Walker88

Yes. And also Wilson. Your point is what? The agency also had Aldrich Ames, Edward Lee Howard, Jim Nicholson, and others who broke the law. The Bureau had Robert Hansson and others. None equates to agency or bureau policy. Now a question or two for you.... Why did a country club owner and wedding planner need TS, SCI, SAP, SITK, Codeword, HCS and RD documents at his country club? That recklessness and theft represents infinitely more national security threats than all the names noted above combined. Are you aware anyone willing to put down $200K can join donny's club and would have had access to all of those documents? Do you know what the MSS is, and that an MSS case officer joined donny's club? She didn't join for the food, that's for sure. Any idea what sort of damage control the entire intel community had to do to determine what might have been compromised by trump's theft? Do you know what the term "exfil" means? Do you know what happened when donny showed off to FM Lavrov and Amb Kislyak in the Oval Office by sharing intel Mossad had given the US under the promise that it not be shared? Do you have any clue what such cavalier and reckless behavior does to other liaison relationships and even to foreign clandestine sources (who pay attention to the news)? I doubt you care and nothing trump could do would take away one iota of the worship you have of him, but the clown cost the country a lot---and not only the $175,000,000 the OMB and CBO estimated was spent by the US Taxpayer so trump could golf.

You might want to go read the SSCI report on the Russia investigation. The Repubs were the majority when they released it, and I don't think you could call them "leftists". They noted the travel to Spain of Paul Manafort his first week in the job of trump's Campaign Manager, where Manafort gave GRU asset Konstantin Kilimnik internal polling data from the trump campaign. Kilimnik then passed it to the GRU's Internet Research Agency, where they made up stories about such things as Uranium One and got them in the Facebook feed of voters in key swing States. That kind of smells like cooperation. The SSCI Report also noted the relationship between Roger Stone and Julian Assange, who had received emails hacked by a Romanian FSB asset from John Podesta and the DNC. Stone gave trump regular heads up on when new emails were going to be released. That, too, kind of smells like cooperation. Oh, and 140 contacts during the campaign between Russians and trump campaign officials, including donny, jrs "I love it!" meeting with a Russian asset in trump tower. Maybe the CIA gave the Repubs on SSCI special "leftist vaccines"? LOL Lucky for trump he had Barr as his AG. The good news is trump lost in 2020, the trump Recession and trump's 6.8% unemployment ended under Biden, and we've now seen 27 straight months of UE below 4%, the first time that has happened since the 1960s (You can go to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a part of the Dept of Labor, to get the numbers if you so choose.)

You are such a funny little guy! What termination? Is that a fantasy that makes you feel better? Have at it, if it helps take away the pain of being who you are. Let's get on topic again here....trump in general and the trial in particular.... Not sure whether you think trump had a tryst with Stormy, but you do know it doesn't even matter, because he isn't on trial for getting spanked or cheating on his 3rd wife. He's on trial for the hush money payment and how he accounted for it. Why did he have to do a 'catch and kill', when Hillary faced the GRU lie of Uranium One plus her supposed deathbed-level health scare, yet she didn't feel the need to do a catch and kill? I guess he knew it would hurt his election chances. Elsewhere, why did he steal thousands of classified documents? Do you think he can "declassify with his mind"? Would you be in favor of publishing every document he stole, even sending full tomes of all the docs to Putin, Xi, Kim Jong-un, the mullahs in Iran, and any other hostile nation? Why did he lie about returning them and have his lawyer sign a release attesting to that, when he still had highly classified docs at his country club, requiring the FBI to do a search and seizure? Why did he call his goobers to DC on 6 January and Tweet "It'll be WILD!"? Why did he tell them to "march to the Capitol" and "fight like hell"? Why did he lie and say Pelosi could have called for the Guard, when only POTUS can do that? Why did he lie and say he ordered the Guard to the Capitol, when the head of the DC Guard testified in Congress two weeks ago that trump did not order any Guard to go anywhere? If you prefer not to deal in facts and reality, then go ahead and call me a clerk or typist or whatever makes you feel better about yourself. Pretend I was "terminated", too. Your fantasies do me no harm, so knock yourself silly. Escape from yourself for a while.

