"Earlier he defended himself on Fox against talk of impeachment — “the market would crash … everybody would be very poor” — tried to dissociate himself from Cohen and said anew that he hadn’t known in advance about Cohen’s hush money payments to silence women alleging sexual relationships with the celebrity businessman."
The cracks are showing in trump's mental stability like cheap concrete.
3
"Republicans Urge Embattled Incumbents to Speak Out on Trump"
This is too little, too late, but even if they do speak out (instead of being silent), they can't be trusted to carry through if they get re-elected. Best will be to shift the House to Dem control... maybe that will stop Congressional Republican's from bowing to Trump/the "base". We need to break loose from their "party over country".
3
"the summer eruption of apparent Republican malfeasance has some in the party arguing that Democrats should make corruption more central."
I don't think this is necessary. I just read an RCP article that said about all voters need to hear is "Had enough?" - just publish an occasional list of what's gone on for the past 1.5 years, but do NOT flood the airwaves with mud.
Dems need to focus on solutions for healthcare (a Fox poll just said more Americans like ACA than tax cuts), the runaway debt (we need to un-Brownback the nation), more tax cuts on the middle class and backing off some of those for corps and high-enders would be good (Obama had proposed about a 7% cut in corp tax) though now this would hit the stock market, and other issues that concern the middle class.
For now, vote ALL Republicans OUT during midterms and beyond until we get rid of party, Putin, and 1%ers over country.
2
Strangely, John Katko, my representative, likes to separate himself from Trump oh so recently.... yet he welcomed Mr. Pence and Ivanka's endorsement just weeks ago. He's had 18 months to stand up to Trump, and now, weeks before the election, begins this charade. Too late, Mr. Katko, for those of us who've been paying attention.
9
They used to call them the Grand Old Party, but these days the Republicans look more like a gang that is bound to a master criminal and who do not know how to separate them from their master at least a tiny little bit.
This is not a party that looks out for the country but a bunch of accomplices.
Still, they'll rake in the votes of the Trump devotees as the country is split in a way it has been never before.
Facts don't count in an era of fake news, allegiances do.
4
We have an unindicted felon as President, whose criminal acts helped secure his election. With every utterance, he reveals his raging disdain for law and truth and anyone who upholds either. He abuses and threatens to abuse his presidential powers in order to obstruct justice and protect his criminal co-conspirators. It’s increasingly clear this unhinged, demented cretin needs to be removed from office. I fear for all of us if he’s allowed to act on his impulses to destroy and punish.
15
Every representative, senator, president and appointee should have to disclose their financial dealings and be subject to regular and rigorous scrutiny thereof. Right now it’s clearly Republicans who are evidently struggling with their worship of the almighty dollar, but history has shown that Democrats have availed themselves of gifts and more. If you’re going to run for ANYTHING, you’d better be willing to show all.
14
We would all be wise to remember how deep the rot in the Republican Party goes. This nation's problems do not end with Trump's resignation or removal. They end after the next biggest threat to our democracy, the Republican Party, is purged from government and after all of that party's long term damage to our democratic institutions and our society is reversed, including:
--Their corrupting the Supreme Court by appointing apparently "groomed" shills who continually vote to weaken campaign finance laws and for "corporations are people," allowing our once-great democracy/republic to devolve into an oligarchy.
--Their gerrymandering and voter suppression, which have continually put the GOP in power at the state and national levels with only a minority of peoples' vote.
--Their corrupting of the news media (creating their own propaganda outlets and using dirty tactics to strong-arm the legitimate new media into providing more pro-conservative coverage and less investigative journalism.)
--Their craven denial of climate change in service to Koch Brothers, Exxon-Mobil and other corporate interests.
--Their destruction of our reputation on the international stage including their weakening of our important alliances and our moral authority, which helps us to keep dictatorships and other tyrannical governments in check.
This isn't to say that we shouldn't have an opposition party. I wish we had several, along with a voting system that allows less powerful voices to rise.
9
It is past time for the GOP to wake-up and act on behalf of the country and constitution. Or they should all be thrown out!!!
8
And Giulianni had the gall to speak of Revolution!
7
Zombie Swamp House (of Representatives) speak out now? Oh no, the stock market might crash, they couldn't do that!
6
Loyalty to Royalty! Not surprised at any of these drones: SELF-entitled, greedy, power hungry, anything to keep their seat and stay in control. Taking an Oath is a lie, working for us is a lie, telling the TRUTH is a lie. GOP being held hostage with no objection as long as they keep that power. Remember "They condone it, THEY OWN IT!"
9
Too little too late! The Republicans finally showing their true colors: no values, no core beliefs, cheaters in elections, shills for anything that gives them money in their pockets and certainly no interested in improving the lives of anyone but their cronies. They have failed to provide health insurance for all, failed to make our roads, bridges, trains safe, failed to make schools safe-except to make them less safe but wanting to put guns in schools, failed to provide any leadership at all on climate change, the environment, and on and on. They stand only for themselves and the oppression of women and people of color! Good Riddance to them all!
12
This is just the beginning. This investigation has just begun to touch on Trump's finances, where the real criminal action is likely to be found. That's why Trump is freaking out, and why we've never been allowed to see his tax returns.
Everything Trump touches turns to dust. Three campaign officials, his national security advisor and his lawyer are headed to jail so far. He's probably going to drag Donnie Jr. and Kushner down with him too. "Culture of corruption" doesn't even start to describe it.
13
After Tuesday’s trial verdicts, this is not surprising. Especially topped off by the Augusta Georgia case involving a woman named Reality Winner and documents pertaining to Russian tampering with USA 2016 election results NSA leaker Reality Winner sentenced to more than 5 years in prison https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/23/politics/reality-winner-nsa-leaker-senten...
5
The roosters are coming home to roost and the chief rooster (Trump) is squawking the loudest over recent developments that reveal beyond doubt that the president is an egregious liar. His brave front is crumbling as he lashes out against his enemies. Even the justice department is awash with Democrats out to get him. Sooner or later, justice will prevail.
4
I wonder if there will come a day when the full extent of the criminality of the Republican Party will be fully exposed and children will ask their parents: "Were you a member of the Republican Party when this happened ?"
9
Well that will be some lengthy speaking...
1
“More Trump scandals” ????
As Captain Renault famously said in Casablanca: “I’m shocked! Shocked to find that gambling is going on here”.
7
Democrats need to do something about their Menendez problem. Republicans will negate their rampant corruption in the midterms by playing the Menendez whataboutism card. It doesn't matter how much deeper the republicans' swamp is. By-the-way, NYT needs to report alleged democratic corruption as well as that of republicans.
Looks like, to me, the Justice Department is draining the swamp.
3
Trump is a temporary tenant in the White House, and he has soiled the dignity of the office. That alone should be sufficient to go blue. Republicans have been spineless, afraid of he who speaks truth only by coincidence. That, too, should be sufficient to go blue. But above all else, he has acted the vassal to Putin; he has denigrated intel; he has acted the fool in international meetings. He cannot be trusted and may have serious mental issues. All of us are in some degree of danger. The only way to neutralize him is to vote blue.
8
An ethical mask to win votes. How Republican!
8
Too little too late...republicans have been in bed with this clown show too long to disown it. Hope voters show up in November to let them know that it’s unacceptable!
10
Maybe those candidates should discuss "thou shalt not bear false witness"...no, don't talk about that!
Maybe those candidates should discuss "thou shalt not steal"...no, don't talk about that!
Maybe those candidates should discuss "thou shalt not commit adultery"...no, don't talk about that!
.
.
.
8
Too little too late, incumbents. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
9
Trump will go down in history as the guy who made Nixon look good.
7
Let's sum up.
All currently available evidence indicates that Trump is guilty as sin, and the Republican Party , taken as a whole, is hopelessly corrupt. Continuously (re)plowing this ground, here and elsewhere, won't change this nasty situation.
The time has come to leave the ship before the political lifeboats are full.
10
Can you imagine the tweet storms that will ensue should "embattled" R's do this?
3
Too little, too late!
3
If Senator McCain were able, I wonder what he’d say to his good friend, Mr. Graham.
7
Is his failure to honor this...
—"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
In fact, his repeated actions to defile the Constitution, and conspire with a foreign enemy, would seem more than enough basis to remove him from office.
12
He said “Where there’s smoke, and there’s a lot of smoke, there may well be fire, but it may not be fire, it may look like fire, it could be a red plastic bag....or a mirage, and it may not be the Presidents fault, it was probably someone else fault, it could have been Hilary's bag or mirage, i did actually see Trudeau with a box of matches.. please dont attack me Donald.”
3
Repubs need to do more than speak out. Anyone who acts the way Hunter etc. al do should quietly resign. But cowards being what they are won't.
1
If I were running as a Dem, I would point out every single Reprussiacan complicit act and every time the silence was deafening for things that would have had BO or HC impeached 100 times by now. The hypocrisy is sickening.
4
So, who are these Senior Republican Party leaders speaking up? They can't be Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan. Americans haven't seen Mitch McConnell or Paul Ryan interviewed by the news media in more than a year. Shouldn't the news media be interviewing these congressional leaders every day? All Americans want the news media to ask these two individuals why they are allowing Trump to remain as president.
No American truly believes that Trump is mental stable, and yet he sits in the chair of president of the U.S. Why?
Isn't time to bring on Pence. At least, we hope he won't act like a mob boss, a traitor or a mentally ill individual.
1
Too little. Too late.
2
73-foot yacht named "Corruption" is springing leaks.
What was that line in "Jaws"?
We're going to need a bigger boat.
7
2 years later. Embarrassing excuses for humans.
4
Speaking of political hardball, I'm reminded of Bob Haldeman's "TL2". Too little, too late.
Too little, too late... as far as I am concerned.
They are complicit in this entire disaster.
2
The Mueller investigation has given Democrats a gift for the midterms. Democrats campaigning should ignore Trump. Let him continue praising the "good man" Manafort and proclaiming his "no collusion" with Russia and his "witch hunt" mantra. Hold up Cohen and Manafort as representatives of the present-day Republican Party. The GOP has always been the party of, by and for the rich but now it is also the party of the corrupt and entitled rich who believe they are above the laws that the rest of us have to obey and who will sell out our country to get richer. Both Cohen and Manafort's biographies are loaded with material that illustrates amorality, greed and arrogance. Manafort is a long-time Republican operative so Republicans can't disassociate themselves from him at this late date. He's their kind of man. Cohen is Trump's kind of man and Republicans have defended Trump.
5
I thought I would be relieved when Republicans in Congress started coming out against Trump. Instead I find myself outraged that it took veritably a mountain of evidence and a court verdict, surrounded by a plain of corruption swamps and devastated foreign policy, devastated immigration policy, devastated environmental protection, ruined lives of immigrants, before any of them would stir themselves to rebuke Trump. Law enforcement people from Comey to Mueller and many others had to trudge through a heavy flak of attacks from the Republican Congress. And now we see them advising their candidates to speak out against Trump —only their political fortunes in the next election are in question! One can only conclude that If they can remain in control of Congress after the election, they'll go back to saying and doing nothing.
5
We have yet to see Trump’s tax returns, except for one small peak (probably leaked by Trump) that alludes to his being in-compliance with the law. I am not a betting woman but I think there is much to be learned from his financial life. Like Al Capone, who escaped prosecution until he was nailed on tax fraud, I think that illegal financial transactions will be the final nail in his political coffin. Let’s hope we have some discovery on this front very soon. Trump must be removed or severely crippled before Kavanaugh is confirmed by his complicit minions.
5
Oh, but Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell don't need to stand with the rule of law...I see. A few select Republicans can criticize Trump now, so maybe they can get re-elected, while Ryan and McConnell play possum as usual? What incredible, yet unsurprising hypocrisy. How many otherwise law-abiding citizens are going to vote Republican when these people clearly have no respect for the law or for our Constitution? I cannot respect people who look the other way on this, I just can't.
14
It’s not about tax breaks for the rich. It’s not about “collusion” with Russia. It’s not about jobs. It’s not about the Rust Belt. It’s about Fear, and White Nationalism, bigotry, and hatred of the “Coastal Elite,” the latter of which is an artifice invented by the wealthy elite to enrage the disenfranchised “flyover state” citizens. The hoax perpetrated on them by this administration is truly breathtaking.
The battle lines are drawn. There will be a true reckoning November 6th.
4
Republicans just want their supreme court pick.
Hoping that the Democrates will return what the Republicans did to Justice Garland, nine months before the 2016 election.
We are now two months away from the mid-terms and a Republican Supreme Court pick is waiting on stage. He would be illegitimate just like Trump. Rules are rules.
Democrates-----Stand your Ground Don't Back Down! (Tom Petty)
5
Trump's recent appearance on Fox "News" reveals unmistakable signs that he is unhinged. His continuing tenure as president places the nation in clear and present danger. The 25th amendment must be invoked to remove this paranoid man from taking the country (and perhaps the world) over a cliff.
5
I do not agree with Sessions’ anti-immigration, conservative politics but I do admire him for staying the course and not allowing Trump to rattle him or drive him to retire. Trump was never going to appoint anyone other than an arch conservative to the post, at least he seems to have picked an ethical one with some sense of the duties of his office. It amazes me how Trump keeps trumpeting his complete misunderstanding of the role of the Attorney General. How can he go on day after day whining about lack of personal loyalty to Trump? It just makes Trump look even stupider than he apparently is.
1
Now that the primaries are over it’s time for the spineless to grow a spine and start objecting to Trump’s lies and behavior. It’s not as if their voters will suddenly vote for Democrats in November!
2
There is not a hint of outrage or moral indignation coming from the republican establishment. Only pragmatic considerations. It's no wonder Donald Trump sought his political home with the G.O.P. They are one and the same.
3
When Trumps family, business, but more importantly his vanity is in serious danger he will feign illness and resign having made a deal for immunity, for him and his family.
2
The republican leadership is telling endangered members to say whatever it takes to get reelected and maintain the majority - even if it means promising to look into trump’s misdeeds.
The goal is to maintain chairmanships to keep actual oversight - like looking into trump’s misdeeds - from taking place for another 2 years.
Want proof? What is the House Intelligence Committee investigating tomorrow (Aug 24, 2018)? Hillary Clinton’s emails!
4
What happened to protecting the American people, our Justice System and our free and democratic elections? Republicans answer that question!
1
While Mueller is still investigating Trump for collusion and obstruction of justice (why do we need a Mueller report? We can see it ourselves in public, plain view!), we need a second special counsel to investigate collusion by Republicans in congress as well.
In any other congress, there would be a senate investigation on the Cohen allegations, guaranteed.
6
IMO, as the Trump quagmire continues, it seems likely that the GOP leader who steps up and differentiates from Trump's immorality could be the next president. How about it Senator Cornyn, you game?
My advice to Democrats would be to focus on healthcare. There’s no independent voter who believes that Democratic politicians are more or less corrupt than Republican politicians.
1
With yesterday's verdict, Session's decoration of independence and David Pecker's immunity announcement, the chickens are coming home to roost. The time for Republicans to now speak up about being shocked about the President's behavior is a year and a half after the train already left the station.
By their silence, Congress owns Donald Trump and everything he has said and done to divide our country.
3
Any member of congress who didn't speak out about trump at the time of the Access Hollywood tape was, is, and remains complicit.
2
It's sad that it's come to this.
Our leaders in government need to have have better conduct on both sides of the aisle.
Even now, knowing how easily "secrets" can become public in minutes, they need to just behave.
