In today's Times, both the elaborate McGahn confection & Krugman's odd argument reveal deep-state desperation. Krugman, perversely, indicts Trump & exonerates Trump's enemies by invoking the VRWC verbiage of Hillary Clnton, who, together with Obama are the criminal conspiracy’s prime movers.
I argue the converse—the conspiracy is real but Trump’s moves against it are self-serving & otherwise empty.
Trump is hiding behind Mueller's obstruction threat, an unconstitutional red herring.
Trump must go on the offensive—fire AG/recess-appoint DiGenova, who will prosecute entire Obama-Clinton cabal.
Anything less will not save the republic.
Res ipsa loquitur:
Brennan, at the behest of Obama, engineered everything.
The Ohrs facilitated production of fake Russia-Clinton-Steele dossier to defraud FISC/take out Trump.
Rosenstein/FBI Dir Mueller conspired in coverup of Russia-Clinton-Uranium1 crimes.
Rosenstein advised Trump to fire Comey.
Comey leaked classified info to cause appt of pal Mueller as special counsel.
Mueller-Comey set up a symbiotic multi-million-dollar tag-team revolving door over the yrs that enriched both.
Rosenstein appointed Uranium1 coconspirator Mueller to head Trump probe despite absence of a crime—violating the special-counsel statute. This freed Mueller to go Stalinist rogue.
Rosenstein/Comey defrauded FISC using the fake Clinton-Russia dossier to take out Trump.
The fate of the US is now in hands of our KGB—not Putin's. Trump must not let it stand.
3
Doesn't anyone seem to know what fulsome means? Not full. It means excessively flattering or insincerely earnest. So is his lawyer messing with us or just unaware of the words he uses?
6
If the Republicans retain Congress, look out for cuts to Social Security and Medicare to go along with their rich man's tax cut.
11
I guess Mr. McGahn would have some problems with his Kavanaugh project. He should also revise his model do-not-disclose agreements, which are not supposed to be binding according to him. Strange way to practice law.
It is simply not enough that they have looted the country, are destroying the environment, have reinstitute slave labor through ICE by arresting agricultural migrant workers and then pressing them into unpaid labor, have given such a huge tax cut to the least needy, and are destroying any chance of affordable health care while making the whole concept of insurance a complete joke and then supporting and legitimizing the worst racists in the country, all that is not enough. On top of it all we have to be daily insulted by the embarrassment of having the sleaziest huckster known to four corners lying daily to us as if we don't know the truth. We know, we are insulted and disgusted. Every time Trump says the phrase "fake news" I am more convinced than ever that the freedom of the press is one of the most important constitutional protections we have and that I would give my live defending it if I had to.
195
Mueller already has a lot of lawyers on his target list - Mannafort, Cohen, Alex van der Swan, and Rick Gates. After they are disbarred, what occupation will they pursue? McGahn has witnessed behavior unbecoming of a lawful administration. Will he do what the law expects or will he become one of the many defendants whose next stop will be prison and disgrace? I hope he's smarter than the others.
5
Well, Jay, his,position is clear, he is council to the President, not Donald Trump - he serves the office that is infinitely more important than Donald J. Trump. I find it so interesting that so many Conservatives are reluctant to discover the truth about Trump and his cadre of sycophants.
14
The problem with hiring people with no moral compass is that they will turn on you in a heartbeat. And when these people are lawyers..........
11
Hard for Trump to determine “moral compass” when he has absolutely none of his own. He is a liar and the proof of that rather harsh statement is everywhere and anywhere he opens his mouth. Sadly, the press seem to be reluctant to call it what it is and resort to euphemisms instead.
6
It bares repeating, especially to those who buy into trump's lies about the russian probe being a hoax: The Russian probe is a result of trump reaping what he's sowed. If trump didn't want to be held under scrutiny, then he shouldn't:
- hold secret meetings with Putin.
- He shouldn't kiss up to Putin, a guy who hates everything America stands for, while denigrating our own intelligence agencies.
- He shouldn't brag to Russians about firing Comey during a meeting in the oval office that banned the American press.
- He shouldn't give those same Russians classified information that damaged our allies' trust in us.
- He shouldn't blatantly lie to the press about his son's shady meeting with russians.
- He shouldn't have laundered russian $$ in his past real estate dealings.
- He shouldn't keep his taxes hidden from the public.
- He shouldn't have implored the Russians to "find" Clinton's emails during the campaign.
- He shouldn't surround himself & his campaign with a revolving door of shady associates with sketchy & illegal ties to shady Russians.
- If trump didn't want to be held under scrutiny, then he shouldn't have run for president.
The blame is on trump. Not the "deep state" (whatever that means). Not the Democrats. Not Clinton, nor Obama. Not Rosenstein. Not even Jeff Sessions. And certainly not Mueller. trump has only himself to blame for the russian probe & the appointment of Mueller as special counsel. No one else.
227
There should be no cooperation with Mueller or his team. N-O-N-E.
He is the enemy. Anyone who fails to understand this is naïve beyond belief, and knows nothing about criminal law.
Mueller is not Trump's friend, or McGahn's friend. He and his team are out to "crucify," not to find the truth.
It has been said, accurately, that prosecutors have never met any innocent defendants; and that is their mindset.
3
Someone hasn’t been following the president. He was and is a crook. We in the northeast have always known him for what he is. Take your blinders off.
22
Yeah the EX Vietnam vet, Director of theFBI, formally liked by everybody in both parties with the sterling reputation. Lifelong Republican he’s going out of his way to help the Democrats and the deep state. Very few people are stupid enough to believe that.
12
Three reasons why Trump should be investigated, indicted and/or arrested:
1. For his “zero tolerance” anti-immigrant crusade, innocent babies, toddlers and children in their teens were torn from their parents, incarcerated in warehouses and brutalized by expensive private security guards. Then, thanks to Trump’s complete incompetence, there were no records or receipts, making reuniting impossible in many cases. Trump wanted to use the children he abducted for “leverage” as hostages. Many are still missing today.
2. Trump’s private meetings with Vladimir Putin, and his subsequent gushing over our most determined enemy. Putin has also promised to continue to interfere with our 2018 and 2020 elections. Trump still praises Putin while he guts our intelligence agencies and cancels funds intended to strengthen election integrity.
3. Trump’s taunting tweets about the Mueller investigation openly detail Trump’s contempt for Mueller as well as the law. Trump now openly states that he is trying to derail the Trump/Russia investigation. Whether that’s a brag or a confession, he’s practically begging for dozens of charges of obstruction of justice. Like so many Trump transgressions, he has no one to blame but himself.
Sorry I had to stop at three. If I got started on his money laundering, his hush money for extramarital affairs paid from campaign funds and the rest of his illegal and unconstitutional activities, we’d be here all night.
9
"Protect the presidency, not the president."
Perfect for America, however Trump will hate him too and call him a dog, loser, lightweight, traitor....you know, the standard menu of Trump insults.
12
I am marginally less concerned about Trump than I used to be. He cannot start a pre-emptive war. Our allies can disregard him, at least up to a point. He has not been particularly competent in realizing his agenda. His personal behavior is what it is. It may deteriorate but it won’t improve, and in any case is just a distraction. He may be making himself irrelevant.
That said, he should not be underestimated. He has great reserves of energy and an incredible ability to bend others to his will. An amazing, dysfunctional and tragic figure.
6
@Guano Rey You might be right, but we can't afford to be complacent. Vote in November, as if your freedom depends on it.
25
Trump’s recent tweet comparing Mr. Mueller investigation to McCarthyism is ridiculous. Trump himself is the embodiment of McCarthyism. He should be well schooled since his best friend and legal counsel Roy Cohn was employed by Joseph McCarthy during the trial of the Rosenberg’s who were convicted and executed of spying for the Russians.
How ironic that Trump is now embroiled with a Russian dictator.
30
He is the perfect example of projection.
14
When a high powered, supremely well connected Washington lawyer like Mr. McGahn the Second needs his own battery of high powered, well-connected lawyers, you know there's some serious...uhhh, stuff...big time trouble brewing. One thing is for sure, there are sure to be some major billable hours coming up.
10
Let's hope that the prosecutors will offer Cohen a fair deal to solve this mess.
7
"Truth isn't truth" - Rudy Giuliani, 8-19-2018
"Alternative facts." - Kellyanne Conway, 1-27-2018
Have the American people read George Orwell's "1984"?
I know Mr. Trump hasn't read it. But it appears to be the operating manual for his administration.
27
Please don't forget
"Don't believe what you're reading or seeing." DJT July 24
18
President Trump will run for reelection and win in 2020. At least two more SCOTUS appointments.
1
Trump will be out of office, one way or the other, well before November 2020.
13
Tell us that again after the 2018 elections when Democrats control Congress. If they don't impeach Trump, the bills they send through will drive him to some new unhinged action that will make it clear to enough voters he isn't fit to lead. By 2020 no chance Trump gets re-elected.
17
That Donald Trump lacks an iota of integrity is clear. Those who do have integrity cannot survive a relationship with him for any length of time. Given Trump's vindictiveness, the intelligent will jump to the other side, rather than compromise their principles.
16
Why does the Times not think McGhan is playing Mueller?
2
Rudy G said that Trump shouldn't testify because perjury because Trump's truth is different from other people's truth. WOW. We now live in an alternate world.
21
What if Trump is innocent?
3
@Chicago Guy
We will have an early 4th of July as "progressive" heads explode.
I can't wait to see liberals cry
4
@NYC Dweller
The eternal wait.
1
And Giuliani responded today that "truth isn't truth." Doesn't that sum up the point of view of the Trump administration?
25
Rudy may have a point
It’s like the story of three men touching the elephant: the tusk, the skin, the tail. What is the truth about how the elephant feels?
3
One thing we know for sure, Donnie did't read through this piece. He'll wait for the translation on Fox.
14
Ya hafta wonder who’s advising Trump? Moe, Larry & Curly or Harpo, Chico & Groucho?
6
hold on, I don't think any of them would want to be involved with Trump
19
@Ken G
It may as well be team Groucho or team Moe & Curly advising trump these days. They'd certainly be an improvement over Stephen Miller and Sean Hannity advising trump.
3
Does trump ever have an original thought? He's consistently accused his adversaries of the same things he is either guilty of or accused of. So recently Admiral William McRaven calls out trump and accuses him of McCarthy era tactics and suddenly trump is accusing Mueller of McCarthyism. Dope.
30
"Truth isn't truth." - Rudolph Giuliani on Meet The Press August 19, 2018
"The result of a consistent and total substitution of lies for factual truth is not that the lie will now be accepted as truth and truth be defamed as a lie, but that the sense by which we take our bearings in the real world—and the category of truth versus falsehood is among the mental means to this end---is being destroyed." -Hannah Arendt in “The Origins of Totalitarianism" published by Schocken Books 1951
27
unhinged 2.0 = Guiluani
13
Wouldn't it be amazing if Mueller proved beyond doubt that Trump and his campaign team colluded and that later, his legal team helped him to obstruct justice? It seems to me that his administration is complicit at every level but especially at the top. What would happen if Mueller proves this? Do we get to call an emergency election? I know. That's a fantasy. Our Republic does not have the means to deal with this besides impeachment. And meanwhile Rome burns.
26
What's going to get Trump & Co isn't collusion but obstruction of justice and shady financial dealings, domestic and foreign.
Cohen will sing, and Omarosa is practically throwing her tapes at Mueller. Don't forget Flynn, Gates and Popadopalos have already sung and cut deals. Others have testified, too. Trump meanwhile is standing around with his mouth open or vomiting his rage on Twitter. Neither will be effective against Mueller.
5
As you sow, so shall you reap. The Donald is harvesting the same loyalty he has been heaping on those around him all his life. I said from the start on election night, that this would end up destroying the Trump family, business, and anyone within the blast radius of this human neutron bomb. In the end Putie will be his only friend.
11
@Larry Leker
Putin will not be his only friend, as soon as T is of no use, P will drop him.
11
Robert Mueller has said not one word about his investigation to the American people. We haven't seen a recent picture of him. The prosecutors on his team have never really spoken to the press, and little of what Rudy Giuliani says about his dealings with them is believed. In fact, we only know they truly exist because of their court document filings and a couple of them are in Virginia now with Paul Manafort.
So, contrary to the reality of the way the Mueller team has conducted themselves so far, are we to believe they had input into the information Mr. McGahn and the White House are now making available? That it's even true? Is this information correct, Robert Mueller?
5
Mr. McGahn was afraid that Mr. Trump was setting him up to take the fall. That is a reasonable concern. To protect himself, Trump would do anything. He has no understanding of loyalty. Trump's lawyers let McGahn talk to Mr. Mueller's team, on the basis of Trump's assertions of innocence. For Trump's lawyers, that was legal malpractice. When has Trump told the truth? McGahn has served Trump and the Republicans well, stacking the courts with unqualified radical conservatives and decimating much-needed regulations. McGahn's priorities are clear. He is protecting himself and the Kock agenda. Obviously, McGahn who works for us should be motivated by the ideals associated with public service and professionalism. How quaint those notions seem right now.
12
Trump is far too sharp to let someone like that stab him in the back.
2
@charley
"...Too sharp..."
If that is a correct assessment, then he surely has fooled a majority of Americans.
9
@charley You're being sarcastic, right?
6
"Mr. McGahn decided to fully cooperate with Mr. Mueller. It was, he believed, the only choice he had to protect himself."
This paragraph makes me think that Don McGahn himself is the source for this article. The special counsel doesn't leak, and who else would be able to make such a statement?
McGahn wisely wants out before it gets even uglier. Trump becomes more unhinged every day.
14
Either McGahn or Trump is lying or both.
One could say the same thing for Cohen and Omarosa.
1
To my knowledge Mr. McGhan has not been accused of being a liar. Mr. Trump, on the other hand...
9
you can add to that list the 16 women who accused him of sexual misconduct and Stormy Daniels who he has yet to criticize.
4
More likely they are all lying...
2
No, Trump is in this, he knows exactly what's going on, he's trying to do the Good Cop-Bad Cop job. McGahn will manufacture the narrative that Trump did all these, without being conscious and is all unintentional.
2
I’m more worried about guys like you stockpiling weapons and attempting to overthrow the government when it goes the other way.
I’m also worried DJT will suspend further elections.
Basically, I’m worried about plenty of other stuff. Thanks for the concern, though.
5
One has to wonder if the "progressive" media is aware that when the Mueller investigation is complete and Trump is totally exonerated the "progressive" media will be exposed as hopelessly and unreliably biased. It could be their death knell. Perhaps that is Trump's endgame?
6
@jaco trump's end game is simply trump. He cares not a whit about anyone else, including family members such as his "wonderful son," donnie jr. Those of you who blindly worship him will find out in the end, that you have been played for fools. I hope that at least you still have your jobs. Dignity, no, but hopefully still a job.
36
@Sua Sponte
We shall see once Mueller's investigation is complete. Yes?
@jaco Yup. Don't forget, your rolling the dice - since you're from Nevada, I thought I'd throw that in - for "totally exonerated". I guess, if you're going to dream, might as well dream BIGLY.
Since Michael and Maggie, quite the duo, wrote the McGahn piece, Trump has reacted on Twitter. This joke of a man is as predictable as the sun setting and rising. He is self-obsessing like he has done his entire life. This clown has viewed himself as a genius and worthy of being a dictator since he was a kid destroying his siblings toys. Reading and viewing about himself instead of protecting the US.
He claims that the Mueller investigation and any source of criticism like the NYT is vastly worse than Senator McCarthy ever was. This proves for the umpteenth time his insane levels of hypocrisy and pure stupidity. He befriended and used McCarthy's vicious lawyer Roy Cohn to threaten people Trump had cheated with total destruction if they dared sue Trump. Trump himself absolutely loved McCarthy's and Cohn's malignant tactics and still uses them today, as he did in actually using Cohn and admiring him all those years. Trump's gutter character is revealed again when he abandoned Cohn after discovering his friend had AIDS and was dying.
The man is as low as it gets. He is so stupid he thinks no one will remember about Roy Cohn, and that Trump is the one practicing McCarthyism, all day, every day.
Trump was such a terrible businessman that he was 4 billion dollars in debt, he'd lost everything from stupidity, refusing to take wise advice. We who do not deny reality know that's when the Russian Mafia got their hooks in him.
Could McGahn really be a truth teller? Hmmm?
41
People who still support Trump should be brought before a special counsel and tried for blindness, deafness and brain dead-ness. They are members of a political cult and are brainwashed, willfully ignorant, or simply malicious. There is no excuse to support a corrupt authoritarian who lies as often as he breathes and who has betrayed our country in so many ways large and small.
41
@David Macauley, as I was just mentioning to Critical Thinking. Please say you’re not actually serious.
3
NY Times readers hang their hopes on every new article. This is an unhealthy pattern and I honestly feel bad for you.
You had nothing to support Russian and Trump collaborated and this information does not change your situation.
5
@Critical Thinking, as do I. I fear it’s like watching a junky whose stash is running dry. What will they do now for their next fix? That thought sometimes scares me worse than Trump. And if they do hit bottom, God only knows.
2
@Critical Thinking
The emotional investment so many liberals have in the fake Russia Collusion nonsense will lead to seriously unhinged behavior when it is finally apparent to all but the most obtuse that the Democrats are corrupt, Hillary is corrupt, and they corrupted our government with their witch hunt.
2
Does Whining Donald Trump really expect sympathy from those whose lives he's turned into chaos?
The prudent ones are jumping ship. Are they RATs (to use the Great Whiner's own words)? And if they are RATs, let's remember who put them into power.
14
If presidential lawyers John Dowd and Ty Cobb intentionally undermined Trump's legal position because of the danger he posed to the republic, they may end up being the unsung heroes of this story...assuming The Donald is ultimately removed from office.
10
Trump spends more time tweeting than he does governing and that in itself could be a blessing in disguise. Just think if Trump wasn't tweeting and was going to try his hand at governing.Trump shows us daily that you don't have to be a rocket scientist to be president. I has overdosed on daily reporting of Trumps antics and I wish we could talk about anything not named Trump.
16
@Steven McCain: Look at your paycheck, if you have one. is there more in your net pay than there was before Trump was elected? Look at your 401K or pension statement, if you have one. Is it larger in dollars than when Trump took office? look at the national economy. Are more minorities employed today than when Trump took office? Then look at your like minded Democrats, liberals and progressives (or whatever name of the day you label yourselves), and ask yourself if Hillary would have done better for you, and for America. You already know the answer, if you are honest.
2
It's not all about the money
7
The few bucks in my paycheck offset the increase in health care premiums now that Trump removed the mandate from Obamacare that forced everyone to have insurance. Thanks, for nothing!
12
We're gone off the deep end.
Giuliani just proclaimed "truth isn't truth"
31
At the same time, Mr. Trump was blaming Mr. McGhan for his legal woes, yet encouraging him to speak to investigators." This type of doublespeak is typical of Donald Trump. I would not be surprised that he latter double down and accuses Mr. McGhan of not properly advising him. Accounts from witnesses like Mr. McGhan and many others that is handed over to Congress by Mr. Mueller will only be of value if Democrats control Congress.
7
I would think it would be against the law for the president of United States to be Vladimir Putin‘s lap dog. That’s than being his boyfriend. Or his wife.
Trump probably couldn’t even get a cake baked in Colorado with that kind of behavior. If the rest of the stuff doesn’t matter to right wingers you’d think that would.
11
Witch Hunt and McCarthyism (today's tweet). Trump mixes his metaphors. Courts have ruled that the White House Counsel must testify. See Bob Bauer's article on www,lawfareblog.com.
11
A couple of thoughts; someone intimated that the President wasn't happy McGahan didn't go to a top law school?
Trump's long time personal attorney went to a law school rated one of the ten worst in the US.
This WH counsel realized the legal danger/exposure to the Presidency, Trump and finally to himself when he too was recently included in the offerings from the 'we have nothing to hide' strategy because he knew Trump did and he straddled worrisome legal water as WH counsel privy to Trump's attempts to stop a DOJ investigation.
Reading again the charges to John Dean compared to this fix is mind boggling.
Mueller didn't snooker anybody, that's been Trump's shtick, but he's keeps getting tripped up by his ego, like some low hanging overripe fruit.
He's can't stop bragging about himself or attempting to outfox everybody (even his own legal team), but he about to be hoisted on his own petàrd, and since he likes to blow things up, well...
McGahan understood the dangers inherent with Trump's ego, and he knew one doesnt help his/her client by handing out opportunities for discovery, (unless it's done to prevent harm, not subterfuge) that's doing Mueller's job, and hopefully Congress will do theirs.
9
Closer ... closer ... closer ... "Our long national nightmare" (Gerald Ford's words, now applicable to this 2018 edition) may finally be coming to an end. YAY!
14
Trump's tweet: "The failing @nytimes wrote a Fake piece today implying that because White House Councel Don McGahn was giving hours of testimony to the Special Councel, he must be a John Dean type ‘RAT,’”
Most Americans think of Dean differently - another case of Trump channeling R Nixon.
24
Absolute power corrupts and you have to have impartial checks and balances and auditing in government, so as to keep the nation democratic. USA is a democracy - not an oligarchy.
13
Interesting development in the ongoing saga. As a professional, it is easy to understand that Attorney McGahn, has to look out for his own hide as well as anyone else. Also, the fact that privilege was waived makes McGahn's testimony all the more fascinating. It will likely take some significant time before the full ramifications are known. Thanks NYTimes for this report as it adds a new dimension to the internal dynamics of the White House.
14
There's nothing to hide, so no worries. Democrats, liberals and progressives will be wailing and gnashing their teeth in anger when Muller comes up with a big fat zero, after having wasted tens of millions of taxpayer dollars. But, of course, that ruling will not come until AFTER the November mid-terms...
8
Collusion, per se, is not a defined criminal action. Conspiracy, however, is. So is obstruction of justice, money laundering and a slew of other well-defined crimes that Trump, his family and his associates are likely to have committed.
One of the articles of impeachment for Nixon was that he repeatedly made false and misleading statements to the public with the goal of deflecting the investigation into his conduct. If that applied to Nixon, it certainly describes Trump's behavior.
The real question, though, is why Trump's supporters continue to support him and why Republicans who should know better (and do, but won't say so) put up with him. It would seem that serving one's country is too small a reward for these people: they need an enabler to allow them to treat every group they hate with scorn and brutality.
18
Readers might want to note that not one word of the testimony that McGahn gave to Mueller's investigators is quoted in this article. The article really only mentions one fact: McGahn is talking to Mueller's staff. The rest of the article is speculative.
It will be nice when one day Mueller issues his final indictments. The speculation and guessing can end then.
6
That’s correct, because neither Mueller nor McGahn will tell anyone the contents of their conversations.
However the fact that McGahn voluntarily talked to Mueller is newsworthy, especially for 30 hours over many months. Trump confirmed this fact.
Oh, I think Mueller has already used McGahn’s info quite a bit in his investigation.
Wait and see.
2
Trump can still fire this guy right? MY guess is he hasn't yet because it's working - everyone is hanging their hope on this one point of light - see, what you have to get is how that works for the psychopath.
I say we build a wave instead of hanging our hope on a point. The callous power mongers have proven time and again that they are fine with crucifying the points of light we cling to.
So let's create our own Milky Way of leadership and light.
You silly silly people - just because the 1000's who know how to build this galaxy are not in the macro system (Bronfenbrenner) or even fully recognize their own resiliency is grounded in the practice they internalized - doesn't mean that they are not exactly what we all are looking for and what is needed right now.
So wake up America. And somebody with even a speck of clout please shine your light on the 30 years of college grads that utilized San Fran State's Community Involvement Center's critical reflection practice to conquer the weight of the adversity they experience in this world, being the first generation, and maybe even from immigrant families, to get a degree at the most diverse public urban campus in the U.S.
You want their resilience, their ability to create fellowship in diversity will astound you.
Call on these stars. Ask them to show up at our coffee houses and circle up and light the way - spreading a fun, peer practice that will counter the shadows being cast by the greed that wants us isolated.
POR QUE NO?
Trump's been a con man, liar and thief his entire life. This is not a secret to anyone but those who chose to remain ignorant.
31
Someone did a poor job of vetting Mr. McGahn for his position. How could the White House have made the mistake of hiring an ethical lawyer. Maybe the possibility did not occur to the White House. While I disagree with McGahn's role in eliminating important regulations and forcing Kavanaugh, the grinning monster (think "It"), onto the Supreme Court, I believe he is acting in good faith. What a nice surprise.
17
Well I guess that just goes to show that all right wingers are not right wingers. But they have been supportive by the freedom party which are all right wingers. So it’s not unusual for people to think of them as all as the same colored horse.
3
McGahn drew up all the NDA's. Wonder if he was required to sign one?
9
Maybe we should stop calling it The Mueller Inquiry. He's only the instrument doing The Peoples Inquiry. Mueller is personally taking all the dirt and hate and lies from a band of criminals and incompetents.
Whatever they call Mueller they are calling decent people the same things. Lend your name to Mueller, he can use mine.
17
It is SO EASY to read the Fake President's real thoughts between the lines of his illiterate rants.
'RAT' in capitals and quotes: that's what he really thinks of 'his' old lawyer.
And we know why.
16
I see DJT is capitalizing ‘Fake’ now. Is that a new thing or has he always been doing it?
5
Two points:
First, one has to wonder what did Mr. Mueller offered to this transactional president to entice him to agree (initially) with "full cooperation" of the WH staff with his Commission. Now it appears that was in exchange for Mr. Mueller promising Mr. Trump’s lawyers that he will not try to indict "a sitting president."
Second, both Mr. Trump and Mr. Guiliani have been complaining about "slow progress" of Mueller Commission. At the same time, to emphasize WH cooperation with Mr. Mueller, they repeatedly point out that more than a million documents have been passed on to the Commission (which cynic see as the WH attempt to overwhelm the Commission). Clearly, by that statement, they are undercutting themselves since, to study millions of documents thoroughly and extract their relevant portions, Mueller Commission needs many years.
8
This lawyer has no evidence that will incriminate the President. The great powers of wealth which run not just this country, but the entire world, have come to understand that Trump is useful for their purposes, and will make sure he remains in office until his usefulness is drained.
We are in the midst of an ultra-conservative revolution, which began after Nixon’s downfall. I don’t know how far it will go. “Fake News” is the Trump card, and if played properly, will shut down all but the authorized version of the news. Thus, as always, the forces which want to destroy liberty, will do so in liberty’s name. And the people will believe them, just as they do now.
One thing is clear: this conservative revolution will not be shut down until, as in National Socialist Germany, its backers learn better. The plutocrat/fascist element in American society will not be defeated by education, but by bitter experience.
8
I agree. Unfortunately pain will be necessary.
1
I sure hope you are wrong.
Dear Democrats, when Trump uses the IRS to prevent groups from establishing their non-profit status, shutting down their free speech, or he lies about keeping your healthcare plan and negatively impacting a third of the economy, or he stands down the military and allows an Ambassador and staff to be assassinated, or he sends a plane load of cash to the worlds worst state sponsor of terrorism, give me a call. Otherwise, please don't bother me with these petty accusations based on a fake dossier sponsored by Hillary and DNC. .
6
Fact Check: There were 13 attacks on US embassies under Pres GW Bush and sixty deaths. The deaths in Benghazi, a very dangerous post, a USConsulate (not an Embassy) in Tunisia, were a terrible loss of 4 brave Americans, but unfortunately not so uncommon in these treacherous posts.
Trump will be depriving MILLIONS of people health care by dismantling Obamacare, and he will allow the preexisting conditions clause back, depriving more people of coverage. While you may have "lost" your health plan or had to change doctors or had to pay more for your coverage, that is the cost of living in a First World country.
And if the IRS was doing some checking into the tax-free status of some organizations, I say "Hurray!" If they are truly apolitical, great, let them be tax-free, but I think US taxpayers are tired of doing the right thing, paying taxes, and having others get away without paying their share. (Manafort and the 1% who scam the government as an avocation.)
And, please, if you have any real concern for free speech, you would not be supporting Mr Trump, who is acting more like a despot, a third world dictator every day. You would be frightened at how much he is threatening the first amendment.
And another Fact Check: The Russia investigation started BEFORE the dossier was known about.
24
@Alberta Knorr In other words, I hit the bullseye.
The end of Act One -- we learn it is in fact a Tragedy and not a Comedy.
8
Everyone on here has Trump already tried, convicted, and impeached. I guess they either missed this part, or were too blinded by their rage to see it:
"Mr. McGahn cautioned to investigators that he never saw Mr. Trump go beyond his legal authorities, though the limits of executive power are murky."
Just because a president does things you don't like doesn't mean they're illegal.
6
President Trump’s principal advisor is President Putin. Putin is teaching Trump on how to purge his enemies. The one hour private summit with Putin is all about lessons on purging your enemies. It may be McGahn is just propagating fake news without him knowing that he is being used as a carrier of fake news. As Giuliani said this morning on NBC, the truth is not the truth.
8
45 calls John Dean a RAT, when in fact he was one of the few in Nixon’s circle to come out with his reputation semi-intact. And lest the Little Boy Who Cried FAKE forget, the person about whom Dean testified was in fact guilty.
20
I listened to every second of John Dean’s testimony that I was able to watch. He was riveting; a truly brilliant man with meticulous records and an eidetic memory of facts and situations. A Rat, no Donald, not a Rat. McCarthy? No, just the opposite. There is no doubt that Trump will throw anyone to the wolves in his quest to protect himself - he has in the past and that lesson cannot be opaque to his current cadre of sycophants. Trump is not loyal, he is abusive, and he is a coward ... those behaviours do not lead to any but the most obsessed being willing to taking a bullet for him.
15
@Susan Wladaver-Morgan
Very telling, isn’t it.
2
We seem to have a plethora of well meaning men of zeal, each of whom has become convinced that they have the right to supercede Constitutional provisions. THe President IS the "Presidency" unless imnpeached or removed. If his acts violate the CONSTITUTION, the remedy is with the Supreme Court not by some appointed inferior officer's determination that he has to protect the "Presidency Indeed, such acts are treason, no less. They are an attemopt to subvert the Constitution, justified by some eternal principal found only in the minds of philosophers and journalists. Treason unfortunately is committed by patriots more often than not-it takes a big ego to commit treason, humility to defer to the Courts and Congress. We do niot need a culture of PROTECTORS;.