Ah, I see you, too, have no clue what the agency does, probably gaining your 'knowledge' from Hollywood B-Fare. The agency is part of the Executive Branch. It gets tasked by the President to perform some tasks, while also regularly collecting and analyzing intelligence. If a President or Congressperson asks for some intel, the agency goes out looking for it. Some Presidents value what it produces, others (like trump) only want to be told what they already believe and want to hear. Covert action is ALWAYS at the request of the President. Generally, the agency is asked for options, and provides those to the Oval Office. The President then decides and issues a Finding, under which the agency will undertake the operation. There are no "rogue" operations. If a major covert action is undertaken, it is because the President has requested and approved it. The agency also tends to protect the President's public image. For example, the agency did not believe Saddam still had WMD, but Cheney was hellbent on an invasion. He got Tenet to go along, even though at the analytical level WMD was not believed to exist. The Neocons overruled. The disaster followed. The same thing happened in Afghanistan after 9-11. The agency argued the US should take out the al Qaeda bases, but not bother to try to bring the country into the 21st Century, arguing it would be a forever war. Bush didn't want to hear that and he set the stage for the wasted next two decades. The agency does not get everything right, but more often than not, it does. It also kind of encourages two polar opposite views...that it is nearly omnipotent and that it is quite incompetent. Both have value. The nature of intelligence work relegates the reality to somewhere between those two extremes. Mods: I appreciate this is off topic, but there is so much misinformation and misunderstanding that---since those folks have posted comments---I am addressing them.

I'll spell it out for you, Shorty. I was not dismissed. That's your fantasy or your need, because you need to believe something negative. Makes you feel.....taller. Will Hurd left to be a Congressman. Jason Matthews left to write books (He wrote excellent intel reports, by the way, and his Red Sparrow is a quite accurate portrayal of denied ops). Greg Vogle went to work for Gen McCrystal. A number of us left to go to Wall Street. Every case officer with whom I worked was a top student. Yes, most were from the Ivies, as that just seems to be a long tradition since Wild Bill Donovan and the OSS. That's what got them and me selected. I worked among equals. I've never been part of any organization or company with a greater percent of extreme intellect as in the agency, and intellect encompasses a wide range of disciplines. It still operates by the Pareto Principle as every organization does, but everyone has the skill. Some just use it better or more effectively. Agency case officers are the polar opposite of mil types. COs are free thinking, resourceful, self-starters, fairly anti-authority, natural risk takers, mostly cynical, and always looking for a greater challenge. Mil types, when told to jump, say "How high?" Case officers, if told to jump, ask, "What for?" The mil takes individual thought away (which is why more junior mil types are trumpers, as he tells them what to think), the agency actively encourages both individual thought and differing opinions. The mil demands group think; the agency almost forbids group think. Mil types (not you, but actual fighting men) will storm a beach because they were told to do so. Agency guys will go alone to ferret out a terror cell because it's a challenge and a test. Both types of people are needed in defense, and both entities select people according to their particular requirements. Good soldiers wouldn't (and don't) make good spooks; good spooks would make terrible soldiers. Spooks are more loners. As I noted earlier, despite all of our idiosyncrasies, we all kept the mission first. Most of us have seen, even lived in, non-democracies, and we know firsthand the dangers someone like trump represents. The system and institutions barely held in his first term; in any second term he won't have any Cohn or Mattis or Milley or Haspel or Wray or Kelly, nor will he take a chance on someone like Barr, who failed when absolute fealty was demanded of him after trump's defeat. Same with Pence, who---when push came to shove---obeyed his oath. The next person will not. trump will only select groveling sycophantic boot lickers. Sadly, the institutions have begun to fail more regularly in the last 4 years. The SC is stuffed with clowns who clearly have a deep distaste for the US Constitution. The Republican Party is made up of either cult members or cowards. The Dems have a weak bench. Good people are shunning public service, dregs and Performance Artists have found a calling, much to the detriment of legislation. They run the House, at least until January. Go back 20 years and ask this: If a sitting President refused to accept the results of an election, and engaged in all levels of fraud to try to prevent the peaceful transfer of power, plus commit other felonies (stealing documents and lying about it), would he be able to avoid accountability for 4 years, and face only a porn star hush money fraudulent payoff trial? THAT is how far the US has fallen. Rational people see it. Cult members are incapable of seeing it.

I'm not as woke as you. I state facts, even if they're uncomfortable. I didn't ask for my intellect any more than you asked for your short stature. Accidents of birth. Most of life is dumb luck. I admit that, but I won't deny the gifts I was given. I think 'legend in his own mind' fits you quite well, as you boasted about your carnal skills. I doubt anyone was fooled, certainly not any naturally born females.

