Mueller ups pressure on Trump campaign aides with new charge

[Berkshire]

20 minutes ago, boomerangutang said:

In Trump's mind, MAGA relates to the 1950's. It's when he was young, handsome, had lots of fun, went to sock hops, and listened to some of the greatest music.

Yet, the '50's were also when McCarthyism flowered.  McC's lawyer was Roy Cohn. Trump calls Cohn his primary influence growing up.  Yet everyone else knows Cohn was a sly dirty tricks lawyer who would sell his mother's kidney for $3 if he could.  The 50's was also the time when Eisenhower and Nixon concocted the idea to invade Cuba - which led to the failed 'Bay of Pigs' debacle (tho it was carried out under Kennedy's watch).

 

So, you can pick any time in US history, and there are pros and cons.  What time slot does Trump want to take the country back to?  McCarthyism?  The Vietnam War?   The Civil War?     Selma riots?    He's steering the country in those directions.

Yeah, the romantic notion of what America used to be will always focus on the positives.  And it may actually sell to the masses who are fed up with Washington.  What many are coming to realize is that Trump is not the answer.  And I do not believe that Trump cares about MAGA.  The guy is such a full-blown narcissist that it's so crystal clear that he's only concerned about himself.  He desperately wants to be liked and admired.  But not by everybody, only by those who likes and elected him.  This is becoming apparent to even foreign governments, which is not how you govern.  All you need to get on Trump's good side is to compliment him and shower him with adoration.  Then you can get anything you want.  As for Russia....geez man, where do I start?  Even with all these revelations, Trump still can't get himself to say a bad word about Putin.  Sigh.

[heybruce]

14 minutes ago, Berkshire said:

Yeah, the romantic notion of what America used to be will always focus on the positives.  And it may actually sell to the masses who are fed up with Washington.  What many are coming to realize is that Trump is not the answer.  And I do not believe that Trump cares about MAGA.  The guy is such a full-blown narcissist that it's so crystal clear that he's only concerned about himself.  He desperately wants to be liked and admired.  But not by everybody, only by those who likes and elected him.  This is becoming apparent to even foreign governments, which is not how you govern.  All you need to get on Trump's good side is to compliment him and shower him with adoration.  Then you can get anything you want.  As for Russia....geez man, where do I start?  Even with all these revelations, Trump still can't get himself to say a bad word about Putin.  Sigh.

"Even with all these revelations, Trump still can't get himself to say a bad word about Putin.  Sigh."

 

Worse, even though Trump now admits that Russia meddled in the election (but insists it did not affect the result) he still won't back any safeguards against future meddling or sanctions to punish Russia.  I can think of only two possible reasons for this:

 

1.  Russia really does have some compromising information on Trump.

 

or

 

2.  Trump wants to use the power and prestige of the Presidency to cut some profitable deals with Russia and its billionaires.

 

Of course both can be true.

 

So, Trump fans:  Can you think of any reasons why Trump will not take actions regarding the election meddling he now admits happened?

 

[dunroaming]

To be honest I don't really care if Trump was complicit in this.  He proves every day that he is completely unfit to be POTUS and is a despicable character and an embarrassment to the American people.  He has to be removed and any way is better than no way. 

[joecoolfrog]

2 hours ago, Thaidream said:

I shall opine on what I  believe will Make America Great Again:

 

1.  Reduce the massive defense budget that is the largest in the World and in turn adjust an aggressive foreign policy to a more moderate policy not aimed at any particular Nation but aimed at protecting America and Americans from attack.

 

Get our of Iraq and Afghanistan and the Middle East and  stop fighting other people's wars. We might all be surprised at how quickly wars get settled if someone else isn't funding it.

 

2.  Provide universal healthcare for all Americans wherever they are not the ridiculous bill Trump tried to force on America which would have provided no universal coverage but allowed insurance companies to get richer.