4
I'm sure the paranoid Trump will fire him. I wonder if he would fire the princess and prince-ling if they ever were 'disloyal' to him? Can you fire someone who isn't being paid? Even though they are useless to the country.
3
There's simply no fixing stupid.
5
Trump is a pathological liar. Given the choice between believing Trump and believing the New York Times, I'll come down on the side of the Times.
Number one lie, just like his other imbecilic monikers of Crooked Hillary and Lying' Ted Cruz, the New York Times is profitable and far from being a failing enterprise.
The only thing failing is Trump and his rotten to the core presidency.
29
Countdown to Infinity: 15 days (til Sept. 01)
Let's not forget Giuliani's deadline for the Mueller investigation and his threat that foIlowed:
In an interview Tuesday, Giuliani said, “If he doesn’t get it done in the next two or three weeks we will just unload on him like a ton of bricks.” He added, “Write the damn report so we can see it and rebut it.”
2
So much about Trump has been already revealed - by Trump himself and others who jumped Trump's ship with hard-core evidence. What is left for McGahn to reveal?
2
The corruption is obvious....it oozes out of everything Trump is involved with.
19
A little off topic but still relevant. I notice the USA gross federal debt to GDP in 2008 was 67.7%. In 2018 it is 105.4%. Statistics are facts and the government is doing something wrong. Sometimes if you provide socialism to your own citizens then your government pays out less for social problems and the government department wages to deal with those social problems. Not rocket science! NZ is a secular democracy and a Welfare State and our debt to GDP is a lot lower than the USA. Soooo what was happening in 2008 that governments are not doing now?
https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/government-debt
6
President Barack Obama of course!
6
I’m pretty sure that if this article wasn’t spun so hard it would show a White House that has gone above and beyond in its cooperation with a Special Counsel.
It would be nice if the Times, once in a while, could actually show some named sources.
Leakers always have an agenda. They’re like squealers and Mueller’s bullied “cooperating witnesses”.
And absolutely no, Trump should not talk to Mueller. There’s too much opinion and evidence out there that Mueller’s team entrapped both Flynn and Papadopoulos. For a man as inarticulate as Trump, with a huge tendency to bloviate, this would be a real political danger. Because, as we are not seeing any collusion (and really how can you have a legitimate obstruction of justice charge if there wasn’t any collusion) I suspect, as most people who are not #resistors or Never-Trumpers do, that this is all about drumming up some impeachment nonsense for the Dems to run with if they happen to take the House in November.
7
@David P,
Re: "how can you have a legitimate obstruction of justice charge if there wasn’t any collusion"? Whether or not a legal investigation finds criminal activity, obstructing the investigation is obstruction of justice.
How exactly did Mueller's team "entrap" Flynn and Papadopoulos into conducting secret dealings with foreign nationals while employed by a presidential campaign? Time travel, perhaps?
Sometimes a leaker's agenda is truth-telling - a risk, as the Trump administration has demonstrated that honesty can cost one's job. Perhaps in time it will cost 45 his, as well.
11
What is most interesting about this piece is not the content but the fact that it's the first leak by the Mueller team.
If we knew why it would tell is an awful lot about where this investigation is right now
2
It wasn’t a leak by the Mueller team. As clearly stated in the article, it was according to a dozen current and former White House officials.
And sorry, Mr. Wisenberg: even if you had had a similar opportunity, the Whitewater inquiry would still haven’t amounted to a hill of beans.
11
This was not leaked by Mueller but by trumps attorney for the White House. That’s what this article is all about!
11
@Luciano
Dear K and Robert Rutherford,
Surely you do not believe everything you read in the newspaper. The media like many other commercial endeavors, will bend the facts to make a sale. In this case, they will say of course no one on the Special Prosecutors Team could be quoted.
My question is, Why would anyone near Trump leak such info? I suppose it is possible, but Occam's Razor says who benefits most from this story. Mr. Trump or Mr. Mueller?
I will answer that question. Mr. Mueller.
Trump is a stinker, but if the NYT wants to publish such stories, I want something more substantial than sources close to the WH staff or persons in the know...
Come on. If you have a credible source you need to be a bit better at either revealing that source or explaining why you can't. Otherwise everything that is written in this article; other than that Mr. McGahn is cooperating with Mr. Mueller, is just rumor and innuendo.
I know many of us decry Mr. Trump, but I am not going to abandon my commonsense in accepting reporting with absolutely no corroboration.
2
Quaere: Is a lawyer more ethical than a Republican?
1
The only safe conclusion is that the White House will try to ram through its new, illegal tax cut, benefiting only the ultra-rich, before everything hits the fan.
12
According to latest polls, two-thirds of Americans, including majorities across party lines, would like to see special counsel Robert Mueller complete the investigation without DT and ilk trying to kill the investigation every other day. Americans deserve to know and see Mueller's reports when he is finished. Americans have a right to know what happened and if we have crooks in our gov't.
18
Of the forty paragraphs in this article, three and one-half deal with the subject noted in the title, which can be summarized in eight words: The White House is cooperating with the Mueller investigation.
The rest, is partisan speculation and superfluous fluff.
8
End the witch hunt.
4
@Steve - To my knowledge the Republicans are not currently investigating Hillary.
22
So what was happening in the USA in 2008 to show USA federal debt to GDP as 67.7%? In 2018 it is over 105%.
https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/government-debt
3
Love how Trump cannot spell on his last twitter ranting and raging about "the failed New York Times".
Attacking the free press just to appease his followers is indeed a President that has failed and cannot take legitimate criticism , What happened to being a President of all the people ,you know even liberal's :-)
But of course Trump is also psychic as a week or so he was elected he stated to the world thinking Hillary was going to win "The election is rigged " Oh my ,Oh! my who can take this man seriously.
12
I knew something was going on with the White House investigation when it was reported in the Times that Trump's lawyers were hiring their own lawyers. These reports of their cooperation with Mueller might be to save their own necks on the advice of their legal counsel.
15
@eternal skeptic
MAGA = make attorneys get attorneys
3
1. Ms. Haberman, thank you for your robust reporting, but this nugget of info isn’t I think that big of a deal. Maybe private attorneys and their private clients are used to different behavior, but this is a government attorney representing the institution of the executive office. In a White House that is a den of snakes, McGahn’s best defense is to “cooperate fully” or resign— and Trump is correct, McGahn is no John Dean.
2. Trump has already shown us that he and his family were part of a conspiracy to solicit help from a foreign adversary, one that illegally obtained information about his opponent. He lied about it, then subsequently (and still) obstructs the investigation, with the enthusiastic support of the Republican Party. Maybe there is more to know, but even this is enough for impeachment if a different or patriotic party was in power.
3. Mueller isn’t planning on bringing charges against the President. He will submit a report to Congress that Republicans will do their best to discredit. Democrats who are willing to take on the President need to win the midterms, even if it’s just the House, before anything approaching accountability occurs. Even then, we’ll need a Democratic majority in the Senate, but one with a backbone, and not like the elderly careerists that are there now, to prosecute Traitor Trump’s impeachment.
7
Not just impeachment but prison please!
11
@K, you'd need a criminal indictment for that. Mueller has indicated it won't happen. State courts, though, are another matter. Orange is the new orange?
2
Would Schmidt and Haberman please cite specific portions of transcripts of these interviews from which they are making their assertions? To date, I've seen no release of these interviews to the press. Thank you.
1
Choose to hold these people accountable, or not. I am well beyond the point of caring if this is a "which hunt" or if any laws were broken or what party someone represents. After all these months, the president - our president, as in the person who represents me and you to the world everyday - has consistently demonstrated qualities that for me are entirely inappropriate for the office he holds (as have the cast of equally rude and unscrupulous characters he surrounds himself with). If I as an average person in the workforce behaved this way, I would be fired. If I as an average person behaved this way in society I would be shunned by most. If I as a child were to act this way before my parents, shame would consume me.
20
Don McGahn is our lawyer, not Trump's. It should not be all that surprising that he interview and testifies; rather it should be troubling if he did not, or if he had to be dragged in. Perhaps our expectations have been a little altered by Trump's belief that everyone around him owes him "personal loyalty" as he asked of Comey and has apparently gotten from many WH staff. But McGahn and the rest work for us, not Trump. (He should be working for us too, but that's another story.)
The attorneys who work for Trump include Cohen (OK, not any more) and Giuliani (mouthy, and no doubt Trump loves him, but not the best pick). If he wanted to have lawyers who worked only for him, he should have stayed out of public service and public scrutiny.
I don't doubt McGahn will be fired, as Trump has fired or tried to fire everyone inconvenient to him. Yet it seems there should be a process for firing or not firing staff, which is not based upon the emotional reactions or personal interests of one person. Firing people for personal benefit or vendetta is not part of a President's job description. We The People are what's important, not any one person, even one who got to be President. And we deserve to find out if collusion with our greatest enemy is how he became the Pres.
McGahn is the first significant player to jump ship before he gets caught in the mass of legal charges. More will soon follow.
264
@Mark Miller
Yeah, yeah, and its "our" Joint Chiefs of Staff, "not Trump's", "our" Attorney General, "our" Supreme Court and so on.
Give me a break--he dude works for the President who released him to speak to Mueller.
And "jump ship"--delusional. Not Nixon's Dean saving himself after giving Nixon some really, really bad advice at the beginning.
1
@Mark Miller, you are absolutely correct. One wonders where you were when Obama was running a rogue government. I wonder who was working for me in the last administration???
1
@Mark Miller I suspect, in some mindless way, Trump sees Nixon's firing--the Saturday Night Massacre--as permission for him to play personnel director. Imagine interviewing for a position with him. . .
2
Ms. Regas has it right. As a (relatively) old native Californian who saw Nixon from his virtual political beginning, I take modest pride in having seen the signs early and, as a consequence, never having voted for him. I intend the same consistency with regard to Trump who, remarkably and by contrast, makes Nixon look almost acceptable, as suggested by Ms. Regas (Admission -- I'd vote for Nixon over Trump).
13
There is no need for Mueller to interview the current president. The realtor's tweets speak for themselves. He regards his tweets as official presidential statements presented unfiltered by what he calls the enemies of the people. The evidence of obstruction is there for all to see. He rules with his tweets and he should be prosecuted because of his tweets .
21
The Mueller probe is an example of an old-fashioned Washington destruction strategy. Hoot and holler until you can get a prosecutor named to look in to a hoot-and-holler issue and then have the prosecutor look in to every aspect of a person's life to see if something can be found to be used against the target of destruction and those associated in any way with the target. We saw the same in the Watergate probe, which found no crime but did turn up Monica Lewinsky. Mueller is trying to get Trump on anything, apparently now focusing on mistakes Trump may have made in reacting to investigative harassment.
2
There seems to be some misunderstanding of the extent of Don McGahn's attorney-client privilege with respect to Trump.
McGahn is the White House counsel - not Trump's personal attorney.
Attorney-client privilege for the White House counsel does not apply to allegations of misconduct by whomever is the president.
Trump is not protected by attorney-client privilege in the context of McGahn for any investigation of obstruction of justice or any other crime.
BTW, McGahn is the one who stopped Trump's first attempt to fire Mueller.
13
This seems pretty straightforward to me. Trump didn't exert atty/client privilege and allowed McGahn to testify and once that happened any officer of the court/lawyer would testify completely and honestly or he would be disbarred. No surprise here. The surprise would be that Trump would allow him to testify.
5
this article includes phrases such as : " the president's mind set";
"king- kong"( used by mr.McGahn to describe trump ); " trump was obsessed with"; " took trump at his word" ( his previous legal team ); trump's fury / anger ".
all of these and similar others reflect lawyers' not only glaring lack of understanding and appreciation of human psychology, but, surprisingly, their seeming ignorance and appreciation of who trump really is - in the pure sense of the essential behavioral hallmarks typical to pathological narcissists.
in " narcissistic personality disorder"/ symptoms, one can clearly see how thoroughly Trump meets ALL the diagnostic criteria of that condition. a top team of Yale U. forensic psychiatrists have gone on record ( in a past NYT's op-ed) listing the alarming signs
of the sick president. if / when lawyers (and politicians !) will bother educating themselves on such matters, we might not be in the depth of the crisis in which we unfortunately find ourselves.
5
It’s a given, clients lie to their attorneys, and Trump from the outset lied to his. Trump’s personal attorneys knowing of Trump’s propensity to lie, made him an offer he could not refuse. “No collusion? Perfect, cooperation with Mueller is the key.” Down that slippery slope, Trump went. As always, a good attorney never asks a question unless he already knows the answer to it. Nobody wants to go down with the USS Trump.
8
A major part of the revulsion at Trump is that he is, unapologetically, an alpha white male. This, at a time when the largest portion of his critics believes white males should be hesitant and apologetic, not unlike Martin O'Malley, who retreated instantly from his (self-evidently true) statement that "all lives matter!" Nothing quite like getting crosswise of politically correct currents.
King Kong, while a strong counterpuncher (remember who attacked whom first), also demonstrated kindness and heartbreak at the end of the movie. King, we hardly knew ye.
1
Actually, no the major objections to Trump are not related to his “alpha male” behaviour. The objections focus on narcissism; a bizarre propensity to lie about everything, even things that make no sense to lie about; his abusive (not dominant, but abusive) treatment of his allies; his incoherent and mercurial decisions; his tacit support for right wing and racist extremism; and his uncouth behaviour toward women, racial minorities, and anyone who has the temerity to challenge him; and his attacks on the free press. It has nothing to do with being “an alpha male”, a phrase that has been adopted to excuse bad behaviour of men. In reality, alpha male is a myth perpetrated by pseudo-science.
6
@Wine Country Dude, just to clarify: "A major part of the revulsion at Trump is that he is, unapologetically," an utter jerk.
Unless, that is, "alpha white male" denotes a pathologically lying, conscienceless narcissist who demands but doesn't reciprocate loyalty, has no interest in learning the job he swore to do, and punishes those who disagree by demeaning and bullying them. If so, then you're spot on, WCDude. He's the alpha and omega of that particular jungle. Or swamp.
5
The Mueller probe is an example of an old-fashioned Washington destruction strategy. Hoot and holler until you can get a prosecutor named to look in to a hoot-and-holler issue and then have the prosecutor look in to every aspect of a person's life to see if something can be found to be used against the target of destruction and those associated in any way with the target. We saw the same in the Whitewater probe, which found no crime but did turn up Monica Lewinsky. Mueller is trying to get Trump on anything, apparently now focusing on mistakes Trump may have made in reacting to investigative harassment.
6
Bob Mueller is a Republican appointed by Republicans to investigate a crime.
Whitewater was a better example of your version of "destruction" whereby a real Republican witchhunt was thoroughly desperate to sink the ever falebel Bill Clinton.
14
Is there any hope of another Republican contesting his re-election and will force a primary race in 2020?
4
@Marian, Pence is already teeing himself up to grab the top of the GOP ticket in '20.
Not so sure that qualifies as "hope."
2
@Marian
Yes, John Kasich.
If he fails to get the Republican nomination in 2020, he will run as an independent, and split the vote.
1
@Pam
It doesn't for me.
Trump thinks like a mob boss, tweets with gang leader attitude, and otherwise behaves like a capo di tutti. So its small surprise when he seems to assume McGahn is HIS personal lawyer--just like walking into a restaurant and having the concierge at your beck and call. Nuances of governmental checks and balances must have Trump's head spinning--he who clearly envisioned his new job as just a larger branch of the Rollin Crips Donald style.
9
Keep in mind that Trump has said only guilty people plead the 5th Amendment. Still waiting for Trump to follow McGahn to Mueller's offices to testify.
7
Let's hope that Guliani's Postulate has many corollaries.
The truth isn't the truth.
The facts isn't the facts.
The evidence isn't the evidence.
The testimony isn't the testimony.
The verdict isn't the verdict.
The impeachment isn't the impeachment.
The sentence isn't the sentence.
The president isn't the president.
22
A major part of the revulsion at Trump is that he is, unapologetically, a white alpha male. This, at a time when the largest portion of his critics believe white males should be hesitant and apologetic. Long live King Kong; as I recall, at the end of the movie, he demonstrates caring and self-sacrifice.
3
@Wine Country Dude
I don't think hesitant and apologetic are in his vocabulary/person. Lacking these attributes are just two of the deficiencies of many.
3
And we can only wish that alpha boy trump meets the same end as King Kong. BTW, you do realize it was just a movie?
4
@Wine Country Dude
Actually, no the major objections to Trump are not related to his “alpha male” behaviour. The objections focus on narcissism; a bizarre propensity to lie about everything, even things that make no sense to lie about; his abusive (not dominant, but abusive) treatment of his allies; his incoherent and mercurial decisions; his tacit support for right wing and racist extremism; and his uncouth behaviour toward women, racial minorities, and anyone who has the temerity to challenge him; and his attacks on the free press. It has nothing to do with being “an alpha male”, a phrase that has been adopted to excuse bad behaviour of men. In reality, alpha male is a myth perpetrated by pseudo-science.
2
To Trump all truth is a betrayal.
14
Perhaps the witnesses from the White House are feeding Mueller's investigation disinformation or information designed to direct attention away from more serious matters?
McGahn’s brightest move in a sea of pathetic darkness was to hire his own counsel to advise him. The one thing clear is that McGahn’s legal judgement was spotty to begin with. For one, McGahn thought it was a good idea for Trump to nominate his former Federal Election Committee (FEC) colleague, Mathew Petersen to the federal court. Petersen if you recall is the individual who during his confirmation hearings, infamously could not answer any questions on simple points of law posed by---Republicans.
Now, McGahn foolishly still believes he can successfully serve in this crucible of advising the “Office of the President” not recognizing that advising this intangible client is an impossibility given that Trump and the office are one in the same. After this article's publication what does, McGahn subsequently discuss with Trump? The disposition of White House parking quotas? The leaderboard of the PGA tour? Recall, Nixon’s counsel, John Dean pled guilty to covering up, I expect the same for Mr. McGahn.
5
Perhaps McGahn has read his history books about who (among 69) were indicted with Nixon:
John Ehrlichman, Counsel to Nixon
Egil Krogh, aide to counsel John Ehrlichman
John W. Dean III, counsel to Nixon
Herbert W. Kalmbach, personal attorney to Nixon
Charles W. Colson, special counsel to Nixon
10
Thank you NYT team for all of your hard work and investigative reporting, as well as all of your day to day NYC edit, and stories near and far that no other news org has the resources or muster to cover.
Cheers!
A loyal subscriber for 40 years.
12
The fact that Trump can’t even spell is really the cherry on the top of this bowl of shameful insanity,
When will the madness stop? It’s descended into farce.
10
The important thing to remember is not to listen to Stupid's cries
about a "witch hunt." As with Nixon, Agnew and all of those crooks, these are all lies as is most of what he says about everything. If Stupid told us that the sun would rise tomorrow morning, I would have my doubts. He should be banned from Twitter for deceiving the public and is no better than Alex Jones.
5
More hearsay that will produce nothing.
Civics lesson 101: https://www.justice.gov/olc/opinion/sitting-president’s-amenability-indictment-and-criminal-prosecution A seated President cannot be indicted. Impeachment requires a 2/3 vote of the Senate--which is what saved Bill Clinton. So for the next two years delusional Democrats are going to salivate over what they think will take Donald Trump out of the White House. It is not going to happen. The last time a similar comment was posted I received a reply from one of the delusional saying--on yes it is going to happen--but he failed to say how it would happen. I gather in his delusion it thought all he had to do was dream it would and that makes it real. Again--the Democrats are delusional.
3
Not true. Neither the perjury nor the obstruction charge against Clinton got a majority in the senate. He was “saved “ by majority rule.
2
@Jonathan
It's not Collusion or Obstruction of Justice that's going to nail Trump, Mueller could have proved that months ago, but he knows exactly where that will get him with Republicans.
Donald Trump is going to be impeached over Wire Fraud, Bank Fraud, and Money Laundering. Even Republicans won't be able to save him when those facts come out....
4
@S. Sommers Of course Mueller has all of this--nonsense.
What a weird story. As a lot of other people are commenting, there has to be some method behind the madness of these leaks. What’s in it for whom? But boy oh boy, it sounds like Trump does not have a crackerjack legal team. Is this a case of them actually believing their client was innocent until they realized he wasn’t? How stupid could they be to believe anything Trump told them? Haven’t they been paying attention to his lie tally?
6
@Kally
(BTW, submitted this last night—Sat., not an hour ago, without the benefit of seeing this morning’s news.)
Trump's failing presidency is falling apart.
It will take years to fix the corruption he brought to DC.
The Repubs have really been made fools by Trump- the party won't recover from this debacle for a decade.
7
Trump's denials inadvertently reveal the truth. He tweets that McGahn is not a "John Dean style RAT. " This indicates two things. First, Trump fears being ratted out. Second, Trump thinks that telling the truth to investigators is being a RAT. Trump is like Jack Nicholson's character in "The Departed". Obsessed with finding the RAT.
11
These are facts reported by revered NYT. But the man who himself proclaims to be a HIGH IQ beholder, says this is "Fake News".
All his similar antics and lies are making former President Nixon look noble.
9
Mueller, his team, and the assorted actors in this historic waste of time, and our taxes, (and I do mean individuals actually playing a part), will soon close up shop, drop the circus tent, pack the clown cars, and meander in soulful dejection back into the wilderness of the minds of the rabid coastal liberal elites, the 01%ters in the DNC/Clinton/Democratic cabal, who were denied the opportunity to occupy and control the highest seat of corporate power on the planet, which is the Presidency of the corporate owned capitalist states of America.
Their whinging is piteous.
2
@Mel Farrell
Good luck with that!
I'll keep my money on Mueller.
This is going to be fun....
5
In regards to the NYT McGahn article and ensuing presidential response, I have to ask, along with other commenters, how does all of this work for McGahn? Perhaps he's learned from Omarosa that a good defense is a good offense, or even better, he has a strategy.
4
"Truth isn’t truth"
- Giuliani
26
@Blue in Green
He is referring to what "progressives" consider truth which is better described as half truth.
1
Will Mueller call in Devon Nunes?
He’s one of the biggest rotten apples in the bunch.
Lock him up with the rest!
19
Note that Trump labels John Dean a "rat" because he ultimately told the truth about Nixon's criminality.
Trump is transparently crooked, he can't help himself just as he can keep himself from lying. Even crazy eyes Giuliani admitted on the air today that Trump can't speak with Mueller because he'd trap himself in a lie. LOL What a great defense for his client -- my client can't talk to you because he'll lie and you'll catch him lying. Incredible.
35
@Sherr29, There is no story that Trump hasn't told in several variations.
10
First of all, I blame my former Assemblywoman for Trump. I asked her many times to get a law passed providing for incarceration of Republicans. She always laughed. Who's laughing today?
But more to the point, there is no doubt that Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, was a great president. And we can not ignore that Grand Sachem of Tammany Hall, George Washington Plunkitt who taught us about "honest graft", but a review of American presidents who were venial, corrupt, or just plain stupid will reveal one common denominator. They were Republicans. Warren G. Harding. Herbert Hoover. Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan. Donald John Trump.
8
Lincoln was a Republican when the Democrats were the conservatives and represented the slave owners of his day.
He would not recognize his party nor choose to belong to it were he alive today. He didn’t indulge in self victimization—a practice today’s GOP has mastered—and he most definitely would’ve been disgusted and disappointed that the South has been allowed to celebrate the traitors who led the confederacy during the war.
From statues to the flag, from history books rewritten to frame the civil war in positive terms for the South, the divisions we see today have been helped along by the Republicans who saw great opportunity in the 50’s and 60’s to use the confederacy as a wedge issue. And they continue to follow the so called Southern Strategy today.
Most of the statues celebrating confederate “heroes” were erected in the late 50’s and 60’s as the Civil Rights movement was gaining strength. Those “beloved pieces of history” are no different than the ubiquitous statues of Stalin & Lenin erected throughout the Soviet Union. They should all be stuck in the back room of a museum.
Sadly, Republicans realized a long time ago that the only way they could survive the demographic changes in this country was to shift southern baptists into a Christian nationalist party, using abortion as their centerpiece and to foment the racism that has been simmering since the war, just waiting to be released by someone like a Trump. Trump didn’t kidnap the GOP. He’s their creation.
12
@Miz
HALELLUJAH!
I've had to explain this at least 50 times in the last two years. The entire southern confederacy went from Democrat to Republican during the 1960's Civil Rights movement, of which they were extremely opposed. Today, Lincoln would absolutely be a Democrat.
1
He thought he was the King of America
Where they pour Coca Cola just like vintage wine
Now I try hard not to become hysterical
But I'm not sure if I am laughing or crying
I wish that I could push a button
And talk in the past and not the present tense
And watch this hurting feeling disappear
Like it was common sense
It was a fine idea at the time
Now it's a brilliant mistake
—Elvis Costello
9
Who leaked this? Giuliani claims it had to have come from Mueller's team, but that seems unlikely to me.
10
Trump called the "fake news" "McCarthyism" 3 days after Admiral McRaven accused Trump of using antics of "McCarthyism".
Another example of Trump's psychological projecting. I think he just learned that vocabulary word from McRaven.
17
McGahn is White House counsel, not a personal Trump lawyer. John Dean issued a statement that Nixon was aware he was going to talk to special counsel in the Watergate era. What Nixon failed to realize was that Dean planned on telling the full truth.
No one knows yet what McGahn revealed to Mueller. We must wait for the Mueller investigation to end, issue their findings and then go from there. If Trump is innocent of wrong doing then why does he continue to attack the investigation. I don't like that Trump continues to support Manafort. Hurry up Mr. Mueller.
17
How does the NYT get away with publishing "reports" that are sourced from Mueller's investigation? Because the NYT is "the press," it enjoys apparent immunity from revealing information leaked to it by sources within the Mueller probe. Confidential information is being leaked to adversely affect President Trump. The incestuous relationship between the Mueller probe and certain publications is "winked" at, but it is a dangerous practice that undermines the bedrock principle of due process. A prosecutor ought not leak confidential information injurious to targets of an investigation. Except, it seems, to the press, and particularly if the target is President Trump. When leaks continue to inform media reports that are biased against the president (or any target of a criminal probe), it undermines our system of justice, and further compromises an American media which is held in considerable distrust by the population at large.
9
@riclys. The Mueller investigation is not the source of these leaks. Did the media ever report on the connection between Papadopoulos and his knowledge that the Tump campaign had dirt on Hillary? The answer is no. His name first surfaced when he was indicted. These leaks are coming from the back-stabbing crooks within Trums orbit. But I'm sure that's a difficult concept for a person consuming propaganda from Fox news.
15
@riclys- the leaks are coming out of the white house, not the Mueller team. quit projecting.
10
Speak for yourself only. Recent poll shows only Trump base views the press adversely. The majority of Americans, do not. Without the press, all we have is disinformation peddled by Trump, Fox and Russia.
15
When we don't see or hear much from these two reporters I suspect that they are onto something. Once again I was proven right. Thanks to both and the failing NYT's. My subscription is worth it until this criminal president & his cohorts (family and some GOP members) are exposed to all for what they have done and continue to do.
28
@Maple23 It's worth it to keep your subscription even after this dark saga in history is over. People not paying attention to the real news is what got us into this predicament in the first place.
2
The President learnt another new word: McCarthyism, last week when it was used to describe his witch hunt and punishment of his detractors using government powers as suppression. So, of course, he decided to soften or even reverse it effect by turning the word back upon critics. Hey, great word, let me own it!
2
@Gerard
I guess Roy Cohn failed to mentor Trump on the definition of McCarthyism.
4
McGahn didn’t do it because Trump wanted him to cooperate- he cooperated because he feared Trump was going to ‘throw him under the bus’. Big difference.
10
@Maxie
That is where fake news comes in. That is certainly the impression this "news" piece wanted to leave. The problem is anonymous sources supposedly said something similar, but we don't know who those anonymous sources are, and it is very likely fiction.
1
Reading this it seems entirely possible the Mueller investigation, at least as to Trump, won’t yield much more- that he didn’t actually collude or that it can’t be proved. But the President is reaping what he continues to sow. He is a pathological liar, so the mere existence of an investigation leads to at least 51 or so percent of us logically ignoring his denials, and concluding he is guilty, because he is guilty of so much else and lacks any credibility. There would have to be overwhelming existence of his innocence for him to prevail in the public opinion court, which isn’t there, and it is entirely his fault that he will be held to that standard. Democrats need to ignore his politicized, Fox News-watching mass base, and focus on the voters who did vote for Obama but not HRC. This lack of credibility (this, plus there will probably be more accusations of criminal activity). plus the harm of tariffs will make him a vulnerable incumbent in swing states.
3
Great to see the extreme loyalty Trump inspires in the folks who work for him!
3
It's hilarious, in a twisted sort of way, that Trump is still pretending that omertà exists in the highest halls of American power. If I were McGahn, I would be doing everything I could, including singing like a bird, to prevent myself from being thrown under the bus by Trump's sycophants. If you have knowledge that can end this thing, Mr. McGahn, end it NOW.
12
@DJ McConnell
What does it matter if McGann's thrown under the bus? Look who shoved him. No surprise. It can't really hurt him.
I don't get this, McGahn has been talking to the prosecutor for over nine months -- apart from some innuendo, nothing. We have had innuendo for many months anyway. Especially if Manafort is acquitted, this whole old-fashioned, ponderous response to as yet unclear shameful behavior merely serves to reinforce a horrific new order.
3
I guess Twenty-Five indictments and half a dozen guilty pleas is “innuendo” in your “horrific new order”.
11
> He provided the investigators examining whether Mr. Trump obstructed justice a clear view of the president’s most intimate moments with his lawyer.
McGahn is NOT Trump's lawyer. He is the lawyer for the White House, advising the president. As such, McGhan has a constitutional duty to the country, not a personal duty to the criminal currently occupying the office of the president.
6
"At the same time, Mr. Trump was blaming Mr. McGahn for his legal woes, yet encouraging him to speak to investigators. Mr. McGahn and his lawyer grew suspicious." Imagine that, thinking that Mr. Trump's tactics are self-serving. And of course the standard effort at a smokescreen: " ... we readily gave over one million pages of documents. Most transparent in history." Not necessarily, depends on which documents were NOT provided. Any large organization can provide a million pages of meaningless documents.