1
It may be a bad August for Trump and Republicans, but it's been a good August so far for the American people who believe in fair play, justice and truthfulness.
Now is the time to start thinking about November, about making sure that people are registered to vote and ready to vote and have a way to get to the polls.
We can take back our country from politicians who have forgotten that they work for US. But we have to vote for candidates who will remember that same fact.
We can criticize forever but it's useless unless we are willing to put our own energy into changing the situation.
I'm working to get that message out and to train poll watchers. What are you doing?
2
Having ignored virtually all of Mr. Trumps misdeeds since day one, it would appear Republicans are now in a panic.
3
It's not just about Trump's culture of corruption.
It's about the immorality of those Republicans deifying Trump 's actions, knowing his taint full well, and afraid to do the right thing and take a stand against it.
Last night it was shown that 16 of the GOP who voted and spoke vociferously for Clinton's impeachment, are just hanging out here and smiling, as if nothing is happening.
This included Graham and Hatch, who are nothing but smiles today. Sounds more like hypocrisy.
28
No sounds like complicity
1
When 'Islamic extremists' commit atrocities there is some expectation that moderate/progressive Muslims should speak out and say "that is not what we believe in; THIS is what we believe in." Republicans are long overdue for saying, " That is not what we believe in; THIS is what we believe in." I know it's an imperfect analogy, but I would like to hear a Republican congressperson speak unequivocally, forcefully, and rationally.
21
“Where there’s smoke, a lot of smoke, there may be a fire.” No, really? Until now, the Republican Party has chosen to back a serial criminal. As a party, they are unfit to lead, and no amount of tap-dancing to change the facts of this sordid story and their behavior in protecting it will change that.
27
It's so important now for the Democrats to start calling out Republicans, individually, by name, and ask those Republicans where they stand on what Donald Trump has done without letting the Republican change the subject to talk about Bill Clinton or Hilary Clinton. Republican politicians are schooled in the art of distraction. Don't let them off the hook.
15
Why are Republican leaders only asking endangered members to speak out? Why are they not asking everybody to speak out?
18
Because as much as they despise Trump they're also afraid of ticking him off and his core base. Without his base they lose even more seats. No harm in speaking out if you're on your way out the door.
1
@Jim S., we all know why. Every one of them is tainted.
3
The Republican leadership knows Trump is going down for any number of crimes. They have reached the conclusion they cannot cover for the Trump's abuse of office and violation of election laws any longer. They are running as scared as he is.
7
I am no longer a Republican. The GOP corruption, personal greed and inhumanity is undeniable. They must go but we will never return to an open border. The illegal immigration problem got Trump elected but both parties ignored it for ever. Trump and Pence and the GOP have to go.The GOP increased the national debt on our backs. Fat cats! They plan more evil.
11
You don't fool me, Jack.
Three times in this one post you called them a Grand Old Party.
Either drop the act, or drop the abbreviation. Just call them by their name. Which for the record is "Republican Party." Or "RNC" if you're short on keystrokes.
1
So, the entire presumption here is that if voters had known that Trump had affairs and paid off the women, all before 2016 election, that they would have not voted for him?
1
The actual affairs probably wouldn’t have changed things, but lying about them and the cover up does.
2
After the public airing of his "locker room" taped interview, it's obvious Trump's voters simply don't care what he does to women or whether or not he tries to hide it or not. They like their Trump Dump and no one will change that.
3
It's about whether their candidate was a crook.
Glad I could help.
3
What's left to say when a rescue party arrives immediately after you've just cannibalized your companions?
4
Democratic leaders are once again timid and short sighted in not taking on Trump and promoting impeachment. Just to list two issues one in foreign affairs one domestic.
Trump has most lightly made deals with Putin on Syria, Crimea, and Ukraine and who knows what else. For example, Trump has announced he will not assist Syrian rebels against Putin's man Assad. As these deals are beneficial to Russia they most probably are not in the best interests of the US and may also be detrimental to our security.
On the domestic front there is the threat to the environment, climate change and our healthy his elimination or weakening of regulations (or as the media says "roll backs"). Thousands will die prematurely just from the recently announced coal deal.
3
It frustrates me that Democrats have still not caught on to the root of Trump's power, which is to distract people from his many missteps by coming up with short easy to memorize slogans. You have to fight fire with fire. When will people start referring to Trump as "Swamp Thing", instead of explaining that he didn't drain the swamp, he brought it with him. Actually, truthfully, he just made it way, way worse...
13
@Hao H
"He didn't drain the swamp. He swamped the drain."
Bill Maher
2
Hey, I’ll be the first to admit that I am not a politically oriented/knowledgeable animal, but what if:
Trump is impeached (don’t hold your breath) or he bails out and/or somehow ends his tenure - and then turns right around and declares he met his primary objective: He took the Republican Party out, leaving it in shambles, exposing its unbelievable corruption and bigotry, watching it’s minions fall away (that’s transpiring now) in shame and decay...
His family may be lots of things, but they’re liberal, of international backgrounds and faiths, socially progressive (again, like dear ‘ol dad, excessively soiled), and far, far more intellectual than those who put the family patriarch in power.
In his political demise, he would rise victorious (if somewhat ignoble and excessively soiled) in the end - turning upside down the U.S. Government and the U.S. History departments within the hallowed halls of academia ....
Yeah, yeah, I know, there’s a reason I’m not a politically oriented animal.......
2
Fantasy
Trump is only about .......trump
2
I'm afraid I'll never be able to watch It's A Wonderful Life again now realizing that George Bailey's offer of financial help to Violet probably meant he was trying to cover something up.
7
The question isn’t whether the president should be impeached or not, it’s whether he committed high crimes and misdemeanors. The impeachment question then answers itself.
5
Tax evasion and lying to banks to get a multi-million dollar loans and hiding money in foreign bank accounts is indeed small potatoes to the 1%ers and Donald Trump. And therein lies the issue Democrats should run on. Talk to the working people who have their federal taxes withheld from every paycheck and don't have shell companies and high-priced accountants and lawyers to work all the legal loopholes and cover up the illegal tax-avoiding schemes. Talk to them about these Cohen-Manafort kinds of people getting the biggest benefit from the Republican tax cuts while working people get a few crumbs and pay more and more for their health insurance and their kids' college tuition and their wages barely budge a few pennies an hour, if that. Forget about Trump. Make Cohen and Manafort the face of the Republican Party.
30
The entire GOP aided and abetted Trump conspiracy, obstruction of justice,emoluments clause violations of the US Constitution, crimes against America, racism and more with the blinders of personal greed. They have possibly damaged the country and yes the world want to hold onto power in case Trumps trouble pis so overwhelming he sinks.
They deserve no respect. They cry holier than thou with their hypocritical religious morality d the point man for that is co conspirator Pence. P
16
Then why do you keep insisting that they're a Grand Old Party?
Don't adopt their framing.
Don't normalize their criminality.
Watch. Your. Language.
1
Crucify the Republicans in the court of public opinion for not putting reasonable adherence to the administration of justice above partisan politics, and thereby damaging the country to an almost incalculable extent.
9
This is beyond politics. This is vile immoral human behavior bordering on evil. Politicians for this president have to answer to higher authority than merely their voters. Voters have to answer to this: what were you thinking bringing forth this abomination to run the country?
13
While I am more of a Democrat than a Republican, I would often vote Republican and had a respect for their conservative fiscal views and their desire for a strong military. I didn’t like many of Ronald Reagan’s policies, but I give him credit for being a principal person and how he worked across the aisle with Tip O Neil. If i felt the Republican House/Senate/Governor candidate was better and they were honest, reasonable and recognized facts, I would vote for the.
I have lost all respect for the Republican Party and will never again vote for any candidate that is affiliated with it.
It’s not just Trump, who is more a symptom of the rot, but it’s their lack of any and all principles. The whole “government needs to spend within it means” GOP mantra was just a bunch of words. The real truth was their donors must get their tax cuts. And don’t even consider a factual discussion about immigration, it’s all about building the wall and stopping “chain” migration, which is basically no more family immigration or taking any Latin American’s trying to flee for their life. I wonder if my great great grandparents who came from Ireland would be let into this country today under policies this Republican Party would like to enact.
Lastly, make sure there are plenty of winks and nods about diversity, but the real message is is a great America is a white America.
If we fail to kick out these bums in 2018, I fear for this country’s future.
57
One thing Trump knows for sure - in fact has been for a long time - once they smell fear, they will turn on you. That is the world he inhabits. And that is the world the GOP gang inhabit. And it's playing out right in front of America's eyes
7
Trump supporters say they’re focused on the policies not the man. If candidates want to woo those supporters, they need need to focus on policies too. Trump may be out in 2 years, but his administration’s legacy will last several lifetimes.
4
I don't know where the Mueller investigation will lead to or end. Republicans that have been either quiet or have been spinning for the Administration need to worry. Those that come up for election in 2020 better hope all ends well for this Administration. Those Republicans on the ballot this November are in a real bind.
1
Let me preface all of this by saying that I live in Kansas. My Congressional delegation votes with Trump some 96% of the time. They modestly distance themselves from his TWEETS but have not once pushed back against his worser inclinations like Tariffs. Or going to war with Korea. Or pushing around security state bosses who won't "obey" him. The most confusing is watching their silence as he cozies up to Putin, even though "commie bashing" is usually a mainstay in Kansas. They have let him run all over the ACA without a single word. They have watched give away after give away to the 1% and never complained once about the Tax Scam.
So low expectations. I would love to see my Big First Rep loose. He's a media hound and, even though he's a physician, seems to have no devotion to getting Kansans health care.
My only hope is watching other people's Democratic Reps and Senators carry the banners.
And it's really quiet.
There are bright spots. Like Elizabeth Warren and a few others. But even Democrats hardly ever seem to push back against that Tax Scam, which looks good by some measures now but is clearly a house of cards. They always seem to be keeping their powder dry for some future "big issue". So we got Neil Gorsuch, Betsey DeVos, Mike Pompeo (groaner in either role he's held).
Look, I don't necessarily think any one should run on an IMPEACH TRUMP ticket. But how about running against his constant erosive degradations to the office? Start somewhere.
6
What's this nonsense about the people quoted in the article being "Republican leaders?" The leaders are Mitchell, Ryan, Jordan, McCarthy and Scalise. None of them are speaking out about being "cautious" let alone condemning Trump for his conduct outside of the criminal aspects of the current investigations and prosecutions going on!
21
Embarrassment isn't a crime
My best guess is that voters won't be stupid, and they will vote for checks and balances as our Founders intended in their Constitutional design. Giving Trump any more than these two years without one house in Congress controlled by an opposition party would be a sure path to autocracy.
And the corruption theme now has legs. Centrist voters are getting fed up. Chamber of Commerce Republicans are losing their zeal, even with the tax cuts.
I can't wait to see who wins more votes with "Drain The Swamp" slogans, now that we have seen the swelling tide of corruption brought in by the last election.
As to 2020, the Dems have yet to produce an electable Prez candidate who can weather the bullying browbeatings that characterizes the incumbent's style.
Poor Melania. Although she did succeed in chain-migrating her parents into citizenship here.
4
I think it’s apparent Trump’s base doesn’t understand or care what this all means. If they even know- some get all their news from Fox News, if at all. The poor Republicans up for re-election will have to figure out which stance to take instead of doing what’s right.
1
Based upon their "actions" in the last two years, and considering the outrage many of 'publican legislators expressed during the election, I have to assume that once 2018 is over, business will return to normal for any winners.
In other words, they will yell a lot about how terrible it all is, then do nothing. The only way to ensure action upon the craziness is to elect a democratic majority to house and senate, else I fear we'll just have 2-6 more, um, "interesting" years to teach in American history.
8
I am ashamed of my Republican Congressmen in Nothwest PENNSYLVANIA...
Pat Toomey
Glenn Thompson
Two men who have NO PROBLEM endorsing this moron President, who sit by and don't say PEEP when a tax cheat, fraudster, tax evader steal from USA taxpayers, and when Trump can call a fellow Republican like John McCain a "loser" because he "got caught"......while Trump elevates this thief Manafort to one of the "brave"...
Maybe Thompson and Toomey have Bone Spurs growing in thier brains, I don't know. All I know is that if Manafort is pardoned, I will NEVER EVER EVER pay my taxes again.
Precedent for all Americans, I would think. If it's OK for one of Trump's buddies, why not for me too?
44
GREAT COMMENT! Let's also admit Trump is consistent - he made sure he was not captured during the Viet Nam war. What a man's man! A true American Hero!
9
Yes but Manafort got caught so ought to be a “loser” now also. So what does Manafort still have on Trump that he hasn’t revealed? Got to be something since Trump is still praising his loyalty. As soon as Manafort is no longer a threat or useful Trump will ditch him and insult him while doing so. Loyalty isn’t given or expected for free in Trump World.
2
Jack Bergman Michigan-01 Republican
‘... “a culture of corruption” that starts at Mr. Trump...’
No.
That “culture of corruption” in the GOP pre-dates Donald J. Trump’s entry into politics by several decades. He is the symptom — the inevitable RESULT of 50 years of ever-bolder corruption.
23
@Larry Romberg
Please let us not ignore corruption from the Dems as well. You all seem to blame this on POTUS. Greed and corruption has no party affiliation. Remember that.
Very typical, they wait until “they are up to their necks in alligators before thinking about draining the swamp”.
6
How about of instead of speaking out about President Trump's wrongdoing, they exercise their oversight responsibilities and do something about it? That might demonstrate that they actually deserve to be elected. The house Russia investigation was clearly a political sham for which the House leadership should forever be ashamed.
4
And now the republican walls ... they "come-a-tumbling down". And now the repubs are turning into innocent and holier-than-thou critics of tRump. A bit late and certainly hypocritical.
2
Republicans who criticizes Trump should be given NO credit for doing so. They should be tarred as Trump apologists no matter what platitudes they blather. Democrats need to learn how to fight bare-knuckled, and stop with the "aw shucks" politics every time a Republican fakes patriotism around election day.
9
The Times had an article this week reporting that Russian hackers are now targeting conservative think tanks. They are not for the right and against the left, they are for Russia and against the United States. The sooner Republicans realize that, the sooner we can begin working together to combat the threat against us all.
6
Doesn't the GOP realize what this sleazy used car salesman of a President is doing? What he is destroying? How he is not honoring his oath of office to uphold the Constitution? to enforce the law of the land? to respect women? who makes fun of honesty, who lies, lies, lies, and then lies some more??? Is this the party of the GOP? Is this their beliefs.....for what? Power? Money? Large bank accounts? They would destroy this country for their personal gain? If they're not doing anything about it....it must mean they think the same way the sleazy used car salesman of a president thinks. I'm glad none of them will be my grandparent. It's scary to think this sleazy used car salesman of a president knows the inner workings of our government, those secrets known to only a very few. He knows them.
14
History repeats itself. We act out unresolved feelings about the past. Compare this administration with the administration of Herbert Hoover. Note the times of KKK, Nazis, people being brought into the stock market, the libertarian government, the drive towards war, how Hoover repatriated billions of dollars from Germany giving Hitler the last leg up to get his nation to go to war.
If you have forgotten why we have safety nets this will remind you. If you have forgotten why it is morally wrong to stand beside Nazis and KKK and take selfies, this will remind you.
The Century: America's Time - 1920-1929: Boom To Bust
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN7ftyZigYs&index=3&list=PLvGgZ5...