 

3.  Provide free University Tuition to all Americans instead of the current loan situation in which greedy banks are keeping University graduates paying back monies for decades all backed by the US Government. 

 

4.  Provide a rational Immigration Policy which stops the deportation of illegals who have not broken any law and amnesty them . In addition provide for a workers Visa so immigrant labor can come in and fill jobs that most Americans refuse.  Instead of wasting $20 Billion on a useless wall and making enemies of Mexico and most of latin America provide security through technology and added border agents.

 

5.  Combine all Intelligence agencies which will reduce the overall budget and close Guantanamo Bay Prison which is a complete violation of the US Constitution and an affront to due process.

 

6. Rejoin the Paris Climate Accord as Global Warming Israel and the US is the only country in the World not in the agreement.

 

7.  Stop stealing from the  poor to give to the rich.  The Trump tax cut was an abomination of the first order and raised the already high deficit and is causing more of an imbalance in wealth and income that already exists.  Reform the tax code in such a way that wealth is redistributed in a fair and equitable manner with a simpler tax code that can be understood.

 

8.  Really drain the swamp by getting money out of politics. Stop the practice in which  'interest groups' can influence policy through contributing to campaigns and funneling funds to candidates. Cap Congressional terms to a certain number and reform the  system of ethics in which  the Government stops paying for Congressional misdeeds with Government funds.

 

Do all of the above and you will see America emerge as a great country in which people can dream again of living a peaceful and fruitful life and plan for the future or you can keep Donald Trump who will do none of the above.

Number 8 is the key !

[boomerangutang]

2 hours ago, heybruce said:

In 1950 the maximum marginal income tax rate was 91%. https://taxfoundation.org/us-federal-individual-income-tax-rates-history-1913-2013-nominal-and-inflation-adjusted-brackets   It went down to 70% in the '60's and '70's.  Income disparity in the US was much lower then. 

Strangely enough, when Trump talks about some vague time in the past when things were better, he doesn't mention these things.

I don't think Trump ever detailed which time in the past he emulates.  He expects his dough-headed fans to picture a Norman Rockwell image and imagine Trump will bring them back to halcyon days when all was hayrides, 4th of July parades, playing hookie, weddings, skinny dipping at the river, first love, sock hops, .....and so on.  It worked for the same segment of Americans who believe that HRC keeps teenage sex slaves chained up in the basement of a pizza parlor (an actual Russian/right wing scenario which Trump fans believed, and probably still believe).

[boomerangutang]

from the OP :

Lawyer van der Zwaan's father-in law is Russian billionaire German Khan, the founder of the privately-owned Alfa Bank.

 

I think Alfa Bank was the Russian bank which had a private link to a computer in Pennsylvania which very few people could access.  Sorry if this sounds like a whacky conspiracy theory, but I vaguely recall that computer connection (which cut-out all other computer chatter) was somehow connected also to Trump's people (or Trump himself) and Education Sec. Betsy DeVos' husband who runs Blackwater (a private military force).  I know I could google this stuff, but I'm lazy right now.   

 

Regardless, there IS SOOOOO MUCH stuff to dig through.  Even with his crack team, Mueller's investigation could go on into 2020.  There are threads connecting Trump to law-breaking - that stretch in 1,000 directions.  Republicans would like to limit the scope of Mueller's investigations, but then they only have to think back to Ken Starr's investigation of Bill Clinton, ....and how that branched out in a dozen other directions - and finally focused on a stain on a blue dress.   The Trump-Russia thing is 10 times bigger than Watergate, and 20 times bigger than anything the Reps found on Clinton.

[F4UCorsair]

from the OP :

 

Lawyer van der Zwaan's father-in law is Russian billionaire German Khan, the founder of the privately-owned Alfa Bank.