6
@Steve Kennedy A former employer's favorite tactic whenever the auditors' annual visit came was to "bury them in paper." He knew they'd have to read and confirm the information on every page, so he trotted out at least a couple of dozen of storage boxes full of paper to keep them busy for a month or so. The skid of paper that Trump's tax returns take was used by Don Jr. as an excuse to not give them to the special prosecutor, claiming that they were so complex, they wouldn't be understood.
Yes, it's the intention behind those million pages of documents and what's in them. The great thing about computers is they give us the ability to scan and search paper more quickly once the grunt work of conversion is done.
5
Doug Mills, photographer extraordinaire with a nano second eye, has captured the McGhan story in one brilliant photo. You can read McGhan’s thoughts with this photo.
Thank you!!
5
What no one knows:
1. What Mueller has been told, when and by whom
2. How much of the statements 'from the White House' come from Trump
3. What the FBI, CIA and DOJ are planning to do with the man who now is our President...and all of this is just in the present and recent past.
No one knows what the future holds, of course, but it is beyond a reasonable likelihood that all of the agents and staff of the intelligence community will lose the battle to Trump, because unlike the growing number of his opponents, Trump seems incapable of formulating a new strategy. He seems - and I could be wrong - to believe that as long as he keeps tweeting NO COLLUSION and WITCH HUNT, he's safe, and everyone will believe it.
The odds get longer and longer every day on his survival to the next Sunrise.
5
i have no idea what "cooperating" means in this context. for instance, some companies claim "cooperation" when all they do is produce documents to a legal subpoenae, etc. big deal.
was this witness asked about the famousletter prepared on the presidential plane regarding the meeting with the russian lawyer? what were the answers? who prepared it? what are the facts?
time will tell on all of this.
4
Here's the ironic part of all this collusion stuff: While we all focus on the conspiracy, Donald Trump has turned out to be a successful President simply by putting America first.
12
I disagree. Trump is the least successful president ever. He’s not qualified to work in the White House gift shop, much less run the country.
13
@Mark -- Sorry to disagree.....but it does seem to me that Trump puts HIMSELF first, each and every time.
9
Many people are comparing this to Watergate. Let's compare.
I lived through Watergate.
That was about covering up a break-in and what went after, including obstruction of justice. It was bad.
BUT: It was NOT about collaborating with a foreign power to taint our elections. It was NOT about mass frauds, laundered money and hidden tax returns. It was NOT about calling the press the ENEMY of the people. And it was NOT about calling U.S. intelligence people political hacks, while having secret one-to-one love talks with the biggest dictator in the world. And NOT divulging a single detail of said talks.
I submit that Trump Gate is infinitely more serious than Watergate. If Watergate was sufficient cause for impeachment, Trump Gate is cause for multiple impeachments. And sooner, not later.
Where is Congress and its oversight?
21
@Robert Sonnen
Where is Congress? There's not enough courage/support to take a stand and win. Right now, speaking up is at the risk of being brutally humiliated through his lies and tossed under the Trump bus -- re-election lost.
3
The key question for those surrounding Trump and protecting him including the GOP leadership: What did they know and when did they know it?
8
Like President Trump says in his tweets, this article does completely mischaracterize the nature of Mr. McGahn's cooperation with Mr. Mueller's investigators. And the NYT editors and reporters know that. They know their biases and their readers' views. President Trump allowed Mr. McGahn to talk to Mueller's investigators. He didn't try to prevent that. And McGahn is not testifying in order to cover his own actions or defend himself. He thinks that the facts will speak for themselves.
One of these days Mr. Mueller will conclude his investigation. He will present the facts behind any possible further indictments. I am sure he will do a good job and one that is legally defensible. That will be a welcome day because then the speculations and insinuations of many people--both pro- and anti-Don Trump--will come to an end.
5
Mr. Trump's administration has clearly been full of derision. More on the part of the Main Stream Media that hates him. A study found that Liberal Washington Post was negative on 93% of the stories it ran on Donald Trump. While I agree that his style can rub people the wrong way, I feel his heart is in the right place. The final score of his administration will come on the November 2018 elections. The American people are wonderful adbitrators to the direction the United States should take.
2
Mueller's findings and McGahn's cooperation will mean nothing if the voters don't act to create a Congress that is devoted to something more than retaining power. The executive and legislative branches of our government have been compromised and the judicial branch is being "stocked" with GOP loyalists, right up to the Supreme Court. Free elections might well be compromised but they are our only hope for retaining a government whose derives its power from the consent of the governed.
29
@M Davis
Elections have consequences. When Obama was elected he proceeded to steer the country to the Left and there was nothing the Republicans could do. I get it you Liberals are mad now that the Pendulum has swung the other way. That is just the way it is. You lost now like all good teams try and get it back by doing the things the American want from you: Freedom (especially religious freedom} over equality. Stay away from Socialism.
1
@Rafael Trefil We may have the first American traitor in the White House and all you can think of is teams as if we are playing football? Our country is at stake and you are missing the entire problem. I'd suggest you read more real news.
1
This doesn't seem like the investigation very much. Everybody knows Sessions recused himself to Trump's fury. He has had no control over the investigation. Even as the investigation as moved far beyond Russian interference, of which none has been shown.
3
If Trump is interfering in Mueller's investigation, obstruction of justice charges are very m of the investigation.
Regarding "Russian interference, of which none has been shown", you must have missed the following news.
1) The American intelligence agencies issued a report in Jan 2017, concluding that the Russians interfered in the 2016 elections.
2) John Brennan, James Clapper, and a third intelligence official showed Trump two weeks before his inauguration proof that Putin had ordered the attack.
3) Multiple American intelligence officials have testified under oath to Congress on multiple occasions that the Russians interfered in the 2016 elections and are continuing to interfere.
4) Mueller's first indictments of Russians (available to read online) define the crimes committed by Russians.
5) Mueller's most recent indictments of Russian GRU officers (available to read online) name the Russian conspirators and the details of the crimes committed by Russians, e.g. names, dates, locations, the computers that were used, etc.
6) Considering that the Russians were targeting at the precinct level, it's obvious that the Russians must have received assistance from Americans. Also, a connection between Roger Stone and Assange is being investigated, as well as the Russians funneling campaign funds through the NRA (Butina investigation). You can expect subsequent indictments to name the American conspirators.
17
When I saw this last night I said to my husband that Donny's head was going to explode. Then this morning I see the article explaining how Donny's head exploded. He's so predictable. I can't believe that Mueller wouldn't bait him purposefully just so he can watch him tweet his way to incarceration.
30
@Jenifer
Plus, he tweeted that the Times apologized. Is he convinced most Americans are illiterate?
5
This is a nothing story. No evidence of illegal conduct has ever been produced in spite of the millions off hours spent by journalists to find any.
10
Millions of hours of reporting, huh? No hyperbole, ok? Believe me!
4
@J
No hyperbole:
333 journalists(print, tv, publishing) working 1000 hours a year on trump for 3 years would be a million hours. That bar was probably cleared quite awhile ago. Trump has become a full-time focus for many in the industry.
@Anthony 30 indictments, 5 guilty pleas and you say there is "no evidence of illegal conduct"? You should read the news more often.
5
"Mr. McGahn joined the Trump team as an early hire said to like the candidate’s outsider position. His lack of a degree from a top law school bothered Mr. Trump..."
So all those rocket scientists surrounding the ignoramus-in-chief failed to inform (or, more likely, research thoroughly) Mr. McGahn's LL.M. degree from Georgetown?
Details!
14
@Peggy
In legal circles, when one refers to a lawyer's degree, you mean his JD.
@Wine Country Dude: Understood, but the concern was about top tier schools. As you likely know, an advanced degree beyond the J.D. (formerly the LL.B. in the old days) is the LL.M. That distinguished credential from a distinguished institution should have trumped Trump's concern.
Bastille day is coming.
16
It is fairly obvious that both the NY Times and too many of its readers have never gotten over the defeat of Hillary Clinton so both cling to a fading hope of impeachment. I should mention that I am a lifetime Democrat and did NOT vote for Trump. I find him obnoxious and boorish but I don't hate him and find his actions regarding the economy and foreign policy far superior to President Obama who was certainly more presidential but ineffective.
Unfortunately the Democrats are becoming even more radical than President Trump with their ANTIFA violence, growing socialism (a failed economic policy everywhere in the world) and open border support. The NY Times has become part and partial of the resistance and no long is willing to print straight and objective news. The whole front page belongs in the editorial section and the NY Times, sadly, is no longer the newspaper o record.
11
@jefny Took the words right out of my mouth.
1
@jefny
Antifa - it's all relative. The world could have used a little Antifa violence in November 1938 on the night of Kristallnacht in Germany.
For now - for some of us - the words "never again" still resonate.
9
@jefny
Could be it's more a case of the media highlighting the extremes of both parties, leaving the "silent majority" baffled, feeling helpless, and more often now, hopeless.
1
Isn't it ironic that Trump has taken to likening the Russia investigation to McCarthyism — the very practice orchestrated by his mentor, Roy Cohn.
19
What makes you think that McGahn is telling all or the truth. Remember this is an administration built on lies.
6
Trump Attacks New York Times Report on Don McGahn’s Cooperation With Mueller
President Trump wrote on Twitter that the article falsely insinuated that Mr. McGahn “turned” on him. The Times said it stood by its report.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/19/us/politics/trump-twitter-don-mcgahn....
So, what's the actual NYT's response:
It was an insinuation that Mr. McGahn “turned” on him, but not a false one?
It wasn't an insinuation, but a factual description of how Mr. McGahn “turned” on him?
It's not true that Mr. McGahn “turned” on him, and Trump's impression of the NYT article is wrong?
2
Here is a Potus whom has honed his teeth on dependent offspring, employees and hungry beyond all reason banks. He is pretty good at selling himself to people like he is....greedy. He is now trying to run with the big dogs and is being eaten alive. Surprised? It gets worse.
9
The red-haired narcissist and megalomaniac now suffers from extreme paranoia, fueled by delusions of grandeur and benevolent monarch syndrome. Everyone in White House is viewed as a potential threat to POTUS Trump. Those who don't constantly genuflect and tell POTUS what a genius and loved despot he is automatically become viewed with suspicion. Is Trump on drugs, or is Trump delusional? (Remember that yanked military parade - whose idea to have the parade in the first place? Trump.) All reminds me of the stories of Adolf Hitler in the Berlin bunker as Allied forces were closing in. Hitler's paranoia was fueled by drug use.
This must be an absolutely fantastic place to hold a position. John Dean's advice, "Get out now, while you can." is prescient. Those who remain are playing musical chairs as Mueller's team picks off one cooperating witness after another. The vice of justice slowly places its steely hands on the throats of the criminals who reside there.
28
From Helsenki to the Oval Office, Treason is Trump and Trump is Treason. The other "T", Tweeeeets will not change the facts.
Mr. Mueller's use of the White House Counsel is an add-on.
9
here's a Sunday morning eye opening thought...just think how dangerous and damaging trump could have been if he were a man who could take his unholy victories with quiet pride! Instead, we know what we know about him because he can't get in the limelight enough, and he can't get past his belief that America should be carrying him around on it's collective shoulders and praising him nonstop 24/7. His persecution complex drives his fingers to tweet lies and fantasy where he is the chronic victim. If he were shrewd and calm, like the real "godfather", we wouldn't have stood a chance of exposing him.
15
The "McCarthyism" tag that Trump uses as his alternative to "witchhunt" is another example of his down-is-up approach to truth. Trump's mentor was the infamous Roy Cohn, who Trump so famously misses now. Cohn was McCarthy's chief counsel, so what is Trump actually saying here (other than twisting anything he can twist)?
11
This is what it looks like when the Walls of Jericho begin to buckle. Heads up.
12
Sigh. There are still comments saying Mueller has found nothing, from people who, like all of us, have not seen his report.
Since Mueller appears in no hurry to meet Rudy's phony deadline, Trump fans have created their own statute of limitations declaring Trump innocent of, well, you know, just everything.
21
And why is this information being leaked to the public now? Is McGahn angling to get himself fired as a final act to save his hide? Or is team Trump trying to stoke the fires of right wing rage against McGahn so their plan to make him the fall guy will succeed after all?
There’s a reason someone is talking about this to the press right now and The NYTimes owes us readers some more context.
4
Now the mentee of Joseph McCarthy's lawyer Roy Cohn, Donald Trump, is squawking about McCarthyism.
Full circle.
Trump's ONE trick is hiding in plain sight.
He says exactly what he is doing - just listen to what he is saying about someone else.
24
When American's Mayor Rudy Giuliani has said his Mueller must wrap this investigation by September 1st to keep this from interfering with the midterm elections, he forgets the Manhattan Madam has already been in to talk to the investigators and now Roger Stone the trickster who was involved in Watergate appears to be in the special prosecutor's sights. Stone who now has been on the Trump team has not subpoened yet, but his assistant is scheduled for September 10th. So it is not over until it is over Mister Mayor. Robert Mueller is very carefully working his way up the food chain.
17
Can McGahn possibly emerge as another John Dean? I sure hope so.
10
Are you quite sure about your reporting? Many people are saying that this is "fake news" and that "Truth Isn't Truth."
5
I'm hearing rumors this morning to the effect that, on Planet Giuliani, "truth isn't truth"? Is this true, pardon the pun? Can anyone confirm?
14
Forty five years after Watergate, the moment that glorified the press placing them above reproach for half a century, I'm afraid we're seeing the golden age come to a crashing and ironic end. The fact is that the media which famously stood up to power during Watergate is now a tool of the DC establishment...the real power in Washington...and is blindly doing its bidding. Trump may be an obnoxious and annoying character, but it is he who is confronting the corrupt powers that be and he's doing it on behalf of American people who elected him. As a long time hater of Fox News I hate to admit that they currently are the ones bravely facing down and investigating the corruption in Washington like Woodward and Bernstein did so many years ago. The fact that the media completely ignores the strong evidence of corruption and incompetence at the FBI and the huge possibility that the dossier was totally bogus will ultimately shame them.
4
@rpe123. "Truth isn't the Truth" anymore. Ask Rudy Giuliani. Seems to me if a person is innocent they would not put up such a horrendous amount of "alternative" facts, "the truth is evolving" comments from an administration that knows that a certain population of the country believes fake news. We never had fake news until we got this president who did indeed lose the popular vote.
5
@rpe123
Hmm, strange take. I see a whisper of smoke coming from the intelligence agencies and air choking plumes that blot out the sun coming from the Trump camp, yet you would like me to believe the real problem is the wisps. Trump's entire history looks dirty, yet it the FBI, who tripped up Clinton and helped Trump win the 2016 election, they are the ones corrupt and bias against Trump? Really? Very Very strange take indeed.
To me, Trump looks to probably be innocent of colluding with the Russians, but clearly they worked hard to get him elected.. That said, Trump is in deep with the Russians and has been for a long time. It looks pretty clear at this point that he was a money laundering vehicle for the Russians for a long time. I have had security clearances in the past and I can assure you that no one with Trump's sleazy background could get a legitimate clearance.
Trump is a disgrace to this country, and the longer we allow him to occupy the office of the President, the deeper the stain on this country goes.
7
"Mr. McGahn joined the Trump team as an early hire said to like the candidate’s outsider position." How is that working out?
10
Funny, the people on the right are behaving as if they are guilty. Hmm, the apples don't fall very far from the treeump.
14
@D.E.R., I also say to myself the same when I see a fox running from hounds: only a guilty animal would run like that.
3
He's not "his" lawyer, he's the White House counsel. There's a difference.
15
@Laurel McGuire
Interesting issue. It is correct that Trump the individual is not his client--I guess it's some variant on "The Presidency"--but who who gets to claim privilege other than the occupant of the Oval?
If Trump forcefully claimed privilege, trying to separate his personal interests as to his conduct of the Presidency from the legal interests of the Presidency would be an insuperable thicket.
This isn't John Dean redux. Wish it were.
6
This article is well written, researched, and documented as is most everything written in "The failing NYT".
I'm not at all surprised that Mr McGahn is seeking refuge from the storm about to hit. After all, unlike our president, he's thoughtful, intelligent, and has a sense of premonition about how this White House is poised to collapse on itself.
What is surprising is the level of acceptance exhibited by this president's base. Tell them it's a "witch-hunt" and they believe it. Document it with months of unimpeachable research, media coverage, and virtually all of the justice departments apparatus, and it's all part of the "Deep-State" / Fake news.
I guess it's all going to plan with Trump. Keep telling the big-lie, the bigger the better, and the gullible simpletons that support him eat it up.
Small wonder when you consider that Trump started the birther-ism movement. He tapped into the dark soul of the 30-40% of this country which remains deeply racist and bigoted.
I watch a movie like Birth of a Nation set in the 1830's and ask myself, how could this have possibly happened? And then I read the news in 2018, and tell myself, oh yeah, this is how...
15
So an investigation that results in multiple indictments is a witch hunt while sending a team to Hawaii (as Trump claimed to do and Joe Arpaio did) to gather proof that Obama's birth certificate is a forgery, and which came up wit nothing, is not. Remember Trump said in 2011 about his so-called team, I "cannot believe what they're finding." Still waiting to hear what that was.
33
@LSR: Maybe what they were finding was the truth - that Obama was born in the USA - and that's why Trump "couldn't believe what they were finding"!
7
The investigation launched because of all dged illegal ellection collusion involving both the Administration and Russia in reality seems like no more than an attempt to damage the Administration based of tangential findings and process crimes. By principals of the Fourth Amendment, "no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." why were Manfort's papers searched? Was there probable cause of collusion with Manafort and Russia? Why are the Manafort charges unrelated to Russian collusion with the Admin to influence the current election?
Was this an investigation working from probably cause of a crime in seach of the people who committed it? Or perhaps starting with the people of the Administration, in search of any crime they may have committed? The latter is contrary to the IV Amendment.
Perhaps they will be happy with any tangential crimes they "Accidentally" uncovered in the investigation. Or any perjury or obstruction relative to an original crime that did not happen. Manafort, Flynn on unrealated crimes, Russias acting alone (not with U. S.).
I suspect Trump hater will care little about weaponing the DOJ and a potential conspiracy among its leadership and high level investigators to overturn the Constitutional election of Trump through impeding it with unrelated investigations and perhaps impeachment.
3
@John, consider the electorate advised: you cast the ballot, the system calls the shots. There’s no reason to change a meanless November ritual. Besides, we all stopped being thankful on Thanksgiving years ago as well.
3
@John
Ask anyone in New York City about Donald Trump.....
and try to wash the "stars" out of your eyes.
and yeah, there's one born every minute....
10
@CJ37
The point is the investigation does not seem to me to be about election collusion involving illegal U. S. Cooperation with Russia to fix the election.
It seems to be an excuse to damage the admin in other ways.
Years ago a concept of DWB was defined where black people would be pulled over for minor traffic violations with the real objective being Supreme Court supported searches.
Just as DWB was not about traffic safety and actually about drug searches, perhaps Muellers investigation is really mostly about burdening the admin with ongoing investigations on charges not about Russian election collusion.
I expect, in the Spirit of the book, "Three felonies a day", there are crimes a zealous prosecutor could find with any admin especially if the 4th amendment is taken loosely.
My concern is the lack of ANY CLEAR COLLUSION.
BTW, why doesn't the FBI have the DNC server that was at the heart of the start of all this. If this is all so important, why don't they have that. I think the answer is obvious.
Let's make sure we investigate the investigators fully. For a start, let Congress determine if Rosenstein had the required new evidence when he did the last FISA renewal.
So, the president tweets that he gave McGahn authority to fully cooperate with the Mueller investigation because he has nothing to hide. He attacks the New York Times report and calls Schmidt and Haberman "fake journalists". I guess if he had a bad golf club he would throw it away and declare that it was a "fake club". He claims again that there was no collusion. Yet, he is trying to undermine the Mueller investigation. The Mueller team members have and need their security clearances to do their jobs. So does McGahn. If the president is going to use the threat of cancelling these clearances as a cudgel to force cooperation and compliance with his changing whims, we face an more erratic time ahead. He is clearly in a defensive crouch, using anything he can to impede the Mueller investigation. Why? Is he worried Mueller has explicit documentation about his business dealings with Russians? Does Mueller have his tax returns? These questions must keep him up at night and his bile must spill into his early morning tweets.
21
Trump is very, very upset by this article. Keep calm and carry on. Thank you NYT.
22
Donald today "equated the special counsel investigation to McCarthyism". The multiple levels of irony in his position are fascinating. His own most beloved first and family's personal lawyer, Roy Cohen, was a primary agent of McCarthyism.
Republicans propaganda fueled McCarthyism as a misguided weapon against both wholesale Communists infiltration in our government, as well as condemning their left wing Democratic enablers.
To the extent there was considerable Communist influence at the time, Republican Congressional efforts were so politically over the top and poorly misdirected that they facilitated a disgraced conclusion of any potentially meaningful investigation.
Today, Donald and his GOP lackeys treasonously enable and collude with those forces or consistently downplay or block meaningful investigation exposing the degree of that vulnerability.
Donald is today's Bizarro Cohen/McCarthy. Just as the earlier Superman had an evil opposite, he uses Communism and they use him to achieve their continuance in being Putin's ambassador and puppet.
Just as with McCarthy, and Cohen (both Trump and McCarthy's second gun), Donald's position relative to Russia was about himself, regardless of the systemic weakening of America's values and institutions.
7
"Mr. McGahn described the president’s fury toward the Russia investigation and the ways in which he urged Mr. McGahn to respond to it."
Statements like that are what bother me about this. To make that statement, you have to know what was said in the meeting. To know what was said, you have to have been there or have access to a record of what was said. Don't you?
People from Robert Mueller's team were in the meeting. Don McGahn was in the meeting, and I assume his lawyer. They know what was said. But they shouldn't be telling the press. Are they? If so, we should be told. Keeping news sources confidential like this makes the reporting suspect. Statements like the one quoted above should not be made -- they are fake news.
John Dean's name has come up, but people apparently don't know or don't remember how faulty his testimony was. He testified under oath to things that Richard Nixon's recordings showed never happened. Truth is devilishly hard to get at. Akira Kurosawa's movie Rashomon shows why.
Same thing here. Reporting like this does not help. Statements like the above need qualifiers and context to be true reporting. This whole article has an anti-Trump slant that, while not surprising, is disappointing. No wonder Donald Trump criticizes the news media. Articles like this show they deserve the criticism.
3
Just one more of many signs that President Trump has nothing to hide. The anti President Trump press has to twist itself into knots to keep the impeach President Trump narrative going. President Trump will never be impeached and will win in a landslide in 2020. America loves a winner and a leader and President Trump is both
7
@Gary
For a guy who has nothing to hide, Trump sure acts guilty. He lies, then revises the lies when caught, then finally acknowledges the truth, but asserts that there is "no collusion". Then, he and Rudy G say collusion isn't a crime.
Trump has no credibility remaining.
Trump calling John Dean a RAT signifies that Trump is the criminal afraid of his crimes being uncovered.
3
FREE PAPADOPOULOS
In the interest of justice, either the judge in the Papadopoulos case should ignore Muller's sentencing recommendation or Pres. Trump should issue a full pardon to him after any sentencing.
The use of concealed recording devices in this administration is rampant. I think it reasonable that anyone having an interview with the special prosecutor is "wired" so that the President can find out how his puppets perform on stage.
3
Mr. McGahn's comparison of Donald Trump to King Kong is manifestly unfair ... to King Kong! King Kong treated Fay Wray with much more respect than Donald Trump treats women.
30
Civics lesson 101:
https://www.justice.gov/olc/opinion/sitting-president’s-amenability-indictment-and-criminal-prosecution
A seated President cannot be indicted.
Impeachment requires a 2/3 vote of the Senate--which is what saved Bill Clinton.
So for the next two years delusional Democrats are going to salivate over what they think will take Donald Trump out of the White House. It is not going to happen.
4
@Jonathan
It's not going to happen?............and sooner than you think...
5
"Impeachment requires a 2/3 vote of the Senate--which is what saved Bill Clinton".
If the allegations against Trump prove true, self preservation will lead the GOP to turn against him. Neither Mueller nor the Democrats have to lift a finger in the end because every day Trump’s antics and proclamations get worse. He is his own worse enemy and his reality show presidency will run its course. A base of 30% is not the majority and the majority is tiring of this one man show and its cast of supporting characters.
4
I've been called far worse (than King Kong) by my employees and I tend to wear it with humor. I wouldn't be surprised to see King Donald sporting a tee shirt with the logo in large red letters.
5
The commenters dismissing this article are extremely partisan, and surely those folks believe the commenters cheering it on are partisan.
Partisanship has never been so extreme since the Civil War, surely we are not as partisan as we were then, but this time our population is 10 times larger and we are geographically more mixed.
But then accounts of our partisanship in 1860 have been grossly overstated: the Civil War began because a very few minority slave/ landowners did not want to give up their wealth and these powerbrokers were very concerned the masses of disenfranchised poor whites had no interest in their financial concerns.
Partisanship back then was more between the industrialist bosses of the north vs. the landed gentry of the south, with the multitudes of people caught up in the struggle for power. Abolitionists had only a small minority elite to direct their anger towards.
Today, we have the same thing, but on a much larger scale: powerbrokers are fighting over control of the political economy wearing their red and blue jerseys, and they have so effectively sluiced the wealth off of our backs like sweat that we are vindictive towards one another because the team we identify with has us believing it's the opposing crew that has got us down.
We the people have one very important experience in common: we are feeling the pinch and we are set off against each other. We are becoming enemies to each other, and there's no chance our national partisanship will abate.
2
It would be nice if the reporters could get some of their sources to go on the record. I'm dubious when they cite "someone" with knowledge of the President Trump's thinking. If such a person exists, there are many other questions this person should be asked.
6
The authors cite a person with knowledge of President Trump 's thinking. If such a person exists, there are many other questions he or she should be asked.
3
Mr Don McGahn works for the office of the president of the United States of America NOT Trump, hopefully Mr Don McGahn testimony will help Mr Mueller to uncover more evidence of trump's wrongdoing.
4
Trump left the President’s counsel with no alternative than to disclose interactions with him and so to give investigators indicators of Trump’s state of mind. It was so strange that it seems to have caused the counsel to worry if there was some deception. This is not information from transcripts of any depositions, so while the reports maybe accurate they also could be misrepresented and not accurate.
However, we understand from Trump’s behavior that while he schemes and manipulates he has weak intellectual skills and anything he directs is usually a mixture of success and failure that indicates no sound forethought on his part. He very well might not have understood that the man is the lawyer for the office not the office holder. He does not listen to his lawyers and advisors because he cannot benefit from their advice. He relies upon his instinctive judgments because that is all that makes sense to him. He has not the ability to project likely outcomes based upon reasonable approaches to problem solving and forecasting. He uses emotional intelligence not sound rational intelligence to guide his choices. He wants his people to understand what he wants and to bring him what he wants not to work out solutions with him. He’s got no leadership skills and avoids embarrassing himself by trying.
11
I apologize in advance if this has been discussed here.
I'm not sure how executive privilege and attorney client privilege would apply here.
Mueller is technically an arm of DOJ, which is part of the Trump administration. I don't know whether the president can assert executive privilege to prevent disclosure of facts to another agency of the executive branch. Does the WH actually have a privilege against its own department?
The same is true of attorney client privilege. McGahn is not the president's personal lawyer. He has the same client that Mueller has -- the United States of America. So, I'm not sure the president would be entitled to any expectation of confidentiality when he personally is talking to WH Counsel. And, I don't see how the executive branch can assert attorney client privilege against itself.
Finally, I don't think either privilege applies if prospective or ongoing criminal conduct is being discussed.
Therefore, regardless of the merits of the strategy pursued by WH Counsel, I'm not convinced they had a clear choice
1
@Likely Voter
Trump may have an expectation of privacy in his discussions with McGahn, but he shouldn't. McGahn's job is to protect the institution, not the occupant.
I think we are overlooking the possibility that he collaborated fully to (1) give investigators the appearance that he was collaborating fully and (2) tell investigators over the course of many hours that the President did absolutely nothing wrong. This may not be good news.
6
Isn't it interesting how cooperating with law enforcement officials and telling the truth like any citizen is supposed to do to maintain the integrity of our nation is now seen as an act of political defiance? I only wish more White House officials would be willing to step forward with transparency and honesty to preserve our nation.
12
I just want to thank Maggie. The level of professional journalism she exhibits day in and day out just trying to cover this incredibly chaotic and incompetent Whitehouse is tremendously appreciated. Thank you for your hard work!
10
So, the president now tweets that he has nothing to hide. Let's now see his tax returns.
13
Really great reporting by Schmidt, Haberman and all. It shows what a contorted mess the trump presidency is. Little trumpkins in the trumpland will still be enthralled by trump as they are guided by trump's "news" agency, Fox Noise. But trump has seriously degraded the office of the president.
From this penetrating article, Burck and McGahn,
"...feared Mr. Trump was setting up Mr. McGahn to take the blame for any possible illegal acts of obstruction, according to people close to him. So he and Mr. Burck devised their own strategy to do as much as possible to cooperate with Mr. Mueller to demonstrate that Mr. McGahn did nothing wrong.
This incident *demonstrates* the perversion in this presidency. trump is the worm that devours our democracy. Mr. McGahn evidently realized that responsibility to our government supersedes worship of trump.
And trumpkins can't understand that their boyfriend trump commands no respect. Once again we hear from a trump adviser:
"In turn, Mr. Trump’s behavior has so exasperated Mr. McGahn that he has called the president “King Kong” behind his back, to connote his volcanic anger, people close to Mr. McGahn said."
If this case goes to the former Republicans in congress who are now trumpists, trump will sleaze out once again, leaving his servants as the schlimazels who take the grief, and leaving trump with the worship from his trumpkins.
59
@Charles I don’t agree. We have both Brennan and Clapper on the Sunday shows today backing away from those statements. Why? Because they know they went too far and they are going to be outed in the end.