The Century: America's TIme - 1929-1936: Stormy Weather
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSfzFWU5LbY
"The Century: America's Time" 1936-1941: Over the Edge
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbDSaBtr2mU&t=338s
Best WWII Documentary Ever!! Nat Geo documetary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGYpu2EW6jo
3
The GOP has consistently showed its corrupt soul. It should disband. Dems have lots of house cleaning to do also. Try try to do it without hitting rock bottom and destroying even more. Great damage has been done to the US by this administration and its corrupt nepotistic thieves. And these years have been wasted when the US needs so much positive action.
6
A rat will always abandon a sinking ship.
Too little; too late. The Republicans have sealed their fate by supporting a national disgrace who has placed this country in clear (VERY CLEAR) and present danger.
A REALpresident would have been spending his/her time and effort UNITING this country and seeking equity for ALL of its citizens - NOT sewing hatred and division and furthering his personal agenda and power base toward a TrumpReich.
The evidence is, and has always been, quite clear to all, especially the politically cowardly Republicans. They have allowed themselves to be co-opted and have earned what they will receive. WE WILL NOT FORGET, and WE will not invite them to dinner ever again.
Chew on that!
6
From that photo of Cohen and others I have seen, I'm getting more of a scared deer in the headlights than Ray Donovan vibe.
4
Oh NOW they're urging them to speak out against Trump. Sorry. Too little. Too late. The complicit GOP must go.
17
Wow profiles in courage from the tip top of the Crime and Conspiracy party.. How do Mitch and Paul start these conversations? 'Well, since you're dead meat anyway, I'll keep the pin, you take this grenade..'
8
To complement Representative Cole's warning, there's not just smoke, and not just fire, this is "The Towering Inferno."
But then...he KNEW that...they ALL knew that...
...long before Trump got the keys to the West Wing...
4
If Republicans are so willing to tolerate this level of corruption and denigration of our democracy, they must really hate/fear/distrust/disqualify/see no hope for/see no saving grace in (you pick) Mike Pence. How embarrassing for him.
9
If there are any doubts among the GOP faithful about being associated with Trump, it certainly has not reached the voters here in central FL, where almost every GOP candidate for next week's primaries have consistently ran ads highlighting their approval and backing of Trump and his agenda.
4
This conversation is all about how do we get him to leave.
Pack your bags Mr. Trump and make sure the door does not hit you as you exit.
Disconnect the tanning bed that makes you look so tanned and orange and head to one of your golf clubs. Do a round of nine and take all the mulligans you want.
Make sure you take Javanka with you.
As for Stephen Miller, a one-way ticket to Belarus, where he would be today were it not chain immigration.
Sara Huckabee Sanders - a job at RT (formerly Russia Today), for which she is so well qualified, having hands-on experience in dispensing propaganda and double-speak.
Mr. Trump, this would be a great time to reinvent yourself. You have achieved everything in life - an A as president, in your own words, huge Inauguration with thousands and thousands and thousands of people. And given us fake news.
23
Take a deep breath, people. Investigations continue, both at the federal and State levels. More shoes will drop. At some point, it is not inconceivable that RICO will be introduced to address 45's behaviors. His concern for his money, his own hide and, perhaps, his own family might convince him to step away. Impeachment is not the only tool in the tool box.
8
GOP to Incumbents, "Rats: Abandon Ship"
11
Democrats need to run on Democracy. Pointing out that republicans have not believed in it for many years. They spent 8 years demonizing and impeaching Clinton and 8 years demonizing and obstructing Obama. 4 presidential elections which republicans refused to recognize.
Then they need to run on the corruption of t rump's White House and the Congress.
Run on holding this crime family responsible for not draining the swamp but filling it even further.
republicans will run in ways that do not rile or anger t rump's very very base base. That base is shrinking daily. Let's tie them to it.
9
It proven that racisim,fascism,sexisim TRUMPS, logic, reality or common sense. GOP deplorables are no different.
10
Dear Democrats: #cultureofcorruption ain’t gonna do it
1
There's corruption on both sides. Whether the President has done anything illegal remains to be proven. One said no one is above the law. I say it appears that Hillary Clinton and her cohorts are. Why aren't they being investigated for the real collusion on their part, and the lies that were given to the public?
@Theresa Cerillo
Oh here we go again. "But... but...but Hillary..." (accompanied by the fading whine of a deflating balloon.)
How about comparing Clinton's tax returns to Trump's? Oh... right... we can't, yet, can we?
6
Hillary was investigated long and hard by the Republican majority Congress and no evidence was found for further action. Are you saying those Republicans were lying and/or were incompetent and there is actually something worth investigating? They also spent way longer and way more money than the Mueller investigation. Are you saying that they wisely used tax dollars and should spend a lot more to investigate further? But Mueller is waiting time and money, correct? Be careful how you answer, it will be difficult to not sound hypocritical .
6
@Theresa Cerillo
What you "say it appears" is utter nonsense that was disproven by investigations that were spearheaded by Republicans in Congress. By the way, Hillary Clinton made her tax returns public when she was running for President two years ago; Trump still has yet to do so.
7
Thanks a lot Deplorables.
21
Any person with a tiny bit of moral sense would not have voted for this conman in 2016 and make him president; but he won. So I doubt any of these will now change the minds of the Republican voters come November; their hatred towards liberals and right wing convoluted theories blinds them from the damage being done to this country and they are willing to ignore conservative ideals and the future of our children's well being.
13
Senator Lindsey Graham: "Campaign finance violations — I don’t know what will come from that, but the thing that will hurt the president the most is if, in fact, his campaign did coordinate with a foreign government like Russia."
Mr. Cohen has implicated Mr. Trump in a campaign finance felony that almost certainly effected the election. What comes of it will depend in good measure on Graham. Is he a principled leader who believes that nobody is above the law? Is he a senator who will abide by his oath to protect and defend the Constitution? Or is he just another immoral opportunist of bottomless bad faith gleefully damaging our vital democratic traditions on behalf of the unfit president and miserable human being Mr. Trump?
14
By shying away from confrontation with a seemingly corrupt presidency--led by a man who tells the public as many lies as the truth--Democrats again risk appearing weak. What are they afraid of? In contrast to Trump, Dem leaders need to speak the truth (truth IS truth!) to voters and then let them make the final decisions (which will irk this autocratic president) in the next elections. This time, minorities need to come out in greater force than the alt-right and alt-whites that Trump has reinvigorated.
6
GOP are Trump swamp creatures.Money and power are the Republican Gods. Trump gives them that with tax cuts ; judicial appointments and deregulation. Republicans; Trump and the base are one;a blending of hate and greed. Conscience and duty to country they do not have. Vote Republicans out for health care; jobs and a living wage. Ray Sipe
12
So DO SOMETHING! Get your friends and neighbors to VOTE TRUMP AND HIS SYCOPHANTS OUT! Stop complaining and ACT. Florida is a Red State and, if you value its respect, freedom and viability, I would suggest you throw out all of those criminals in November. They won't change; don't be fooled. They've had their chances to do so many times over.
Life is NOT all about money - especially for the rich!
4
I don’t know what world Cory Gardner of Colorado is living in where he sees Democrats aligning themselves with Trump. He must have “alternative facts.” We have had enough of him and his Trump sycophancy.
15
The headline for this story does not accurately reflect Catie Edmondson's reporting. It would have been more helpful and more accurate for the headline to read, "A Few Republicans..." or "Only a Few Republicans..."
7
It would be hard not to pull out the tired metaphor of rats deserting a sinking ship...
5
Those of us who knew "The Donald" when he was just a slimey real estate guy who routinely stiffed suppliers and left a trail of bankruptcies are not surprised by the character or behavior of his associates. What is surprising is that his "base" remains blind to his foibles.
Germany in the 1930's under Adolph Hitler had a
Great Judges.
Great economy.
Safer world.
Jobs and low unemployment
Sky rocket stock market
Record high consumer confidence
Homes selling again
God Bless Michael Cohen's father for reminding him that he didn't survive the Holocaust to have the family name tarnished by Donald Trump.
Let us all work together to wake the electorate in time for November.
19
So up until now, all the Republicans have been lock step with Trump because... well basically because they put him there and he's been doing mostly all the things they wanted him to do.
As the legal wheels grind closer some of them will attempt to throw Trump under the bus, proclaiming that they had issues all along when in fact they are just backpedalling to try to retain their powerful and well paid seats in Congress.
Vote the Republicans out. Vote 'em ALL out. Let the Republican Party become the fringy independent third party in this country.
18
What is the “moral majority” teaching the children?
12
Yeah, Republicans, get your lizard brains in gear and try to save yourselves from your self-serving sycophancy to Trump and his utter corruption. Maybe your trumper followers won't notice you are corrupt, just like Trump.
9
A few of the Dems make me very proud to be one, but if the rest do not grow a backbone I will lose all heart in September. Remember, electeds, EVERYTHING is at stake with this maniac. Human life and the health of the earth as we have ever known it. I am speaking from a very smoky town on the West Coast. Wake up! Get a life if all any of you care about is your careers. Fight now for all the reasons you went to Washington. And thanks to those of you who have been incredible. Just don't let the big buy fall only to let Pence in. Just cage him so he can stop undoing every good thing we have ever fought to pass. Thank you.
12
Too late... too late.. The rats are finally attempting to flee the ship, but with midterms looming there's no way to out swim the undertow when the bow goes down...
And anyway - why should *anyone* believe them.. the silence from those who still have their power is deafening. We have the unprecedented situation of having a sitting president that has been implicated in a felony and from those Republicans who's seats are secure in the immediate future... nothing...
Unless you support keeping criminals and conmen in the government, vote this November. Don't stay home, don't vote Republican. The world is watching how the American people handle this and November is a referendum on our credibility. Screw this up and the world knows that we no longer deserve any respect on the world stage.
13
The party of Family Values. The good Christian Evangelical leaders earlier said they believed Trump when he denied the affairs. Then they took his word that there were no payments and that he did not know of them.
Now we have Cohen's testimony and the "tapes".
Do they now know they have fallen for the Devil's wiles and lies? This is why Jesus declined Satan's offer of dominion over Earth. There is a price to pay and its the moral values that the Bible preaches.
I hope the Evangelical flock is watching closely and get back to the straight and narrow path. Reject this devil Trump. Tell these fallen leaders to repent their sins.
God bless.
9
It's too late to now tepidly speak up against Trump's immorality and what looks to be criminality. The Republicans have stained themselves. They will have to live with the consequences.
9
Expediency, opportunism, and greed: The only thing Republicans understand. They'll say any lie, any slander, vilify anyone, defame anyone. Just a bunch of vile sleazy liars and crooks who all belong in jail, not running a government they hate, ruling people they only have contempt for, so their puppet masters the Koch Brothers can reduce Americans to serfs. Oh and they are traitors too and should be treated as such.
20
The cracks in the red wall of lies are appearing.
This is the beginning of the end for whatever lies ahead.
And since in involves repubs and trump, lies is the key words.
16
The article has this peculiar passage:
"By urging some candidates to speak out or at least stay silent, Republican leaders who gravely fear losing control of the House risked opening the first significant rift between the Trump White House and the Republican-controlled Capitol."
The two actions being urged are at odds with one another: rebel or stay silent. The two actions have different outcomes regardng the "opening" of the "first signficant rift". I am not criticizing the authors, but the actions speak to what is in fact a bargain made between GOP and Trump's WH. The "first" rift is really defection from the bargain.
This vulnerability is what GOP oppoenents ought to capitalize on with the usual garbage adds, "SO and SO, supports Trump WH election fraud" and then you force "SO and SO' to denounce Trump or tell the public it is not election fraud.
It is rare that Trump WH offers such juicy, rich, robust low highing fruit. Are you hungry? Do you want a bite? The task is giving the electorate a bit from this basket of goodies.
1
McConnell and his wife Elaine Chao, Paul Ryan, Jeff Sessions, and the rest of them want the rank and file to do their jobs for them.
McConnell and Ryan should return all their pay checks to the tax payers....they haven't done their jobs in years.
22
The GOP, the Grad Old Party, has metamorphosed into the Grand Theft Party.
8
Curbelo is campaigning. In his job, he would not vote to impeach a Republican president or to pass legislation making sure Mueller is not fired. GOP candidates will promise anything to keep their seats but they are Trump-tamed already.
100
How does a $1.5 trillion dollar tax giveaway -specifically cited as necessary to keep their billionaire donors happy- not qualify as corruption?
The GOP is rotten to the core.
320
It’s not just corruption, it’s blatant, it’s bribery.
9
Republican leaders "gravely fear losing control of the House" and now find the "mushrooming scandals" by their own members "alarming"?!
What a bunch of corrupt scoundrels! There was no "grave fear" or alarm for the nation during the last year-and-a-half of insanity.
No urgency when a president stood by our sworn enemy, Putin, against our intelligence agencies and democratic institutions. None when chaos, ineptitude & corruption sprung leaks from every corner of Trump's White House and Cabinet. None when racist and cruel policies divided communities across America & ripped children from their parents at our borders. Only now! Only now is there "fear" & "alarm?" When it affects them.
It's not only too little too late, it's a level of concern that they were elected to extend on behalf of the country, but now, it turns out, are only able to extend on their own behalf.
Financial corruption exudes from the White House, but there's a corruption at the very core of Republican Party leadership and its elected representatives. John Dean warned during the Nixon scandal that there was a "cancer on the presidency". That cancer is spreading throughout the Republican Party.
256
Cory Gardner can’t “taunt” anyone. The thought of him traveling with Trump to that rally in West Virginia where people are screaming like crazy people for a rotter like Trump makes my skin crawl.
154
Yes, I believe impeachment proceedings should, by all means, be started, but think very carefully about removing President Trump from office. If that does, indeed, happen then you get Pence, who is extremely hard right. Just think about what he would do with the abortion issue or with the Supreme Court (if given the chance).
Instead: The impeachment proceeding will hang a very dark cloud over Mr. Trumps head. Stupid as he is, he will think that he is home free and practically ensure his non-election in 2020.
Above all go out and vote. In 2018 and in 2020.
84
With or without trump, especially if his nomination for justice is approved, the abortion issue will be the top issue for them. We all know they have a list of Obama’s successes, and are crossing them off, one at a time.
3
Nixon was re-elected when we knew he was a liar and a crook.
Don't be complacent, Democrats and Independents.
Vote and drag your friends and relatives to the polls.
Vote and vote often!
129
These Republicans have already shown that they have no awareness and intelligence. The smoke has always been around Donald Trump. Most of the elected officials of the Republican Party have already shown that they are willing to put the Republican Party over the general welfare of the country by staying silent for so long.
Until the structure of government is revamped by blocking those that would prey on the stupid from running for the upper house of the legislative branch and the executive office these issues will occur repeatedly -- where those that use the emotions of the stupid to gain power and wealth.
Intelligence and awareness should be qualifications for running for the executive office or the upper house of the legislative branch. At least intelligence can be somewhat tested through knowledge exams across multiple fields like political philosophy, economics, advanced math, introductory science classes, psychology, english comprehension, and logic.
