Trump on defensive as critics seize on reports he insulted U.S. veterans

[forehandplus]

40 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

It is indeed an on-topic related question .

How a Judge would view this topic is quite relevant .

The topic is about whether Trump said certain things  

A Judge would find Trump didnt say such things .

Case dismissed 

A judge might find it unproven, but certainly not definitively rule he didn't say such things. And of course, invoking legal evidentiary standards in political questions is nonsense. Those standards are there to make sure that defendants have some inherent protection against the overwhelming power of the government. In ordinary life, if you suspect some merchants have cheated you, do you still patronize them because you don't have enough evidence to convince a judge of their chicanery?

[onthedarkside]

Numerous bickering posts have been removed.

 

No one earns extra points here for repeating the same things over and over again.

 

Time to move on.

 

[Scott]

Post with an unsubstantiated claim has been removed. 

 

[Publicus]

On 9/9/2020 at 11:19 PM, nattaya09 said:

Bolton and Kelly were there. Bolton would have featured it prominently in his book had it happened. Neither of these men are big Trump fans yet both know nothing of it. The "anonymous source", if they exist, should come forward and convince us that they were in a more credible position than the Chief of Staff and National Security Adviser 

Trump said "a John Kelly could have done that" in confirming a reporter's question concerning whether Gen. retired Kelly could have been a source, or the main source. Indeed, virtually every one of the thousands of political animals in Washington knows or believes absolutely Kelly is the principal source.

 

John Bolton said in his Fox interview Trump did not make the remark when Bolton was in the room and Trump was advised the trip to the cemetery was cancelled due to weather and security concerns about a motorcade over that distance and physical environment. Bolton said "I can't prove a negative," when he noted he was not with Trump before or after the briefing in which the trip was cancelled. Bolton did note Trump insults people whose last name is not Trump.

 

Kelly was of course at the grave of his Marine 1LT son Robert in Arlington National Cemetery on the Memorial Day when Trump made his grotesque remark of "What's in it for them?" among other crass statements about deceased members of the armed forces since 1776.

 

Also present was Marine Gen. "Fighting Joe" Dunford the then chairman of JCS and former commandant, Marine Corps, who was a witness and who in his retirement since last year may also be one of the 4 sources. Each Kelly and Dunford remains silent, saying only that he can neither confirm nor deny the reports about Trump's gross statements. In Washington-speak "neither confirm nor deny" something means it's true and because discretion is the better part of valor you won't or you can't say it publicly. State Department uses it almost daily about one thing or another, as does the Pentagon, CIA and the rest of 'em.

 

Moreover, each Kelly and Dunford spent more than 40 years living each day by the chain of command so neither of 'em is going to become a 4-star general officer publicly telling the commander in chief and potus he's unfit and unsuitable to be either and both. A public pissing match of this kind would be horrendous for civil-military relations in the USA that would be made worse yet because other 4-star retired flag officers would very likely feel compelled to speak up for Kelly and Dunford, to include the other sources.  

[Publicus]

Here's an account of what Trump said about Gen. Kelly as a source of the quotes and the media publicity of 'em. Gen. retired Dunford who was present is not mentioned in this article, nor is the fact Dunford was present at the Kelly gravesite mentioned much in most articles.

 

Trump disliked Dunford hugely, replacing Dunford on the NSC with Stephen Bannon. Dunford was restored to the NSC with strong support of the then SecDef Mattis and Kelly as WH chief of staff. Trump considered Dunford to be an egghead, ie, thoughtful, analytical, consistent.    

 

 

Trump says John Kelly could be source for salacious article on U.S. war dead

 

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/sep/4/trump-says-john-kelly-could-be-source-for-salaciou/