4
@Charles:So encouraging, as they have publicly stated, cooperation with Muellar now is a bad thing. The article also states they have not seen anything illegal the President has done but some choose to ignore that - now why?. Because the Left Wing can't accept any political views that they don't agree with. Like usually the left Wing is anti-war but when trump stated his wish to withdraw troops from these ghastly Middle East culture wars the Left Wing became pro-war combining with the McCain Neocons to pushback forcing the President to back down right?. You get it? didn't think so.
2
Mr. McGann had to hire his own Lawyer. Got to wonder all these underlings at the white house who had to hire their own Lawyers at great cost, how do they feel now Working in the Trump Whitehouse?
15
@frank monaco
Same for the Obama administration's 7th floor FBI. A couple had to start GFM pages.
Poor Trump. He devours the McGahn story at the "failing" New York Times, and just can't help himself; he is compelled to insert himself into every headline, no matter how significant [rare] or trivial [hourly]. And he simply can't believe that somebody he knows could cooperate with the "witch hunt" or tell the truth. To him, that constitutes "turning" against him.
Poor us.
26
One thing you have to love about Don Trump is that his ego and narcissism are so strong that they seep through his carefully curated persona. To wit: in taking credit for "allowing" Counsel to the President to testify before the Mueller infestation, he referred to Jone Dean, who's testimony revealed the perfidy at the core of Nixon's White House and was the causative agent in bringing Nixon to some measure of justice, as a "RAT."
Trump continually reveals his inner mob boss mentality. You're with me - right or wrong - or you're my enemy and I will do anything and everything to destroy you. And the fact that he is a small man with no guiding principle other than his own aggrandizement and survival becomes ever more evident with each Tweet.
The fact that roughly 89% of one of the two political parties in America approves of this miserable excuse for a man is a bellwether of things to come. While China methodically and efficiently positions itself to eclipse the US in the next 30 years, America has elected, and much of it supports, a vacuous egomaniacal nitwit who couldn't think his way our of a wet paper bag.
Perhaps this is what comes naturally of having a public school system that produces graduates who can't identify North America on a map. (Want to bet the majority of Chinese kids could?)
Enjoy your brief spell in the limelight America.
59
@Bounarotti
Don’t worry the new college educated have been brainwashed by the uber liberal progressive professors, limiting free speech, and all things conservative, who hide in the bubble of collegiate life.
1
After months of feeling so sad that our country was doomed because Trump, the GOP Congress, and his followers are so venal and corrupt, I'm actually becoming hopeful that law enforcement, civil integrity groups, and insiders (including Omarosa) can bring Trump down.
He is so depraved and gangsterish, so disloyal and cruel, that he has many enemies who know where the bodies are buried and are going to dish the dirt.
I hope that if the Dems win back control of Congress, they will immediately start an impeachment, and that Mueller will indict Trump, Jared, Junior, et al.
90
Mr. Dowd’s and Mr. Cobb’s game plan was not “misguided” if the president is not a crook. Unfortunately, he is. Trump expected everyone to play along with the ruse that he’s law abiding, but understand that he is not, wink wink. He assumed they would “know what to do” because he assumes everyone is dirty like he is. Sad.
72
@Mickey Lindsay Interesting that you call Donald Trump a crook with no evidence to support that. What law do you think he has broken?
3
@Mickey Lindsay
Trump has ALWAYS been a crook - that’s how he ran his businesses. He just paid lawyers millions in retainers to keep him out of jail.
4
I took my own advice and googled “Donald Trump criminality throughout business career”. There were many articles from reputable sources, including an extensive expose by the Wall Street Journal about his mob ties, but here’ a brief primer from a while back. It’s more conservative than many would be about what to include: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/01/donald-trump-scanda... The guy is a thief (regularly refusing to pay small businesses for their work) and charlatan. When this is all over, I hope people like you who have been taken in by him pause to consider why you didn’t know any of this. That’s when you should reconsider your news source, because they were lying to you. The other thing we as a nation need to come to terms with is the way we allow our justice system to give white collar criminals a pass; meanwhile, The Poors get choked to death on the street for selling loose cigarettes.
3
When do we see an investigation of the New York FBI office for leaking info to Giuliani? They hated Hillary and were very partisan in everything they did. The FBI helped Trump.
42
@Bille
I think it’s very well known that the New York FBI office is mostly Republican. Doesn’t mean they helped Trump - I don’t think they did.
There is ZERO evidence that they covered up Hillary ‘crimes’ or are part of a a “witch trial’ now. But every reasonable, thinking American knows that - including most Republicans in Congress who are shielding this corrupt Administration.
1
@Maxie You're wrong Maxie. Giuliani knew about events before they happened. There were definitely leaks.
The office was known within the FBI as Trump Central for a very good reason.
The "@RealDonaldTrump" TV show is getting more interesting. But, seriously, I bet hollywood writers are having orgastic brain fits how to write the best screenplay for this mockery of our present condition. I think this is a new step closer to the precipice before the fall of Trump "Everything". Maybe the fall will come in the fall.
7
@willw lol "orgastic brain fits" ! Love it. Can't wait for the movie.
1
Better call Saul!!!
19
I am trying to make sense of this article. There were multiple points of contact between Trump's campaign and Russia. Michael Cohen says Trump new about the Trump Tower meeting, which was about Hillary dirt and adoptions (which is code for Magnitsky act). That sounds like a quid pro quo. There's also the fact that Trump promised upcoming dirt on Hillary on the campaign trail once the Trump Tower meeting was set but before it occurred. I don't think any dirt was gleaned on Hillary at the meeting, but it was probably a way for the Russians to see if the campaign was still playing ball. But why would Trump tell McGahn to cooperate? He must have assumed that McGahn would sugarcoat things. He has a small circle but the people he trusts, he really trusts fully and when they betray him (Michael Cohen, Omarosa) he is appalled. Multiple tweets this morning on this story, including one invoking McCartheyism, without mentioning McCarthey's lawyer, Roy Cohn, became one of Trump's mentors. “Let Truth and Falsehood grapple; who ever knew Truth put to the worse in a free and open encounter?”
- John Milton, Areopagitica
21
@Roy
Trump's personal view of attorneys is based on his past personal interactions with them: Roy Cohn, Michael Cohen, Rudy Giuliani and Jeanine Pirro to name a few. No wonder his view of McGahn's ethics and sense of duty is way way off base.
3
Even though Trump has given 'permission' for McGahn to be interviewed by the Mueller team, He can still use that as a 'fall back on' if needed in case of a trial.
1
It looks like Trump lied to Dowd and Cobb about his actions and culpability (surprise!), so, believing he was innocent, they decided to waive executive privilege, which allowed McGahn to speak freely to Mueller to protect himself.
The prospect of having a client who is both a pathological liar and a deadbeat who refuses to pay his legal bills kept most good lawyers in DC from taking Trump's case.
Now it looks as though by lying to his lawyers, Dowd and Cobb, Trump set himself up to waive privilege and allow McGahn to spill all he knows to Mueller. Trump's penchant for self-sabotage may be his only redeeming quality!
19
"As the months passed on, it became apparent that Mr. McGahn and Mr. Burck had overestimated the amount of thought that they believed the president put into his legal strategy."
I literally laughed out loud when I read that sentence. Trump is intellectually and emotionally incapable of focusing on anything, other than his own very immediate needs, which usually include striking out at anyone whom he believes opposes him in any way. I would love for presidents to be required to take a reading comprehension test, similar to the SATs or the GREs before taking office. Trump would not be the Sun King if that were a prerequisite for office.
Nobody trusts anyone in this snake-pit of an administration, so each person is trying to protect himself or herself. It is eat or be eaten. Survival of the fittest or of the most morally bankrupt. McGahn is spilling his guts to save himself.
If you lie down with dogs, you wake up with fleas. There will have to be a major pest control operation after the present occupants decamp what is left of the White House and our democracy.
Is there not one honorable person with integrity and a moral compass in this entire administration? No. The fish stinks from the head, and that stinks for all of us.
19
Despite the Trump claim that he “allowed” McGahn to speak to Mueller, McGahn had no choice, he’s a public servant. And was left with 2 choices, lie or tell the truth. If he’s smart, he did tell the truth.
And would separate him from an administration that spouts “The truth is not the truth”.
16
@John Adams Donald Trump could have claimed executive privilege and forced Robert Mueller's team to go to court to force Dan McGahn to testify. Donald Trump chose instead to not claim the privilege and to "allow" Dan McGahn to testify.
As to "truth", remember Pontius Pilate's poser to Jesus: "What is truth?" And Akira Kurosawa's movie Rashomon? What is truth to you is not necessarily what is truth to me. Just look at all the Supreme Court decisions where the justices all look at the same facts but come to different conclusions as to what the truth is based on their political beliefs.
2
I just viewed a CNN Report this morning highlighting Mr. Trump's comments/tweets that Robert Mueller is worse than Joseph McCarthy. Who is Mr. Trump trying to kid? Trump is the person who needs to be compared to Joseph McCarthy NOT Mueller. His actions are malicious, dishonest and manipulative. He should not be allowed to continue to occupy the Oval Office. And the Republicans in the Senate and Congress who stand by him? NONE of them should be reelected. Simply put... it is time for Trump to go.
26
Washington, DC has turned into the laughing stock of the world. The mood here is circus-like.
48
While the Whitehouse is at it, maybe they can define exactly what Rudy Giuliani's definition of the Truth is, he seemed a little confused on Meet the Press.
42
@Chico
The truth is ‘relative’ in Trump world. It’s whatever Trump says in the moment and can, and does, change in an instant.
4
@Chico I thought his point was right on. We have two stories. Which “true” story are we to beleive? Answer - neither. They cancel one another out and now where are we?
@Maxie
It's because Trump is a pathological liar, we've all run into someone like that at work in our lives, usually can't trust them and stay away from them.....Trump's no different.
so now trump is saying that mcgahn is not like the "rat", john dean...hummm... seems like bob haldeman and john ehrlichman testified before the watergate committee and repeatedly lied while under oath. it was dean who spoke the truth.
what concerns me more than trump's ridiculous comments are the republicans who continue to support him.
trump is like a modern day joe mccarthy...also a republican... but this time trump has the support of the leadership in the house and senate and the majority of the party.
"we the people" are to blame for electing our representatives.
we get what we deserve.
13
@an alternative view
This article, taken as a whole, strongly undercuts the Watergate parallel narrative we always hear. Consider:
President Trump instructed McGhan to cooperate fully; Nixon wanted Dean to keep his secrets.
Dean committed crimes in a coverup; McGhan has not even been implicated in anything more than protecting the White House from what they view as false, partisan attacks by an overzealous prosecutor.
Dean was secretly helping the prosecutor in order to save his own skin, and believed Nixon guilty of a cover up; McGhan was cooperating despite his reservations about doing so, and does not believe Trump violated the law.
Nixon closely directed his defense attorneys; Trump gave them carte blanche to do the right thing.
4
@an alternative view Fact is almost all Republican politicians kept supporting Nixon until the tapes were released. An actual smoking gun! The Republican who first used the term assumed there wouldn't be such a thing, that Nixon was too smart.
We all know Nixon was a veritable Einstein compared to Trump.
3
I would comment about the dog-eat-dog world of the Trump administration, but dogs are loyal creatures. In fact, it says worlds that Trump has never shared his world with a dog. No wonder he thinks that loyalty flows in one direction, only. Sad!
16
In other words, White House Counsel Don McGahn — the subject of this Maggie and Mike puff piece suggesting he would only be of interest on the obstruction investigation — has for at least seven years been right in the thick of defending Roger Stone’s legally dubious actions on behalf of Donald Trump.
And Roger Stone has been the focus of Mueller investigation for six months.
Those are the same six months during which Maggie and Mike have been pushing an increasingly absurd claim that Trump and his associates are only at risk in an obstruction investigation, not the conspiracy investigation about which McGahn has surely been questioned.
7
Emily Cochran's companion piece describing Trump's response inaccurately reports the original McGahn report. The original report stated that McGahn told the investigators that Trump
1
At least McGahn is abiding by the rules of professional responsibility and his oath to defend the Constitution from enemies both foreign and domestic. McGahn does not want to lose is license to practice law or his professional responsibility from his association with the Trump Administration.
26
@jtf123
Did you READ this article? McGahn was taking care of himself in Mueller interview. He feared Trump would blame McGahn's bad advice as an excuse for firing Comey.
1
Lawyers don't stay out of trouble representing Trump without counsel of their own.
16
Republicans initiated impeachment proceedings against Clinton for sexual misconduct. Apparently those same Republicans believe that sexual misconduct as well as treason, abuse of office and obstruction of justice do not count anymore while it's their guy in office. So much for Republicans swearing an oath to the government and people of the United States; the law, sense of duty and honesty are at the whim of Republican office holders.
29
Suppose Trump is not lying and he knows nothing of/has nothing to do with cooperating with the Russians? Then again, suppose the earth is a cube.
9
This article states both that McGahn's client is Trump and that it is the office of the President. It can't be both; the NYT does a disservice to readers in muddying already murky waters.
John Dean outright said McGahn represents the office of the Presidency and Dean should know; that was his position in the Nixon administration.
As McGahn does not represent Trump, why are we talking atty/client privilege between Trump and the White House counsel? So this article walks two, mutually exclusive paths.
The Times needs to clear it's own head, then write for the public.
4
@citizen vox Exactly. In this case though the situation is complicated because it involves a times both before and after McGahn became White House Counsel, so he has other obligations as well. Obligations that don't end when jobs change, but are tied to the work performed for the client. The Trump campaign was a corporation so it is possible that Trump was not ever a client of McGahn. All in all this whole situation has to be a huge headache for McGahn to navigate, but I expect that he is acting in good faith to honor all his professional obligations.
2
@Bob
Complication with another time? Interesting, but you don't provide elaboration.
Whatever the complication, I understand lawyers are required to rule out possible conflicts of interest before taking on a new job or client.
I would hope McGahn is honorable and that honor doesn't conflict with self preservation, a strong instinct in all.
The Trump era is sorting out the ethical vs the unethical. On the scales of justice, one category will outweigh the other, by far.
Do we know if Mueller has subpoenaed the tax returns?
15
@btcpdx - Mueller subpoenaed Trump's tax returns over a year ago.
6
"Twisting in the wind." Don, and his Putinettes, are finding fewer and fewer rocks to hide under. The fun is just about to start.
19
McGahn appears to have the best interests of the presidency at heart and not just those of his mendacious client. As a lawyer and officer of the court, he has to uphold certain ethical and legal principles and rules or face the prospect of being disbarred. And he has to look himself in the mirror each morning before going to work and each evening when he returns home. The president also stares at himself in the mirror - of narcissism and is constantly worried that his image will turn ancient, like that of Dorian Grey.
3
There is a real bot feel to a lot of the posts I'm reading on this thread. First of all, the raw percentage of pro-Trump posts is remarkable for the Times- a phenomenon all too obvious on the Guardian before they started to block comments on most controversial topics. Secondly, these post employ whattaboutery, innuendo and especially false equivalency. American bot farms-all we need: America is becoming Putiised.
26
@brian Seems like we're not seeing the same posts since I've only seen a handful of pro-Trump posts. Are you perhaps over reacting to those few?
Does the Guardian really "block comments on most controversial topics"?!? I find that pretty much impossible to believe. Did you mean to say that?
As for your fear that we're becoming Putinised, I truly believe that the November elections will put it to rest.
Hey everybody! Register if necessary and vote! And urge everyone you know to do the same. We will only lose if folks get lazy. Like they did on 2010 & 2014. It's alright, I'll forgive you if you get off your duff this time.
3
It appears that Mr. Down and Mr. Cobb were wrong about the President's innocence. The witch hunt is in fact producing some very bad witches after all. While Mr. McGahn may view his job as protecting the presidency itself, he must be growing wary of the constant lies and deceit coming from the White House. Sometimes the truth hurts and judging by the President's increasingly erratic behavior it appears we are getting closer to the truth, which he desperately wants to avoid. And it appears that the truth about Trump's life and legacy can be summarized in three words: Lies and Deception.
13
I don't think the NY Times has ever made a convincing case that Trump seeking information on Hillary Clinton with Russian nationals was illegal. If it is illegal, it is an example of overreach in laws that ordinary people have trouble understanding.
It is Trump's reaction, his constant efforts to quash the investigation that may lead to credible charges of obstruction of justice. It is the coverup, not the act itself, that appears wrong.
Trump has become cynical. Gradually we have replaced justice with politics.
A far more egregious example is the Me Too movement.
When the nation was founded, we passed a Bill of Rights that was supposed to provide protection against unfair trials or punishment without trials.
Yet in the Me Too movement, men are accused of crimes, then removed from employment, then publicly shamed in the press with no trial.
The underlying assumption seems to be that women never lie, or are even mistaken in accusations that go back decades.
The question is why the cases of sexual harassment were not brought when they occurred so that there was a chance of determining their validity. Memories fade. Witnesses die.
Yes, Trump is corrupt. But how much more corrupt is a collection of media which subverts the constitution in an attempt to achieve social change that not everybody agrees with.
Our fathers and mothers were not sexist. Yes, they had different values. Marriage was more secure. Families stuck together. They were not all bad.
5
@Jake Wagner
while you are off topic i empathize with your apparent helplessness in the face of women finally standing up for themselves. of course our parents were sexist, it just wasn't called that. the man was master of the woman. that has been so since Aristotle.
despite women being half the population they still suffer degradation and brutal retaliation and mutilation and death over most of the globe. here the exploitation exploded with fox news, hollywood, corporations, military, and will continue because that is the male mind, unenlightened to equality. were we too afraid to speak out? you betcha. are there over reaches now for speaking out? you betcha. is trump a serial molester, do not doubt it. are his followers as gross yes, he has given permission. will we finally come to an equivalency? perhaps when women are half the power in congress as they should be. I agree about our parents, i had a wonderful life--but perhaps i was not in the majority. families stuck together not always out of good reasons. and no they were not all bad. just a lot more than we know of.
6
@Jake Wagner I will put this plainly. It is illegal for a candidate or campaign to solicit or accept help from a foreigner or foreign government. It is also illegal for a foreigner or foreign goverment to offer or provide help to a candidate or campaign. The reason should be obvious to you. We don't want foreign meddling in our elections. Guess what? It is illegal for a candidate to discuss any foreign policy with foreign governments, so if the subject of discussions was US policy on adoption of Russian orphans, while more sympathetic than hacking a political opponent's emails, is still illegal (unless the candidate is currently in federal office).
2
@Jake Wagner There is a federal statute that says trying to obtain something of value from a foreign national to influence an election is illegal. It's not up to the NY Times to prove that to you. The law is on the books. It will be up to prosecutors to prove whether the law was broken.
Furthermore, the FBI warned the Trump campaign that foreign adversaries, including Russia, might try to infiltrate or spy on them. They were instructed to contact the FBI if they received suspicious overtures from foreign nationals.
Instead of contacting the FBI when he received the email overtures from Russians, Don Jr replied, "I love it!" Now, Trump himself has admitted that the infamous meeting at Trump Tower was to get information on Hillary Clinton.
Again, it is not up to the New York Times to prove anything to your satisfaction.
3
DJT should revoke mcgahns security clearance.
That what he does to those that do not agree with him.
So amoroso, cohen and now mcgahn are openly defying DJT by cooperating with the SCO or publicly taking shots at him.
For someone that supposedly values loyalty, no one around DJT seems to understand or care what DJT thinks.
The time to vote is approaching.
Let’s show this administration that we the people are loyal to our constitution- not DJT!
12
I see in the story the question about whether Trump obstructed justice (or not). Considering all the stories coming from the media, be they pro or con Trump, I would hazard a guess that his actions were more in tune with obstruction corruption rather than justice. Certainly it appears that some in the Trump organization had some nebulous contact with the Russians and investigating that is justice. However, running interference for Clinton and poo posing her antics and those of the DNC regarding servers and destroying Sanders is tantamount to to corruption at the highest level. It would be refreshing if a factual and non-emotional story devoid of political leanings and biases would appear in print, either from the left or the right. The American people need to know.
5
Interesting how every lawyer who works for Trump ends up hiring his own defense counsel. It's as if they all know that working for Trump could land them in jail. I wonder why?
17
Trump has been demonstrating since he began to think about running for the Presidency of the US exactly how below the so-called line of decency he has been operating since he went into business--what business? I dunno..but business.
Compare where we were several years ago and where we are now. Deficits larger than we ever had. A political party leadership that prevented a president from doing his constitutional responsibility of filling a supreme court opening until his term of office was over, all kinds of treaties including environmental, trade pacts, military cooperation trashed and belittled just to name a few.
The most egregious is the attempt to ciover up all kinds of corruption including trying to stop an investigation of Russian interference in our presidential and congressional elections .
Huge amounts of money have been moved upwards and paid for by the starvation of essentials from the bottom half of our nation. All of this going on in the oopen and the republican party, as a whole, are complicit in one or many ways ,, notably the silence from them in opposition to all these miscarriages and their constatnt attempt to justify, lie, or just have no recollaion of antthnig going on.
Thwere other excuse is to bring forth the the false picture they wove about Hillary Clinton.
We are losing America...
42
Proximity to the election should not affect Muellers decisions. Avoiding the the appearance of election influence is what caused Barak Obama to hold back valuable information re Russian interference in that very same election. A classic bad choice by the former president.
All the former presidents should pen a joint letter. What are they waiting for?
5
President has the authority to dismiss subordinates for any cause or no cause at all, executive privilege, this obstruction angle is weak and it’s not going to work.
4
I have the authority to sell the stock I own, too, but if I do it because a company insider has warned me to do it, we go to jail. Motives matter.
8
This is a wonderful explanation.
Player A: "Player B is planning to do THIS."
Player A was wrong. THIS didn't happened, wasn't the plan.
Player A: "I overestimated how much thought Player B put in his planning."
Can you not admire those who came up with that explanation?
1
Any smart lawyer worth his or her salt would do the same.
DT’s actions have been in plain sight the whole time. As his motivations.
The man left a paper trail a mile wide, or rather a tweet trail. Announcing everything himself, and essentially not hiding anything, from public or private view.
So rather than playing cat and mouse with investigators, the president’s lawyer has fully cooperated with the special council.
3
When Trump removes Mueller's security clearance, America will see how open the president really is to the investigation continuing and for justice to prevail.
3
DT said during one of the debates that 'if he didn't win, the election was rigged' - a stunning statement at the time. What more does Mueller need? DT knew the fix was in from Moscow, he knew ahead of time that the emails were being released, and he knew that if Clinton won, it meant she had outmaneuvered him, both criminally, of course.
8
I fail to understand what more information is coveted by the Special Counsel wrap up his investigation into Trump's obstruction of justice.But I guess the solid evidence against Trump from people outside the White House is not enough. Perhaps that is the evidence Mueller is seeking from within the White House. Perhaps that is what Donald McGahn is providing. My only problem is that McGahn is a Trump hire. He may have signed the illegal statement of loyalty to Trump.
1
If a president wanted to own the good will of a Supreme Court Justice nothing could be better than having a confident like McGahn whisper in the judge's ear during the confirmation process. The future Justice will review many regulations and executive orders that embody the presidency of Mr. Trump. The "King Kong" term is an apt and credible description of Trump's impulsive bad manners. The new Justice may one day assure his colleagues that it is wrong to consider abborant tweets or errant spontaneous comments of the President because they do not reflect the full complexity and thought processes behind the President's actual decision-making process. Much of the public banter is just the showman side of King Kong dominating the news cycle. The core decisions are imperfect but well vetted and well reasoned after considering all sides. The Supreme Court should give Trump the benefit of any doubt in the same way Trump trusted McGahn to speak at length with the Special Prosecutor. In all these complex matters, Trump's best advice may come from his sister.
2
What is so interesting about this is that two experienced lawyers, Cobb and Dowd, agreed to open their client’s records to a prosecutor because the client said there was nothing harmful there. All experienced lawyers know not to take a clients word at face value on a matter of such importance.
So why did Dowd and Cobb give this advice? Was it because they believed the client? (Doubtful). Was it because they knew the truth and thought their responsibility to the public and history outweighed their obligation to their client?( unlikely but possible). Or was it because they tried to tell the client to be cautious but he would not listen because he did not grasp the gravity of the situation or decided that politics trumped good judgment?
6
@Glen Maybe they're just not very good at lawyering. Seems like a lot of attorneys declined the honor of representing Trump.
1
@Jack Toner that’s another possibility for sure. But sometimes a lawyer will try to give a client advice and fondness our that it’s hopeless because the client is a know it all who can’t or wont listen to advice.
We just have to hope more facts come out so we can get answers instead of speculation
What ever happened to the original purpose of the investigation to determine Russian meddling in the election? The article strongly suggest that it's now all about whether Trump obstructed Justice in that investigation, not the core issue.
4
@Steve
Obstruction makes the investigation impossible. You can’t refuse to acknowledge it. You pursue the obstruction as it jeopardizes the investigation itself.
3
I am amazed that some here seem to believe that the truth won’t be uncovered. It will be, sooner or later. And history will cement it. As there is intense scrutiny in this case, it is to be expected that truth will come out sooner than later. Most probably, there will be many more indictments.
11
What this column and the comments I have read seem to miss is that McGahn is the WHITE HOUSE counsel, not Trump's counsel. I don't know all the details, but I believe McGahn's position would be representing the White House/Presidency rather than any individual president. So while he probably wouldn't be able to sue Trump for his misdeeds against the office he holds, apparently he IS able to be a contributing witness in the Mueller investigation. And as a legally responsible attorney, he would therefore cooperate with any investigation that involved his "client" either in litigation or as a witness to an investigation.
4
@Mountain Dragonfly
The first sentence of the article identifies McGahn as "The White House counsel".
2
@nom de guerre
I read it, but there was nothing in the article that emphasized that there was a difference between that and being Trump's lawyer. Trump doesn't have authority to "allow" or permit federal employees from testifying.
"Rather than charge Mr. Trump if he finds evidence of wrongdoing, he is more likely to write a report that can be sent to Congress for lawmakers to consider impeachment proceedings."
If this inevitable report of wrongdoing is sent to Congress and they do nothing, all complicit Congresspeople will go down in history as filthy traitors.
10
Here is essentially the Trump defense: Mueller's investigation is a witch hunt, I have done nothing wrong so why is he investigating my criminal act like collusion with a foreign power, in bed with the Russians, in debt with the Putin crowd?
4
I knew King Kong. King Kong was a friend of mine. Donald Trump you are no King Kong.
16
@Mick, one difference is that King Kong had HUGE hands. Etc.
5
Stagnation. How much is all of this nonsense costing us? In dollars? Who cares! But our entire civilization is stagnating right now, when we -- as a species -- can't afford to!
Wake up!
2
Understand if there’s a red wave in 2018 and/or
2020 it will be
The blood of
Our dead freedom and nation
14
If Trump wants to get rid of carear civil servants because of the employment of their wives then the Democrats should impeach Clarence Thomas for the many years that his wife has worked on partisan lobbying while he is sitting as an allegedly impartial Justice.
15
They have nothing.. let me repeat ...there is nothing. This is a Democrat partisan escapade that is wasting your tax dollars.
8
In response to this article, Walter Shaub, former director of the Office of Government Ethics, Tweeted:
"Trump looks in all the wrong places for disloyalty. I’ve said for a year that McGahn’s his biggest problem. McGahn’s much smarter and far more committed to destroying institutions of our republic. Lucky for McGahn, his secret's safe. Hidden in print media."
https://twitter.com/waltshaub/status/1030927296000077826
4
Finally.
Someone has the courage and conviction to protect the Presidency (NOT the President) of the United States.
Even if that means telling the facts about an ugly and uncomfortable truth. A truth that violates the Constitution.
Congress has that duty according to the Constitution. WHY do Ryan and McConnell remain silent along with their cowardly colleagues? WHERE is the U. S. Congress?
Please..please...Vote on Nov. 6th!
Wake up, America! Before it is too late!
6
McGahn’s brightest move in a sea of pathetic darkness was to hire his own counsel to advise him. The one thing clear is that McGahn is utterly clueless about criminal law, ethics, and now it appears the actual practice of law as well. This explains why McGahn thought it was a good idea for Trump to nominate his former Federal Election Committee (FEC) colleague, Mathew Petersen to the federal court. Petersen if you recall is the individual who during his confirmation hearings, infamously couldn’t answer any questions on simple points of law posed by Republicans.
Now, McGahn foolishly still believes he can successfully serve in this crucible of advising the “Office of the President” not recognizing that advising this intangible "client" is an impossibility given that Trump and the office are one in the same. After this article's publication what does, McGahn subsequently discuss with Trump? The disposition of White House parking quotas? The leaderboard of the PGA tour? Recall, Nixon’s counsel, John Dean pled guilty to covering up, I expect the same for Mr. McGahn.
2
"What is truth?" said jesting Giuliani, and stayed not for an answer.
12
For everyone out there who thinks Trump is attempting to hide actions in his past, where was your outrage when Barack Obama sealed almost all of his "past records" when he launched his presidential campaign. What was he hiding?
6
@Steve, that he was born in Bavaria?
1
Looks to me like Trump "thinks" he has nothing to hide. We will know once Mueller reaches his conclusions. Speaking of Mueller's conclusions, if there is no obstruction or Russian collusion, will the NYT's and the rest of you issue a mea culpa for having published and commented on hundreds of articles just like this ? I know this is a hypothetical question at this point but worth knowing the answer...
8
No wonder Trump won’t allow an interview by Mueller. McGahn has no doubt testified to hundreds of perjury opportunities.
2
After reading these comments, it's so sad that so many are ignorant of the Constitutions's basics. McGahn represents the Office of the Presidency, not the person of the President. There is no lawyer/client privilege. Civics education needs to be restored to our educational system and mandatory to pass. Fox also should not be allowed to be referred to as "news" as it spews propaganda and falsehoods.
15
A Narcissist throwing a friend under the bus. Imagine that.
Anyone who thinks they are safe around Trump should read up on Narcissists. The have no allegiance except to themselves and there ego.
5
@Stan, as a confirmed narcissist I passionately disagree. The Alligience and Gratitude that my Friends have Showed me is Unparalleled in the History of Friendships! I am Currently taking applications for Loyal Friends Only! No DOGS!!!
