of Mr. Trump’s, Felix Sater, emailed Mr. Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, at his Trump Organization account claiming he had ties to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and that building a Trump Tower in Moscow would help Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign. Mr. Trump signed a nonbinding letter of intent for the project in 2015 and discussed it at least three times with Mr. Cohen.”

“A revealing comment about Russia by Eric Trump, the president’s middle son, also drew scrutiny when it emerged last year. James Dodson, a longtime golf writer from North Carolina, said offhand in a radio interview that Eric Trump, who oversees the golf courses for the Trump Organization, told him in 2013 that the Trumps relied on Russian investors to back their golf clubs. Eric Trump has denied those remarks.

Trump’s red lines mostly serve as good indicators as to where investigators should look. It’s like the police are in your house and you tell them-‘Fine you can search the premises but I absolutely refuse to let you look in the closet. There’s nothing there.’

And an investigation of Trump Org might reveal many things that Trump has long since tried to keep hidden from the public-those tax returns, and his real net worth. He sued Tim O’Brien for suggesting he wasn’t a billionaire but lost in discovery: ie, if Trump is a billionaire he’s incapable of proving it. His high estimates might well be overvaluing assets-particularly the ‘intangibles.’

FN: It’s pretty clear by now Trump isn’t a billionaire. A picture of his finances has begun to emerge-hopefully it gets clearer as the various Congressional committees continue their work.

It is a scandal that Richard Neal is refusing to pick up the $100 dollar bill lying on the sidewalk-NY State is offering him Trump’s state tax returns.

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October 28, 2016: a Day That Will Live in Infamy Copyright © by . All Rights Reserved.

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