26
I am an independent voter, but will not vote for anyone that stands with Trump. If u cannot think of America first, do not ask for my vote
129
Let’s not overlook the real villain of the Trump misadministration. Mitch McConnell’s unprecedented and disgraceful blocking of Obama’s Supreme Court pick, Merrick Garland, was a message for Trump. McConnell was letting Trump know that the traditions and processes vital to effective governance would be suspended just for him. And that the GOP would look the other way when Trump’s criminal cartel started dismantling our government, presumably at the request of another international criminal, Vladimir Putin. Trump, in turn, created an environment that encouraged the rest of the GOP to run riot, as this article summarizes. Their refusal to hold Trump accountable, or to initiate his impeachment, shows how weak, feckless and irresponsible congressional Republicans have become under Trump’s thumb. And none of this tragedy would be unfolding today without Mitch McConnell’s permission and encouragement.
228
Yes, yes and yes.
It's been so bad we've even forgotten about the Iraq (and Afghanistan) wars begun under international criminals Cheney and Bush.
3
@David - I wish your comment had been an Editor's Pick. Not enough attention has been paid to the two men I view as equally responsible for the criminality in this horror of an administration. In that they've abdicated their oaths to the constitution, willfully participated in aiding and abetting what will most likely be revealed in time, that trump has committed treason, I consider them too guilty of crimes. It is my hope that McConnell and Ryan, will be included in the indictments to come, if justice is served.
4
This breaks all records for hypocrisy.
62
Frightening as the prospect is, there is almost nothing we do in public these days that is not being recorded, even peripherally, by some device. I'm always amazed at how this knowledge seems to escape many people who commit brazen, premeditated crimes, appear on the news that same night, and are identified and captured within 24 hours. These Congresspeople who contemplate doing a 180 on Trump, but were his rabid attack dogs just weeks ago, should remember that there is tape of everything they've said for the last two years, just begging to be used by their Democratic opponents.
46
The tenor of this story is that the Republican Party, as a matter of strategy, will dip its toe into the water of truth.
43
"...where does [the US Constitution] say that a president can't nominate a supreme court judge during an election year? oh wait, it doesn't."
Of course it doesn't. If it did, after all, Elena Kagan couldn't have been nominated.
28
@MyThreeCents Who is suggesting that the Constitution says that, apart from you?
What I have heard is the argument that Trump should not have the opportunity to nominate a SC Justice when under criminal investigation, one where the Justice might be called on to judge his case(s). That is not a Constitutional argument/position, just a reasonable point of view given the growing evidence implicating Trump.
1
Republicans do not see tampering with elections as wrong. Plain and simple.
The rest of it, they can overlook because, well, just because.
62
Apparently this lawyer will do anything to save his own skin, should we believe him?
2
@Knot Awesome.
Yes, because all Trump's comments belittle him, Cohen has the goods.
Meanwhile Manafort is getting sympathy and praise, meaning Trump will love him unless and until he breaks.
35
Depends upon the evidence and a jury of our peers, NOT the court of public opinion. See, not so hard, is it?
31
Agreed, except there was one crooked juror who deliberately ignored evidence in the Manafort trial and blocked several charges all the other jurors agreed to. That juror put their opinion ahead of actual evidence which is really bad. Let's hope the voters and future jurors base their decisions on evidence, not opinion.
1
The GOP should recognize and accept that Trump is a disaster and a problem best solved by forcing his RESIGNATION.
GOP leaders can end Trump's deceptive, dangerous, and damaging actions.
He has a low approval rating, is a continual embarrassment, and he deserves to be impeached.
Is the GOP ready for its closeup.
Can the GOP look down the road and focus on the 2020 election.
Call it having 20/20 eyesight.
Consider the following:
Do not become an enabler of the Trump dictatorial juggernaut.
Fall on your sword - with grace, decency, dignity, and sincerity. You and we will be the better for it.
By your patriotic action you will save the GOP and the country as well.
Make this necessary sacrifice. Prepare for a worthwhile and reasonable campaign in 2020 with a decent and honest candidate the Party can support with dignity.
Be wise and practical - follow this course of action in a timely manner.
The behavior of Trump and Trump himself are NOT acceptable.
His erratic, chaotic, senseless, and damaging behavior is NOT acceptable.
His coterie of similar bedfellows is disgusting.
Avoid applying this same label to the GOP leadership and to the GOP party as a political entity
You owe it to our country and to yourselves as well.
40
WHAT a window into the hearts of our elected official, we are seeing through. Even with the preponderance of stench, from the rot and decay that clings to this president, we mostly hear the cautious ‘tip-toeing’ of Republicans, consumed with ensuring that their talons remain steadfastly clutched around the remainder of our futures. WHat will be left, that is worth scrabbling for, after all things of value have been pawned?
56
The advice to Republican incumbents who might be vulnerable to a Democratic challenger: Speak out against Trump. The rest of you: Keep quiet. . Supporting or criticizing Trump is strictly a matter of political expediency. That is so totally like the GOP we all know: ZERO principle. ZERO.
Get your tax cut. Get your deregulation. And let Trump shoot people on 5th Avenue.
76
Hardly any comments on why Democrats aren’t running away in elections and get super majority given all the mess Republicans are having. Obviously, there is a disconnect with voters. As long as Dems make socialism as their platform and social issues of lgbtq and citizenship for undocumneted at the center, challenges will continue. Sad that Dems can’t control both the house and senate.
14
Medicare for all would benefit most Americans. Single payer healthcare works in every other first world nation.
3
Why shouldn’t lgbtq people have equal rights? Why shouldn’t there be a path to citizenship?
4
So when Trump said that he could shoot someone on 5th. Avenue and not loose any votes he was paying all that money to protect himself against bad publicity. So even then, saying something that was true, he was lying.
17
A candidate paying women off in order to influence an election is a campaign violation & Trump is accused of doing this twice. Of course, it should be used. Or are all politicians to don blinders?
19
This kind of silliness is how we do things here. I’m a lifelong Democrat, and I’ll vote that ticket no matter what they talk about, but they need to focus on healthcare and getting rid of these ridiculous tariffs with independents and the undecided. Trump’s legal crises and his idiotic tweets keep up a steady background drum; everybody hears it whether it’s mentioned or not.
14
The Democrats have their heads in the sand. They believe that by not calling out the corruption going on in Trump’s administration, they will not incite a backlash from Trump supporters. This is a weak stance given the importance of the coming midterm elections. They need to voice what is so obvious to all the rational Americans paying attention to what is being uncovered by the Mueller investigation and rally in the name of sanity and the sanctity of the rule of law and the Constitution.
34
Just remember the Democrats are going to raise your taxes. So you better know what you vote for and it’s implications.
2
@richard Ah, Richard. And what are the Republicans going to do, eh? They are going to cut programs for the poor, cut people off of health insurance, and require you to work longer in life. Retirement will be simply a pre death limbo. Republicans offer NO alternative to these things. They promised a windfall for the average wage earner and that is not coming. So tell me, Richard, what would you do? Democrats will raise taxes....on wealth. For the calculus is very simple. Either the profit is shared or it's not. Republicans gave up the money to the wealthy in exchange for nothing. SO, Richard, we either raise taxes on wealth (actually just take away the tax cut) or watch every one else's standard of living continue to fall . It's really not that complicated.
139
Richard, you have no idea what you’re talking about.
The GOP has been responsible for every deficit, at least since Reagan. The party is masterful at marketing their message of fiscal responsibility but it’s far from reality. Spending comes under control under Democratic leadership, to correct out of control GOP spending.
Thanks to Bush and his recession, my husband and I both lost our jobs (we recovered after Obama took office). Now thanks to Trump’s tax “reform,” we not only lost some key deductions but our taxes went way up.
115
And the Republicans are going to cut Social Security and Medicare to pay for tax cuts for billionaires.
5
Since the GOP has stood by complicit of course they're going to drag their feet & try to spin this.
It's clear the enemy of the people has been Trump not the press. Things will work out as the truth is exposed.
35
The corruption, collusion and obstruction of justice issues will soon have further dimension, depth and scope, sufficiently so that Democrats can and should point an accusing finger, akin to an intervention to get our country back on its feet, standing proudly, no longer mired in the mud that has defined Trump and his administration. And then, yes, absolutely, as Sherrod Brown correctly points out, emphasize repeatedly the absurd, deficit ridden tax cut that has deepened the already very deep pockets of the rich and of corporate America. The rest of America does not sit at that gluttonous table. Pelosi, too, is on the mark when she proclaims a cesspool of self-enrichment at the hands of Trump, McConnell, Ryan and their like-minded fellow cronies. And we've yet to talk about the dire state of health care in the United States, among many pressing issues that have been largely ignored while the Tweet Show masquerading as a legitimate Presidency holds disgusting center stage.
39
What further do we need to show that this is an illegitimate presidency?
By his own repeated actions he has shown himself to be divisive, racist, egotistical, demeaning to anyone who is not “wealthy”, and the list goes on.
Now, we not only have the verbal admission of a guilty man but documentary evidence (audio/video and financial proof) of trump’s illegal actions which helped him acquire the presidency.
Remember the inactions of all of his enablers come November. Remember this clearly and realize that they stay silent and do nothing to remove the blight on our country simply because they don’t want to stop their ability to individually profit from him.
They are not serving the people.
They are not serving this great country.
They are only serving themselves.
They need to all go.
Vote them out and make them go.
VOTE!
38
My goodness? Might some Republicans be growing spines? Might they thus become able to take those first tentative slithers out of the muck of the swamp that is Mr. Trump's Washington?
We must refrain, of course, from getting to giddy over these early cracks in the beige facade of Republican denial.
It has indeed been a "very bad August," Mr. Cole. But let's not forget just how bad last August was, thanks to your president.
12
If the payments to women were illegal, in that they were an attempt to influence the election outcome, then it is an easy leap to assert that Trump's presidency is illegal. What to do? Not Pence but Clinton is a logical result.
21
Don't you just sometimes think that there should be a cooling off period, close up the House and Senat and just let the necessary bureaucracies run themselves for 3 or 6 months?
We're watching madness in action.
7
I am looking forward to the first patriotic Republican from the
US House of Representatives or the US Senate to state that
he or she will not support this President who has been covering
up his criminal acts.
Criminals do not deserve to be President; or US Representatives; or Senators; or hold any federal or state
offices.....We do not deserve to suffer leadership or representation of criminals in any government office anywhere
in the USA....and yes....I think if we insist on this...we WILL
make American Great Again...let's see who will be the first
patriot to step up to the plate.....because minute by minute
those that are silent and thus are tacitly consenting for a criminal to lead us will be simply just as
immoral ….and debased as the criminal....time is running out.
33
It’s too late. The Republican Party has been complicit since the beginning, indeed created the conditions for this abomination to take a seat in the People’s House. They can never be granted America’s sacred trust again. Never.
33
I truly appreciate your call to Republicans.
I'm sorry to say that time ran out for these scoundrels months ago. They have already betrayed our country & "patriotism", at this late date, is no longer an option for them.
Only sincere public statements of remorse and shame and committed actions to root out corruption from their midst and remove corrosive money from our politics will spare them the infamy they now deserve.
25
To the GOP its now or never in confronting Donald J Trump. Don't let one corrupt man destroy your legacy. Because if he does get impeached or brought up on criminal charges, you will be remembered for aiding and abetting this traitorous president. To the Democrats its better to go all in and don't let up a single day until election day on 2020. Give no quarter and no mercy.
21
We as a nation need to hammer away at the culture of corruption in politics. While I believe Republicans are far and away the worst offenders, there are also Democrats who participate in questionable activities. The root culprit is all the money in politics since Citizens United. Money plays too big a role in American politics. As soon as Congress members are elected, they start campaigning for the next election. They have to raise thousands on average every day to ensure they are competitive. This is insane. Further, it favors the rich who can afford to give more. By extension, this favors Republicans and is a partial reason why they have had control of Congress (of course, Gerrymandering hasn't helped). I would like to see our election laws changed so that each party gets the same amount proportional to the numbers registered in the party. It'll be an uphill battle but the discourse about it must begin.
29
"Democrats face their own pressure to shed their cautious midterm strategy and hammer the opposition for..."
The fact that Democratic Congress members need to be pressured to hammer their Republican opponents is the reason Democrats are in the powerless minority today.
25
The way our politics works these days according to cynics, the guys on the other side are delegitimized and the guys on your side are not, and the facts do not matter. So Obama remains delegitimized and Trump cannot be delegitimized. The worst that can happen to somebody on your side is to drop out of existence so that the question of legitimacy cannot arise; this is what happened to dubya.
Republicans have to be cynics to be Republicans, and not believe in facts or the validity of reasoning, while for Democrats it is a choice. Some are cynical too, and root for the team no matter what, but others accept objective reality and admit the warts on their party.
16
Yo, America. What is up with you? How can you possibly support President Trump and his acolytes; senatorial and congressional Republicans? Honestly, it is unfathomable to the rest of the free world (Russia/China - you aren't included - sorry) how you can continue to support this bumpkin and his sycophants? It truly is a head scratcher. Has he put you under his hypnosis?
I have to believe that there are at least 50% of you that are rationale thinking, common sense and good people. Please reassure me. Trump and his Republican cronies are out of control. Please reign them in.
114
@Steve Unfathenable indeed. We hopefully are on path to do the right thing.
4
@Steve Did Trump shoot someone on fifth ave? No? Wake me when that happens and we will see how the 50% who are supposed to be rational thinking, common sense and good people, respond. My money is that as Trump has claimed; no one will bat an eye. Power and control is such a powerful drug. His base is clearly in an enduring stupor. They would rather have control of the country than defend the Constitution and preserve the Union. If this group had been living during the Lincoln years the South would have fractured the country over slavery.
6
Trump has the support of 25% of eligible voters. Many more than 50% of us are rational. If we don’t get to the polls, we have only ourselves to blame.
18
When telling the truth is 'breaking'....you know you have a President who should be a in handcuffs.
So terrible.
73
Hey Cory Gardner, our Senator from Colorado, what happened to Country, Family, and Party?
Speak out! You most surely now have a Felon as President.
Get in front of this or Get out of our State!
78
It would be so perfectly in keeping with the surreal nature of the last two years if the Republican candidates began to separate themselves from Trump and to criticize his actions while the Democratic candidates, at the urging of the DNC, primly avoided the topic. Could anyone other the departed Kurt Vonnegut write the fictionalized history of the Trump era?
31
One thing that Republicans are totally unconcerned about is doing the right thing for the United States.
66
Laws are just writing and laws are for little people. I think that's pretty clear from Trump's recent statements.
Not surprised that other politicians feel the same way, with their yachts and golf shorts.
The only problem is that the Judicial system still works (unlike the other branches) so these criminals aren't out of the woods yet, or at least as much as they hoped to be by now.
30
At a minimum, Americans must examine Trump's tax filings for the past 10 years. Let the auditing begin!
66
@Stever65 Don't count on it. Those papers will never see the light of day. So much blood money swept under the rug; like it never happened. And the base doesn't care anyway. So fiddle away and watch Rome burn.
1
@Stever65 The assumption being that he didn't lie on his tax forms. Cue Manafort?
7
I hope that the democrats are focusing on improving the American future and not so much on the scandals.
We need heroes and we need to flip the house and the senate!
Enough with the villains and corruptions.
16
So...the republican game plan..only hold Trump's tootsie's near a match if you are running in swing district. Everyone else is free to give Trump a complete and total pass to do and say whatever he pleases.
Seriously, given that attitude among republican politicians, how can we blame Trump for believing he is above the law. His base and the republican party are telling Trump...yelling and screaming at him that he is above the law. The republican politicians and Trump's base believes the constitution is whatever they want to believe that day...whatever benefits them the most. Why should Trump believe differently? WHY?