And with all this cooperation, and all the tell all nothing burgers that the "team" has discovered, nothing is on the table...The liberal progressive wing of the new Socialistic Democratic Party has been bending over backwards to come up with something, anything. Their desperation is so intense they stuck Paul Manafort in a solitary confinement cell for 23 1/2 hours a day for a decades old tax evasion case and they still have nothing burgers. By the way, no onions on that burger please.
5
@Tom ,Retired Florida Junkman
Who is "they"??
Paul Manafort is accused of money laundering and breaking the law.
He was a flight risk.
He is being held accountable. Remember that? Maybe read an actual newspaper.
2
Hopefully McGahn has given Mueller the locations of any bodies that he did not know about and connected more dots leading to Trump's being held accountable for his MANY crimes.
The road to impeachment will be paved with Trump sycophants and traitorous Republicans. Good riddance.
5
Trump’s childish ignorance is boundless, bordering with psychopathic. It may be even possible that Trump, in his vast incompetence and self-admiration, committed crimes or worked (or did his bidding) for Putin not knowing it, at the best thinking that was acceptable. Or assumed anyone, including former presidents, in his position did or would do the same. And he would do that better.
2
"Cooperated extensively". It is the duty of all government officials to cooperate in any investigation. The Times doesn't need to colour this responsibility with "extensively".
You have the tax payers' gratitude Mr. McGahn.
11
McGahn has concluded that the chance that Trump is a common criminal and traitor is just too high and decided, in addition to protecting the institution of presidency, protect his own skin.
4
Trump's power is increasing day by day. The supreme court is in his pocket, the already complicit GOP congress, and many of the democrats have cowered as evidenced by their silence. Most of us have no actual experiential clue as to the depth of his conviction (narcissism) in himself and his "agenda". Watch if the Manafort jury caves in to beyond a reasonable doubt. We are in a 15 round Ali-Frasier championship bout to preserve our way of life. It is nearing later rounds and we need to bypass our dysfunctional, gutless governments, (federal & state) and get as many people as possible to the voting booth on November 6th to at least diminish his anti-life, anti-human decency spiteful, self-proclaiming impulses.
8
Don McGahn's client is not Mr. D. J. Trump. His client is the USA. He serves at the pleasure of DJT
2
The folly and chutzpah of a liar --he thinks by acting like he has nothing to hide he has nothing to hide.
Kudos to his counsel who said, "fine you are adamant you did nothing wrong, surely you will be proven so. . .
. . . all the way to impeachment and indictment post presidency.
4
The President’s lawyers are over-cooperating with Mueller. This is bad, says the NYT.
The attempt to play along with Mueller is done with full knowledge that President did nothing wrong, obviously
As even some mainstream media outlets begin to explore the corruption that led to Mr. Mueller’ fake Russian Collusion nonsense investigation, and of which Mr. Mueller is likely a co-conspirator, I would bet Mueller isn’t sleeping well.
There will soon be a competition between media outlets to not be last fool barking.
3
The President "wrongly believed". Now, while you and 14 anonymous sources, ex-white house officials, and assorted street pundits speculate what's inside Trump's brain, ask him some more incisive questions. Then you can pass on how he feels from day to day, what does he prefer on his hamburgers, and does he still want other women in his life.
You're making things up. We're buying a "News" paper, not a paper from a tout at a race track.
3
@leftoright
What's inside Trump's brain.... We may not be able to know exactly, but his contradictions, lies, and his mendacity give us clues. He is impetuous and reactionary. He blames others for statements he has made and actions he has taken. And they speak louder than words. Journalists have the professional responsibility to report on their findings and discussions with knowledgeable people. They sometimes make mistakes but more often than not they are able to produce reports that accurately reflect what they have learned. If there is any "fake news" about, it emerges in the White House briefing room every time Sarah Huckabee Sanders steps to the podium to respond to journalists' questions. They aren't make official statements. She is. And she reflects the thinking and directions of her boss.
1
Speaking of Omarosa ...
She said there's a tape with Trump using the "N" word, though she says she's never listened to the tape and the former colleague who reportedly has it denies ever having offered to play if for her. Trump denies ever using the "N" word.
At the risk of stating the obvious, shouldn't we ask O to identify the person who made the tape and then ask that person to play the tape for us? If asking doesn't work, maybe subpoenas would.
Whatever it takes, shouldn't we try to figure out if Omarosa is telling the truth?
2
"...feared Mr. Trump was setting up Mr. McGahn to take the blame for any possible illegal acts of obstruction, according to people close to him."
The Mafia could take lessons from this White House.
6
McGahn cooperates with Mueller because he is afraid of him.
McGahn was a backbench lawyer trying to work his way up in DC. He worked for Trump because he was willing to look the other way and do as he was told; in short he's a stooge and toady . But you don't have to be a Harvard Law grad to see what Trump is capable of so he turned on him.
McGahn is probably hoping Mueller will help land his next job.
Emmet Flood: you're next. And regardless of your reputation , you'll never eliminate the stench of your association with Trump. No one ever will.
4
Donald Trump only keeps people around him so he has someone to throw under all the buses that are trying to chase him down. You would think the people around him would figure that out.
People like Omarosa, Cohen and McGahn do seem to have figured it out.
6
Buried lede: “Mr. McGahn cautioned to investigators that he never saw Mr. Trump go beyond his legal authorities, though the limits of executive power are murky.”
5
The icebergs are just over the horizon for the Trump ship of state...
1
Trump is keeping McGahn as a wrangler for the herd of arch-conservative judges he is herding onto the bench.
4
"Mr. McGahn’s cooperation began in part as a result of a decision by Mr. Trump’s first team of criminal lawyers to collaborate fully with Mr. Mueller."
There are only 2 reasons for this action.
(1) Incredible stupidity
(2) You have nothing to hide
Trump is many things, but he ain't stupid.
There's nothing here.
5
@RY Granted he's not stupid, but he may have been unaware of everything his people did and said. And/or he may have been less than open & honest with his lawyers. He's used to getting his way through force of personality & through intimidation, and may not have grasped that he's up against the limits now -- if indeed he is, which is not proven yet by any stretch.
@RY I believe there's a third possibility: that Donald Trump has had such a long history of success lying and bluffing his way out of trouble that he's succumbed to drinking that particular cool-aid. Besides, this is but one of many many episodes self-incrimination we've seen from him. If there's really "nothing there", he's certainly acted like there was -- and if he's indeed innocent, this pattern would constitute stupidity of the first order.
1
The longer the Mueller investigation continues, the more I'm learning about all of the legal issues involved, especially the extent of the president's powers, how Russia infiltrated our voting process, the ways the Electoral College can be twisted, and what happens when the party in control refuses to acknowledge that we have an unhinged, incompetent and treasonous President. Thanks to the NYT and other news outlets, I think I'm almost ready for my LSAT in Criminal Justice.
19
Giuliani: "Truth isn't truth" That says it all
19
Don’t forget about “alternate facts”.
5
One clue that you are involved with the losing side: Your Lawyer's Lawyer now has a Lawyer.
16
I would much prefer a Fordham lawyer than an Ivy Leaguer (Obama excepted). All the Fordham lawyers I've known put personal morality first.
6
Its call you bet your life, your family and your country. McGahn voted to keep all three intact.
12
If this report is true (and that is a big "If", one that generally attaches these days to anything printed about this president by the hyper-partisan NYT), then McGahn's cooperation with Team Mueller suggests the sort of transparency that I want in a president, a transparency that stands in sharp contrast to the obfuscation and deceit employed by former administrations, from Clinton, through Bush, to Obama.
6
@Frank McNamara He wasn't being transparent, Frank, he just thinks that he can get away with anything. Don't forget his seminole remark, " I could walk down Fifth Ave. and shoot someone and get away with it." That is 45 in a nutshell. You might also want to reflect on his obfuscations, deceits, and glaring lacks of transparency. The 'hyper-partisan' NYC reports on them with patriotic consistency.
This is just another facet as to whether our democracy will continue, or whether it is fatally wounded by this corrupt administration, and spewing its propaganda of lies are believed by the masses.
Whether McGahn's or Flood's mo is better or worse, is of less consequence.
5
Looks like McGann may be one person in Trump’s orbit who won’t be going to jail.
11
Careful what we wish for....Jesus's right hand man is in the on deck circle.
10
"It is not clear that Mr. Trump appreciates the extent to which Mr. McGahn has cooperated with the special counsel."
Actually, it is not clear that Mr. Trump appreciates the extent of anything involving the Constitution, executive branch norms, or a single idea beyond the vast extent of himself.
58
I have never seen so many uninformed people practicing law without a license. Keep it up and remember how stupid you will look when the "witch hunt" is concluded.
14
Unbelievable! All this money and time spent to investigate an obviously innocent President. Comey enumerated for 12 minutes on national TV the crimes on the other side, yet there is not only no interest in investigating, you lefties still wish she won. People you want collusion?! The FBI took hammers to the laptops! Uranium One sold to the Russians! People when are you going to put two and two together?
6
@H. S. Rink
Keep up the Fox talking points Vlad! "Uranium one" is a big deal, but all of trumps connections with the Russians is nothing. What hammers? Did Hannity make that one up?
16
Seriously, "obviously innocent"? He is a pawn in the pocket of Putin. When not one American bank would extend his businesses credit; the Russians who have been grooming him for 30 years gave him 100's if millions of dollars, that has not been repaid. It's time for his forlorn supporters to wake up and smell the stench. He is an unapologetic traitor, colluding danger to this country and the world.
11
@H. S. Rink
"Obviously innocent"?
Funny, that's not a phrase most people would use in reference to Donald Trump.
8
Did McGahn's lawyer actually say his client had answered questions "fulsomely"? I presume he meant "fully." Is he misquoted in the piece or is the guy challenged in terms of vocabulary?
12
@Jon Harrison, the original meaning of "fulsome" was copious and abundant. The definition is now understood to mean flattering. I have to assume the author used it intending its original definition.
2
@Amy B: Thank you! My Webster's (abridged) does not list a second meaning, but my Oxford (abridged) does confirm what you stated. Let me amend my comment by saying that McGahn's lawyer is either an antiquarian when it comes to language, or perhaps a bit pompous (could be both).
Anyway, I can say I learned something today, thanks to you.
I don't want Mr. Mueller to deliver his findings to a compromised, untrustworthy, and traitorous GOP congress. I want him to deliver his findings directly to the American people, in a televised announcement, for all the world to see. The GOP congress has failed us miserably; it has absolutely NO interest in upholding the U.S. constitution, nor the rule of law. Mr. Mueller needs to go directly to the people with his findings, even if it takes weeks to relate the entire indictment of Trump and his criminal presidency.
136
@MickNamVet yes, but will he have a choice? I wonder if everything he finds can't be simply classified even just confidential and out of reach of the public. McConnell's really in charge here anyway, just my thought.
@MickNamVet I agree with you. Mr. Mueller needs to address the American People about his findings. At this point in the road, American Voters should know... that they can not trust the Republican members of the Senate or the House. ALL OF THEM are complicit in this travesty.
@MickNamVet
Which president issued executive orders instructing government agencies to "disregard" and "not enforce" certain laws?
Oops, that was Barack Obama.
Now who is guilty of not "upholding the U.S. constitution, nor the rule of law"?
It’s like Trump s paying Mueller to keep this investigation going. This whole investigation is to keep people from looking at what really matters. Come midterms the left will be screaming what they want to say but not what the public wants to hear. Same old stuff. What are the lefts core principles again? Like excuse me? What does that mean?
7
Let me help. Our core principles are:
1. Equality under the law for all, not just the wealthy and the white.
2. A fair shake for workers, farmers, machinists, and all the people whose work actually produces wealth.
3. Universal health coverage of some kind.
4. An end to the sort of childish militarism that gave us the Iraq War.
5. Straight guys don't get to tell women what to do all the time.
6. Taxes raised on the wealthy and the wealthiest, and the money spent on stuff we actually need. Like infrastructure.
7. A decent education for all.
8. A decent respect for everybody's religion, sexuality, what have you.
9. Government that helps, not hinders.
10. Cleaning up the mess we're making of the planet, rather than eating it like an apple and burping.
Lots of differences there, but pretty much them are those. Anything else I can help with?
Oh, incidentally, I think McGahn's fulsome testifying helps push Trump deeper and deeper into a big old vat of trouble, as more and more details of his lying, his collusions, and his taking money come out.
You?
11
The folks on your so-called "left" include many of my former Marine officer colleagues who have left the Republican Party in disgust and re-registered as Independents, including one who worked at a high level for Bush 43. Not saying they're Hillary fans, but they think Trump has turned out to be an abomination and traitor.
10
Hey, Jim, what is it we should be looking at? What really matters that we're ignoring? Do enlighten us.
3
"His lack of a degree from a top law school bothered Mr. Trump,"
Wait WHAT? Cohen, Trump's fixer, came from the law school ranked dead last in the country.
When did Trump get so picky?
54
@TJ And I'm also wondering why the NYT raised this and ID'd his law school without noting that he also got an LLM (a master's degree, in law) from Georgetown. Or mentioned that his firms were top tier Washington firms. Selective facts are speaking here, sadly.
3
@TJ I had the same thought. Say, huh?
<i>"“I allowed White House Counsel Don McGahn, and all other requested members of the White House Staff, to fully cooperate with the Special Councel,” Trump wrote."</i>
The White House counsel does not work for the president; he works for the people of the United States. His job is to provide legal council to the White House to insure that the actions of the White House are legal. He does not represent the president or the White House! Trump does not allow the White House counsel to do anything!
48
Your article is a nominal compilation..
S.P. Mueller is on a pencil pushers dreamscape ride.
4
Trump will fire Mr. McGahn, that's what he does.
15
@klm
Elections are coming - the Voters will fire Trump.
2
I believe " King Kong" will catch on.
15
@Michael P. Bacon The nickname as applied to Trump is an insult to King Kong
3
@Michael, I would prefer to see “Donkey Kong” catch on.
5
That would be a disservice to apes big and small.
King Kong was sensitive and sympathetic.
3
'Mr. McGahn cautioned to investigators that he never saw Mr. Trump go beyond his legal authorities, "
Buried in the middle of the article ...perhaps that should have been the headline....
17
@Hank: "Whatever the [Republican] President orders is legal" has been Republican law since Nixon.
6
@Hank
"...perhaps that should have been the headline...."
Problem with that is it would negate the impression the author's meant to instill in the readers and undermine the overall Trump/Russia narrative.
3
Were you expecting your readers to have forgotten the original pattern of White House attorneys going out of their way to cooperate with the Mueller Dem Donor team?
Oh, you want to turn this bit of old news into, ''Hey, I've got it! I've got the thing that'll get Trump out of Hillary's White House!''
Were you planning to turn this bit of propaganda in to HuffPo or CNN and got the addresses crossed?
McGahn II might have read up on Mueller and realized he had put completely innocent people in prison twice before to protect sources and that no one was likely to stop him now.
4
@L'osservatore
Trump has donated to Democrats.
5
Given that Robert Mueller is a lifelong Republican, Marine combat vet, and past FBI head who's never been accused of doing anything dishonorable until the recent klatch of trumpoons showed up, could you maybe explain the "Dem Donor team," bit?
7
@Phil Carson
The war is never the D's versus the R's in D.C.
The war is between the insiders v the outsiders. Didn't Trump's winning teach you anything?
McGahn shares " ... coveted details ...", such as trump covets Ivanka and stuff like that.
8
To quote the wonderful Maxine Waters, “No obstruction of justice, no peace”
3
@Mustafa
Impeachment sounds better.
Seems a nerve has been hit with this story.
There seems to be a far greater number of "Witchhunt!" posts than I am used to seeing on these pages.
49
@ImagineMoments I think you are right. There is a direct correlation between his tiny twitter fingers and his state of mind.
3
@ImagineMoments
Maybe more folk are recognizing that it is a witch hunt?
2
@ImagineMoments
Hit a nerve in Boris-and-Natasha-ville.
8
Every horrible thing people have said about a Trump presidency ,since the lying Orange tinted taint glided down that elevator, has come true in spades. There is about 30% of the population that has truly lost a grip on reality and decency. I'm convinced that they would happily dismantle our government and turn this country over to the Russians with Trump as their racist orange king. After 2 years of this erratic, lying, racist, incompetent clown if you can still support Trump then you simply must really hate this country. If you can look at his cabinet full of people who keep getting caught stealing from the American taxpayer and think "yeah Trump sure drained that swamp" then there is something deeply wrong with you. Could it be that all Trump supporters and republicans are just flat out racists that would gladly year down our democracy if it means they could stay in power? I sometimes wonder. I just don't see any other reason someone would support this clearly unfit man. I try to go on more "conservative" websites but most of the comments never seen to address Trump's behavior but Obama or Hillary . I really fear for this country. I know one thing this administration will never be able to cope with any serious crisis or natural disaster. I'm honestly surprised Trump has not tried to withhold aid to California after the wildfires as punishment for not fawning over his "greatness" .
72
@Blackcat66 I agree completely with everything you say and have you ever wondered why progressive or liberal radio is nowhere in the US? Does that not mean that advertisers believe the greater audience is conservative and reactionary in their political views? What, me worry?
3
@willw. Actually there is progressive and liberal news stations all over the place except we just simply call it the news. Progressives and liberals may get too politically correct at times but reality and facts rarely rattle us to the point of being offended and seeking refuge in ultra left wing conspiracy sites that just spin comforting lies. No liberals want to know what their politicians are doing and saying. They work for us.
After reading this article I want to point out two things that jump off the page for me.
One...that the president's White House lawyer, Mr McGahn, has his own lawyer Mr Burch. I find it suspicious when lawyers need their own little team of lawyers. I wonder if these lawyers also need lawyers. Most people are lucky to have access to a pro-bono public defender.
And two...the reason Mr McGahn needed his own lawyer was because he suspected that the president may be making him the fall-guy in the Russia investigation.
OK! So just step away for a moment and think about that. Your worried that your client may be using you to shield themselves from criminal prosecution. This president is a sad and untrust worthy person. You better get 2 lawyers.
57
With so many rings in this circus to draw our attention, I hadn't thought of McGahn as an ongoing attraction. He very well could end up in the center ring when the tent pegs pull loose. Thanks to Mr. Schmidt and Ms. Haberman for their reporting.
24
Trump is a headache that never goes away.
56
@Truthiness
Mueller has the facts that will remedy it.
3
@Truthiness
A headache for all the Lefties who aren't used to Republicans caving in to Liberal actions and fighting back.
As Obama said, "elections have consequences".
1
@Steve
Actually I think he is a headache for all Americans with a conscience.
1
Pandora's Box has been opened!
18
@Norm
Mueller's reports are just that - the truth.
3
After reading this and watching the Sunday shows there is a noticeable change in the confidence of the original Hypothesis in this investigation. Brennan totally backed down, the WH lawyer has apparently backed Trump up and the Trump legal team has told us that they have not been the hold up for the special council. Even the press people seemed to have had their ballon popped. The Congress is closing in on the DOJ and FBI misconduct. We are close to finding out what really happened and I don’t think this is going to conclude where it started. Stay tuned.
7
And what “news” shows are you watching?
44
@J. Saw the on Meet the Press today.
FOX does not do news shows.
Ignored in these investigations of the 2016 election is the one, biggest travesty and threat to our democracy-
In a nation of 320 million people, arguably the world’s greatest democracy, how was one of the candidates allowed to rig the primary election in her favor? Why isn’t anything being done about that? Why is that violation of our values not even being discussed?
9
If that happened, we would be talking about it. Claims were made at the time. Not proven. I say this as a voter who caucused for Bernie Sanders.
2
@Nate Because it didn't happen.
1
Trumpian logic:
Hillary had three million more votes and lost. Therefore, she rigged the election in her favor.
Hillary is a private citizen and not even in the government. Therefore, she is a threat to our democracy.
The right doesn't wan to talk about Trump. Therefore, they obsess on Hillary.
Okay, that last one makes sense!
1
My favorite quote from this fascinating piece of reporting: "Mr. Dowd said that cooperation was the right approach but that Mr. Mueller had 'snookered' Mr. Trump’s legal team."
How exactly did Mueller "snooker" Mr. Trump's legal team? The attorney-client privilege resides with the client and only the client can waive said privilege. By giving McGahn the unfettered go-ahead to sit for an interview with Mueller, Trump waived the presidency's attorney-client privilege. McGahn is not and has never been Trump's personal lawyer. Thus, there is no personal privilege in their relationship. If Trump and Dowd failed to appreciate the difference, that is on them and cannot by any reasonable definition constitute "snookering" by Mueller. It does, however, show that Mueller and team are the better lawyers and strategists--thankfully!
32
I'm very surprised that this article asserts, without discussion or reference to legal scholars, that a broad attorney-client privilege exists to protect communications between the president and White House Counsel. I am an attorney, and I have always understood that the privilege runs between the White House Counsel and the Office of the President, not the President himself. McGahn is NOT the Mr. Trump's lawyer, and the article is misleading in suggesting that McGahn's cooperation with Mueller "revealed intimate moments with [Mr. Trump's] lawyer." The article also fails to note that, even if such a privilege existed between McGahn and Trump, there is a crime-fraud exception to the privilege that would have allowed McGahn to testify about his client's statements and actions, to the extent they were done in furtherance of a crime. Clearly, the allegations of obstruction of justice here fit that case. I am very disappointed in the Times for publishing an article that gives such a distorted view of the facts and law, in favor of sensationalizing the back-biting, gossip and rumors swirling within the current administration.
37
@Lisa You are so right. I have worked in government. Nearly every agency or executive office has an office of legal counsel, paid for by taxpayers, the purpose of which is to ensure that all actions undertaken by that agency or executive comply with the law. The idea that such legal counsel would not fully cooperate with a lawful investigation is abhorrent. Even the caption to the lead photograph in this article seems to confuse that responsibility of the White House Counsel.
4
@Lisa
There is a certain degree of privilege in regards to matters of state but not necessarily to personal issues. As you correctly state McGahan is not he president's personal lawyer.
If McGahan was present during discussions about Don Jr's meeting with the Russians and Trumps attempt to cover it up with the adoption story, that would not be privileged.
But you are also correct in stating that he may reveal any ongoing criminal activity, privileged or otherwise.
"Mr. Trump, I have John Dean on the line."
2
Sounds like this is the part where the usual Trump family "running America like a business" film-flam substitution for governance of a large country hits the fan. When the family business is basically a dictatorship, it was only a matter of time before he found out the reality of coming up against the requirements of law. King Louis XIV"s "L'etat c'est moi" doesnt cut it in America, whether you get it or not.
Trump has probably never in his whole life hired a lawyer who was not expected to be his "fixer" and make stuff "go away".
For once, ignorance of the rules is not helping him- that a lawyer knows his job is to protect the presidency and not the president would never occur to him. He had the same fury at Sessions when his "very good brain" could not understand recusal.
36
What will be the impact, if the Manafort jury finds him guilty, facing many years of jail, have on other members of donald's administration. Could any of them be looking at jail time for their conduct. Michael Cohen once claimed he would take a bullet for donald to protect his client. No one comes to mind thats in the White House today that would claim to do the same.
5
A vote for a republican this November is a vote for a traitor to this country. Sounds extreme but the republican party has clearly abdicated their duty to protect this country from a highly compromised unstable traitor. I see no reason to think that they will ever put this nation over Donald J Trump.
39
My takeaway from this amazing piece of reporting is that at some point McGhan became convinced that the president of the United States colluded with a hostile foreign power to throw the election, and that as council to the office of the president, it was McGhan's duty to prevent that office from being held by a traitor for a single day longer than necessary.
36
How could you print this as fact? “Mr. Mueller has told the president’s lawyers that he will follow Justice Department guidance that sitting presidents cannot be indicted. “. When has this been proven?
10
@Erin Glasser
Point of fact.
Richard Nixon was not going to be indicted until after he was impeached. and he was going to be impeached if he did not step down.
Impeach first, then indict that is the way around the phantom rule.
2
@Erin Glasser
When has what been proven?
That Mueller said that? That the Justice Department issued that guidance? Or the underlying legal position that a sitting president cannot be indicted?
@Erin Glasser - exactly......Mueller and team have been so close mouthed .....I would be willing to bet that any communication between Team Trump and Mueller did not indicate any such thing.....I for one believe that the constitution says no such thing....as not charging a sitting president with a crime....look at Bill Clinton.......!!
Mueller runs the epitome of a tight ship. Leak free, and sea worthy..able to navigate the rough waters around DC and move forward. Of course, he's never operated his vessel in a such a fetid and corrupt swamp so it's a new experience. But, Mueller is up to the task. At the end of the day his job is to produce a fact based report ....and that's what Trump is so upset about. Spin proof...
30
@Harley Leiber - unfortunately even when he does submit his report this republican dominated congress will do NOTHING with it......and that means we may never even see it...!! I for one want it placed online and on the front page of every major newspaper in this country.....for all the world to see..and BEFORE mid-terms......!!
"Mr. McGahn to speak freely to the special counsel and feared Mr. Trump was setting up Mr. McGahn to take the blame for any possible illegal acts "
The staff working for President Trump are akin to the crew on the HMS Bounty under Captain Bligh. The work environment is terrible with zero Esprit de corps. Everybody is looking over their shoulder wondering if someone will stab them in the back.
10
@Mike Source?
1
"Mr. McGahn cautioned to investigators that he never saw Mr. Trump go beyond his legal authorities, though the limits of executive power are murky." An intellectually honest journalist would have ended the story right here, but we are dealing with the NYT.
4
@Xenophon of Calchis
I think the answer to your question about an "intellectually honest journalist" ending the story with that quote is flawed and incorrect when you think about these portions of that sentence "he [Mr. McGahn] never saw Mr. Trump go beyond his legal authorities" and a bit of confession that the "limits of executive power are murky." I read it as Mr. McGahn saying that he personally has not witnessed Mr. Trump going beyond his legal authority and also loads in the caveat that this is a "murky" area so he's not making a rock solid judgement that he didn't witness something that might have been beyond Mr. Trump's legal authority. All of that, to me, doesn't lend that statement to being worthy of ending the story right there. There's just too much obvious lawyerly subtext on display.
1
Unless a smoldering hot smoking gun is found DT, D2T2 and the rest of the white house shenanigans crew, i mean criminals, will have this collusion treason "stuff" amounting to nothing more than an ADD media morsel in the post-literate age. DT knows this. Life is indeed a low level shakedown at the end of the day. Frankly, who has the time (used to be interest) to be informed?
1
Hope Mr. Mueller can get a twofer. Well that's my two Pence worth.
43
Faced with questions from a special prosecutor in a federal inquiry, White House counsel Don McGahn and his lawyer, devised a radically brilliant strategy: To tell the truth.
37
@Harold J.
I expect that Mr. Trump had something to do with this radically brilliant strategy, by consent if not affirmative direction; elsewise, Mr. McGahn would long ago have been searching the want ads.
2
Who are the Culture Warriors of the Right? The Confederate Civil Warriors who did not go away after 1865.
Will we cede these United States to the Confederacy now?
Without naming the Beast, we cannot defeat him.
And once again, we must fight the Confederacy to the usual ugly and obnoxious defeat.
7
Wow. Obama was demonized for trying to provide healthcare for people, and here's Republicans--turning blind eyes to the relentless Russian-related scandals of Trump-- and how he's smashing norms/ systems that under Obama were productive.
Trump and his unethical, ill-suited cabinet continues a revolution to destroy what we as a nation have accomplished since the founding fathers.
A colossal destruction of the federal government using a pretense of populism. An election won in very dubious circumstances. The denial is breathtaking. Jefferson and Madison outlined what to do when things went this haywire.
Please: Get out and vote!
25
“This account is based on interviews with current and former White House officials and others who have spoken to both men, all of whom requested anonymity to discuss a sensitive investigation.” At least a whole dozen! Color me impressed!
My high school journalism teacher, Mrs. Watkins, taught us to to use anonymous sources sparingly and judiciously. It seems to me The Times priority of continually protecting its sources and the sources continually protecting “a sensitive investigation” (their jobs and identities in this story) leaves us as readers at a disadvantage.
For once, I’m inclined to agree with Don the Kong: the press is phony. Are you telling me, Maggie Haberman, not one among 12 people was willing to put their name on the line and go on record? How are readers to know this is not White House spin? $10 and a can of Coke one one of those “sources” is Donald J. Trump.
Without sources this piece has no context. It adds nothing. Start doing your job, press - that includes pressing for names. “Democracy dies in darkness” says your competitor.
And I don’t believe for one second the President would find the nickname “King Kong offensive,” it has the word King in it. He’d want that out there.
8
@Maggie Frampton
The only way the Free Press can remain free and continue to do their job is by guaranteeing the anonymity of their sources. People who fear retribution will not speak. Trump is a mater of retribution. Just ask John Brennan and all the others he has targeted with his wrath. Death threat from is nut job base usually follow.
It took decades before we learned the true identity of Deep Throat.
I know the NYT will keep up the good work and fight the good fight.
2
Larry, thank you for this response. I hear you. I respect the need for anonymity in sourcing.
At any rate, I do respect someone’s right to not put their life or livelihood on the line for fear of retribution. I hear you. I don’t live in that kind of fear. Perhaps I’m wishing for whistleblowers.
I guess my point is, this story doesn’t really add anything to the conversation. So White House Counsel McGahn is talking with Mueller. Shrug. Depending who the sources are, this story serves either the White House, the Counsel, or Mueller. As a reader, I can’t make any sense of it anymore. It’s an unnecessary story that just muddies the water.
As an aside, Brennan may find himself on the receiving end of retribution, but he is not cowering. He is more emboldened and free, with a possible legal case against the administration.
But in almost every case of reporting by the Times and Washington Post, among others using anonymous sources re Trump , the reports have turned-out to be true. Remember that Watergate and the Clinton investigations depended on them too.
1
Very strange that Trump would allow Mueller this much access to McGahn. Then again, Trump isn’t very smart.
Either way, this investigation needs to conclude quickly, for the good of the country. It seems all that is missing in Mueller interviewing Trump. If he really believes this is a witch hunt, he and his lawyers have nothing to fear. I can’t stand Trump, but it’s time to finish this up and move on. If Trump can’t be indicted, then the new Congress can handle this mess.
2
@Hey Joe
The investigation should end when it ends. Obstruction slows things down, but that’s not a good reason to stop investigating. It’s actually a pretty good sign you might be on to something.