 

I think Alfa Bank was the Russian bank which had a private link to a computer in Pennsylvania which very few people could access.  Sorry if this sounds like a whacky conspiracy theory, but I vaguely recall that computer connection (which cut-out all other computer chatter) was somehow connected also to Trump's people (or Trump himself) and Education Sec. Betsy DeVos' husband who runs Blackwater (a private military force).  I know I could google this stuff, but I'm lazy right now.   

 

Regardless, there IS SOOOOO MUCH stuff to dig through.  Even with his crack team, Mueller's investigation could go on into 2020.  There are threads connecting Trump to law-breaking - that stretch in 1,000 directions.  Republicans would like to limit the scope of Mueller's investigations, but then they only have to think back to Ken Starr's investigation of Bill Clinton, ....and how that branched out in a dozen other directions - and finally focused on a stain on a blue dress.   The Trump-Russia thing is 10 times bigger than Watergate, and 20 times bigger than anything the Reps found on Clinton.

 

 

 

 

 

It does sound like a wacky conspiracy theory, but never mind, any day now the President will be impeached, then criminal charges will be laid...any day now.

 

 

 

Sent from my [device_name] using http://Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

 

 

[mtls2005]

This van der Zwaan chap got caught up in the Manafort/Gates/Ukraine/Yanukovych 'schemes', specifically as a lawyer at Skadden Arps, which Manfort enlisted to make Yanukovych look less dictator-y.

 

The fact that his father-in-law is German Kahn, a Russian/Ukranian Oligarch, 'manages' Alfa Group, ostensibly as a global criminal enterprise along with other Putin-y oligarchs like Mikhail Fridman and Alexei Kuzmichev, may or may not be important.

 

It seems like he will do some time, prosecutors have confiscated his passport(s).

 

Gates has flipped and is singing, Manafort has to fight or rat out a bigger fish, of which there are only a few left: Don Jr., Jared, the president. 

Edited February 21, 2018 by mtls2005

[boomerangutang]

Here's some info re; the Alpha Bank / Trump connection.

 

https://www.snopes.com/trump-server-tied-to-russian-bank/

 

excerpt: Experts confirmed a computer server linked to Donald Trump "was communicating with Russia."

[Scott]

Troll post and replies removed.  

[Basil B]

13 hours ago, BobBKK said:

Some Russian individuals played 'hanky panky' because they liked Trump  

I doubt they actually liked Trump.

 

Russia is trying to undermine western powers...

[riclag]

2 hours ago, boomerangutang said:

Here's some info re; the Alpha Bank / Trump connection.

 

https://www.snopes.com/trump-server-tied-to-russian-bank/

 

excerpt: Experts confirmed a computer server linked to Donald Trump "was communicating with Russia."

That link says it's unproven that" Experts confirmed a computer server linked to Donald Trump "was communicating with Russia". 

Edited February 21, 2018 by riclag

[Jingthing]

1 hour ago, Basil B said:

I doubt they actually liked Trump.

 

Russia is trying to undermine western powers...

They like him if they have KOMPRAMAT on him so they can control him and it seems very likely that they do. 

Putin has a KGB soul if you call what he has a soul. That's what they do. 

Edited February 21, 2018 by Jingthing

[BobBKK]

6 hours ago, Basil B said:

I doubt they actually liked Trump.

 

Russia is trying to undermine western powers...

And vice versa

[BobBKK]

19 hours ago, boomerangutang said:

So, you think the Russians weren't seriously involved because the reported amount of money isn't large?

 

Here are 2 reasons why the reported amounts (paid to sway the election for the dufus) of money aren't large.......

 

#1.  People who pay black money like that - do everything they can - to hide payments.  It's like drug or weapons dealing.  they aren't going to open their books (if they have 'books') to show everyone how much they spent.  They know they're breaking the law.  

 

#2.  It doesn't take much manipulating to dupe dumb-as-clay Republicans.  I could start a whacko conspiracy theory about HRC or Sanders or Biden, ......and it wouldn't cost me $100, .....and hundreds of thousands of right wingers would believe it.  

