Re: Trump Admin Meltdown Thread Part V - All Hail King Donald, First of his name
Posted: Sat Feb 08, 2020 5:16 pm
by Rex
the storylines are getting too predictable
Re: Trump Admin Meltdown Thread Part V - All Hail King Donald, First of his name
Posted: Sat Feb 08, 2020 6:15 pm
by Rams Fanny
Rex wrote: ↑Sat Feb 08, 2020 5:16 pm
the storylines are getting too predictable
If he gets Manfred fired for not going along....win?
Re: Trump Admin Meltdown Thread Part V - All Hail King Donald, First of his name
Posted: Sat Feb 08, 2020 6:23 pm
by brian
Re: Trump Admin Meltdown Thread Part V - All Hail King Donald, First of his name
Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2020 2:10 pm
by Jerloma
Trump is so stupid that he didn't get the MAGA hat joke on Curb...
Re: Trump Admin Meltdown Thread Part V - All Hail King Donald, First of his name
Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2020 4:35 pm
by Steve of phpBB
So two Assistant US Attorneys have withdrawn today from representing the government in the prosecution against Roger Stone. One has resigned his position as AUSA entirely.
Re: Trump Admin Meltdown Thread Part V - All Hail King Donald, First of his name
Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2020 4:36 pm
by L-Jam3
Resignation in lieu of a firing or a "fuck this shit, I'm outta here" resignation?
Re: Trump Admin Meltdown Thread Part V - All Hail King Donald, First of his name
Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2020 5:00 pm
by govmentchedda
@emptywheel, who is pretty on top of things, IMO, and not at all pro-Trump, seemed to think that the charging attorneys went overboard a bit. At least that's the take I got from her Twitter feed yesterday.
Re: Trump Admin Meltdown Thread Part V - All Hail King Donald, First of his name
Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2020 5:10 pm
by Steve of phpBB
L-Jam3 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 11, 2020 4:36 pm
Resignation in lieu of a firing or a "fuck this shit, I'm outta here" resignation?
These are protest resignations - they are resigning to protest the decision by DOJ political appointees to override their filing. (A third one has resigned.)
Re: Trump Admin Meltdown Thread Part V - All Hail King Donald, First of his name
Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2020 5:11 pm
by Steve of phpBB
govmentchedda wrote: ↑Tue Feb 11, 2020 5:00 pm
@emptywheel, who is pretty on top of things, IMO, and not at all pro-Trump, seemed to think that the charging attorneys went overboard a bit. At least that's the take I got from her Twitter feed yesterday.
That's interesting. Did she say what she thought a reasonable recommendation would be? It seems to me the prosecutors recommended that the judge following the Sentencing Guidelines.
Re: Trump Admin Meltdown Thread Part V - All Hail King Donald, First of his name
govmentchedda wrote: ↑Tue Feb 11, 2020 5:00 pm
@emptywheel, who is pretty on top of things, IMO, and not at all pro-Trump, seemed to think that the charging attorneys went overboard a bit. At least that's the take I got from her Twitter feed yesterday.
That's interesting. Did she say what she thought a reasonable recommendation would be? It seems to me the prosecutors recommended that the judge following the Sentencing Guidelines.
I believe her point was that they were asking for above guidelines, and it surprised her a bit. I'll go look for the thread and link here. Sorry, Jerloma.
Re: Trump Admin Meltdown Thread Part V - All Hail King Donald, First of his name
Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2020 5:23 pm
by govmentchedda
Perhaps I misread her tweets?
Re: Trump Admin Meltdown Thread Part V - All Hail King Donald, First of his name
Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2020 5:41 pm
by DaveInSeattle
Yeah....DOJ put out the recommended sentence, Trump tweeted this morning that it was excessive, DOJ then backtracks and puts out NEW recommendations, and now 3 AUSA's have resigned in protest.
Umm...Does anyone want to ask Sen Collins if she's 'Troubled/Concerned' about this?
And it will be interesting to see what the Judge does. Federal Judges are no-nonsense about crap like this.
ETA: And now the fourth has resigned as well.
Re: Trump Admin Meltdown Thread Part V - All Hail King Donald, First of his name
Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2020 8:21 pm
by The Sybian
DaveInSeattle wrote: ↑Tue Feb 11, 2020 5:41 pm
Yeah....DOJ put out the recommended sentence, Trump tweeted this morning that it was excessive, DOJ then backtracks and puts out NEW recommendations, and now 3 AUSA's have resigned in protest.
Umm...Does anyone want to ask Sen Collins if she's 'Troubled/Concerned' about this?
And it will be interesting to see what the Judge does. Federal Judges are no-nonsense about crap like this.
ETA: And now the fourth has resigned as well.