Whether or not Trump or anyone else in his campaign organization "colluded" with Russian operatives before the 2016 election may or may not be the focus of the Mueller investigation. However, Trump himself has behaved in such a profoundly disgraceful way in reacting to this investigation that he is guilty of un-Presidential behavior and should be soundly chastised in the court of public opinion for his behavior toward the "Russia investigation" regardless of whether or not he "colluded". He is a disgrace to the office of POTUS and an embarrassment to America. His egocentric adolescent behavior is beneath the dignity of the important office he is supposed to embody. So sad! So Tragic!
13
There is the Trumpian universe which now swirls around the White House and affects all who work within its force and then there is the rest of America and the world.
As Rudy Giuliani has asked "Which truth is truth?", there is Trump truth and the rest of the world. What universe is Mr. McGahn functioning in?
He is at least minimally adept at lawyerly double speak and no doubt whatever he tells the investigators will be adequately vetted and understood.
9
Time for everyone to watch, or rewatch, “The Post.” It couldn’t be any more relevant.
9
No one except Maggie Haberman "covets" any of this nonsense as she desperately tries to be relevant again.
5
It's becoming clear to me that this whole investigation is the "insurance policy" that Strzok talked about with his girlfriend and is designed to put the reins on a President that the establishment fears is a bit unstable and could lose control and go power mad. Perhaps it's a good thing. But I don't think it really has anything to do with any real collusion or obstruction. They are going to try to stretch this out for as long as Trump is in office to keep him in check.
3
We are fed up with Trump circus every day some thing, we thought if Clinton elected there will be 4 miserable years but this is worst.
4
As damaging as McGahn's testimony might be, Trump really needs to fear what Michael Cohen has to share with prosecutors, as he most-certainly "knows where the bodies are buried". If Trump participated in money laundering, bank fraud and tax evasion, Cohen certainly would know.
11
This grand conspiracy theory that New York Times reporters like these have given us gets better and better as entertainment for how ludicrous it continues to get. It goes from Trump colluded with Russians to steal election to Trump obstructed justice by firing Comey to Trump somehow masterminded McGahn to be the fall guy.
There is not a speck of evidence that Trump colluded with Russians. Yet, Hillary and Obama certainly did as 20% of our uranium for Putin's nuclear arsenal was sent to Russia after Obama told Putin's man "tell Vlad I can do much more for him after election" and Hillary negotiated the deal as Bill collected a half million dollar in speaking fees in Moscow. There is not a speck of evidence that Trump's firing of Comey was obstruction of justice as these same people were calling for Comey's ouster during Fall 2016 election. And we only learn in the last paragraph of this latest conspiracy hypothesis about McGahn that these reporters as usual have no evidence for the speculative fantasies that Trump is an evil mastermind.
Maybe it would be better just to report news for once.
5
The (expected) Twitter storm full of lies and false accusations from Agent Orange this morning reveals the continued unraveling of a panicked, caged animal. The walls are closing in and he knows it.
13
Maybe you ought to give Mr. Trump a bit of credit for allowing his lawyer great freedom to testify to Mr. Mueller's investigators. Obviously this article is written to make it look like Mr. McGahn is in conflict with Mr. Trump. Even rebelling against him. Which is not accurate. Of course the NYT knows its biases and its readers' views of Mr. Trump. So it has to stick to that view of reality. Despite facts which conflict with that view.
3
@Gordon Wiggerhaus. McGahn is not “ Trump’s lawyer”, he is White House Counsel. He ensures that the law is followed by those in the White House. Do you really not see the difference?
2
Donald and his lawyers sound like nothing more than a crime family, parsing sentences, making sweeping denials and, especially, referring to all law enforcement and witnesses as the bad guys.
"No president has ever been more cooperative than this,” Mr. Dowd said. And then Donald called Nixon's cooperative lawyer John Dean a "RAT."
He sounds like Johnny Rocco from Key Largo.
15
Shades of John Dean. Hope he has the same effect!
5
Believable. But unbelievable! What a classy, very intelligent president.
Isn’t the truth that just a tiny fraction of the proven lies and threats, vile insults and racism would and should destroy the career of a politician in a normal democratic country.?The trouble is Trump is gaslighting about half of the entire USA and suddenly everything he does is great and anyone who criticises him is a delusional enemy. He will go to his grave, whatever the outcome of the Mueller investigation , saying it was all a conspiracy of the Washington elite to stop him...and millions will believe him
12
@Simon Hill
The Washington elite has been trying to sabotage and destroy him long before collusion became the byword.
2
Obviously this is all true. You can always tell by Trump's unhinged and increasingly hysterical tweets.
15
Question: Are the taxpayers picking up the tab for all these lawyers? Undoubtedly we are--which in and of itself is yet another example of Republican "small government" hypocrisy.
10
@JCX
Good question. Don McGahn is a federal employee, so yes on that one. The other lawyers, Flood, et al, I would think Trump has to pay them, unless somehow his re-election campaign is picking up the tab, as with he NDA pay-offs.
I for one put zero credibility in this article. It is no secret that Ms. Haberman is fed information for her articles directly from her confidant, Mr. Trump. Nothing is published that is likely not ok’d by him. I see this as a set up to show Trump gave permission for Mcghan to cooperate. Am I cynical? No, I’m a realist.
1
All I have to say is that King Kong was smarter and nicer than Trump.
18
@Cruzio
Not to mention (although I did) better looking. (What IS it with the hair appliance?)
So happy to hear Mr McGahn understands his duty is to protect the Presidency.
Now, did he bring to Mueller, the first letter Donny had drafted to fire Comey?
Lastly, did Omerosa record any of this?
God Save America!
3
As someone who has taught college level courses in Primatology, I can say with some authority that the average Gorilla has more human-like sensitivities and sensibilities than the current President of the United States.
36
Excellent incremental reporting, again, by team Schmidt and Haberman, the Woodward and Bernstein of the NY Times.
And much appreciation to Dowd and Cobb for believing their client!
5
In 2009 a lawyer named Harvey Silverglate wrote a book called Three Felonies a Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent (with a foreword by Alan Dershowitz). It was prescient. Federal prosecutors have an important role in our country, and certainly do some good. But they are also out of control.
Robert Mueller's investigation has become a farce. It long ago became clear that the Trump campaign had no illegal contacts with the Russian government to influence the 2016 election. The investigation should have shut down then.
Robert Mueller and his team have made the criminal law political. They are punishing people for being part of the Trump campaign. When they found nothing illegal with regard to Russia, they turned to process crimes like perjury and obstruction of justice. Trouble is, you can get anyone in business or government on "three felonies a day" when you start talking about those kind of crimes.
The New York Times is not helping. Articles like this which mix fact and fiction leaked by those who by law and ethics should be keeping their mouths shut. There's some crime to prosecute, Robert Mueller. Along with those in the FBI and Justice Department who brought this farce of a Russian investigation in the first place.
7
@John Smithson That's funny, everyone else in the world but you thinks the current presidency of the U.S. is a farce.
4
@John Smithson Just curious John. What specific information makes you believe that "it long ago became clear that the Trump campain had no illegal contacts with the Russian government to influence the 2016 election." And what makes you think whether a contact was not specifically illegal means it was not a criminal act. The purpose behind an action is more important than whether a law prohibits a specific act. For instance consider a bank robber obeying the speed limit while driving on his way to a bank robbery. He may be obeying the speed limit but his driving to the bank to commit a crime is part of the criminal activity.
3
@John Smithson
Given what the investigation has so far uncovered, you have a rather curious view of the difference between discovery and politics.
1
I will be a fan forever of anyone who actually tells the TRUTH about this treasonous tyrant and finally brings this lamentable episode in American history to an end. I hope McGahn bares his soul and Lordy, I hope there are tapes...
30
Questions to ask when contemplating this new revelation:
Why are we hearing about this now? Why were so many White House sources so forthcoming?
You don't have to graduate from a top tier law school to be cunning and strategic.
2
__ But two of his newly hired lawyers, John M. Dowd and Ty Cobb, have said they took Mr. Trump at his word that he did nothing wrong and sold him on an open-book strategy. As long as Mr. Trump and the White House cooperated with Mr. Mueller, they told him, they could bring an end to the investigation within months. __
At the same time, almost from the start, Trump has been tilting with everyone so much as mentioning the investigation, from Mueller on down to reporters, making for a dual track, the high and low roads at once.
Trump being certain of his innocence, as certain as he'd been if he'd shot someone on Fifth Avenue, he chose the get-it-over-with-ASAP option. And his attorneys believed him, apparently.
And McGahn? Like all the rest, judged his own moral fiber unbreakable even under the weight of Trump. And like all the rest...
Chaos, in this case generated by a hypermanic, malignant narcissist, is utterly toxic and destructive, and axiomatically must be avoided at all costs.
4
As per usual, great investigative journalism from the New York Times. The fact that Trump has just sent out six tweets on this articles, further solidifies its validity and his continued desperation to hold onto his base. Trump is acting once again like a boxer losing a match in the 10th round, with his only way to win (he thinks) is to throw haymakers.
9
The difference between Mcgahn and Giulani: Mcgahn demonstrates that he maintains ethical and professional standards after being completely convinced that his client is lying and guilty of the suspected crimes for which his client Trump is under investigation. Giuliani knows Trump is lying but doesn’t know what yhe word “ethics” means.
7
@jefflz Mcgahn is in the job of White House Counsel and regardless of what he may have been in the past is not now Trump's lawyer. His client is not Trump. He is a government lawyer and his client is generally the government and specifically the Office of President. Giulani and the other criminal defense lawyers are not government lawyers. They are private lawyers hired by Trump and work for him personally, not on federal business. They have no more federal status or rights than a homeless man on the street.
@Bob
Thank you for the legal clarification. I stand by my statement: Giuliani knows Trump is lying but doesn’t know what the word “ethics” means.
Seems obvious that trump and Russia worked together in attacking Clinton during the 2016 election.
13
McGahn has absolutely no credibility. He’s part of the team of fixers, enablers, opportunists and obfuscators that comprise the new “swamp.”
Someone needs to obtain Trump’s tax returns, which will show huge levels of debt, dodgy loans and Russian business links.
McGahn is nothing.
3
@Mark Paskal
Mueller was charged with investigating Russian collusion. They're not suppose to go on an unlimited fishing expedition looking for criminal activity.
1
@Alan Klein
Neither are they to ignore criminal behavior unfolding before their very eyes.
Like all delusional narcissists, Trump assumes that people will trust him and remain loyal because of the force of his personality, even though they observe him to lie to everyone all the time. It doesn't occur to him that the supporting characters in that movie in his head will pursue their own ends. He forgets, if he ever knew, that other people are actual people, and not just devices in the plot of his megalomaniac fantasy. When they have all scurried down the ratlines, he will be roaming the empty halls of the White House in bewilderment, yelling "Rewrite!" Does the flawed victim of fate destined for tragedy ever see it coming in time? Isn't that the flaw?
15
Omorosa declared that everyone needs to watch their back in this administration. This seems to apply even to White House counsel.
4
A cooperating witness is not any witness who cooperates. It is a witness who agrees to give testimony for the government in exchange for some form of connsideation. This is a term in the vocabulary of every lawyer. The Times’ misuse of the term reflects ignorance of the nuts and bolts of criminal law. It never ceases to amaze that readers rely on thoe with no legal training to educate themselves about the biggest criminal case in decades.
4
This entire thing is unconstitutional and bogus. Mueller was supposed to investigate collusion. The conflicted hack, Rosenstein, then allowed Mueller to investigate virtually anything, which led him to go far afield and charge people with things having nothing to do with collusion. Trump has cooperated by letting Mc Gähn speak to Mueller, and still this ridiculous investigation continues. The only real person who has colluded with Russians is Hillary Clinton. This has nothing to do with Watergate. In Watergate, an actual crime was committed, I.e. a break-in. Here there is no crime. Merely an unconstitutional fishing expedition
4
Funny, Same thing happened to Clinton if you recall.
What happens on November 6, 2018 will determine the fate of the country for generations. The destruction and nightmare will continue unless Democrats prevail in Congress or the Senate.
A common thief and his accomplices are raping the country and Republicans stand by in silence counting their tax cut money and dark money donations. These men and women have no decency. No matter what Robert Mueller finds nothing will come of it unless these people are ousted.
15
Message to Democrats: THIS Is what you run on, that this is America under Republican rule: demagoguery, no guard rails, no checks and balances (other than if a Dem is president, and then it truly is endless witch hunts like Whitewater, Jones, Benghazi, emails...). Republicans have shown they are not interested in governing but only interested in using the powers of government to further enrich and embolden the very wealthy and corporations, to further trickle-down economics. It's not brain surgery, Dems. Don't overthink it. It's right in front of you.
19
I find this just a little confusing. Since Trump has had no problem firing those who he thinks have betrayed him or have information as to his culpability in his Russia connection- why has he not dismissed McGahn for his supposed cooperation with the investigators. I suspect that McGahn may just be the flunky sent out to appease and mitigate allegations against Trump under the pretext of loyalty to the United States rather than the president.
5
Can we get some Lawyers to chime in here??? I'm still confounded that a lawyer can testify about his clients behaviour.
3
Trump is not McGahn’s client. It’s like the attorney for a corporation—the corporation is the client (it’s an entity in and of itself) and the corporate counsel is not the attorney for individual officers, like the CEO. McGahn is counsel to the WH, not Trump. I think there’s a strong argument that McGahn had a duty to tell it all to protect his real client—the WH. Trump thinks everybody works for him, but that’s not the case.
16
If Trump colluded, then Clinton with her British and Russian foreign spy created dossier most certainly colluded. There seems to be no balance in the reporting of news.
2
Sees his role as protecting the presidency, not the president. Now there is a patriot!
16
My ‘take’ is simple:
Sarah Sanders is now telling us that "The president and Don have a great relationship".
So…THAT must mean that they can barely abide one another.
See…the only reason Sarah ever tells us ANYTHING…is because it’s NOT true!
18
This amounts to someone with gravitas intoning
"Mr. McGahn, you are no John Dean."
Pretty smart on part of McGahn and his own attorney.
Tick tock. Amazing that so many in WH were aware of McGahn's decision to cooperate more fully than Trump had apparently realized. But then if you're going to do something like that you probably want certain high level people to be aware of it, for assorted good reasons (their own, and for the public good).
1
Ok I used to think I was a fairly bright guy with a masters degree and all but this article makes me realize the whole Trump con man show has become way to complex and inbred for me to follow.
8
You mean they didn't smash their cell phones and erase their hard drives in order to destroy evidence like the Clinton camp did? The Trump team is actually cooperating with the prosecution, like adults.
5
How can you still bring up the Clinton’s when there have been actual indictments and guilty pleas from whole swaths of #45’s campaign committee and actual cabinet? Your president conspired with a foreign adversary to betray the democratic process in this country.
15
@Lzylitnin:
I could agree with you if Trump would be willing to have an open interview with the Mueller investigators as he keeps saying he would. Instead negotiations continue over the interview where Trump has through his attorneys set restrictions on questions and lines of inquiry that the investigators want to pursue. That if the investigators refuse the restrictions Trump will refuse to talk and fight any subpoena all of the way to the Supreme Court. Even Bill Clinton agreed to the interview rather than start a constitutional crisis. As if the president is above the law and can never be questioned by legal authorities. If Trump is innocent and willing to cooperate fully he would agree to an open interview as Bill Clinton did.
6
I cannot understand why his original lawyers believed him. I'm married to a lawyer and thought whatever you can say about them, sharks, etc, they are smart. As an x New Yorker and aware of Trump for decades I simply cannot understand how they believed this sleaze New York real estate reality star.
24
He was their client. You kind of have to take his side if you represent him. However, usually you can no longer represent that client if you start seeing the lies and client doesn’t cooperate. Note that his original lawyers all left, save one. McGahn is not Trump’s lawyer, he’s WH counsel. That’s a whole different thing and he’d be obligated to tell the truth since DT isn’t his client. I’m sure he’ll be tweeted out or fired soon.
7
still waiting
as economy BOOMS
1
Let us see how long this BOOM lasts before the next BUST. The tariffs certainly aren't helping the economy grow and their impact has yet to be felt.
11
@Loy, we are still in the Obama Economy. Wait for the tariffs to act before we get into the Trump Panic.
12
Some of the people commenting are inferring from this latest NYT article (trolls, Etc) that 1. Mueller has nothing on Trump and 2. That McGahn and other White House counsel are no longer worried about Trump. McGahn may have cooperated with Mueller's team but it does not mean Mueller's team intimated to McGahn that Trump has nothing has to worry about. 1. Mueller is consistent and has always kept his cards close 2. Mueller's team (unless it's a tactic) aren't going to even to hint to McGahn that Trump has nothing to worry about 3. The Trump Tower meeting alone is bombshell ( the emails and call leading up to it) and then changing stories afterward - is loaded with many elements: collusion, conspiracy in coordinating with a foreign power to affect an election and then cover up, where many member of Trump's team lied to investigators.
14
I very much doubt that SC Mueller said the following & the NYT should not print this:
Mr. Mueller has told the president’s lawyers that he will follow Justice Department guidance that sitting presidents cannot be indicted. Rather than charge Mr. Trump if he finds evidence of wrongdoing, he is more likely to write a report that can be sent to Congress for lawmakers to consider impeachment proceedings.
3
This is huge. Anyone that is guilty of high crimes and misdemenors immediately sacrifices attorney client priviledge and instruct his lead council to spill his guts for 30 hours on the record. You can tell he is extremely nervous the way he continued to retain the man as counsel and then defend his actions on twitter.
This is panic-mode in real time. Enjoy it.
Drumpf is finished.
10
This clearly shows why Trump should not trust any of the swamp creatures around him... Washington is all out protect mode since Trump has exposed the extreme corruption left by the Obama Administration in the DOJ and FBI. The media knows it must do all it can to destroy Trump and get control of the House to shut down these investigations before to much comes out that they can’t ignore and must report on...
1
This president has told over 4000 lies since taking office and many blatant ones to the American people. Yet you are saying he shouldn't trust those around him. I think they shouldn't trust him. You seem to be proceeding from the assumption that Mr. Trump is an honest man beset on all sides by corruption. Consider just what it would mean if the opposite were true. Mr. Trump lied when he said he didn't help draft the letter claiming that the Trump Tower meeting between Don Jr and the Russians was about adoption. He lied about having knowledge of the hush money payments to his mistresses including Stormy Daniels. His behavior to date does not strike me as that of someone who is an honest broker with nothing to hide.
2
McGann wants to have it both ways - telling all to Mueller so he can stay out of jail while also promoting the Trumpian agenda. If he is really interested in protecting the Presidency, he would resign and make public the horror that is taking place in the Oval Office. Until he resigns, he is an enabler, complicit in the destruction of our Democracy.
10
Impeachment proceedings should begin after November...
5
In what way does it benefit the country for this paper to print this article now? Does it not compromise the relationship between the President and his counsel, who is cooperating with the investigation? Does it not make sense that certain things should be left out of the public sphere until such time as they are no longer sensitive? If the president fires his counsel now, is that not a dis-service to the investigation? Please can someone explain.
I doubt that there is anything in this article that isn't known to Mr. Trump and his current personal lawyers. This article should have no impact on what is an already strained relationship between Mr. Trump and Don McGahn.
1
Well now things are getting serious..Most of Trump's aides and/or roadies are a basketful of incompetents or whatever other label you can label individuals clearly operating above their intellectual pay grade..But, McGahn is different in the John Dean way...He is competent, smart, and knows that however this presidency ends, it will not end well...SO..being smart and relatively young, time, to move on from doing time in a federal facility or doing time in an elite law firm in whatever office is farthest from DC.
10
Wow--a Trump attorney with actual integrity. He'll be pushed out within the week.
6
I really dislike trump but Mueller needs finish this investigation. He either has a case against Trump or he doesn’t. At this point it’s not a witch hunt, it’s a waist of money.
4
@Scott Spencer, this is an involved and complex RICO investigation, involving gross theft and removal of state funds from Russia and into Western banks illegally. It will take years more to fully unravel and prosecute.
9
Mueller certainly has a case if not against Trump then against his son Don Jr and other close campaign advisors who attended the Trump Tower meeting with the Russians. Don Jr lied to Congress about the nature of the meeting until email correspondence showed it was to get dirt on Hillary Clinton. He may not be able to indict Trump but he certainly can indict his children and son in law. Trump will be indicted once he leaves office or is impeached.
1
@Scott Spencer
His case against Trump is developing and progressing. Mueller has issued many indictments and received guilty pleas already..
The only waste of money...is Republican tax cuts that ballooned the deficit.
Trump is toast.
The opposition including the NYT is giving it everything they’ve got, but the end-game is clear. Mueller’s got nothing on Russian collusion. He’ll issue a subpoena for obstruction of justice which will ultimately be quashed by Gorsuch and Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court. There will then be a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing. Act II, however, will be a different story. We may learn that Brennan and others have had a hidden agenda which is to save their own necks by creating these distractions.
1
Denial after denial about no contacts with Russians by the Trump campaign have now proven to be lies. I agree that there was not a simple collusion with the Russians but rather a conspiracy to influence the outcome of the US presidential election in favor of Donald Trump. That is treasonous behavior. Even Steve Bannon agrees.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.politico.com/amp/story/2018/01/03/steve...
I have to admit to getting some Mueller fatigue. Each new revelation - McGahn sings! - gives me this increasingly leaden feeling that the whole thing will fizzle. Mueller will release a finding in secret - containing who knows what - and nothing happens. The political class closes ranks for its own self-preservation, and out-waits Trump. The Republican base decides it was always a squib, and re-elects him for another four years. Twenty years from now, we find out the truth, and wonder how those people - us! - can have allowed this to happen. Money laundering. Criminal conspiracy. Silencing of critics using the powers of the presidency. The whole rotten cheeseburger. Allowed to pass unpunished. Rewarded.
10
Trump sent McGahn (and others) to relate Trump's lies. McGahn could then say to the Mueller investigation that "Trump said he did this" or "Trump says he was thinking that" in an effort to throw Mueller of the trail without Trump taking the risk of prosecution for lying to Investigators (because Trump doesn't say it to them) and without McGahn facing the same risks because McGahn is just telling the Mueller investigation "what Trump told him" ... Trump and McGahn must think it was a brilliant trick but Mueller wouldn't have been fooled and would have probed for details that would lead him to more 'admissible' evidence ... And McGahn might be in the same position as 'Pharma Bro' Martin Shkreli's ex-lawyer pleading with the Judge for "a minimum sentence" for conspiring with his client in a criminal act ....
Anyone would also be angry if accused of a crime they did not commit. The socialist democrats have dragged us through it all; fb ads were the cause of Russian election influence; nothing else. Machines were not tampered with nor were votes changed. The collusion of fusion GPS with Clinton and the DOJ/FBI who was partisan and tried to take over an election is the problem. Mr. Mueller has proven nothing and won't. He was miserable while on the Whitey B. case in Boston, missed the flight training would be FL terrorists who bombed the trade center and I could go on. A republican in registration only.
4
@Jan, actually read other news sources, your,lol,intelligence agencies all agree, but staying brain dead seems the trump supporters anthem. It’s hard to get a non-partisan view in the United States,read what the world sees and their sources,it might open your mind but your conspiracy theories,probably not.
1
Most criminal of all perhaps: the earth is shoving early signs of terminal illness under our noses daily, while Rome burns. Agent Orange is so caught up in his dance of madness and delusion, and we are so caught up in this dark circus while nothing is done. Putin must be very happy.
The issue of climate change should be our one unifier, the one litmus test. Left or right can we harness some of this wasted energy to do what we still can for the future of our children & grandchildren? It would seem not.
15
In general Trump is getting away with such outrageous acts beyond imagination I wouldn’t be surprised if he even gets away with obstruction of justice. Do we really need proof to determine if Trump coludded with Russia? Do we really? How obvious do you want this? This Congress will never impeach Trump, so it hardly matters what Muller comes up with
6
The problem here is Executive Privilege.
Executive privilege should be restricted to highly classified information directly tied to national security, and nothing else.
That a president of the United State of America can be legally privileged above that of the citizen is reprehensible.
Most all of our nation's problems with their president are from the president acting in a maleficent manner toward our nation and our laws and then using executive privilege to protect themselves.
This privilege needs to be severely restricted.
MB
16
Trump's spin on this is typical deceptive PR. The fact is that his lawyers were misled by his insistence that he did nothing wrong. That has been demonstrated to be a lie. McGahn would have quit had he not been allowed to speak freely with Mueller. So letting him speak was the least worst for Trump and allowed the administration to give the impression they were cooperating.
3
@FRS
You really think Trump is concerned about someone quitting, leaving, or being fired? He certainly has not demonstrated that during his time in office, not to mention his time in business. I believe you are drawing the wrong conclusion that Trump allowed McGahan to testify out of concern he would quit. #Grasping at straws
1
McGahn is doing his real boss’ bidding. The Kochs and the GOP donor class have him pushing those right wing judges and justices down our throats while allowing trump to commit as many crimes as he wants; whether they’re financial crimes or conspiracy with Russia to undermine democracy; so when they’ve packed the courts and state houses we the people will no longer have any recourse against them. That’s when they’ll rewrite the constitution to strip us of all our rights.
14
@snarkqueen
And Obama did his best to pack the courts with liberal judges to allow him to get away with ignoring laws and moving the country in the direction he wanted to take it, mainly through executive orders.
Name a crime that Trump has been tried and found guilty of......I'll wait.
As Obama said "elections have consequences".
Whenever anybody professes their innocence multiple times a day with such vigor you just know they are guilty of what they deny. No witch hunt. Definitely collusion.
10
@Steve Cohen Yeah, I don't think that is a hard and fast rule. I am an exoneree listed on the National Database of Exonerations. There are times when discussing my case that I declared my innocence once and moved on in the course of conversation, and other times when I said it a few times in the course of one conversation. In my mind, I was trying to make it clear. People make these arbitrary rules about who is lying and who isn't - like you just did above - and it clouds issues and creates biases. Luckily in my case, I had hard forensic evidence (DNA). But because of rules like you cite above, I often feel from some people that they have residual doubt in spite of the DNA evidence. They didn't like the way I said this or that - it feels like. But their perception is purely of their own making. It is hard to know what it is like to be falsely accused and to have to traverse each and every little rule your accusers have in their head to make their own determination of guilt vs. innocence. It's irritating and exhausting - frankly.
Now regarding Trump, I still haven't seen clear and convincing evidence of collusion, although the connections and behavior make it more and more likely everyday. However, IMO, what he has done beyond a reasonable doubt - because he did it on national TV and on Twitter - is obstruct justice.
1
Was there some "revelation?"
"This revelation should convince Trump to resign...today."
I guess I missed that, despite having read the article carefully. Pray tell, what was it?
1
The USA has a problem. The USA is not a democracy...
'What's that?' 'A democracy? That's not a democracy!''This is a democracy!' (With apologies to Paul Hogan etc.)
Here in Australia, every Australian citizen over the age of eighteen must enrol, must turn up to a local booth to get a ballot paper, or must submit their ballot paper in a postal vote. Election boundaries are moved at every election with changing demographics. Here in Cairns, the expert on this is a private citizen whose expert submissions to the Queensland Electoral Commission are invariably followed, while the submissions of the incompetent local bureaucrats are roundly rejected.
Until every US citizen is required by law to vote at every local, state and federal election, you will continue to suffer the motley fools who run your country at every level of government. (OK, I concede that our motley fools typically are not that much better, but at least every citizen over eighteen had to enrol and vote, or spoil their ballot paper).
Enrol. Get off your couch. Vote this November.
13
@Colenso
A consummation devoutly to be wished. Thanks for pointing out that democracy is possible. It is my hope, however vain, that a coming generation will reverse our march toward tyranny. They may vote in a motley fool or two, but in the long run the people do tend to get it right.
1
Soooo, DJT has cooperated more than anyone in a major case, especially for a President. On top of this Mueller has known, since last October, that DJT has broken any laws. It sounds like it’s time to put this to rest.
2
While this may strike some as black humor, in all honesty I do believe that the most uplifting thing about this article is that it shows that Trump is as amateurish, impulsive and unwise in making decisions concerning his own self-protection as he is in carrying out his office as President of the United States.
16
As the witch hunt unfolds, each day it becomes clearer that the obama - hilliary team of rosenstein, comey, storek, page, brennan, lynch, orr’s, mueller and many others were completely biased toward their hatred of Trump. I am no more convinced that the Trump team did any thing wrong than on the day the investigation started. If fact I’m more convinced that this has been a distraction to take the spot light off HRC and her foundation. Where are the 33,000 emails and why did she take such pain and effort to destroy them along with the hammering of her cell phones? I want to know why and I think the American public demand and desire answers!
4
@Sven Gall Yes, and how can we really be sure that Booth acted alone in the Lincoln killing? Let's dig that one up too, anything and everything except deal with actual crimes being committed here and now by Traitor Donald Trump, his minions and family as they continue to undermine and destroy our democracy. It is stunning how some folks refuse to acknowledge the aberrancy in this corrupt administration yet cling to complete unsubstantiated nonsense in regard to those with stellar reputations and decades of true public service serving under both parties.
3
Georgia republicans closing 75% of polling places in minority districts. This isn't fair or just.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-news-georgia-polling-places-...
22
@RMB
Did you expect Georgia Republicans to be fair or just. They are a despicable bunch, trying anything.
Why this country never had a revolution (and please, do not count 1776 at that... it was a rebellion of secession, not a revolution) I do not understand. Other places the anger of people boiled over for less...
1
Wellllll, Mr. McGahn just may be a man with integrity. Protecting the presidency and not the president. This president is doing everything he can go destroy the presidency.....and this country as well.
8
Nobody beats the Don at the Con. It is funny that he is so good he conned his own lawyers into believing he was innocent. Therefore, they developed the best strategy for an innocent client – full corporation. If you have nothing to hide, then the truth shall set you free. Maybe the Don is so good he even conned himself.
5
@Ivan
You raise an interesting point. There is no question the that Don is a huckster. There have been many before such as Madoff, and the great Ponzi himself. But these men knew the con they playing.
The question is the metal state and stability of the President of the United States. If this man actually believes the lies he spews, and there is a chance he does, than he is ripe for the 25th Amendment, as he is truly unfit to serve the office and country.