VOTE OUT ALL REPUBLICANS
37
Andres Kudacki deserves compliments for his poignant picture of Michael Cohen, captured poised between the ruin of his old life left in the court room, and the uncertain new one starting now.
13
A common complaint is that people are weary of the daily drama, the hourly horrors. As much as we seem to enjoy watching Reality TV shows, we don't want to live in one. For decades, the Republicans have played to our fears and passions, and now, we are emotionally exhausted.
Democrats should offer a calm leadership, a return to reason, rationality, and law. They are wise to not scream "Impeach", even if that is their intent. A simple "check on the president" is sufficient, and allows undecided voters to join them.
Democrats should learn to voice their talking points powerfully, but a touch more judiciously. Elizabeth Warren has a large enough platform that (in the recent CNN interview) she could have spoken positively about Democratic support for immigration reform, without attacking the president's policies in that moment.
I am not suggesting Democrats overly heed Mrs. Obama's "When they go low, we go high". Forceful, powerful, strong objection to this abhorrent administration is needed. But that objection should be voiced as calmly as is reasonably possible.
I anticipate that for a very large percentage of voters, the intangible desire for quietude may be the deciding factor in how (or if) they vote.
25
If truly "you just don't know enough to have a reaction" then you just don't know enough to hold a seat in the House of Representatives. I am fed up, completely fed up, with the GOP. My Congressman has an "R" after his name, and that alone is enough to suggest he is invulnerable in a knee-jerk red district, even though he has forsaken his oath of office to uphold the Constitution and refuses to authentically engage with constituents. That, and the summer cloud of forest fire smoke (thanks to unacknowledged climate change) makes my physically ill. But -- he is monitoring the issues -- really. He makes me sick.
83
I'm a Wyoming Republican, voting with my feet:
South Island New Zealand.
Bye
26
I guess the republicans forgot what it means to defend the constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic. Time to vote these cowards out.
39
During that time the GOP is working hard to suppress the vote in November: wake up DNC:https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/20/opinions/randolph-county-georgia-voting-r...
19
Paul Ryan. Px90 isn’t gonna cut it. You need some gymnastics to explain your spineless way out of this one.
26
All the talk’s been about tax returns. Where’s the President’s?
35
I think we ought to get one thing straight: for Republicans "drain the swamp" never meant get rid of corruption. It always meant get rid of Democrats and liberals.
31
Why would Democrats be cautious? Would Republicans be cautious if Trump was a Democrat.
It's not a good idea to be talking about impeachment, but Democrats should be on TV talking about all of Trump's public corruption and lies all the time.
And by the way, Trump didn't make the Republican Part corrupt. Trump became president because the Republican Party is corrupt. Why would Democrats not hammer that home?
Republicans attack and attack and keep winning, and Democrats hide and hide and keep losing. You don't have to go low to attack a party full of corrupt liars. Attacking Republican corruption is going high.
42
@McGloin Republicans attack and attack and keep winning????? Republicans win on the Issue's ... people are still crying with hurt feelings from the 2016 lose of Hillary and when he (Trump) wins again in 2020 what in the world are you going to say to these people that are still not over the lose of the last Election?
1
Felons can’t vote in many states. I’m pretty sure a felon can’t be elected president in any of them.
While Trump has a fixed, disturbed number of voters, he has lost some and gained none, but he’s succeeded in ginning up Democratic enthusiasm and turnout.
I don’t think your 2020 scenario is much of a danger.
4
The entire Republican party are craven political cowards. Even those who have criticized the Toddler in Chief, such as Lindsay Graham, quickly take a U-Turn and start praising him. And those who were so quick and so harsh with criticism of Bill Clinton are noticeably silent on the serial adulterer in their own party.
40
Democrats who are advising their peers to avoid pointing to the deeply corrupt and treasonous reign of Mafia Don and his Republican mobsters are like witnesses to a heinous crime who are so afraid that they duck their heads and walk across the street pretending not to see. Short term gain for their cowardice is sure to be followed by bigger crimes that will be impossible to avoid.
16
"To date, Democrats have urged their candidates to conduct their own races and avoid a national campaign against Mr. Trump or the Republican Congress, except on carefully targeted issues like health care costs. Mr. Trump’s scandals, they argued, will play like background music that they do not need to accentuate"
This is how badly Democrats don't understand their party registered and independent minds. The next midterm election would and should be all about Trump and Republican corruption.
The 2016 presidential election's most damaging outcome was not about Trump or his policy, but it signaled a big bright green sign to the American white people that they were OK to be ignorant, undereducated, conspiracy believer, science denier, misogynist, xenophobic, greedy, and just arrogantly stupid.
And there are many other people like me who really fed up with it. The current political climate is a denial state of everything we believed. Separation of religion and the state, equal opportunity for all, globalization, fairness, education as a social equalizer, and supporting net.
Of course, it's actually never been so in many areas, but we believed at least we are trying to get there. But now, Trump supporters are willing to roll back to the middle age.
I don't really care about local politics anymore. I want sane politics to come back. And I believe so do many people.
24
So, the GOP has decided that it's ok for GOP congressional candidates to speak out against Trump, if it helps win an election, but it hasn't been ok to speak out against Trump when that is what is best for America?
Trump is now an unindicted co-conspirator in a criminal conspiracy to influence the 2016 election.
The WSJ is reporting that David Pecker (AMI) had corroborated (to the SDNY) Cohen's testimony to the SDNY regarding the details and also Trump's knowledge of and participation in the conspiracy.
26
These days you have to be a crook to be a politician and you have to be a great crook to be a successful politician as proven by many senators and representatives of the house.
15
@Joe Not The Plumber "you have to be a great crook to be a successful politician"
That then is our fault. We emboldened it by complacently allowing it. It's time to correct it or accept it!
8
The non-wealthy Trump voter: "I love the Affordable Care Act. It's Obamacare that I hate."
45
Having just read the complete 22-page information submitted to the Court, detailing the charges against Michael Cohen, one thing immediately stands out. There is, of course, the allegation that Cohen and Trump worked in concert to prevent adverse information from reaching the public that would affect the election - now admitted under oath in open court by Mr. Cohen.
But the other allegations concern tax fraud and bank fraud - the latter consisting of intentional misrepresentations concerning Cohen’s ‘financial condition’ and his assets, made to fraudulently induce banks to loan him money.
Who else do we know who has always played fast and loose with statements about his ‘financial condition,’ and who has proudly called himself ‘The King of Debt’? Oh, right, El Presidente. Just a wild guess here, but do you think it would be all that difficult to prove that Trump has committed bank fraud to obtain loans? Might his tax returns and other financial documents he has steadfastly kept under wraps reveal his commission of the same felonies Cohen and Manafort will both serve jail time for committing?
These are not mere pecadillos, by the way. These are knowing, intentional and premeditated felonious acts; they are ‘crimes of moral turpitude’ that almost automatically result in disbarment of an attorney who has committed them.
They also are crimes that should automatically disqualify someone from holding the office of President of the United States.
No wonder Trump is worried.
45
Too little, Too late! Goodfellas administration has done massive damage to our country and our world environment and relationships.
27
Republican leaders are urging embattled Republican Congressional incumbents to disown Mr. Trump and his endless mess? Overnight? Just like that? Including their own part in it? Will they disown the prevarication and rationalization? The immoral opportunism? The bottomless bad faith? The obstruction of justice? The betrayal of the nation and its democracy?
24
I tried hard to find one positive out of this!
I failed.
8
Red state Democrats trying to get close to trump?
Are they serious?
They should be doing exactly the opposite. They won't attract trump's sympathizers - they already have a home in the Rpubl;ican Party - and they'll alienate others. I've often said that the Dems are good at governing but lousy at campaigning, and this is beyond lousy.
29
There's a huge and growing disconnect between the big urban centers and everywhere else. Republicans outside those centers ought to do fine.
I'd run against Hillary and Obama. In any district where a Republican has a chance of winning, socialism doesn't play well. I'd argue that my Dem opponent, even if he sounds reasonable, is simply a pawn in the hands of a party that is galloping to the left.
There is practically nothing that Trump could do or say that is as bad as socialism. Socialism is the ultimate treason, the ultimate high crime and misdemeanor. Turning the whole government over to the Democrats would be the nail in the coffin.
6
@Cleo Huh? The word socialism is somehow worse that a sitting President colluding with a foreign power, both before the election and today? I don't think so.
15
@Cleo It seems that most people who make arguments of this kind have no clue what socialism actually is. Free college tuition isn't socialism, although I'd agree that it's a bad idea for other reasons.
12
@Cleo
This is why the US should not be a single nation anymore. We need Balkinization. Let the rural states have near-zero taxes, virtually no government services and no medical care. No minimum wage, no environmental laws and 100% privatization of everything--absolutely zero "socialism" to speak of. You're welcome.
10
New York Democrats, it's worth noting that we have our own culture of corruption to confront. The trail leads directly to Governor Cuomo's office in Albany.
So, while we're marveling over the shamefully criminal behaviors of the nation's top executive, we might do well to clean our own house. I know that Cynthia Nixon has no experience, but as far as I know, she hasn't surrounded herself with grifters and criminals.
September 13 is coming fast. Vote Cynthia Nixon and save your party (and your state) while there's still time!
6
People are stunned and in shock. It seems as if nothing will remove this criminal-in-chief from the White House. November is yet a long way away.
19
The GOP leadership is telling members to acknowledge (Mr. Giuliani's comments to the contrary) that truth is truth and Trump is surrounded by criminals-----and they seem to be hinting that even Mr. Trump just might be (but we cannot say this out loud) a truly evil and self-serving scoundrel. I guess this is progress, but knowing that this is only for the benefit of winning votes rather than a heart-felt concern for the rule of law or concern for the benefit of our nation makes me pause. I would hope it also prompts some legitimate concerns for every other voter.
32
@James "this is only for the benefit of winning votes ...."
They've confirmed that with their actions throughout this Trump circus if not before.
3
Just hear the stamped of the Republicans as they run to their
massive loss in the Midtern elections, a stamped into the
political abyss, into oblivion.
What America really needs is a Democrat Congress which is completely honest with the American people and voters,
as honesty is the key and core of the Democrats political success and victory in November.
Chuck and Nancy must make this the core motto of the Democrats campaign, that honesty is good for America.
Be honest and really mean it.
The Trump regime is full of lies and deceptions,
The Democrats must show that they are the opposite,
that they are completely honest.
If a Democrat candidate or incumbent can't answer a question then say so - and be truthful and honest that you don't know,
but that you will come back with the correct answer.
"Honesty is Good for America."
Come on Dems use a catching concept that tells the truth
and is memorable on a bumper sticker.
35
@PropagandandTreason. As a lifelong democrat I despair for the party. The leadership of Pelosi and Schumer is out of date and represents programs, policies and tactics that need to be modernized. Where are the new leaders? The DNC too needs new forward looking leadership.
9
@PropagandandTreason If Honesty is good than the Democrats wouldnt have rigged their primary and obstructed Justice for Hillary Clinton
Calling todays Democrats honest is like calling Don Rickles the Great Complimenter.
If Honesty was good the Democrats would have owned up to their policy flaws that got Trump elected and tried to change instead of trying a political coup with lies dissembling and plotting. The Naivete is just startling.
1
The GOP base has demonstrated slavish masochism in buying Trump's lies about tax cuts and tariffs. They've said as much: they'll kill themselves to help him kill their futures. Precisely what is the "economic message" that Rep. Pelosi wants to convey?
6
In between handing out huge tax cuts to billionaires, Republican congressmen could have found time to exercise their responsibilities for oversight of the President and executive branch.
They didn't. They won't, because they're too terrified of their core voters. It's time to give someone else a chance to do the job they refuse to do.
38
Trump's core voters may terrify Republican congressmen but I suspect Russian connections to NRA funding is also driving a spineless willingness be co-complicit with DJT.
13
At this point, it doesn't matter what the Republicans do now. The Republicans needed to do something much earlier. Instead, they decided to go it alone and ram through legislation that a majority of citizens did not want. They continued to support the corrupt Trump. Republicans, remember this. We are coming for you in 2018, 2020, and 2022. You do not deserve to represent anyone in this country and in fact, you never did. You only represented yourself. I hope that when Democrats come to power, we give large, populous states greater say. Having a minority rule over a majority will eventually destroy our democracy and tear our country apart. This is a preview.
47
@j As for Republicans not representing anyone, there are obviously scores of millions of Americans who would disagree, whether with good reason or not.
As for minority rule, that is the system the Founding Fathers intended and set up. It will not "destroy our democracy" because this isn't, and wasn't meant to be, a democracy. Changing that will require a major rewrite of the Constitution, which is unlikely to happen in the lifetime of any of today's voters.
@j "This is a preview."
Or wishful thinking because we haven't had a landslide victory yet. I vividly remember '16.
I couldn't believe that after about 8 years of bashing "Obamacare" the Republicans had no plan for what to replace it with when Trump won. Now I am wondering if the Democrats have a plan, a definite plan, of action items--not slogans--actual action items and legislation prepared to introduce on those action items, if they are fortunate enough to take control of Congress. So, Democratic leadership, do you have a plan and do you have bill drafts ready to go?
17
@Health Lawyer The only thing that Dems can hope to "accomplish" between 2018 and 2020 if they capture the House is to slow/impede the ongoing destruction to the environment and the country by the Trump/Republican agenda.
The Senate is likely to remain in Republican hands, and Trump will still be president. So any substantive legislation that Dems passed in the House would die in the Senate or be vetoed by Trump.
Even so, just slowing the Trump/Republican agenda is better than the House remaining in Republican hands, and having their agenda unchecked for the next 2 years.
18
@Health Lawyer
So you don’t know what the Democrats stand for? I’ve been one all my life and I can tell you that its core principles have remained the same: equality (gender, ethnic, sexual), a fair economic playing field, respect for the environment, preservation of natural resources, the little guy vs. large corporations (to name a few). People who don’t know this usually don’t pay attention.
24
Nice of the GOP bigwigs to wait until the primary season is practically over to advise their most vulnerable members that it's *now* OK to evince a teeny bit of measured caution over their deranged monster in the White House.
A little late, however, for any barn-door closing. Democrats and Independents already plan to vote against Trump while the majority of Republicans, who really don't care all that much about their president's character, will vote for him. It's the fanatical base that will happily punish one of their own--by staying home on election day--should any GOP candidate fail to enthusiastically embrace their not-yet-indicted Felon-in-Chief. Their thin-skinned president will (also happily) push this election-losing scenario.
11
Republicans Urge Embattled Incumbents to Speak.
Really? Who?
"Senior Republican Party leaders began urging their most imperiled incumbents on Wednesday to speak out about the wrongdoing surrounding President Trump, with Representative Tom Cole, a former House Republican campaign chairman, warning, “Where there’s smoke, and there’s a lot of smoke,...."
Is that it?
Sorry, I wish it were so but I must now call silliness and nonsense generated in the collective wishful thinking of Martin and Fandos.
The rank and file Republicans are just that. All that can be done is vote them out come November.
Good luck Democrats.
14
Honesty is Good for America - as more and more people are deciding to corporate with the Special Counsel and other
prosecutors, as the Trump regime begins to implode.
The tipping point is here.
The White House is so silent - are they plotting to have a mass
resignation?