I don't know if you just feel woefully inadequate, or if you really have no clue what agency case officers do? I suspect it's a bit of both. The agency is Executive Branch and theoretically non-mil, although we go through weapons and other mil-type training, such as parachuting and survival training, as part of the overall Farm experience. That training comes in handy in certain parts of the world (especially offensive driving). We tend to be solo in all our ops, with next to no support...just our wits. And no, I'm not wildly brave; I just sucked it up and did it. If you had ever been in harm's way, you would understand, but you never were, so cannot understand. There is kind of a brotherhood in the ops world. Guys like former Rep Will Hurd know. A guy who is now a regular face on YouTube (Andrew Bustamante) knows (though I disagree with some of what he says). You, on the other hand, will never know. We---I think the vast majority of former and current case officers---see the threat to everything the US stands for in trump. We took an oath to the Constitution; he wants to change it. We support democracy, because we have seen what lack of it does to the innocent in countries where dictators or strongmen rule. trump obviously hates democracy, since he spent so much time and effort trying to subvert the people's will.

Cute. Yes, low pay. Geez, if I had known I could have gotten in with a degree in gender studies, I could have saved all those undergrad hours in the labs! In the year I EOD'd the agency accepted ~40 of 25,000+ applicants for case officer. It was more selective than Harvard. In an earlier year, Bill Barr tried and failed, because he didn't reach the required IQ level to be a case officer. The agency gave him an analysts job instead. He's still miffed. Tucker Carlson didn't even get passed the first round of testing. It used to be almost solely summa cum laude from Ivies, but they have diversified a bit since I joined. Were you summa cum laude from an Ivy, too? (Just kidding. I can guess.)

People who worked for the CIA as case officers are something trumpers will never be able to understand: Patriots. It's why we take exception to a self-serving POS who tries to overthrow 240 years of American democracy, because he's a whiny little child, and who steals classified documents that jeopardize both national security and the brave foreign clandestine assets who put their own lives and the lives of their families on the line when they cooperate with us in the field. You couldn't possibly understand.

LOL! Yes, trump cared so much he was schtupping a porn star and a Playboy model while wifey #3 was caring for the newborn. Even if he did care about his wife and kid, the fact that he cared about how news of the trysts would impact the election is the only relevant thing, even if that was a 10% concern. Hope Hicks testified trump told her the election was a concern. Got to laugh about him 'caring'. He whined about the kid's graduation and the judge not allowing him to attend (a lie, as the judge ordered a recess on that day), yet he has scheduled a rally for that same day. Oh, and he got his kid's age wrong, saying "I think 17" when it is 18. Yea, devoted family man, that serial philanderer and self-described women's genitalia grabber. LOL!

One might think stating the obvious is not necessary, but there are trumpers here, and they are not exactly intellectually gifted. Even if Stormy lied and never had the encounter she has described in lurid detail, that is immaterial. The payoff and the fraudulent accounting are the issue, and Hope Hicks' testimony that trump told her he feared it would hurt his election chances fits AG Braggs indictment. Hillary undoubtedly suffered from the lie about so-called Uranium One, but she didn't play catch and kill. She also suffered from lies about her health, but didn't catch and kill. The fact she is still alive in 2024 says her health was good enough to get through a term as President. trump even authorized (per Cohen) the doorman payoff in a building someone claims trump had a paramour for whom he funded an abortion. That tale does not appear to be true, yet the doorman was still paid off to keep quiet. The point of putting Stormy on the stand---and originally McDougal---was to hit trump's credibility as well as get her side of the story about how the hush money issue was raised. On Monday, Michael Cohen will provide the narrative for what the documents and taped phone calls already laid out.

Stormy is missing an opportunity here. In the cross examination, trump's crack legal team tried to paint her as a gold digger looking to make some dosh, and she reminded them that their client is continually schlepping something, whether that is absurdly silly fantasy NFTs, butt ugly golden sneakers, autographed copies of the Bible, or even threads he claims are from the suit he wore when he surrendered to authorities in Georgia to be mugshotted. (I suspect trump's lawyers are okay with his schlepping, since they need to get paid.) Stormy ought to sell Deep Fake NFTs of her and the fat one bedding down. Certainly more real than any trumpian NFT fantasy, since at the time of the (alleged) tryst, Stormy was 27 and attractive, while no way would donny ever have either the skill or courage to be a fighter pilot or astronaut. Those are ludicrous, but the cult fanboys sucked them up like their were Tigers on Black Velvet in the lobby of a Motel 6 on a Saturday morning. Stormy also should sell threads from the panties she claims she was wearing during the encounter. trump set that precedent with his arrest jacket. trump's goobers are the obvious target market for obvious reasons. trump owns the Incel demographic, so a thread is about as close as any will ever get to a woman's undergarments. Other trumpers have to pay for any tryst they might get, so shelling out cash for anything prurient is their norm. trumpers are also good at dealing with cognitive dissonance. They can handle both the extremely likely reality trump did the deed with Stormy, while at the same time believing trump's seemingly obvious lie that he never had any encounter.