Either way, he has proven he is unfit and has to go.
8
I've always had the belief that, in situations like this one, if you did no wrong you rarely had anything to worry about. And from the beginning I doubted there was criminal collusion but the louder and longer Trump's "fury" and howls of "witch hunt" the more his behavior suggests guilt.
8
Thank you Mr. McGahn, you are a hero and a patriot.
6
This whole situation seems to be more bizarre every day. I am not sure about McGahn's motivation or anything he says. He is, after all, paid to protect his client. All I really know is that even without the Russian interference issue, we have a dangerously egotistical president who is trying to destroy our legal system, our world relationship, and our environment. That is enough for me to know. Trump's business history is, I am sure, fulled with very shady deals and some outright illegal activities. Those who voted for him with the knowledge of his past were blinded by his campaign lies and lofty promises. Those who are truly benefiting from his policies (the tax cut, primarily) are willing to ignore his obvious problems to enrich themselves. Wake up Republican leadership!
6
It would be sweet poetic justice if after decades of using lawyers to shield himself from any responsibility/accountability for his sleazy behavior, his own lawyers turn out to be what takes him down.
13
John Dean gave his take on this story in in interview on slate.com. He notes that Trump's habit of throwing people under the bus made this a smart move for McGahn. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/08/don-mcgahn-cooperating-with-... I don't think Trump should be surprised that the people he surrounds himself with are just like him, in so many ways.
7
@JenD Re "...Trump's habit of throwing people under the bus .... the people he surrounds himself with are just like him, in so many ways."
That is absolutely correct. Yet it still amazes me that Trump got to where he is while surrounding himself with people who actually have little loyalty to him. Normally anyone who is that successful has a cadre of people who deeply believe in him/her. Nixon, Hitler, all of them, had some intimates who stood by until the end. With Trump, I don't see any outside of his family, and I'm not all that sure about Melania.
I trust that I am not the only reader who understands that the White House counsel represents the interests of the institution, and that the White House, as an institution, is not Donald Trump. No one should be surprised that McGahn would, in a moment of truth, act to protect the institution, first, and not Trump. Still, “Bravo, Mr. McGahn.”
11
Our "president", our "commander-in-chief", as our protector, leader, and symbolic advocate for democracy and the American Way, should be the point man in this investigation to root out enemy transgressions, not obstructing it.
Unless, of course, he has something to hide.
4
All anonymous sources, as usual. Lots of foam and no cappuccino. It’s been said that Ziebart is better than Rusty Jones.
2
Whether McGahn is doing this to protect himself or because he is simply one of the few in Trump's circle that actually has some integrity, the American people owe him thanks. We deserve to know the full story behind the Russia speculation, not just what Trump decides to tweet to us. If it is a "witch hunt" as Trump desperately tweets every day, then that will be revealed when it's over. If there's more there, let's know what it is.
It's astonishing that the president thinks White House counsel would act as a personal lawyer for him, and once again shows the depth of Trump's ignorance and arrogance. McGahn is a government lawyer, paid by us, the taxpayers. He owes it to us to tell the truth, plus he needs to salvage what's left of his career. Association with Trump once again proves to be poison.
16
I choose not to read this stuff anymore. I just look at the headlines and hope that our NATIONAL NIGHTMARE will soon be over. It has been difficult enough for me to cope with the unusual heat and humidity we are experiencing in Vermont this summer. The prediction is by 2050, Vermont's climate will be similar to Pennsylvania's current climate. I moved from there 10 years ago to get away from that and the fact that voters will vote for the Devil, as long as he has an ' R " behind his name. Wait a minute. They did! Please please please expose these Grifters.
22
The problem with obstruction is there really does have to be a crime to obstruct that is indisputably made by Trump or his team. And the crime has to be a big one. Technically you can have obstruction without a crime being committed. But to take down a sitting president one will have prove intent and that the intent was to shield oneself or associates from criminal prosecution. No crime no obstruction. By the way the Steele dossier was financed by the Clinton campaign and DNC. They paid a foreign national 150 thousand to dig up dirt on Trump. That seems to be just fine to the left. But Donald just meeting with a Russian that is offering dirt on Clinton? Well that is an outrage.
Steele is English. They are our allies and are not attacking our democracy.
There is no equivalency between what Steele did and what members of the Trump campaign did.
I wouldn't waste any tears on any of the people trump is betraying, jettisoning, or lying to. There's not a person in his circle who, by this time, doesn't know exactly what trump is.
The person I have the least sympathy for is our Attorney General - highest law official in the land - who blatantly lied during his confirmation hearings and once in office has assiduously pursued his dream of reversing gains from civil rights legislation and doing everything he can to attack immigrants and deny helpless people the sanctuary our country has promised and benefitted from. I hear he's quite a convivial guy and his pals in Congress enjoy his company - what does that say about their characters ?
19
Time to end this charade and end this investigation. While costing the american people millions of dollars and hours wasted when those millions and hours should be spent on education, inner city blight, protecting our boarders and America’s epidemic of opioid addiction.
6
Karen, The cost of this investigation pales in comparison to the cost of Mr Trump's weekend golf outings to promote his properties. Are you a fiscal conservative when it comes to those costs too?
9
@Karen Ignoring corruption and criminality for the sake of expediency is no way to run a democracy.
3
@Karen " ... While costing the american people millions of dollars and hours wasted when those millions and hours should be spent on education, inner city blight, protecting our boarders and America’s epidemic of opioid addiction. '
To say nothing of using these millions saved to pay for Trump's military parade, secret service golf carts at Trump's golf courses, and for releasing the thousands of pages of Trump's tax return that still remain hidden.
3
All of this is a first for America. We have a sitting president who is implementing strategy provided by a hostile foreign entity.
McGahn is smart to protect the presidency, as he is well aware of what is at stake.
Too bad the Senate and House Republicans have not taken action to stop this abhorrent behavior. This will be a stain on their careers forevermore.
When Mueller releases his findings, the minority 35% supporting this presidency will need time to absorb the mountainous information they had disregarded for years leading up to the eventual impeachment.
9
I still think this ends up with Mueller concluding the following:
1. No collusion with Russia
2. Trump obstructed justice
Which will be fascinating because the White House could very well wiggle out of impeachment by saying 'of course Trump tried to stop the investigation. As Mueller himself concluded, there was no collusion. If someone falsely accuses the police chief of murder can you blame the police chief for trying to shut down the investigation into a murder that never happened?"
4
The President weighs in on the Manafort trial while the jury, not sequestered, is deliberating. We must assume that amongst the jurors in Virginia there will be a few loyal trumpists, regardless of the facts presented in court (which are overwhelming).
Our President is not only corrupt, he is corrupting others - in this case a jury.
24
@CitizenTM
Contrast that to Obama weighing in on:
The professor arrested at his home as a suspected burglar when he refused to present ID to the police showing he lived there.
Travon Martin's innocence before any facts were known.
Michael Brown's innocence before video showing he advanced on the police in an aggressive position and tried to take the officer's gun, not retreated with his hands up.
Sunday's tweet from Pres. Trump says he has nothing to hide. So what time later today will he be having his first interview with Special Counsel Mueller?
10
Knowing that McGahn threatened to quit if tRump fired Robert Mueller, I highly doubt that tRump "allowed" McGahn to testify for the Special Counsel investigation. Deep down inside, he has a modicum of understanding of the difference between right and wrong. Why he is still working for tRump, I can't imagine. Those who are still working in this White House will have a very hard time finding other jobs, when this is all over.
4
Same old story: First we were told that Russia stuffed our electronic voting machine via the Internet - that turned out to be totally untrue - even the investigators admit that.
Then we were told that Trump conspired with Putin. Not true. How do I know? Because of all the emphasis now, after a fantastic amount of investigation, on Trump trying to halt the investigation itself. If there really had been a real crime, they would not be trying to bust Trump for a "meta-crime".
If he really did nothing wrong, why did Trump try to stop the investigators ? Two reasons:
1. Because Trump can not handle any kind of criticism, and the investigators were tossing up endless political mud.
2. Because they were trying to prove that he didn't really win the election, which he took as an enormous personal insult. As we have so often seen, Trump cannot let any perceived slight slip by without a vicious counter attack.
The Mueller investigation sets a horrible standard for how new administrations will treated. Unlike Watergate, which was an investigation of a crime that had clearly taken place (the perpetrators were caught red-handed by the police), this investigation is simply a search for a crime; and that is wrong, because it is entirely political motivated.
Something that opposes Trump, horrible as he is, isn't automatically good.
2
I think Mueller's investigation is a stalling action based on wishful thinking that Trump will grow into the presidency, delivered by a system that fakes everything.
2
@Steve Bolger. Wow, considering he seems to go further off the rails every day, this is not a good plan!
3
@Steve Bolger
That's heavy...
In binge-watching the show “The Americans,” (and yes, I know it’s a fictional television series set in the 80’s during The Cold War, but still. . .) with its unreserved distrust of all things Russian, I’ve found myself shaking my head when thinking about Trump’s chummy relationship with Putin.
President Reagan was unequivocal about his distain and distaste for Russia. How ironic that those very Reaganites now support Trump. Reagan is turning over in his grave.
6
Republicans in the House and Senate less-than-enthusiastically defend Trump, just enough, I suppose, to satisfy the Trumpers and to get them through the fall election. They have to know, just have to know, that Trump is neck-deep in a conspiracy problem in dealing with the Russians, not just now but for the last several years. I wonder how many of them are just praying that Mueller uncovers an absolute trove of convicting info about Trump so they can be rid of this albatross around their necks.
What they are publicly saying now can eventually be walked back.
8
Once again this shows the incompetence of President Trump. I want to simply say "Lock him up!" but instead, I tell myself to be patient and see it through. Nixon and Clinton had to deal with a very slowly unfolding of events. The possible transgressions of the Trump team are much more important than either Presidential scandals.
Let it play out.
3
"overestimated the amount of thought that they believed the president put into his legal strategy."
They can be forgiven for that. It's easy to over estimate the amount of thought that Trump has put into pretty much anything, which, judging from his constant and often self-incriminating tweets, is nearly zero.
4
So the takeaway is that Trump didn't understand that the lawyer wasn't there for his protection, was wholly forthcoming, and still did nothing wrong. Lots of people are going to be disappointed.
Easy to understand why Trump won't testify. It's because of the collusion matter. He could always get away politically with the obstruction charge.
2
McGahn is a lawyer for the Presidency, not the President. Trump treats him like his personal lawyer at his peril. It is his duty to report crimes, not to protect a criminal President.
Is Trump so blissfully unaware of what he and his family have done, or does he so completely believe in his invulnerability?
4
Lawyers protecting lawyers protecting lawyers. Wonder how long these chains will go?
Almost funny. Almost.
1
Another huge indication that President Trump did nothing wrong and has nothing to hide: no Russian collusion, no obstruction of justice, no corruption. But the biggest indicator of no wrongdoing is there's been no leak of conclusive, verifiable evidence--- just a lot of speculations, innuendos and opinions.
2
What was telling to me about this Trump debacle was the meeting between Trump and Putin, in Helsinki. Putin made Trump wait an hour. This was unprecedented as was the private meeting. After the meeting, Trump looked like a school boy who had been brow beaten by his teacher. Putin looked smug. The body language was revealing. Trump looked terrified as the public show went on. As a seasoned KGB Officer, I suspect that whenever the FSB is finished with Trump, they will leak, ( pun intended) the tapes that they have on him, to further embarrass the USA. My question is why can’t a deal be worked out in a back channel agreement with Putin on easing some of the sanctions, for this information now ? Putin must know Trumps usefulness is coming to an end.
6
The article is disturbing in several aspects:
1) The sources are undoubtedly White House personnel, probably including present staff.
2) The gestation period for the article was most likely an extended one -- why is it being published now?
3) Most disturbing to me is the implication that Mr. Trump does not know the difference between right and wrong. He apparently believes he has done nothing wrong, either because he doesn't know right from wrong or because he believes that he can do no wrong: as the center of his small universe or as the President. He is amoral, which is worse than immoral.
4) If Trump genuinely believes he has done nothing wrong or than nothing done on his behalf is wrong, then it is not likely he can be forced to resign, short of the 25th amendment or impeachment.
6
@Prof, unless there was an overt act or series of actions by Trump that actually occurred, the obstruction case is dead in the water.
Anger and political rhetoric do not constitute obstruction. The article is full of inference but devoid of facts. Where are the documents showing Trump authorizing a course of action? McGahn sought legal representation before being interviewed by Mueller, which is common sense, all McGahn provided per this article, was an insight in Trump's mindset. Unless one"s views are subject to legal recourse, than McGahn's interview amounts to a whole lot of nothing.
1
The part that is news to me in this article is the fact that Robert Mueller told Trump lawyers that he wouldn't be indicting a sitting president?!
There is very little doubt that Trump is guilty of something or some things, and there is a list already compiled that we know of, and America cannot have a criminal sitting in our WH. If you have the proofs, Mr. Mueller, please indict. That is what the majority of Americans the world is waiting for after all.
We need to clean house, the WH.
5
@Andrea Landry
Mueller might not be a criminal, like the President and most of his cabinet. But he is not the Saint people make him to be.
He is a Republican and might believe in the rule of law, but he does not believe in the rights of all people.
This is so bizarre. Is this not supposed to be a serious investigation of alleged wrong-doing and prosecution, done in accordance with established procedures and rule of law? Instead, it has been reduced to a mystery thriller, with full of intrigues, suspense and drama. Giuliani’s media circus is especially odd, risible, and condescending to me. Is that what they taught him at the law school – defend a client in a public forum through semantic juggleries and cheap political maneuvers?
9
@Raghavan Parthasarthy
That’s exactly what seem to work for his supporters.
@Raghavan Parthasarthy raggie, this is a different world in the presidency and it is EXACTLY why we voted for Trump. Giuliani is a great lawyer. Your just not used to hearing politicians talk without having written speeches in front of them on a teleprompter.
I think we are seeing a lot of people in this White House, including Kelly Ann Conway, making efforts to detach themselves from the Trump mess. They need to study the people around Nixon and what happened to them.
6
Trump is no stranger to lawsuits. He's pretty confident that he's going to win this one. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.
5
@Dream Weaver: Am so tired of the daily law suits and front page MSM circus which the office of the presidency has become . Went steroidal when the Obama Administration began ' occupying ' the White House. If only all these people had all gone to Hollywood instead of D.C. , America would be a more peaceful and unified country. Too bad the only ones these politicians can ' sing ' to are members of the MSM. ( wife )
Finally, John Dean has arrived. Not that the other players who are singing to Mueller are unimportant, but, McGahn is the smartest man in the room---one who could connect the collusion/conspiratorial dots.
3
We have a president who will not be indicted.
We have an apathetic populace who is too lazy to vote.
We have the presidents base, along with the wealthy, chomping at the bit to go out and vote.
The pardon power of the president ended the game before it even started.
That is the problem.
All this investigating and the final product will be a report that the public may never see. Or, if we do see it, the Republican Congress will do nothing. People around the president may be tried and convicted, but they will be pardoned.
We will get to watch all of that and the only solace will be to rant and rave in the comment section of newspapers like this one, an outlet that has been utilized daily since the election with zero effect whatsoever.
Yes, I'm pessimistic.
11
Every day it's reality television. The series hanging on with Omarosa about to drop another Trump scandal.
Now his lawyer is apparently at Mueller's office explaining Trump's missteps. As most of us have Trump's moments of obstruction of justice memorized.
But let's not forget the Russian Ms. Butina charged with acting as a Russian agent and establishing a secret back channel for Putin, GOP, and NRA. There's more that meets the eye in this whole web of deceit.
House Intelligence Committee Democrats tried to bring her in as a witness, but Republicans refused.
The plot and story line involving the GOP/NRA is far more extensive that a Hollywood movie script. And you hear Republicans continually defending the indefensible. Even Trump's threats toward, and degradation of intelligence officials.
6
Let's see, "protecting the presidency, and not the president." What a concept, as one might declare.
While the plan to take over government on behalf of the 1 percenters has been in the works for 50 years, it was our acting president, Ronald Reagan, who told us that government was "the problem." Those words from the simplistic mind of RR gave the right wing of the GOP license to steal elections. It was the green light that Rupert Murdoch waited for after the discussions in the Nixon WH proposed a TV outlet for ultra-conservative intentions. Thus was born Fox "News." (How can anyone confuse 'news' with views?)
What has happened in the intervening years has been a steady erosion of democracy for the sake of power trickling upward while limiting access to the voting stations for minorities and left-leaning districts (gerrymandering and voter ID laws). The Republic-cons knew they had to rig the courts with conservative judges before their anti-Constitutional efforts would be challenged with the Rule of Law.
So along comes Baby Don's former lawyer, Don McGahn, who decides to tell TeamMueller what he knows because he was dedicated to protecting the presidency, not the president. But don't tell Rudy Giuliani how that works. He's too busy investing his mania in a job search as the replacement for AG Jeff Sessions.
This prompted the boy-king to call the investigation "McCarthyism."
Blue Wave or Red Tide? Democracy v. Autocracy? November will decide those questions.
8
Trump's lawyers are somewhat like a legal Praetorian Guard protecting the emperor through words not swords. Sometimes even the Praetorian Guard turned on an emperor. Then again, I don't think Trump is a student of history. I don't think McGahn will not fall on the sword for the emperor of malice.
This is an interesting informative article but one aspect doesn't quite ring true. The assertion in the report that Mr Mueller will follow Justice Department guidelines regarding the president not being able to be indicted. Who is your source on this? If it is Rudi Guiliani then the assertion carries no credible weight. I don't think Mr Mueller would actually enter into any such discussion with White House lawyers.
2
When this mess started, the most informed people said what would happen is: no "collusion" or "conspiracy" charge, but they would almost certainly get whomever they wanted wanted with obstruction-type charges. Because they can get whomever they want with those kind of charges.
That looks to be exactly what will happen. I'm sure many people will relish that day as some sort of victory against Trump. I won't.
I'm not a fan of Trump, but it's pretty clear that in a wide ranging investigation like this, the special counsel could charge almost anyone, anywhere with obstruction or obstruction-type charges.
I think such a scenario will be a Trump victory. He won't actually go to trial for anything, and it will leave half the country despising the opposition and the never-ending partisan news media more than they already do.
5
He can’t just “get” somebody on obstruction—he must prove it, with evidence, which is not easy. Especially since one of the things he has to prove is “intent,” which is a state of mind. Outward actions can show intent, and this president has stacked up plenty of those. But you make it sound as if there are no legal requirements and Mueller can just say that any one of them obstructed the investigation and make it so. The law doesn’t work like that.
@John You are 100% right.
@Baba I'm not a lawyer but there are a number of well-informed people who disagree. These were opinion pieces written by less partisan, sophisticated international news media outlets when the investigation began. I think the exact law in question at that point was a perjury trap.
That is why I said "obstruction-type" charges. Or accusations. Or whatever. The point is, I think the smart money would all likely agree that Mueller's report is not going to say Trump colluded or conspired with the Russians, but that he was a very bad boy in a number of other ways. Looking at the scope of this investigation and the actors involved, I'm sure there is ample evidence to do so.
However, I am sure it would be the same case if Clinton underwent a similar investigation. In fact, it was -- with the same result. Exoneration with a finger wagging.
That's because during the course of business for large organizations with many actors, including administrations and campaigns, a lot of questionable things take place as a matter of course.
Is it too much to expect that the President of the United States understand that there is more to the office than ordering grandiose parades, providing “ jobs” for family members, and exacting revenge in one’s enemies, real and perceived? That there are responsibilities and constraints as well? Perhaps someone could sit him down and show him a quick, easily understood power point presentation on the once- admired office he now holds.
3
@Maggie Take out the parade and you could be talking about the Clinton camp.
Almost all of citizen Trump's past legal battles (excluding payoffs to models, Playmates, etc) have been won by wearing down his opponents, delaying, and fighting his case in the public realm. He has had the press in his back pocket forever, and continues to manipulate it skillfully.
The longer this current battle drags on, the better for him. He will continue to find new villains to blame for his transgressions, and will continue to sow his trademark chaos of contradictions and confusion with the help of Rudy and Fox.
Hopefully Mueller will release before the November elections. The Base won't care what's in the report, but moderates and swing voters will.
4
@Alex MacDonald I think at this point the swing voters consider this to be just what Trump said it was. A witchhunt. After almost 2 years there is still NOTHING. But you liberals keep holding your breath. LOL
1
>
I hope I'm wrong, but I think we are going to be very disappointed with the Mueller Report as to a straight line from the POTUS to the Russians; there maybe some tax issues found as to DJTs tax returns, but he'll wiggle his way out of those.
Furthermore, even if Mueller has a video recording of DJT and Putin designing the whole conspiracy, I doubt it would change much, unless, some GOP Senators find their moral integrity to place the Constitution over careerism and commit political suicide and vote to convict DJT in the Senate, and there is scant evidence of that happening.
One needs to fully comprehend that the GOP craves power not to govern but for the sake of power itself.
As Nietzsche never tired of pointing out, once truth is destroyed there is nothing left but "will to power".
Nietzsche was wrong on many things, but like all great philosophers they are right when & where they have to be.
4
My take away from this article is the fact that White House lawyer, Mr. McGahn (and his lawyer), felt that the president may be using him as the fall-guy in an effort to shield himself from criminal prosecution. So the best approach was to speak the to Mr Mueller.
There is no trust in this president.
5
@Lalo AGAIN your getting "fake news". Keep believing it though it's funny to see the heads explode when you don't get what you want.
Mr. McGahn cautioned to investigators that he never saw Mr. Trump go beyond his legal authorities.
@Lalo I think you got it wrong. The President and his first team of lawyers were all about letting Mueller speak to whoever he wanted to, thus waving the right to attorney-client privilege and let McGahn speak. They have given Mueller something like 1.4 million pages of documents as well, and let him interview 30 plus people from the White House, when they did not have to.
2
Not uncommon for attorneys to meet with investigators in representing their clients. Prosecutors meet with defense attorneys who represent both witnesses and targets all the time.
1
Many comments are highlighting that without a Democratic Party majority in Congress, Trump is largely immune- and I agree.
But talk of a 'Blue Wave" this fall is just that- talk. The Dems have a slight chance of regaining the House and no chance in the Senate. NYT readers seem to ignore the fact that Trump and the radical right have considerbale support outside the urban areas of the east and west coasts and given that many congressional districts have been drawn to benefit Republicans, the odds of taking the House are slim. Reality check. That's what happens when a political party loses state houses on the scale that has happened to the Dems since the Clinton years.
4
@JL At the beginning of Obama’s term, Democrats controlled 59 percent of state legislatures, while now they control only 31 percent, the lowest percentage for the party since the turn of the 20th century. They held 29 governor’s offices and now have only 16, the party’s lowest number since 1920. (as of Jan 2017)
1
I keep wondering when, or if, congressional Republicans will come to the same realization that McGahn seems to have reached. If they don’t care to act out of love of country and their constitutional duty to check the high crimes and misdemeanors of their President, do they not worry about Trump throwing them under the bus and ruining them as he does every person on his orbit? Do they not foresee how history will judge them with contempt and as traitors to our country and the Constitution?
12
This is indicative of a lot of the Russia coverage, a lot of innuendo, but not much substance. The press has been speculating for almost two years now, and I think if the investigation doesn’t find a bombshell with substantial proof of wrongdoing, this whole ordeal will backfire and provide Trump with exactly what he wants to run in 2020: how the media spent his first term on wall-to-wall coverage on Russia and Mueller found nothing. I was once open to the idea that the Russia story might be something but am less confident as it goes on.
It is interesting how the media created Trump through incessant coverage in 2016, creating a monster they couldn’t contain. And as we head in 2020, if Mueller has nothing on Trump specifically, people like Kellyanne Conway will be able to go on television say that in 2016 the media was wrong about the polls & were wrong about the Trump victory & that the media spent his first term with 24/7 coverage on Russia and nothing was found that brought down Trump.
If the Mueller investigation brings nothing the media only has itself to blame for spending time speculation hour after hour about Mueller. Maybe I’ll be wrong. That’s a possibility. But if I’m right, Trump will win in 2020 by running on “you can’t trust the media, the lied about collusion and obstruction of justice and wanted to bring me down.” It will be disingenuous but the media will be responsible for it. They better hope Mueller finds something.
4
I can't believe the extent of "blame the media" in these comments. Don't you see you are playing right into Trump's and Russia's hands? The media isn't one thing, it is a network of different views and types of reporting. A monolithic, consistent media is a fabrication.
It seems to me that Mr. McGahn is both heeding the lessons of John Dean, in getting out front of what is going to be, in my opinion, a spectacular implosion, and in his decision to put the United States as his client. He is, after all, the attorney for the White House, not the attorney for the President, and as such has to move to protect the very idea of the sanctity of the Constitutional office as it was envisioned by the Founding Fathers. He may simply be trying to save his skin, but he’s coming out on the right side. Good for him.
14
Until a matter goes before a judge the evidence is "alleged evidence". Council for the other side can dispute the evidence and whether it is genuine or manufactured. If we are looking at Russian involvement Clinton and the DNC had more Russian connection than the Trump campaign.
1
Leave Hillary out of this. She won the election fair and square, but for the second time, the GOP-controlled Electoral College refused to acknowledge who was really the people's choice. She won the popular vote by 3 million votes. In the history of sleazy, dishonest American politics, this is not to be ignored.
Trump doesn't care if McGahn speaks with Mueller. He and his legal team have calculated that the Mueller investigation will never lead to an indictment and criminal charges. The outcome will be purely political, and with continued help from Republicans, an incredibly powerful right-wing media, Trump's rabid base, and of course Putin and the Russians, Trump will prevail. Unfortunately, they’re correct. No matter how overwhelming evidence of Trump’s guilt is, it won't matter. The article states, "Mueller has told the president’s lawyers that he will follow Justice Department guidance that sitting presidents cannot be indicted. Rather than charge Mr. Trump if he finds evidence of wrongdoing, he (will) write a report that can be sent to Congress for lawmakers to consider impeachment proceedings." So, nothing will happen. Impeachment is inherently political, only made to appear to be judicial. It's why no American president has ever been successfully impeached and convicted. If the House Judiciary Committee is controlled by Republicans they won’t even allow a vote on articles of impeachment. If Democrats retake the House, control the Judiciary Committee, and have at least one article of impeachment get a majority vote, it will move to the Senate. Republican Senators will kill it there. If Democrats miraculously retake the Senate by a hair margin of 51, they'll never get 15 Republican senators to put country first, so there will never be the two-thirds vote required for conviction.
3
@Robert B, and this is our nightmare.
President Trump has not made an impression to me as McGahn has. He spoke up for the President when the president has not said or done anything that he said he was going to do. The president only says and does not do. He participated even more than the president in events that are happening and speaks about it instead of tweeting about the whatever the problem is. I believe that the president does not have what it takes to become a role of a president. How can Trump have the title Head of State and Head of Government and have all these powers to make or do anything and yet can not address the more important things like starvation and poverty but talks about building a wall which we already have and global warming. If he does address something its most likely going to come out as a tweet or tweeting about how he roasts people by tweeting. I believe that having that much power should be held by someone who is worthy of obtaining it and using it for the good of America. Trump and McGahn have a good relationship and yet president Trump was blaming him for his legal woes but also says that he encouraged him to speak with investigators like he did not want o himself so he set Mr. McGahn to do it himself. Its also so funny how they concluded that the president had let Mr.Mcgahn take fall for the desicions that could go wrong so that if it did all the fingers would be pointed to Mr. McGahn and the president would be saved again after Mr. Mcgahn and his lawyer were getting suspicious.
one wonders what degree of panic the Mueller team must be experiencing at this point. Clearly no evidence of collusion (or it certainly would have been leaked) and the realization that had there been any collusion it would not have been a crime. Folks are so disappointed they can’t undo the election results.
5
No evidence of collusion? It is everywhere and Trump knows he is toast. His actions are that of a guilty man.
@NewEnglandPatriot There was no collusion and Mueller knows it which is why the investigation drags on giving the Democrats false hope of an impeachment extravaganza before the next presidental election.
We are at Mueller's mercy. He looms more and more powerful through his silence. He knows how this is going to end and the waiting only unhinges Trump more.
In the meantime, powerful people are becoming embolden to speak up and point out that indeed, the emperor has no clothes.
4
It almost doesn’t matter what the Mueller team comes up with. Our entire political system is “ship wrecked.” All we can do now to move on is to change leadership, and that’s going to be a slow, painful, process. The Supreme Court will be flawed with the appointment of Kavanaugh, and short of a miracle, he will become our next justice. I know everyone reading this is tired of hearing “Elections have Consequences” but hopefully the History Books of the future might inspire our Children’s Children’s, Children to take elections more seriously.
4
@Eric Cosh. GOTV!!!
The Mueller investigation breaks down into several categories with different time lines which sometimes overlap:
1. Financial Crime
2. Conspiracy to interfere in an election
3. Obstruction of justice
With respect to 2 we know that the Russian State interfered in the 2016 Election. We also know that several people connected with the Trump Campaign met with or otherwise interacted with Russian State actors. Whether this amounts to a conspiracy remains to be demonstrated.
We know that obstruction of justice took place.
We do not know with great certitude about the money but it is likely that there are financial crimes going back decades.
There are multiple lines of investigation and corresponding degrees of cooperation by Mr Trump and others. In a virtuous world we would be having none of this. As it is we live in a crooked world.
4
There is apparently evidence that Trump was working directly with the Russians to game the election even before the notorious Trump Tower meeting. I'm hoping this is true, and that it ends up playing a role in Mueller's report.
The military pushed out the parade to 2019; Trump claimed he canceled it because it's too expansive.
McGahn cooperated in Mueller inquiry; Trump now claimed he gave him permission to do so.
If Conway is the queen of alternative fact, Trump is the king of spin.
3
If we don't correct this, the meek will definitely not, inherit the earth. We went from booting the Redcoats to rewarding, praising and making excuses for the same aggression. We've been deceived onto a dangerous path in the wrong direction. Correct it, or be the generation that blew it, gave it all away. What's it gonna be?
4
Not exactly a resume builder for an attorney that testifies against interest. Guess he's planning to stick with a job in the government.