My thoughts are so conflicted on this. I completely understand why the AUSAs want to quit, the entire integrity of their jobs is being undercut. The AUSAs in the biggest cities are the cream of the crop, and they all walk out of government into multi-million dollar a year jobs as partners in the biggest firms. Why put up with all the shot just have the dictator sabotage your work?
OTOH, I feel like they owe a duty as one of the last guardrails keeping our democracy on the tracks. Now there are 4 openings that Barr can fill with Trump toadies. The resignations should be seen as an enormous warning bell, but in the end it won't mean shit. The GOP Senate will continue protecting Trump and allowing him to slip further into authoritarianism. Trump will proclaim the resignations as a good thing, that he is draining the Swamp of evil Deep State AUSAs who are disloyal and unpatriotic because they are putting their agenda's (carrying out the law) above their loyalty to Dear Leader. Anyway you look at it, I'm tired of all Trump's winning. Fuck, this is a nightmare.
Re: Trump Admin Meltdown Thread Part V - All Hail King Donald, First of his name
DaveInSeattle wrote: ↑Tue Feb 11, 2020 5:41 pm
Yeah....DOJ put out the recommended sentence, Trump tweeted this morning that it was excessive, DOJ then backtracks and puts out NEW recommendations, and now 3 AUSA's have resigned in protest.
Umm...Does anyone want to ask Sen Collins if she's 'Troubled/Concerned' about this?
And it will be interesting to see what the Judge does. Federal Judges are no-nonsense about crap like this.
ETA: And now the fourth has resigned as well.
My thoughts are so conflicted on this. I completely understand why the AUSAs want to quit, the entire integrity of their jobs is being undercut. The AUSAs in the biggest cities are the cream of the crop, and they all walk out of government into multi-million dollar a year jobs as partners in the biggest firms. Why put up with all the shot just have the dictator sabotage your work?
OTOH, I feel like they owe a duty as one of the last guardrails keeping our democracy on the tracks. Now there are 4 openings that Barr can fill with Trump toadies. The resignations should be seen as an enormous warning bell, but in the end it won't mean shit. The GOP Senate will continue protecting Trump and allowing him to slip further into authoritarianism. Trump will proclaim the resignations as a good thing, that he is draining the Swamp of evil Deep State AUSAs who are disloyal and unpatriotic because they are putting their agenda's (carrying out the law) above their loyalty to Dear Leader. Anyway you look at it, I'm tired of all Trump's winning. Fuck, this is a nightmare.
FWIW, only one of the guys actually resigned from DOJ. The others just withdrew from the case and apparently resigned from a position with the Special Counsel.
Re: Trump Admin Meltdown Thread Part V - All Hail King Donald, First of his name
I'm no constitutional scholar, but that doesn't sound right to me...
Unfortunately it’s not nearly as wrong as you think. A big part of our Constitutional order, particularly as it’s been interpreted by courts in the last 100 years, depends on the President being a rational and decent actor.
Re: Trump Admin Meltdown Thread Part V - All Hail King Donald, First of his name
Posted: Fri Feb 14, 2020 10:01 am
by govmentchedda
Yeah, head of executive branch and whatnot.
Re: Trump Admin Meltdown Thread Part V - All Hail King Donald, First of his name
Posted: Fri Feb 14, 2020 10:40 am
by The Sybian
govmentchedda wrote: ↑Fri Feb 14, 2020 10:01 am
Yeah, head of executive branch and whatnot.
So then why was it such a big deal when a former President had a conversation with a sitting AG?
There is a very strong precedence in place that the DOJ is separate from the President and removed from political pressure. I doubt the Constitution addresses this, as the DOJ didn't exist until 1870, but the first AG was appointed in 1789. Again, Trump's complete refusal to follow long existing norms of institutions is exposing the need to codify these norms. I'm hopeful the legacy of the Trump admin is shining a light on all the loopholes an authoritarian could exploit, and Congress closes these loopholes once a Dem is in office, so we don't have to worry about a competent authoritarian succeeding in destroying our democracy.
Re: Trump Admin Meltdown Thread Part V - All Hail King Donald, First of his name
Posted: Fri Feb 14, 2020 12:12 pm
by Steve of phpBB
The Sybian wrote: ↑Fri Feb 14, 2020 10:40 am
So then why was it such a big deal when a former President had a conversation with a sitting AG?
It was a big deal because unlike Trump, Bill Clinton *didn't* have a government position that gave him the right to talk to an attorney general, nor was Clinton subject to any even nominal public duties. He was basically Rudy Giuliana. And Clinton was in a position to offer the then-AG a job or other incentives. Her tenure was going to end, and she was going to return to the private sector, in a few months, so she was in a position of needing favors.
It was rightly a big deal when he met privately with the public official overseeing investigations of his wife.
Re: Trump Admin Meltdown Thread Part V - All Hail King Donald, First of his name