trumpers might not have gotten all of their talking points, so in order to get them all up to date, here's what your messiah says: Also, the clown who embarrassed herself giving the response to President Biden's SotU message---Senator Britt---has introduced a Bill that would create a National Registry of pregnant women. Thus, the government would be able to monitor women to make sure they don't do anything against the FreeDumb Party's Handmaid's Tale philosophy.

Even if we believe the unbelievable (that trump never had sex with Stormy), it's totally irrelevant with regard to the case. The issue is did he authorize the payment of hush money to stop publication and account for it fraudulently. You see, there actually were plenty of lies published about Hillary in 2016, mostly tied to the GRU's Internet Research Agency. Hillary, much tougher than trump, did not feel it necessary to pay anyone off to suppress the lies. Thus, Hillary was never charged.

Since he did it 'no condom', perhaps trump will appeal to the Supreme Court to rule he is immune from STDs.

Interesting take by a former Federal prosecutor, who reminds us that it makes no difference if the Stormy testimony is true or not (though it sure is in line with trump’s character or lack thereof). The point is the payoff to have the story suppressed, which makes it illegal. Note that actual falsehoods produced and published about HRC in 2016 by the GRU’s Internet Research Agency (Uranium One, HRC’s health) were not ‘caught and killed’ by her campaign. Had trump the steely-ness of HRC, instead of his woefully fragile ego, he wouldn’t be where he is today (though likely still sleeping in separate bedrooms from his 3rd wife).

Once the jury was dismissed on Thursday, the defense tried to argue that the details Stormy exposed on the stand are so salacious, that they jury could be tainted by it, which defense argues would be prejudicial to their client. It would seem defense is doing this not to actually gain a mistrial, but rather to lay the groundwork for a future appeal. Prosecution countered with two points: 1) That they sealed many additional details Stormy shared with them, such as trump’s physicality, but if need be, she could be asked about this in redirect 2) The point of the minimal details Stormy provided was to establish the overall embarrassing nature of the (alleged) tryst, giving reason why trump would want the entire tale ‘caught and killed’, as it would hurt him in the election. Absent those minimally salacious details (butt spanking, lack of condom use, trump undressing down to his underwear while Stormy went to the bathroom), the prosecution said it could not establish sufficient cause for trump to want the story quashed. (A former National Enquirer editor appeared on a TV broadcast today and said if the story had been made public in Oct 2016, it would be on the front page of his former tabloid. He is not a witness, so it's only his opinion, of course.) The judge would not declare a mistrial, as the prosecution’s arguments make much more sense, besides the fact he had asked defense if there were areas they would not want the Stormy testimony to go, and defense declined to object before Stormy took the stand.

AG Bragg stated in one of his news conferences that one such crime is trying to influence an election with the fraudulent accounting.

It would seem even a jury determined that trump doesn't understand that, either, as the E Jean Carroll ruling made abundantly clear. According to trump's late 1st wife, trump never seemed to have understood that. Of course, when a guy packing 300 lbs thinks he's a star and a babe magnet, delusion and entitlement are at his core.

I responded to the wrong post. Apologies. Life is good.

@Hawaiian It seems 'somebody' deleted your post before I had a chance to respond. I understand that intelligence and facts are unfamiliar territory to trumpers, so just for you, here's some lines more in keeping with your preferences: Make (insert your personal favorite here) Great Again Stop the Steal Lock (Him or Her, your choice) Up How's that? Get your juices flowing, does it? Puts a stop to that ennui? You can use all caps like your messiah, too. Add some meaning to your life. I believe this site has a block function, so if facts bore you, I won't feel the least bit offended if you use that function and add me to your list. Given that your life must be so full of adventure and rewarding experiences, saving you the time to scroll past my posts might allow you to maximize your enjoyment before your time in this Earthly iteration runs out.