13
What goes around comes around. The KGB asset child bully got away with many crimes before heading to the White House. The despecable senator candidate from West Virginia joined the chant yesterday “lock her up” during con man’s rally yesterday. It is an irony- is itn’t it? Flynn did the same as the senator candidate during con man’s nomination. Now he is going to land in prison. The same is going to happen to con man, his cronies and corrupt family members. The swamp is going to get what they deserve. “Lock them up”- time for the swamp to go where they belong.
26
The Democrats have no-one to compete with President Trump. All they have is outrage, hysteria, disbelief and childish name calling. Republicans are sick and tired of their lynch mob attitude.
3
@John Murray ‘Outrage, hysteria, disbelief and childish name calling.’ That succinctly describes Trump’s response to any and every fact, opinion, investigation, and judicial or legislative action that dares to question, restrict, or impose penalties for the words and actions of Trump and those in his entourage.
I'll grant you one thing: the Democrats have no one to compete with President Trump. Indeed, neither party, throughout American history, has ever been associated with a public figure as venal, amoral and destructive of our democratic institutions as Trump. That’s ‘no contest.’ He’s the grand prize winner.
59
Democrats are sick of GOP criminals.
23
@John Murray, pardon, but you are speaking about Donald Trump right?
5
I have only one question for the cowards in the G.O.P. about putting country ahead of Trump just once in their miserable lives. Just HOW MUCH SMOKE does it take to realize you have a five alarm fire and your house is totally ablaze thanks to the arsonist in the White House? Just how bad does it have to get before remember your first duty is to the people of the U.S.? How many Trump sycophants have to be now heading to prison in total disgrace for the swamp to become unbearable? How many lies and "alternative facts" are you going to swallow before you gag on them? When are you ever going to stand up and be counted for the TRUTH???
47
“‘If asked, I absolutely will talk about it,’ said Senator Jon Tester of Montana, adding that it is not currently a front and center campaign issue.”
What a profile of cowardice. This is like saying that you’d only tell someone about having a sexually transmitted disease if they went out of the way to inquire. Revoltingly dishonest.
24
Democrats can take the House in Nov., hopefully the Senate as well, but then they need a serious house-cleaning themselves. Too much dead skin.
12
Mr. Trump,
Since this is all a 'rigged witch hunt' and Manafort is a 'good man,' you should pardon him. Don't let the timid souls in your administration and congress talk you out of it. What is the point of Presidential Power if you don't use it? Give him a full, and complete pardon for everything!
4
Too little too late. You rode the train this far and now you want us to believe you didn't know the intended destination?
Here's a suggestion to all republicans: Lose!
22
too little, too late? we'll see. by now, the die-hard Trump supporters would be begging him to shoot someone on 5th Avenue just so they can continue to support him to validate his claim.
15
Duncan Hunter bought golf shorts for himself and wrote it off as a charitable contribution to a veterans' organization. Can people like Hunter sink any further? They want to cut Social Security for old people, cut Medicaid for sick people, and they even want to cut Meals on Wheels which give a free hot lunch to about 2 million elderly veterans a day. Yet, they buy stuff they don't need (golf shorts, really?) and write it off their taxes as a charitable donations.
The Republicans say they want to drain the swamp, but they are living in the sewers.
101
No need to read past this tweet. Trump will release all the documents related to the attempted overthrow of our government by our intelligence services. He will do this just days before the midterms.
That should seal the deal.
1
Crazy is as crazy does. Republicans control all three branches of government, and the Russians helped that happen.
8
@Charles in service
Or Trump will resign in a tweet storm.
But nobody takes his tweets seriously. His fans ignore them because they excuse his behavior in favor of his collusion with thumpers and the anti-liberal bigots. The rest of us just chuckle as he digs his own political grave. Dig, Donnie, Dig....
There is a price to pay for arrogance and betrayal.
4
The GOP congress is in denial of a world wide climate change and the severe warnings from Pope Francis if coal and fossil fuels are continued. You harm the environment you are harming humanity are his pleas so what is needed is quick and immediate impeachment proceedings for the biggest crook in the White House Trump. Organized religions voted this man in and they need to be accountable for their sins to humanity. We are in a constitutional crisis now thanks to them.
24
I think the Democrats do not need to be over-zealous in telling voters what to think; in fact I think a lot of voters know what to think about all of this seamy, swampy mess. What the Democrats must do is put up the most reasonable, honorable candidates possible and talk about connecting and caring for their constituents. Even though Trump supporters feel he is a businessman, these people know this is all very dirty business and I sense from the sudden drop of smart-aleck pro-Trump comments that are usually abundant online that his support numbers may soon erode.
38
@E Holland "I sense from the sudden drop of smart-aleck pro-Trump comments that are usually abundant online that his support numbers may soon erode." Either that, or it is Happy Hour in Moscow right now and they'll be back later.
10
The worse part of this deal, is that we are deciding who to vote for, depending on whether they are a crook or not. What ever happened to arguing the issues?
24
@Walter Ingram
Fix the problem at hand first
1
“Anybody who says this is not disturbing is not being honest" - referring to the Helsinki summit?
13
Far too little and late, "covfefe" GOP.
Marketing is no substitute for action. We'll vote for sane candidates—forceful members, not Flake-y ones—who'll finally take down your boss and his crime family, so you all can Spend More Time with yours.
Shelve your hollers and hashtags and stick a fork in your racist party-cult. You're done, and gone.
30
Dear Liberal Democrats: please don't blow it.
32
No, we won’t. Only the corporate candidates like Hillary do that.
3
We may not fully appreciate the peril our republic faces. Facing threat of impeachment the president may try to co- opt the military and police to consolidate his power, not through 2016, not though 2020, not 2024 - but PERMANENTLY. Though it’s tempting to follow the bouncing ball throughout this tumultuous presidency, we should focus on the endgame - which is power by force, not democracy. This is what dictators do and Trump has dictatorial aspirations that his base supports wholeheartedly. Vote in November? Yes, but there is an even bigger game in town - the future of our country as we know it. Alarmist? I don’t think so.
26
@Tiger shark
Yes Trump acts exactly like third world dictators that regularly murder tens of thousands of people.
He doesn't keep secret that he should be President for life or that the American people could grovel before him like North Koreans do for the Kims.
Trump keeps backing himself into a corner by taking positions based on his base instead of tbe rule of law. Every lie he tweets to rile his base digs him further into a legal hole.
If Trump has any plan, it involves being above the law. A constitutional crisis is almost inevitable unless the Republican Party stops trying to save Trump from himself.
5
He started with ICE, the deportation force. Abolish.
3
@McGloin "He doesn't keep secret that he should be President for life"
I check out several right-wing sites (Fox, etc) daily. The number of ppl who post support of him for that is bone chilling!
I think the Democrats are being smart for a number of reasons:
1) They are wise to highlight what they are in favor of and what they want to do for their constituents. Just running against Trump, while it may appeal to their core, is preaching to the choir. That's what Trump's been doing, and it's resulted in historically low approval ratings given the economy.
2) Given that even if the House voted to impeach Trump, the Senate would be unlikely to convict unless Trump were proven to have been sexually abusing Central American refugee infants separated from their parents by his Zero-Tolerance policy--and maybe not even then--running on the promise to impeach Trump might just lead to buyer's remorse that would work against them. Unlike Nixon, no matter what he is proven to have done, Trump is unlikely to step down to avoid impeachment and would boast that not being convicted by the Senate proves his innocence. His supporters would eat that up.
3) What appeals to one constituency won't appeal to another so Democrats are wise to tailor their campaigns to their constituencies. Ocasio-Cortez probably couldn't win in Pennsylvania's 18th district any more than Conor Lamb could win in New York's 14th district.
16
@Maureen Hawkins
Maybe talk of impeachment is premature. Nevertheless, I’d love to see Trump go down in history as one of the few subjected to that humiliation, even if he’s eventually acquitted. It seems that his biggest fear is being a “loser.” Let’s help him realize that fear.
4
Zephyr Teachout has it right: corruption is the biggest threat to democracy. We have our own president to thank for proving that thesis. By the time the Mueller report emerges there will be no question. Hopefully at that point Trump’s minions will wake up.
38
@MsB they are far for sleeping,see for yourself:https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/20/opinions/randolph-county-georgia-voting-r...
It’s important that this man goes down and goes down hard. Not just for the sake of the country and the world. But for the sake of generations to come. A cautionary tale of what happens when power and corruption rub elbows. This atrocity absolutely cannot be repeated.
58
If Democrats want to take back Congress, they need to come up with something like the 1994 "Contract for America."
Corruption in Washington needs to be addressed. Promise to enact congressional term-limits that become effective immediately. If Congressional Representatives know that Washington is only a temporary job, they will have less incentive toward corruption, which is often driven by a desire to stay in Congress. Democrats acknowledging that they are coming to Washington to serve, not accumulate power, would be an inspiring message.
A less-corrupt Washington would also make the average American, most of whom see Washington as something so self-absorbed as to be useless in addressing real problems like a crumbling infrastructure, less likely to be become so frustrated that they'll vote for con-man like Trump again.
We need change. Big change. And as Trump demonstrated, an outsider is often the most effective vehicle for that change.
11
As a Democrat/Progressive I don't need a slogan...what I want is honesty, ethical behaviour and a reasoned approach to real problem solving. I'm interested in the details because I'm an intelligent person and tired of simplistic word salads.
12
@AussieAmerican Medicare for all-a cap on political donation-terminate the jerrymangering-education measures...
3
I have considered the possibility that any wavering Republicans have been threatened with bodily harm to themselves or, much more powerfully, to their families. We are talking here about the far right, organized crime (to which Trump undoubtedly has access), the Russian government and its intelligence agencies, Russian organized crime in Russia, Russian organized crime in America (Brighton Beach, etc.). Not people who follow the rules. I'm not letting the Repubs off the hook. It's their bed, they made it, and they have to either lie in it, as they are doing, or get out of it and stand up, as they are not doing. But I do wonder how it can be that they are so solidly monolithically behind Trump even those who blasted him before the election. Can one really think that Lindsey Graham, for example, is not being blackmailed, after that wonderful and true remark during the campaign that choosing between Trump and Cruz is like choosing between being shot and being poisoned? It's such an inhuman near-100% that it is hard to attribute it entirely to greed, love of office, etc. And why all these retirements? Seriously. Maybe just plain old threats, intimidation and blackmail play a key role.
31
@XXX Trump has no rules; he will do anything to win!
1
@XXX I think it's rather more simple. They (most of them) are complicit, drunk on the power that corruption thrives on, that of breaking taboo, thumbing noses at acceptable norms, flouting protocol, weaponizing the law, lying, cheating, stealing, and getting away with all of it –they are addicted to the high. Impeaching Trump would be a vote against themselves and their self-serving, irresponsible, indecent behavior – I do not think they are ready to give that up.
Regardless of what congressional Republicans say, it's hard to imagine any commitment to a fair hearing of the evidence instead of defending the indefensible with diversion, invective, innuendo and ad hominem attacks. Impeachment is not on the table, and it certainly won't be if they retain control of the House. Trump wanted this election to be about him. Now it is. The choice in November, to the exclusion of any other noise, is whether American voters accept an executive branch controlled by an ongoing criminal enterprise.
13
As Trump made clear from the moment he slithered down his golden escalator, he'll kill the GOP if he feels it's in his interest. Now, it seems that it is. He'll turn the base against the Republican "establishment", insist that he alone is the real Republican, their soldier and their protection against the exploitative elite.
There's a fortune in it for him win or lose because it's all he was after in the first place: branding. It's the narrative that makes him the hero, and Trump's bedrock position on any issue is simple: narrative trumps fact.
The GOP's problem was party over country. Now it's Trump over party. That narrative turns the Republicans from a viable political organization with a philosophy and a role to execute in government into a mere mob seeking to wreck anything in its path.
19
If the President is not able to be charged with a crime while in office, what is the role of a Vice President? When Ronald Reagan was shot he refused to transfer powers to his V.P. during an operation when the President was under general anesthetic. When President Nixon resigned before being impeached, V.P. Ford automatically succeeded President Nixon as President. The history of V.P. accession to President, barring assignation of the President, is inconsistent. Why would Nixon resign if he thought he could not be charged? Is impeachment for cause substantially different from a felony? Watergate involved a break-in of the Democratic HQ, a felony that implicated President Nixon. Finally, why wasn’t Nixon charged with being an assesssory to Watergate break-in after he left office?
1
@Bob Aceti- because he was pardoned by Ford.
1
It’s long past time for Trump’s departure or severe restriction of his influence and power. To those who speak up - remember, we’ll be reading and listening. To those who keep silent - we’ll note that too. Just keep in mind the elections are coming. Choose carefully!
13
With gerrymandering and the stupidity of many voters we are doomed to Trump until the end of days. Congress is inept and unable to lead in a bipartisan manner.
9
The Republican Congress will not talk out against Trump and the white supremacist White House, because the GOP historically
has always been racist in its ideology, and has fought against
the Civil Rights Movement, and the laws that were made to protect African Americans, Women's Rights, and the beginning
of Gay Liberation, and all other minority groups.
The GOP is a dividing political force in American society.
42
Ghost of an election past ... "It's the economy stupid". Good luck with that Dems. As far as his affairs Clinton has made politicians impervious to any bad feedback.
The party’s over, let’s call it a day.....
3
Try to imagine what the Trump Presidential Library might look like one day. It won't have any books, for starters - he doesn't read them, and other than ghost-written trash like 'The Art of the Deal,' he's not a writer.
The rest - the bankruptcies, payoffs, porn stars, felons and their felonies, cabinet members who resigned or were fired in disgrace, lunatic tweets, Hollywood Access tapes, insults, chants of 'lock her up' and 'build the wall,' 'I'll bring back torture,' and 'I'd like to punch that guy right in the face'...
The Howard Stern interviews, 'I like heroes who weren't captured,' the puerile bullying and vicious nicknames, the demented attacks on judges, his own Attorney General, the judicial process itself...
Cabinet members and their mountain of conflicts of interest, a dash of insider trading; pervasive corruption among Republican legislators, 'alternative facts' and 'truth isn't truth,' the ludicrous claim that 'millions of fraudulent votes' were cast in 2016, 'good people on both sides,' immigrant children in cages, roving bands of armed ICE agents...
The abysmal Helsinki performance and the ludicrous 'clarification' that followed, the thousands of well-documented, outright misstatements of verifiable facts and outright lies, the 'enemy of the people,' kudos for brutal dictators and Alex Jones, back of the hand for allies...
Trump's Greatest Hits.
Well now, you couldn't take Miss Jones' second grade class on a field trip to the Trump Library, could you?
118
@chambolle Excellent synopsis of the sins of the Trump administration, thank you
7
@chambolle
Don't forget his observation how he would like to pursue his own daughter.
2
Talk is cheap, GOP politicians. Impeach him and then we’ll consider whether to take you seriously again.
35
Even now there are people who are supporting Trump. These trumpies will always support him.
After Trump's orders, children were put in cages, his followers said it was like summer camp for these kids. If these children are killed because of Trump's policies, the trumpies will say,"Look these children are in heaven now. They are better off now, thanks to our president."
32
Why is the Congress afraid of #45? I realize in most cases they are really frightened of big mouth. Congress please find your backbone and do the work you have been sent to Washington by the people of our Republic to do. Help!!
27
it's beyond belief what these people take advantage of. $3,000 at In and Out Burgers.
8
To their credit there are a few Republican never-Trumpers out there ... but as far as I know none of them are running for reelection.
To the rest of the Republican toadies and Quislings -- too late.