So now Mueller will use McGahn's recollections as fact and any variance in Trump's testimony however slight will allow him to claim perjury.
The Trump card is full declassification of the FISA documents, FBI and DOJ files, emails, and texts, and NSA recordings.
Soon I hope.
The media and a large part of the nation has doubled-down severely on the assumption that Trump must have been up to something, turning harsh light on first a collusion investigation and, failing that, an obstruction investigation. Little has been said about, and the world has been decidedly incurious, potential skullduggery in his 2016 opponent's campaign.
If the media is found to have been negligent in pursuing leads objectively, it will deeply discredit their legitimacy in the years ahead, driving more to obtain their news and information from largely disorganized sources like social media.
It has been most tragic to watch, and the media has really let the country down, not to mention the pursuit of real truth.
When you want to find something wrong to justify an argument, you often can; however, that doesn't make the end result the correct one.
And I say this with no affection for, or allegiance to, Trump.
12
@Stuart
I’ve noticed this trend in comments—all the right wing talking points about no collusion, Hillary’s just as bad, investigation wasting time—and oh by the way, I don’t like Trump either. I really don’t believe this strain of comment. It seems very calculated and phony.
3
@Stuart The media cared only about their ratings during the election, and promoted the crazy outsider (crazy like a fox) incessantly, giving him more on-air, free air space, amounting to billions in free campaign advertising than any one or all of the GOP and DEM candidates combined.
Every crazy claim or utterance of Trump’s was broadcast. And then whomever was attacked by the know-nothing crazy one was expected to respond, defend, or explain why such-and-such wasn’t true. It was a circus, and there was only one path as created by the mass media. Then the clown got elected. And all the media, including print, and excluding Fox, got serious. But, maybe too late. We’ll see, won’t we?
1
The investigation continues...there is no final answer on collusion(conspiracy) or obstruction...stay tuned
Mr. Mueller has told the president’s lawyers that he will follow Justice Department guidance that sitting presidents cannot be indicted. Rather than charge Mr. Trump if he finds evidence of wrongdoing, he is more likely to write a report that can be sent to Congress for lawmakers to consider impeachment proceedings.
Ie., the Republican Congress will perform mental gymnastics to assert that clear obstruction to justice was akin to locker room talk and will charge nothing.
22
There won’t be a Republican Congress after the election in November. I don’t think they see the blue tsunami that’s coming. But I think it’s coming.
1
@Cee Expalin what happened to hillary?
Trump's nominee to the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh, thinks it would be illegal to subpoena or indict the president, which would in effect make Trump above the law, which is the number one reason why Brett Kavanaugh is Trump's nominee to the Supreme Court.
Perversely, it's depressingly still within the realm of possibility that one day Trump might get to celebrate Kavanaugh's appointment to the Supreme Court; the subsequent failed attempt to impeach Trump; Trump's viciously divisive reelection; and Putin's returning Trump's many IOU's marked paid in full--In that order--by doing something outrageous on Fifth Avenue.
30=something percent of Americans still support Trump and also think that Hillary Clinton runs an illicit business in the basement of a pizza parlor, and that Putin and Kim and Kavanaugh don't seem like such bad guys after all. Trump's approval rating is dismally low, still nobody is stopping Trump from exacting revenge on anyone who gives him any trouble, so maybe Trump really wouldn't lose a single supporter or a single legal battle if Trump did what he mused about doing on Fifth Avenue.
10
Tom--This will tell you something about Republicans, in general: 85% of Republicans still support donald tRump. This is pretty much all you need to know about the moral compass of this huge segment of our population. It's not good news for the rest of us. That's why EVERY citizen needs to vote, and those who get blocked by the Republicans should raise a ruckus that will lead to civil suits over voter suppression. I'm willing to bet that the ACLU will happily take that case. We already know that there's a good chance that Kris Kobach, and his connection to the company that makes the voter machines, in Kansas, probably cheated in order to win. Look up the details of that election. His opponent was leading by 13 points, when the machines, in Johnson County, suddenly went down. When they came back on, Kobach had won, by 300 points. Hmmmm.... If you're still a Republican, that's pretty much all we need to know about you.
2
Trump wants this investigation to end. Desperately.
This story appears to be a Trump mechanism in furtherance of that desire. In non-Trump reality, tho, it suggests that Trump is attempting to manipulate the Special Counsel, and that the investigation is nowhere near an end.
This is great reporting and under normal circumstances it would have led to either indictment or start of impeachment proceeding against Trump. But these are normal times . The unholy alliance of white nationalist, and Republicans who are happy with trillion tax cut for their donors and packing the courts with ultraconservatives judges will keep Trump in office. So unless every Democrat, independent, liberal, progressive and middle class who are interested in better life for themselves and their children take the issue seriously and vote in local, state, and federal election in 2018 and 2020, Trump will be president until 2024 and the Supreme Court will be on side of the corporation, religion and expansive executive powers fo next two generation.
6
The aim of the Muller investigation is misdirected at Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Instead, what is needed is an investigation into how the US two party system works in America with an outcome aimed at just who/what this systematic political system is subservient. Muller investigation is a smoke and mirror construct offered up to make we ordinary Americans believe we can hold the system accountable.
2
Noam Chomsky says the . Republican Party is the 'most dangerous organization in human history.' If true, and I'm loath to quibble with the Professor, imagine the lethal threat they pose to democracy in the USA.
6
The thing is, the target of the Mueller investigation is to expose the process of collusion and or obstruction should they exist. To establish either required a broad net and information from Page led to Manafort while Flynn sank his own ship but all in one way or another all named persons by the Mueller team have provided information regarding wrong doing by them and others. Page's testimony about Manafort's activities and Manafort's stonewalling lead to a kind of shock and awe seizure of data from his home and office and soon the first of perhaps several jury deliberations. This tangential unraveling of the Trump Team is yielding other data as well and I will bet you dollars to donuts Manafort has already begun bargaining with prosecutors.
Hard to argue that the President has not been transparent, providing a direct and real time stream into his thoughts, providing cooperation with his council, and submitting millions of requested documents.
He was elected in response to corruption in government, the swamp, and he has put the majority of elected officials on edge as he has upset tables of the status quo.
Apart from political ambition, those whose career depends on the swamp for financial benefit are outraged their way of life may be diminished. Use of any means to oppose, whether endless litigation or identity politics, is the desparate strategy used to resist change.
Enter the senior media, who dream of reliving the glory days of Watergate, will focus on any scheme to bring down an American President- a gotcha moment or tabloid shocker.
The precedent of one-sided attacks and undisciplined fishing expeditions have long lasting consequences, if future Presidents are attacked for every utterance.
One purpose of counsel is to explore all options. Consider if someone approaches and wants to fund a children's hospital. Any crime to hear what they have to say and weigh any decision with counsel? Maybe they want to do good. Or maybe they have ulterior motives or maybe the offer would violate the law. Exploring all of the President's options, no matter how far fetched, is an important function of his advisors. What matters are the President's actions. Does he deliver on his promises?
1
Despite the surface obviousness of questionable activity at the White House, two clear cut sides continue to operate. Personally, my opinions and decisions are based on liberal, (i.e. left leaning) newspaper accounts, and an underlying sense of gross dishonesty prevailing at the White House.
The other side is the Fox News debacles and the claims of "fake news."
Underlying it all is my heart felt desire to see an end to it and if testimony from Mr. McGahn help bring that end, let it happen.
Where there us this much smoke, there must be fire.
4
Regarding the question of timing: if the Mueller Investigation served the President with a subpoena to testify, or if he or any of his family members were to be indicted within weeks of the midterm election, is it true that since none of those people are running for office, then the timing is a moot issue politically?
Is anyone home in Congress? Or are they too busy rubbing their hands with glee at the thought of seating Judge Kavanaugh to be bothered with little things like an erratic president who has found a new play-toy . . . removing security clearances from potential witnesses?
2
Highly unlikely:
"... if Trump did do something impeachable will the GOP controlled Congress have the courage to [impeach] him? My bet: nope ..."
It's fashionable to say that the country has never been more divided, but that's not true at all. The division was just as stark during Watergate, and the Senate was prepared to throw Nixon out on his ear. He knew that, and that's why he resigned.
17
@MyThreeCents,
I believe Congress had a democratic majority at the time. Although Republicans (some) were going to vote for impeachment, including Barry Goldwater.
2
@MyThreeCents I also lived through Watergate.
That was about covering up a break-in and what went after, including obstruction of justice. It was bad.
BUT: It was NOT about collaborating with a foreign power to taint our elections. It was NOT about mass frauds, laundered money and hidden tax returns. It was NOT about calling the press the ENEMY of the people. And it was NOT about calling U.S. intelligence experts political hacks, while having secret one-to-one love talks with the biggest dictator in the world. And NOT divulging 1 detail of said talks.
I submit that Trump Gate is infinitely more serious than Watergate. If Watergate was sufficient cause for impeachment, Trump Gate is cause for multiple impeachments. And sooner, not later.
@RAH The Democrats had a majority during Watergate, but they needed Republican votes to convict Nixon.
Richard Nixon resigned from the presidency in 1974. There are many lawyers in the United States today who were old enough to remember and understand the fraught relationship between Nixon and White House Counsel John Dean. In contrast current White House Counsel Don McGahn, born in 1968, was only 6 years old when Nixon resigned.
John Dean's problem as White House Counsel was that by the time he quit or was fired by Nixon, John Dean had already committed some crimes with some of the defendants in the Watergate criminal cases. While John Dean worked very hard to help the Special Prosecutor, Leon Jaworski, there was no means to erase the crime John Dean committed. Dean pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice before Watergate trial judge John Sirica on October 19, 1973. Dean admitted supervising payments of "hush money" to the Watergate burglars, notably E. Howard Hunt.
As to President Trump and his White House Counsel Don McGhan, this article makes it sound like McGahn went and talked to Special Counsel Robert Mueller before McGhan could be lured into committing any crimes relating to Russiagate. I'm very glad about that for the sake of McGahn's wife and kids.
I can't help but think that in deciding to help Special Counsel Mueller, Don McGahn looked back over the distance of 45 years to confirm that White House Counsel working with the prosecutor was the right thing to do.
5
Nothing could be more telling and just than to have Mr. McGahn's testimony be a vital part of a report that documents Chump's clear intent and action to obstruct justice. If it does, then true justice will prevail and, hopefully, enough patriots to America in Congress will indict and convict the aberration that is POTUS. It could not happen to a more deserving person.
4
I remember listening to the Watergate hearings on my car radio on my way to take a political job in Connecticut. As the Trump saga continues to unfold, I often think back to those events in the early 1970's so when I read that Don McGahn was working with the special prosecutor, I thought My God we are about to have a John Dean moment.
1
@DOUGLAS LLOYD MD MPH
Just heard that 45 tweeted 100 times this last week. Is he becoming unglued? And yet Mueller has not said one word yet.
This should be ground-breaking for Trump and his team. So fitting that Trump's chutzpah and bravado (... to fully cooperate) gave McGahn the freedom to act. Trump can't help but feel even less trustful of others who are not family. Trump's paranoia will blossom, batten down the hatches.
The most interesting insight is that McGahn's motivation is to avoid the fate of John Dean - humiliation, loss of law license, and prison (but eventual redemption).
1
@JFR . Mostly, I agree with you here. But will point out how Dean did not serve time in prison but was within witness protection on different occasions.
1
@Jimmy James - didn't know that, thought he did spend at least a few months in the big house.
This is only news because the media has constantly confused themselves and the public about the role of lawyers in the White House. "White House Counsel" is a government lawyer. His loyalty is legally owed to the federal government generally and specifically to the office of the President, not the individual currently holding the office. Of course he cooperates with the special counsel.
Trump's criminal defense lawyer's are not government lawyers. Their professional obligations are to Trump, the individual, not to the office of president or the rest of the federal government. Trump's personal lawyers while representing Trump also have obligations to cooperate with the courts and other attorneys. For instance they are generally required to keep the confidences of their client but also prohibited from lying to anyone, including third parties, including the press.
I disagree. Collusion with Russia is still a possibility:
"I don't think Russia was mentioned once in the article. Scratch that as an issue."
So far, Mueller hasn't reported any evidence of collusion, and this article says the White House has been cooperating more than usual. But that doesn't mean Mueller never will. Maybe he will some day -- who knows? I just wish he'd fish or cut bait here.
This investigation has often been compared to Watergate. but Watergate was over by now: In early August, nearly two years after the 1972 election (and the Watergate break-in), Nixon had resigned and was back in California. Here, in contrast, Mueller hasn't even reported any evidence. Maybe that will change, but it's time for Mueller to fish or cut bait.
1
McGahn is cooperating because he is taking seriously that he is Counsel to The President of the United States, not to THIS one.
It is illegal to do what Trump does. The question is Why doesn't Trump fire him?
Whether or not Mr. Trump asserted his privilege, Mr. McGahn was bound to honor it. A lawyer can testify as to privileged material only when his client explicitly directs him to do so. The suggestion here is that McGahn made poentially incriminating statements without explicit permission. If that is true, then Trump could have sued McGahn and had him disbarred. The only reason why Trump would have refrained from doing that was that he was polite or loyal to McGahn. This would be the first Trump was ever loyal or polite. The only other possibility is that this article is entirely mistaken. But that can’t be it. Even when the TImes is entirely wrong, it’s right.
Something presidents and White House staffers don't usually understand, the White House counsel doesn't represent the President, he represents the White House. There is no privilege or confidentiality for the president. Only the president's personal attorneys can claim privilege.
1
"Most transparant in history"?
Two words: tax returns.
68
Trump has never passed up an opportunity to remind us of his brilliance. From his supposed plan to win in Afghanistan to getting Mexico to pay for his wall, he knew the way. Since the Mueller investigation began, he has consistently overruled his legal team because he believes he knows more than they.
So, I say they should stop trying to guide him. Let him demonstrate his legal accumen against Mueller. The sooner his attorneys stop bickering with him, the sooner this can get wrapped up with Mueller sending his report to Rosenstein. Let the chips fall where they may but at least when this approach backfires, Trump will have no one to blame but himself (which could be a first).
4
I assume Trump gave Mr. McGahn free reign on talking to the the special prosecution staff based on the genuine belief that he had nothing to hide. As is common with Trump, it is difficult to sort out the delusional thinking from the outright lies. It is hard to see the Bruce Ohr tirades as anything but delusional. The case that it is part of some grand strategy to undermine the investigation or distract from other damaging publicity is fairly weak. That he gave McGahn a green light to speak to people indicates his complicated relationship to this investigation -- on the one hand, he sees it through a delusional, conspiratorial, McCarthyesque lens, but at the same time, he thinks an honest accounting of what happened will vindicate him.
The great unknown is trying to figure out what people working for Trump actually think of him. Judging by most of what has been written by people who have worked with him over the years, not much. McGahn may be free to speak about what Trump actually said to him, but what does he say if asked about he thinks of him? Does he think his client is delusional? Irrational? A pathological liar?
Outside of his "base" and a small number of "true believers" in Congress, most people working for or around Trump are fairly normal people who are frightened by Trump's behavior -- e.g. the national security people contradicting Trump's comments about Russian election meddling in Helsinki.
There is a good chance McGahn is one of them.
[[Mr. McGahn feared he was being set up by Mr. Trump to take the blame for any possible illegal acts of obstruction. So he devised a strategy to do as much as possible to cooperate with Mr. Mueller to demonstrate that Mr. McGahn did nothing wrong.]]
Perhaps we should throw a parade for Mr. McGahn down Constitution Avenue NW.
1
Does McGahn cooperating violate attorney client privilege? Donald Trump is many things. None of them should remove any of the protections that we ALL enjoy under our enviable legal system.
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@Capt Al The crime-fraud exception regarding attorney-client privilege can protect McGahn and allow him to legally sing like a bird. And so it seems how crimes were committed by 45 and his henchmen which McGahn knows of.
2
Please read the article. McGahn is special counsel to the President, not his personal lawyer. He serves the office of the president, not the president himself.
I believe he is the White House counsel not the DJT personal lawyer what privilege would there be?
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This is all very interesting, but what witness could damage the President as much as his own big mouth? Even if Trump and his campaign are innocent of coordinating with the Russian government, Trump's tweets, statements made on video and statements made in interviews constitute a treasure chest of evidence for Mueller's team. In the end, if Trump ends up in front of a grand jury and/or is impeached, he'll only have his brilliant mind to blame.
5
"...but Mr. McGahn views his role as protecting the presidency, not the president."
I had tears in my eyes when I read that.
The Mueller Enquiry is a 'show trial' in the best manner of the infamous Soviet Show trials. Everybody must choose a side - those who choose thw winning side shall be well rewarded. McGahan is doing no more than that; there is no need to complicate matters.
1
The Trump hot air balloon has so many holes in it that its continued flotation is a miracle in and of itself. The Trump administration, like the stock market, seems to defy logic, which is why the fate of Trump and the fate of the stock market seem so incredibly intertwined.
People have accused Democrats of being traitors to their nation for wishing a stock market crash before the mid-terms. I regard such sentiments as not treacherous but patriotic: If the unavoidable hardship of a stock market crash is the best way to 'turn' his base, then the sooner and harder it occurs, the better.
This assumes Mueller's investigation does not produce a smoking gun, for which time is rapidly running out.
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It certainly seems as though some folks are working themselves up to a crushing disappointment, again.
The Russian collusion angle didn't pan out, now onto revisiting the previously discarded obstruction charge.
What rabbit hole will Mueller go down next?
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So far the Russian probe has produced a great deal. Given that President Trump can barely let a day go by without stating "witch hunt, no collusion" etc. when neither Mr. Mueller or any from his team have mentioned it all, makes Trump look really guilty....The Mueller investigation is about Russian influence in elections-not Trump . Unless Trump is involved.
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@Mark Mullins: The Mueller investigations hasn't returned any charges yet--unless you count those against Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Richard Gates, George Papadopoulos, Alex van der Zwaan, Richard Pinedo, 13 Russian nationals, and 12 Russian intelligence officers.
I, for one, hope Mueller keeps going down those rabbit holes. America is a safer place because of it.
3
Try doing some independent research.
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The investigation into Russian collusion found none. So now it is about the response to the investigation. Another special prosecutor run amoke. Time to end it.
7
When did the investigation end, and what were it's findings - I must have missed it somehow
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@KBronson you do realize that Mueller has said nothing yet... the "trial" in not over... evidence is still being gathered...
Where did you get the knowledge that there was "no collusion" other that the person being "charged" with the crime continuously yelling "no collusion, no collusion, witch hunt, witch hunt"!?
1
Really? You have seen the special counsel’s report?
Time to eliminate the Electoral College. Giving disproportionate voting weight to rural, southern areas to induce the Union and appease slaveholders was misguided then but maybe it was politically expedient at some point in time. It serves no purpose now. The President is the one nationally elected office and really should be a straight popular vote. I'm no Hillary apologist, but 40% of the Presidential elections in this century had divergent results between the popular vote the and the Electoral College. Worse still, voting only matters in 5-10 states in most Presidential elections. California and New York are visited primarily for fund raising and not for garnering votes.
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@Cee
I totally agree and wish someone would start a movement to force this issue. I'm just not sure what is required to do it. It would have to be backed by a group of very recognizable and highly respected people .
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@P.A. The STATES are given the power to decide how their electors vote. An interstate compact that requires states to pledge their delegates to the winner of the popular vote (no matter who carries their state) effectively eliminates the electoral college without the need for a constitutional amendment. So far, only 172 electoral votes have been accumulated. When the total reaches 270, the EC will have been effectively eliminated. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Popular_Vote_Interstate_Compact
1
@Cee The history is more involved than most people are aware. As 13 sovereign republics, we had failed badly at a defense-oriented alliance in a first national federation called the Articles of the Confederation. The Constitution was an attempt to legally unify the country with a really mild dose of Democracy, but the States were not embracing that idea wildly. The EC was designed to protect all the States from an excess of democracy in the election of the President, and in return, the States agreed to allow The People to speak on their behalf by means of popular ratifying conventions. Fear of Democracy was as strong a motive among the Founders as was fear that insufficient Democracy within each State would pull the Union apart. We're continuing to live with that fundamental tension today.
Trump’s trouble is that he has a guilty conscience and there is no way to hide and deny it. What he let himself in for in 2016 is of national significance and Robert Mueller and his team owes the American public the truth.
Emmet T. Flood, the White House’s new lawyer for the investigation, “has strong views on privilege issues.” He should be on the right side of history and let Mueller interview more witnesses close to Trump, like John Kelly. He is basically obstructing justice on Trump’s behalf, who in the past said he wouldn’t mind speaking to Mueller. Aware of possible pitfalls his lawyers are shielding him from being grilled. But doubts about his electoral legitimacy don’t go away.
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Trump does not have a guilty conscience. He has a consciousness of guilt. There is a big difference.
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@J. von Hettlingen
I’m sorry to say ,Trump has no conscience.Most of us are notschooled in recognizing mental unbalance. This is a dangerous time ,with his helpers in the White House protecting his every move,and he tearing all our protections.down.
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@J. von Hettlingen, 45 has no intention of speaking to Mueller. It is a stalling tactic while, at the same time, he and Rudy claim it's going on too long!
2
Mcgahn's cooperation with the Robert Mueller investigation or the evidence he provides against Trump on obstruction of inquiry can help the Special counsel prepare a solid case against Trump on the Russian collusion but can't be a guarantee of fair justice delivery specially when the Congress and judiciary remain on the side of Trump.
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@Prof. Jai Prakash Sharma:Since you are there, in the sub continent, and not here in the US, it is difficult to know exactly what is going on, and therefore, I take your comments with the proverbial "grain de sel!"When Alexander Harrison set out to write his dissertation on social movements in Algeria between 1954-1962, mainly to interview gunmen and their officers who had deserted the French army to defend "Algerie francaise," I went to their homes and before 1962, to their "bonnes planques" in Algeria before end of hostilities. Made the contact with over a hundred OAS veterans and results of my research were given to HOOVER INSTITUTION, and enabled me to graduate with a Ph.D from NYU. See my latest videotaped, autobiographical essay, "The Dissimulation of RICHARD Hull, posted early this morning in Youtube,com!By the way, former fiancee, Katherine Peters, was originally from Poona and referred to me always as a visionary. Father always added chutney to his evening meals, and was a great admirer of the raj, and of the Indian peoples.Our cultural debt to India cannot be overestimated!
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@Prof. Jai Prakash Sharma
from a retired attorney including D.C. activity:
Congress can be irrelevant in the cases currently separate from the Special Counsel's investigation that include well-established criminal acts associated with what ex-CIA Chief Brennan labels "follow-the-money for Trump Inc." crimes.
And, for our judiciary, many federal judges are holding Trump's Dept Secretaries feet to the fire, e.g., the CA judge bird-dogging plan-setting for kids ripped from their parents at the U.S. Mexico border. Kids and parents in a cruel limbo that Trump's cabinet secretaries have asked private organizations like our ACLU to reunite" and the court with jurisdiction has said "No. This government made this chaos and this government will fix this mess."
If Kavanaugh get to SCOTUS, we are in trouble with two votes identical to Scalia's opinion that only those subjects included in the original writing of our constitution are for SCOTUS interpretation . . .without any leeway for unique 21st century questions that the founders could not foresee and include, including same-sex marriage and abortion rights.
There will be blood on all GOP hands if our teens are forced back to the DIY abortions with coat hangers that I saw pre-Roe. Old white men running state and local governments are Scalia's choice for decentralized policy making. Very very scary if two new justices follow Scalia's dismissive dissents in the past and the Chief does not become our swing-vote to stop them.
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@Prof. Jai Prakash Sharma
Thanks Alexander Harrison for joining the discussion and sharing your research experience in Algeria which is quite enlightening and inspiring. It is really heartening to know about your indirect links with India, and appreciation for the Indian culture. I will follow your YouTube video about your research insights. All the best!
Most of these people are public servants, including Donald Trump. They should all testify and tell the truth so we can get to the bottom of this mess. Honest and blameless folks have nothing to fear. The rest can plead the 5th.
This kabuki theater only reinforces the sense that Tump is hiding something big. It's not the obstruction of justice, which is playing out in plain sight. It's the underlying conspiracy to collude with Russians to steal a presidential election. That's where the biggest jeopardy lays. Mueller knows and should reveal this to the public as soon as possible.
There's an important element of timeliness here. Trump's ongoing criminal behavior and outrageous statements are normalizing his criminality. Add that to his increasing attacks on otherwise reputable federal agencies and senior public servants, and real harm is being done.
I think we all know where this should end. There's no need to gild the investigative lily. Let's get the basic case against Trump out in time for elections to rein in this stain on our democracy.
I'm assuming congressional Republicans will remain worse than useless, preferring to defend party over country. Gotta get those tax cuts and judges...
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@Michael Tyndall
Right. That means that Lois Lerner pleading the fifth and IRS commissioner stonewalling shows us that the IRS was running a deliberate program to crush dissent and re-elect Obama in 2012. Can we impeach him retroactively?
Trump is a public servant?
Someone better tell him, cause he ain't knowing it.
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I'm entertained by how much the left continues to cling to the notion that somehow the election was "stolen" by Trump and the Russians. Trump had a hard enough time "colluding" with his own campaign, much less the Russians. Every day we learn of another example of how his administration is disorganized and is sending out mixed messages, people getting fired, or quitting out of frustration. The same people who are reporting the "gross mismanagement" of this administration somehow believe that it WAS managed so well and with such stealth that not even the special council Robert Mueller has been able to prove collusion with the Russians....yet. But prove it he will. Yes, he will certainly prove something, something we can use to get that guy out of the White House and restore our fantasy that Hillary, that pillar of honesty and moral righteousness actually DID win after all.
1
Trump claims he allowed the White House counsel to fully cooperate. Why doesn't he? Sit down for an interview Trump and fully cooperate. Wouldn't that be amazing?
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If he does not tell the truth and only the truth regardless how he might feel, he can be prosecuted for perjury or obstruction of justice. His attorneys are terrified that he might express himself with hyperbole or made up facts and he would be in trouble.
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@BlueskyOregon Because if Trump says anything which contricts any testimony, from any witness, in this 16 month investigation he can be charged with perjury. This is no normal criminal investigation. This is political lawfare at best, an attempt at a soft-coup at worst. No one in their right mind would open themselves up to charges brought by a team of 17 lawyers and intelligence official who have been working tirelessly for over a year with the sole purpose of taking down the sitting president.
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That would be great but he lies more they tell us the truth so pretty useless and only done to bring more support from his base.
I have never heard of an attorney-client relationship in which an attorney co-operates with the attorney investigating his client. Is this a new paradigm for legal representation?
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@ettanzman
The White House counsel is not the personal attorney of Donald Trump. It isn't his job to defend or protect Trump. His job is to make sure that the person holding the office of president understands and acts within constitutional and statute law and to provide a legal basis for the president's actions. Trump is not the White House counsel's client; the client is the president of the United States. The role of the White House counsel is not to defend the individual who happens to be holding the office; it's to preserve the constitutional and legal integrity of the presidency.
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@ettanzman-As the article states: "As White House counsel, not a personal lawyer, he viewed his role as protector of the presidency." Hopefully Mr. McGahn will continue to see it this way.
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@ettanzman
When the client gives his OK, even encourages his attorney, to talk to the investigators, whatever privilege MAY have existed becomes a non--entity. And, if the attorney represents the office, not the inhabitant, the inhabitant has no privilege to invoke. The same is true for corporate attorneys whose loyalty is to the corporation not the CEO.
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There is no “I” in team which explains why Trump has no team.
The definition professional behavior in the context of attorneys in the Special Counsel’s office, the intelligence services, and law enforcement includes the ability of these persons to separate personal preferences or agendas from the demands of their jobs or portfolios of authority. Again, this definition explains Trump who can not understand how anyone can act without some form of individual profit. In Trump’s worldview Virtue is Vice and greed is the greatest of all virtues in his vicedom.
Mr. McGahn knew full well what he was signing onto in becoming Chief Counsel to the Don. If he now is cutting bait (and making plea deals), he must know the levee won’t hold the flood of corruption behind it.
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@Sally: I agree with your comment, however, I would like to point out that there is an "I" in team if you use the correct font. It's in the "A" when you use Block Caps. When I first saw this, I exclaimed, "There is an 'I' in team." So, I joined up.
@Sally
Well said .."In Trump’s worldview Virtue is Vice and greed is the greatest of all virtues in his vicedom."
That is why everyone is a 'foe'. Everything is transactional. All policies/positions are negotiable. Everything is 'situational'.
You make outrageous accusations / demands. Enter into an adversarial negotiation. Attempt to bully and coerce. When an 'agreement' is reached. Declare victory, regardless of what was actually achieved. Move on. To cries of 'Nobel'. Or 'Build that wall'. Or 'Fake News'.
In the process: Build your image. Build your wealth. Destroy alliances. Destroy trust & credibility. Maybe start a war. And, most importantly, destroy the values, ideals and principles this country holds dear.
He signed on to become counsel to the PRESIDENT, not Trump individually.
Imagine that. The president hasn't given much thought to his strategy' Nothing shows better how dim and ignorant Trump is than the statement that McGahn and Burck "overestimated the amount of thought that the president put into his legal strategy." This is a man who has the nuclear codes at his fingertips and yet is so dumb that he doesn't understand the first things about his role as president. Sad.
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@Ceilidth yep, imagine that. DJT cooperated more than anyone in such a case. On top of that Mueller has known for 9 months that Trump hasn’t broken any laws. If you’re innocent you need not waste energy into such matters.
@Ceilidth Imagine that - sharing millions of pages of documents and his lawyer answering questions for over 30 hours is obstruction of justice.
Hillary destroying tens of thousands of subpoenaed emails wasn't obstruction of justice.
@Ceilidth
YET, Dumpf still has the support of "the uneducated" who love him (whom he says he loves). Worse are the supportive R-kons who appear to have no greater considerations than tax cuts for the rich, exploiting natural areas, appeasing the gun lobby, and staying in control of our government. There is no real life historical corollary...not even crazy Roman emperors were as stinkingly awful. The nonsense, nihilistic French play, Ubu Roi, even, cannot compare with the rot of the usa establishment.
(we are also in Boulder---let's have a drink)