I don't happen to be woke, but that means I will call a spade a spade in all circumstances. While I fully support the notion that 'all are equal under the law', I know full well that all are not equal. trumpers lost the Birth Lottery. By and large they are of inferior intellect. It's a bit too 'woke' to cut trumpers some slack and give them the benefit of the doubt when it comes to intellectual ability. They are less intelligent and, by and large, less successful. The demographics are well known by now: less likely to have even an "accredited" degree, below average earnings, more likely to be on SSDI and/or SNAP. Even their messiah knows what they are, as he was famously quoted as saying "I love the poorly educated". Detailed stats from the 2016 election point out an inconvenient truth: trump won 85% of all US Counties. HRC won the other 15%. The 15% HRC won represented 62% of US GDP, while the 85% trump won represent a mere 38% of US GDP. Do the math (a severe challenge for trumpers, to be sure), and that means Counties won by HRC are 9.25 times more productive than trumpistan. trumpistan and his cult are carried by society's productive members. It's a bit too woke for me to say trump vs Biden is just a matter of opinion. It's actually a matter of intellect as well as an understanding of what the ideals of the USA are. trumpers lack both (save for the billionaires like Ken Griffin who just want more tax breaks, since his $25 billion net worth doesn't seem to be enough for him.) If the US was made up solely of trumpers, it would have an economy that would make Venezuela look like an economic juggernaut.

Other non-official acts: ---stealing highly classified documents, and then retaining them and lying about it when one has zero Security Clearance ---trying to be John Gotti and pressuring a State official to engage in voter fraud ---inciting an insurrection ("It'll be WILD!", "fight like hell") ---being part of a scheme to appoint fake electors and subvert democracy "Somehow" under the first 44 Presidents, who lacked total immunity, the US went from being a frontier outpost to the largest economy the world has ever seen. Those first 44 were not hamstrung by being equal under the law, as the Founders specifically intended. The historical fact of Ford's pardon of Nixon is indication no courts thought a President is above the law, and in comparison, Watergate was a pimple compared to the asteroid strike that is the collective nature of trump's crimes. Of course, back under Ford, the Republican Party had some actual patriots, such as Howard Baker. Today, Republicans fall into two categories, neither of which has anything to do with patriotism. They are either cult members or cowards like Mitt Romney.

That you cannot understand the connection, doesn't mean people with IQs right of the mean on the Bell Curve cannot. @pomchop pointed it out for those challenged by a loss in the Birth Lottery, or those with a brain eating worm in the area previously occupied by their frontal cortex. Because the case is particular to a NY State statute, which makes it a felony to falsify business records if the intent is to influence an election, the embarrassing nature of the tryst with Stormy had to be pointed out to the jury. Not only was it necessary to present a view counter to trump (he has denied the affair, but her detailed descriptions lend credence to her side), but to note certain details that would be shameful, such as the spanking on trump's bloated fanny with a rolled up magazine with him on its cover, the comments about him comparing the adult movie star to his daughter, his lack of condom use, etc. Tie in his behavior with Hope Hicks' testimony that trump voiced to her his concerns that the publicity would hurt him in the election, plus all the documents showing how the payoff was accounted for, grossed up to account for taxes, etc., and the prosecution makes the case in such a way that it meets the level of felony, according to NY State law. The cross examination will be amusing, as the defense has to be careful not to elicit yet more embarrassing details from Stormy. Also, the defense has to be careful if it tries to deny the tryst took place, because Karen McDougal has yet to take the stand. McDougal will testify to a long affair, while Stormy just has the one kinky night. With both women, prosecution will show both serial philandering as well as kinky behavior and (have suggested) incestuous thought processes. Again, toss in Hope Hicks' testimony, and a reasonable person is likely to conclude trump feared the damage it would do to his election chances. While there may be ancillary concerns trump might have had---such as his 3rd wife (how ironic that she was a softcore porn model) finding out, plus the general embarrassment of a fat old blubber butt getting spanked by a then-27 year old adult film star---just so long as one concern was how it would impact the election reaches the level of felony per NY State law.

Must be his brain worm doing the talking. In his divorce settlement, he tried to argue that he had diminished earning capacity because of the worm that ate part of his brain. Yet he wants to be President of the United States. I guess trump set the bar so low that even a guy whose brain is being eaten by a worm qualifies.