24
Remember when the GOP won the majority in the House and Senate and Paul Ryan made a statement saying that now that they had control they still were new to governing and it may take a little time for them to find their footing? Well they sure got lying and corruption down fast, didn't they?
70
@susan
polls are starting to show that integrity in government is a hoit button issue this fall
Should work well for trump, Duncan Hunter thief Congressman and crooked Chris Collins
yep take that GOP
4
House doesn’t flip to the Dems unless there are no left leaning third party candidates. Anywhere. Left leaning 3rd party candidates make the Dems lose. Every Time. No Green Party. No Jill Stein. No Ralph Nader. And no staying home and pouting because your favorite guy or gal didn’t get the nomination. All Dems must vote, and must vote all for the same candidate in whatever district or state to win. It’s math.
96
@jkk No one "makes" the Dems lose except the Dems themselves, the 2016 presidential election being the perfect example. If you won't accept that responsibility, you might as well stay home and pout in November.
4
@jkk So true It's what I've been saying.
1
I agree with the article and comments. I believe the best issue is to fix all the election problems: gerrymandering, corporate finance, electoral college, etc. Everyone would jump on board.
23
@steveinstl Right. Can you get that done by Labor Day, please?
4
Good Christ, can you imagine a President Hillary Clinton lasting past Jan. 21, 2017 with even one of Donald Trump's "issues"? Even Paul Ryan would be joining the snivelling Trey Gowdy in dragging her before the bar. The hypocrisy is nauseating at best.
Every congressman who is on the record covering for this scandalously compromised and amateurish president needs to be shown the door. That way at least we would get some fresh water in the swamp instead of the noxious soup that sits there now. VOTE down the representatives of the shoulder-shrugging portion of our country who still stand behind this petulant child. VOTE in some adults who can look one another in the eye and say "No one is above the law" and "I represent the best of our country, not the worst".
158
The GOP, and its radical right, nominated and put the trait or in the White House, with the help of the Russians, they deserve to be not only kicked out of office, but to stand with Trump as they end up in federal prison. We read all the time about corruption in China, North Korea and Russia, mainly because of the political party in control. Guess what? the GOP is as corrupt as these other political parties. As are a number of "conservative" parties in Europe and Australia. The same agenda, lower taxes, wage disparity, greed, corruption, lust fro power, and leaders who use fear, lies and attack ethic groups, immigrants and religions to rally the worse in society to their cause.
The GOP deserves what they get, for allowing this nightmare of Trump to get as far as it has. Voters better decide if they want to save the republic (vote against the GOP, its agenda and Trump )or to vote for its downfall. Never, in recent history has a mid term election have become so important.
59
Too late. The GOP is corrupted absolutely and completely. Get rid of them.
77
It's not complicated to understand why the republican congress is complicit with Trump. They should clearly object to the obnoxious things he is doing.Obviously, they are afraid of him and his base of voters.The chances are that he or she in congress will lose their next election if they disagree openly with Trump. The Trump base will not REELECT them and there is a cure for this true weakness in our election system. The cure is to Remove the possibility of all Reelections!
The answer is --one single term limit of four years for senators and house members. Congress should not be a lifetime career!. A patriot contributes his work to congress for four years then returns back home. Currently, members of congress spend more time raising money for their reelection than they spend in doing the real and creative work of congress.
Congress is working for us only 1/2 of the time. The cure is simple. REMOVE the REELECTION process and we'll be on the road to recovery.The objectors say that members of house and senate must have many years of experience however some of the "old guard" are the worst members and many "new faces" are the most dynamic.Also,our industries continue to have new leaders and they seem to grow and prosper.In the end,the "need" to be reelected reduces the incentive to make the fair,decent and correct vote. Complicit Republicans in congress fear their reelection prospects and the cure is to serve a single term adjusted to four years in both chambers .A Term Limit!
20
@M.W. Endres That would violate 1A.
@rc05689 Thanks and you are probably right but i don't worship the constitution. It's old and outdated and it made citizens united ok along with guns and other negatives for today's world.Perspective means to view things in their relative importance today--not yesterday. M.W. Endres
In my 45 years in the USA and as a citizen, I have never seen such a polarizing situation. Wow. Seriously. I would have thought these things happen in banana republics. In fact. We have become just that. Because the Republicans don’t have a spine.
I think Americans are better than this. We are an amazing country. Let’s not forget that and we the people have to stand up to this megalomaniac and seriously dangerous president. He is not my president. Never will be.
For my grandchildren’s sake. I hope for a brighter and better future. Only if we all go out and vote in November.
Thank you.
70
Unfortunately we all needed to go out and vote in the primaries because by the time you get to November the far right will have rejected any decent or moderate republican candidates. And we need decent Republicans, and I think there are some out there. If you live in a deeply red state go register as a Republican before the 2020 election and cast your primary vote for the least objectionable Republican candidate. You will have helped make the eventual outcome less gruesome and you can always vote Democratic in the general election if you want.
4
“Anybody who says this is not disturbing is not being honest,” said Mr. Cole, an Oklahoman and the former head of the National Republican Congressional Committee, adding, “so my advice to any candidate would be: Keep your powder dry and don’t rush to attack or defend anybody because you just don’t know enough to have a reaction that you can still defend three months from now.”
There's a real profile of courage. If ever there were a shining example of expediency triumphing over justice, this is it.
46
@David Paul
Huh? Expediency? Nope, justice. Justice with Cohen, Manafort, Gates, etc., and soon this guy in San Diego who flies his rabbit around on the Congressman's vacation on the taxpayer's dime. I suppose that is somewhat better than spending it on sex workers? However, it's still theft, Big Theft along with lying, more grifter behavior. Geez.
I was especially rocked by the charges concerning his wife who creatively suggested lying over and over that she and her husband cover up the spending of taxpayer's dollars on flying herself, her family, and friends around often times by presenting themselves as giving the money to charity when they really spent it on themselves.
That's just flat out thieving. What an immoral Congressman and family. All of them.
Greed. Corruption. Expediency my foot.
If I were a republican, I'd be distinguishing myself from Trump and all the slimy, slithery, gruesome swamp dwellers PDQ.
4
I suppose its old and quaint, but I remember when people decided what to say based on what was right. Not Republican politicians, I guess.
36
With the DNC in disarray, and the GOP in disarrayed control, nothing will change. Trump is in control, sadly but most probably for 2 terms.
6
Trump has done everything in his power to make sure the news centres on him, alone. DJT is firmly in control of all the ‘corrupt’ media. The upshot is, nobody knows who is a viable alternative to DJT. If people could just get over being outraged for a second, they could field (and hopefully vet) some alternatives. DJT is showing his mastery of politics. He is a shoe-in for a second term.
Meanwhile, nobody has any criticism of the Republican Party’s ability to vet candidates? Trump should never have been a serious contender. Something is seriously wrong with either the Republican Party, or else the entire democratic process. It is being manipulated by bad actors, and people are powerless to correct the situation.
4
I think it was H.L. Mencken who said it best. "No one in this world, so far as I know ... has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people."
8
@Bill O'Donnell: no!! You live in the USA not Bangladesh. Last time I checked you have a right to walk around the Capitol with others until the jerks in there are thrown out for good. If you just sit down in your comfy chair after writing your comment and wonder why things got to the point they got in this country, think again.
9
If I were a Democrat seeking office, I'd run hard on healthcare. Most voters want a single-payer "Medicare for all" system and I suspect most businesses want healthcare disconnected from employment.
55
@View from the hill Where on earth do you get the idea that "Most voters want a single-payer 'Medicare for all' system"? If you were a Democrat seeking office in all but a small number of congressional districts - places where Democrats will probably win in any case - you'd be well-advised to run hard on something else.
3
You would think the business community would welcome a single payer government health insurance to absorb the costs and increase their profit margin. They were always quick to say how expensive it was to offer the ACA.
But the business community needs to offer the blue chip prospective employee a health insurance package that will woo him away from the competition.
But you make a very good point. I never understood why business didn’t embrace government health insurance.
11
@Carl Yaffe Yes most people do want Medicare for all it would be much cheaper for the people.But the corrupt Dems and GOP ignore the polls which routinely say this, because they are paid by big corporations and insurance groups not to vote for Universal care, it would cut into THEIR profits, never mind about having longer life expectancy and better health care for us lowly regular people, we do not give the politicians gobs of money do we? So what we want does not count a bit. You have fallen for the elites' propaganda. As if we the little people do not deserve what 11 other countries have. A pox on a corrupt congress!
The president's fate is already secure with this Congress. He continues to serve himself and his cronies scott free. Another congress might hold him to stricter account, but who knows what that next Congress will look like?
13
Trump’s secret is to monopolize all of the press coverage all of the time, by whatever cockamamie story is necessary, so that no other candidate ever gets any coverage whatsoever.
No American has any idea who can be an effective alternative.
Trump is shutting out every other person, constantly.
DJT will easily win a second term - no sweat at all.
1
@Grunchy: Trump’s strength to monopolize the press will also be the weakness leading to his downfall. Trump has nowhere to hide...
I hope that the Democrats win both the House and the Senate but I am not hoping for Trump’s impeachment, I don’t want him to call himself martyr.
Bring on the elections.
17
If his fate rests with Congress he is home free. Nothing to fear.
4
I was hitchhiking from California to Alaska the summer that the Watergate scandal broke. I got in a lot of cars and trucks with people of diverse political persuasions and diverse backgrounds - from Berkeley college professors to working class fishermen in Alaska. Lots of different views. But once it became clear that Nixon broke the law and lied, the Republicans turned on the president in favor of the principle of the rule of law and so did average Americans.
What have we come to today?? Now we have hard evidence that a presidential candidate slept with a porn star, paid her off to stay silent, lied, and committed campaign finance felonies to sway an election and all we get is a shrug from republicans and chants of “Lock HER up” from the base?
Heaven help us all.
I still have strong hope that American voters will do tge right thing in November. This is a government of the people, by the people and for the people. Get busy, people and do the right thing!
164
There is no alternative to Trump - DJT commands every available second of news reporting, endlessly.
Nobody has any idea who could be an alternative, that’s why DJT will easily win his second term.
Then he will really go for America’s jugular.
2
@Alice In Wonderland: there is no heaven or hell. Let’s all wake up and take matters into our hands. Walk around the Capito until it falls. The guys in there will make the villains in the Bible look like saints.
4
@Alice In Wonderland
Sweet times.
But we should not forget that even as Nixon stood waving goodbye on the steps of Marine One he still had a 20+ % approval rating within his base.
We don't need them. We didn't need them in '74 and we don't need them now. Let them go down with the ship.
Lindsay Graham suggests campaign finance violations are no big deal and the President can’t be held to account. Then what’s the point of having campaign finance laws? What’s the incentive to obey them if a sitting president can’t be charged with violating them? This is absurd. And we all know that if a Democrat did what Cohen claims Trump did, the Republicans would never let it go.
35
@Galfrido
I don't think we really have to pay much attention to Lindsay Graham any more. He seems to have lost his way.
I think somebody's got something on him. Never saw a congressperson change so completely. Golf with trump? Unbelievable.
1
Can someone explain to me how trump is able to have all these rallies at the taxpayers expense? What government business is being accomplished at them?
66
@JR, wealthy republicans like Sheldon addelson is finding him
4
Vote. That is the power in our hands now. The legal gears are in motion. Let them run the course.
But vote. That is our direct power now.
29
Incredibly disappointed in Lindsay Graham. I always thought he would rise above partisanship (as he’s done in the past.)
But his defensive statement about how this investigation began with Russia and has come to campaign finance reform violations, reminds me of how Kenneth Starr began his investigation about Whitewater.
Graham was on the impeachment committee.
26
Graham got “golf coursed” Trump has something on him. His tune changed the day after the little golf outing.
2
If the Democrats win the House and then impeach Trump it would be about the stupidest thing ever for them to do. They would need 66 senators to vote for a conviction in a Senate trial that would take place after a House vote for impeachment. There ain't going to be 66 Democrats in the US Senate - probably ever! So if they impeach trump, he cannot be convicted with Republicans controlling the Senate or even if Republicans lose the Senate. All an impeachment will do is hurt them.
4
And if for some reason they did get the votes in the Senate we would be stuck with potentially 10 more years of Pence who is truly scary policy-wise. Better to vote to censure Trump when he misbehaves and do everything possible to make him lose in 2020. Or hope that faced with a Democratic House Trump will anger his base by striking some reasonable policy “deals”.
1
Trump's fate rests with Congress, which is exactly why it's important to vote Democrat in the midterms. The GOP congress has already shown it will lay down for Trump. We need the THREE branches of government to do what they're supposed to do: be checks and balances.
42
I've heard too many Republican representatives and their base say that they don't like Mr. Trump's tweets, comments and behaviors but they like his policies. What? You don't like that he's a bully, is an enemy of women's independence, likes to pay for sex while he's married, and is a poor example of leadership for our children, but you like that he separates children from their parents when they are escaping existential situations in their country, you like he has increased the national debt to astronomical numbers, you like that his rolling back of EPA standards will harm our children and grandchildren, and giving tax relief to the billionaires, you like that his best friends are dictators/autocrats, you like that you will pay more for everything due to his tariffs? And this after he is implicated in fixing his election with the help of payoffs and Russian hackers? Who are you? Certainly not anyone who believes in Democracy and the United States of America! God help us all!
105
Nobody can name an alternative to DJT, and All of the media is consumed reporting on him.
DJT will easily win his second term, watch and see. Zero newsworthy competition!
1
@Elaine- the people who say that don't know what they are saying. they don't read a paper, they don't know what Trump's policies are, these people are ignorant and have no understanding of the implications that any of Trump's policies or politics will have on their lives or this country. They follow one or two sound bites they hear from Fox or even just the six o clock news and repeat it after it's been vetted by Joe blow from work or from the local bar and, bang, that's their political position. It's sad but true.
9
An excellent comment, Elaine.
4
About all this ''collection'' today says is that were Hillary Clinton to actually have her case go to a federal grand jury -
- which assumes a much more patriotic and active Attorney General than the one we are presently stuck with -
- she would likely be convicted fairly early by the average jury.
All the rest is baically a set of prayers, wishin', and hopin' by partisans.
2
@L'osservatore
Huh? What on earth are you talking about?
11
@L'Osservatore: 'Denial' is not a river in Egypt. And you're apparently living in it. Bigly. By the way, how's the weather there in Moscow?
12
@L'osservatore: Who is Hillary Clinton? And isn’t the current AG a Republican Trump appointee?
6
No half decent parliamentary democracy would countenance your so-called presidents’s behaviour. Any prime or other minister acting as he has would have been removed from office long ago without need of impeachment or whatever. It turns out that the much vaunted US constitution was founded on the assumption that Americans would never elect an utterly venal man to their highest office: an assumption now shown to be as unreliable as the underpinnings of Italian highway infrastructure.
57
So how will this all end. It is actually very simple. Democrats win the House in November. The president makes a deal with Mueller and Pence. He resigns and he and his family members, including his friends get full pardons. Manafort gets his sentence commuted. Trump retires to Mar-a-Lago. Pence runs in 2020 and loses. The Democrats elect a Jimmy Carter type goody-two-shoes who is ineffective and boring. Another Republican is elected in 2024. You heard it here folks.
3
@john betancourt:
Such a soothsayer. . .
1
Or...in 2020 Democrats take the House and Senate, elect another FDR as president, pack the Supreme Court with 4 liberal justices, enact single payer health care, and save the world from a climate catastrophe. You heard it here first.