Unconvincing sorry. Your analysis is biased because you want to believe it.

[boomerangutang]

2 hours ago, BobBKK said:

Unconvincing sorry. Your analysis is biased because you want to believe it.

Bob, you apparently didn't see it as  untrue.  If you did, then you would counter the points I made, if you were able to.

 

As for being biased - I'll be the first to admit I'm biased.  I'm biased against a group of journalist-murderers (Putin and his pals) partially commandeering the US election process.  I'm also biased against parents beating their children, and am biased against people tossing trash in parks.

[mtls2005]

Mueller Examines Manafort Loans

Special counsel Robert Mueller and federal prosecutors in New York are examining as much as $16 million in loans that a bank run by a former campaign adviser to President Donald Trump made to former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, according to court filings and a person familiar with the two investigations.

 

The investigation by Mr. Mueller’s team is centered on whether the loans from Federal Savings Bank, a small bank in Chicago run by chief executive Steve Calk, were made as part of a quid pro quo arrangement to secure Mr. Calk a job in Mr. Trump’s administration, the person said.

 

The investigation by the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan is focused on possible money laundering, and the two probes are intertwined, the person said.

 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/mueller-examines-manafort-loans-1519259125

 

 

Former Trump campaign adviser Sam Nunberg to meet with Mueller team

 

Sam Nunberg, one of President Donald Trump’s earliest campaign advisers, is scheduled to meet Thursday with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators in Washington, according to a person with knowledge of the interview.

 

Nunberg was an outspoken Trump aide who got fired in August 2015 over racially charged Facebook posts. Trump later sued Nunberg for $10 million for breaching a confidentiality agreement. They settled the case a month later.

 

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/21/mueller-russia-probe-sam-nunberg-420362

[selftaopath]

On 2/21/2018 at 11:39 AM, Berkshire said:

You really have no idea, do you?  The Russians' Internet Research Agency was spending over a million a month and managed to reach around 126 million Americans on FB.  It was an incredibly sophisticated operation that employed more than just a couple of hackers....

 

[According to Mueller’s indictment, the Russia-backed operators of social media groups and accounts posed as Americans, including by using “the stolen identities of real U.S. persons” and servers and computing infrastructure located in the United States. The indictment claims the Internet Research Agency employed “hundreds of individuals for its online operations.”]

 

http://fortune.com/2018/02/17/how-russians-used-social-media-election/

 

And then there's the NRA who reportedly spent around $30 mil to help elect Trump.  Where did the NRA get this money?  Hmmmm....

 

[But when it comes to funding, the NRA may have finally gone too far: the FBI recently launched an investigation to determine whether a Russian central banker, and Putin ally, illegally funneled money through the organization to help the Trump campaign.]

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/15/nra-russia-and-trump-money-laundering-poisoning-us-democracy-commentary.html

And to think the NRA is tax-exempt. lol lol But they can give millions to keep the laws from being changed for a sane and fair approach to gun ownership/purchase. 

[selftaopath]

On 2/21/2018 at 11:57 AM, Thaidream said:

Anyone believing that Donald Trump will Make American Great Again is waiting for the Easter Bunny-Santa Claus- and the Tooth Fairy.

MAGA means make America White again. Trump/Republicans hate the idea of brown shinned people being or becoming the majority. They are afraid to loose they "majority" ; elite status.

[Jingthing]

13 minutes ago, selftaopath said:

MAGA means make America White again. Trump/Republicans hate the idea of brown shinned people being or becoming the majority. They are afraid to loose they "majority" ; elite status.

Exactly right.

I read an interesting commentary on the CPAC conference reflecting the depressing change. Previously this conference was focused on how to attract non-white people to their cause. Now it's not focused on that at all. The new (trump brand) focus is keeping them out and to kick them out! Of course voter suppression of minorities that you can't kick out is an old standard.

Edited February 26, 2018 by Jingthing