32
@Susan The next Pulitzer Prize for Fiction!
The presidency is being protected by the Republicans in Congress - they seem to be colluding with a Trump regime that is attacking and destroying American democracy from inside,
like the enemy within.
America needs a new and young Democrat Congress that will
investigate every detail that the Trump regime has been destroying, and by investigating and holding Congressional
Committee hearings and legally force all those who have been
hurting and harming the American people to attend and be accountable and receive appropriate legal sanctions.
Make America Great Again = fire the GOP.
22
It all boils down to whether the Democrats have enough votes to impeach. They can make up whatever reason they like. The same goes for the Republicans. If they have the votes, it’s over. The Republicans have the advantage right now because they have set up a high goal post—Russian collusion. Anything short of that won’t fly. Of course, if it does rise to that level they’ll be in the same position the Democrats are in now having to come up with some plausible reason for their votes against impeachment. The media only add fuel to the flame because they are just as partisan as the politicians.
@Ed You are not correct. Impeachment is easy, assuming a greater than 50% margin the House. Impeachment doesn't mean "it's over". Conviction is, sadly, another story and to dream that 2/3 of any likely Senate will vote to convict is a pipe dream.
3
Perhaps it’s been said already because I haven’t read thru the comments but the title of this article is all wrong. It should have been The American people’s fate rests with Congress. The congressional hordes have proven time and time again that most are suffering from Lubners disease. Look it up. Their major concern is and has been re-election. It’s time they stand up for their constituents and not their own self interest. Impeachment is not a reality people. Voting your conscience on issues that matter are. Grow up congress or stay home !
7
On impeachment, the Dems should follow Napoleon's advice: 'never interfere when your enemy is busy destroying himself.'
37
The Koch brothers and other Robber Barons must have paid their republican operatives well. Even now they are trying to make yesterday's events seem unimportant.
Sorry, boys and girls. You can fool some of the people some of the time but your Time's UP.
WE THE PEOPLE - the majority of Americans - know exactly what is going on and WE will do anything necessary - including putting you all under citizen's arrest - to keep you from destroying OUR United States of America.
35
McConnell and Ryan, step up to the plate and do your duties, or be prepared to go away, far far away where you belong. You work for the American people, not that derelict Donald Trump. You've been warned. Enough is enough.
29
@Doremus Jessup I regretfully disagree with your statement that McConnell and Ryan "work for the American people." Both work for themselves; everyone else and the country be damned. Neither McConnell nor Ryan has the intestinal fortitude that would lead them to do anything that could be interpreted as criticizing the leader of their party. Malfeasance, ethical violations, gross immorality, lying, and even treasonous behavior are acceptable behavior when Trump is the leader of the Republican party.
3
Oh, come on. As long as it remains clear that the President is anti immigrant, anti black, anti brown and pro Jesus of the Rich, he is entirely secure. We are, statistically, a nation of bigots and until the demographics change, as they shall, we will remain so.
12
The best way for Republicans to lose is to turn on the president.
The Founding Fathers never intended for the head of US government to wield so much powers similar to the European monarchs that they despised. Hence the three branches of government. Additionally, they created the term "president", which was a new title never before used to describe the leader of a country.
"President" was then a lowly term deliberately chosen to indicate the role of simply supervising the affairs of the nation, but not to act as an overlord. Over the decades, the president has come to wield unprecedented powers never intended by the founding fathers. In fact all three branches of government are completely out of control, each establishing for itself a hegemony in perpetuity, holding the American people hostage.
Unfortunately this will continue, until such a time that the American people decide they've had enough, and hold a binding referendum to create term limits in Congress, the federal judiciary, the Supreme Court, curb presidential powers, and allow the ability to indict a sitting president for high crimes.
14
@Merlin But Trump is not just the President, he's the Emperor. If you don't think so, ask him. He's in charge of the U.S., the U.K., Western Europe and parts of Asia. And he has Vladimir Putin's permission to say so.
2
There is only ONE body that can make laws and that is CONGRESS. The result is the FCR.
"repeated that Justice Department regulations "..
which are WRITTEN where and can the DOJ really REGULATE the EXECUTIVE BRANCH? Other places it is stated AS POLICY--policy is NOT LAW. The Constitution is the other place which regulates the government and in no place therein does it specifically say, that the president cannot be INDICTED for serious crimes and misdemeanors and TREASON.
Could we please see the CODE paragraph.
4
We should figure up Nixon and apologize.
2
I used to believe that our tripartite system of government protected us from the widespread incompetence, cronyism, nepotism, and outright criminal behavior that has befallen us now. Unfortunately even our wise Framers failed to anticipate a circumstance in which all three branches of government were playing on the same corrupt team.
23
The founding fathers designed a document that was meant for property-owning white men. They created the Electoral College because they didn't trust the Democratic will of the people. Nevertheless the Constitution has worked pretty well until now because despite the shifting winds of history and changes in popular will, there has been a core group of leaders among us who believed in the rule of law overall and the possibility of growth towards liberty and justice for all. As we see now, all it takes for this structure to fall down is for a relatively small group of power hungry oligarchs with no ethical center to ride roughshod over the rest of us, claiming all the while that they Are doing it to protect 'the people. '
16
Mollie Tibbetts will have a greater influence on the midterm elections than Manafort and Cohen combined.
Regardless of what you may wish to believe, illegal immigration is a much more important issue in this country than hush money or possible campaign finance violations.
4
@LarryGr
They are issues of equal importance.
1
Trump's support is set in cement no matter what he does, but you truly believe that one more murder is going to change anybody's mind about immigration? Just more evidence that Trump supporters fail at basic critical analysis. Watch the polls this week and see if there is any evidence of movement. Trump may or not go down. He certainly won't rise.
1
Sad and tragic as Molly’s murder is (and it is heartbreaking), we as a nation need to have faith in our elected officials.
I’m sure this horrific murder will be a part of Trump’s rallies to make his point about “the Wall.”
But there is also another debate: our trust in our elected officials, especially President, to do what is best for and benefits our nation as a whole.
We cannot ignore the lying, misdirection, and slandering coming from this man and his office.
13
The GOP must accept that Trump is going through a dying
presidency - and if they don't distance them selves from
this political decay, then they will also become tainted
with decline and fall of a political party.
The Midtern elections will change the very foundations of the
political establishment, and bring in a new and fresh feel
to politics and honesty in politics.
The Democrats must begin to be really honest with the people
and voters in America - and this begins with starting
a political discussion about corruption, crime in the White House, lack of a functioning Congress, Impeachment,
and most of the issues that they are trying not to talk about,
because they believe that the GOP base will become activated.
This is a propaganda spin by the GOP to stop the Democrats from discussing the Impeachment of Trump.
Talking about Impeachment will motivate the base of the Democrats and since over 75% of the population rejects Trump's racist and sexist bigotry and prejudices, then by
putting Impeachment at the forefront of the campaign will be a winner.
Chuck and Nancy are living in a different political era,
the Democrats really need new young and strong Democrats that are willing to fight for the people and their policies
to Make America More Equal. (MA-ME).
18
The question I have for the minority who still support Trump is do you think Trump sets a good example of the type of person that you would want your children to be like?
15
@Joseph B No, but neither did Bill Clinton.
1
And Bill Clinton got impeached...
1
@Richard
Bill Clinton is a saint compared to #45.
Tuesday should be a messages to Republican congresspeople to search deep in the back of their closets and find those spines and moral centers that they stashed way back in the deep recesses in the months after November 2016. Even if the R's won't impeach Trump (even though Pence will be delighted to carry out every one of their policy objectives) if enough R's who aren't lame ducks were to stand up and publicly and privately refuse to tolerate Trump's behavior any further, we might be able to get through this period without Trump completely destroying the office of President and the whole executive branch. Wimpy tut-tut's which they express now are just more encouragement to Trump to continue with the destruction.
10
I can't abide the sound of Donald Trump's voice so I mute him when he speaks and turn on the closed captioning. Last night Trump was on a roll. His narrative compelling enough to scare me. Fox News fixated on Trump's rally so as to ignore Cohen and Manafort's bad day in court. Trump is riding a big red wave.
The question is will that red wave toss Republicans on the rocks.
9
@Emma Jane We can hope so!
1
Here’s the view of a centrist (registered Democrat).
I didn’t vote for Trump and I won’t in the next election unless the Dems pick someone even more awful.
I don’t care about Manafort because his crimes had nothing to do with Trump.
And if Trump paying hush money is a campaign violation, every candidate whoever ran for high office is guilty of similar behavior.
And for those of you already counting on impeachment, remember it takes two-thirds vote in both houses to remove a president from office. Never happened. It won’t now.
4
@Steven Roth Impeachment is a high bar to reach. However, "unfit to serve" is not that high. Trump was unfit to serve when he was shoved into the WH by a corrupted Electoral College gerrymandered vote. He lost the popular vote by 3M+ votes. He did not have a majority; he was not given a mandate to bring in his business cronies to run important government Agencies: Zinke trying to sell public lands to private businesses? Zinke does not own those lands; he does not have the authority to put them up for sale. What did Zinke's trip to Israel have to do with national defense? If I could bring someone back from the dead, it would be Teddy Roosevelt who left the country a priceless legacy in public parks, open to all, including tourists.
6
It is a continuing insult to justice to claim that a POTUS can’t be indicted. It’s past time to settle this by giving it a go.
27
The November mid-terms are a referendum on the President of the United States,who is a criminal, according to his personal lawyer ( who would know), and on the Republican Party, which is just as corrupt since it protects him, obviously for their own dishonest gain. Venality runs rampant within the Republican swamp. We now know.
14
The fact that Cohen pleading guilty to violating campaign finance laws by paying money that was meant for the purpose of a candidate winning an election does not mean that doing so is an actual violation of campaign finance laws. And this is because the law uses the term campaign contribution, which in its plain language means contributing money to the coffers of a campaign.
In addition there is the legal requirement of mens rea, meaning the intent to commit the crime. So if Trump did not think spending money for the purpose of being able to get elected constituted a campaign contribution he is also not guilty of a crime. And this is especially relevant in regard to an impeachable offense, which are based on crimes that reflect on the person's character and not on a misunderstanding of the law.
The fact that Cohen decided to plead guilty to committing a crime by doing what he did was because he was eager to plead guilty to attain a plea bargain, not because he held it constituted a crime.
In addition Trump can argue that Cohen was lying in that Trump used the words "for the purpose of me being able to get elected", and the fact is that it would be strange for Trump to need to explain why he wanted those women paid off. He can say he would have made the payments in any case because since he was running for president these women would have a reason to forward with their stories, and that he wanted to protect himself from his wife and his general reputation.
2
@Michael Stavsen I doubt the “stable genius” was unaware that the payoffs would further his Presidential ambition.
Remember please that the payoffs were screened by the National Enquirer and a straw corpoation. If it were a simple payoff, why the subterfuge?
He obviously wished to hide his sybaritic behavior from the voters.
13
I've been to a swamp. Swamps are beautiful, vibrant living places teeming with gorgeous flora and fauna. Trump's WH is filled with miserable, greedy, self-dealing grifters and various incompetents. I'd rather spend a year in a real swamp than a minute surrounded by these sorry excuses for sentient beings.
33
I think the framers intended that articles of impeachment would not substitute for criminal charges and conviction of impeachable offenses would not result in criminal punishment. The penalty would be limited to removal from office.
Nothing in that language precludes prosecuting a sitting president criminally before or after he is impeached.
Impeachment is a political action undertaken by the legislative branch of government. It can not and should not be seen as a substitute or alternative to criminal prosecution.
Is it not possible for a President to be charged criminally but for the Congress to refuse to impeach? Shouldn't the wheels of justice still turn to remove scoundrels from office?
8
@Tom Sadly, I doubt that in the Framers' worst nightmares they ever considered a person like Trump being elected. On the other hand, bad cases make for bad laws (as the lawyers say), and we must be careful not to go overboard in changing a system of government that worked for more than two centuries. Our problems today are not the fault of the Framers; it's the fault of the people who voted for Trump and those who would have voted for someone else, but stayed home on election day, 2016. Let's not repeat that mistake.
1
OMG. The Constitutional future of the USA rests with the integrity of the current GOP in Congress, many of whom are most likely complicit in this crime. If you ever wondered why Rome fell, look to today.
43
The only thing this Republican Congress has done is give more tax breaks to the wealthy and corporate tax cheats. Can any reasonable person expect them to deal with trump, after all they created him. He is their Rosemary's Baby, their Damien. They are as afraid of him as the rest of us are.
17
There is far more at stake than a Presidency. Lose the rage. This has been coming for a long time predating the current President. Look big picture people...begging you
6
Back in the late 90’s when Clinton was having sex with an intern at the Oval Office, the GOP and red clamored to have him removed from office. Clinton was super popular with blue, the economy was doing great, people rallied around their president, Gingrich and his cohorts were made to seem the bad guys. Nothing happened.
Now that Trump may or may not (because people are still innocent until proven guilty, last I knew) have committed a crime, the DNC and the blues clamor to have him removed from office. Trump is super popular with red, the economy is doing great, people already are rallying around their president.
Now Blue does not like this repeat of history. Somehow blue believes a ‘blue wave’ is coming, yet outside of your bubble, it is Trump country.
Sorry blue, you have stopped your own blue wave already.
The more blue attacks a popular president, the more the red rally around him, the more they will vote for red candidates. For the regular GOP voting folk, if you attack their friend, you make an enemy of them, and right now you are making a lot of enemies of red voters. You cannot win them over attacking their friend, and shoving Ocasio-Cortez and Nancy Pelosi down their troaths.
Change tactics now or watch the house and senate go a deep shade of red this November.
1
@Shark I agree with everything you stated, except I'd add that Democrats have not provided clear reasons to vote FOR Democratic control. There are a LOT of moderate Republicans looking for that reason.
3
@Shark
Republicans are a minority of the electorate, and have been for eight decades. Trump's approval ratings have never gone past 50% and his disapproval ratings hang above 60%. Amongst Republicans his approval rating is about 90%. He's not a popular President, not even close to enjoying the popularity of Clinton or G.W. amongst the entire electorate. He pleases a solid minority of about 30% of the electorate.
14
@David: reasons to vote for democratic control?
let me try. how about:
- bringing back tones of decency,
- reigning in the national deficit,
- making health care affordable for everyone,
- reestablishing rules to protect the environment,
- taxing tax evaders & money launderers heavily,
- supporting innovative 21st century industries
[instead of dirty outdated coal mines & co.],
i could go on and on and on. and yes,
@shark is right: make sure not to make enemies!
1
This nation is in the hands of Americans and they vote. Goodbye GOP!!
8
@kay Let's hope!
It is amazing how Republicans can grease over anything the POTUS throws at them. They have made such an art of it that it has become normal. I hope they are all voted out of office this November!
24
The Republican response to this swirl of accusations is that Trump’s moral failings are irrelevant as long as his policies are right. It is actually a rational and reasonable response. We don’t elect Presidents to be saints-in-chief. Obama was a highly moral person but at least on the international stage, he was ineffective and misguided. So I would accept the Republican argument if I agreed with Trump’s policies. But I do’t. So far, on the positive side I see that the economy is doing well but it is outweighed by the trade wars, alienation of NATO, loosening of EPA regulations, and appointment of conservative judges. And corruption is not simply a moral flaw but a social cancer. So if the Democrats want to appeal to rational voters, they should stop clutching their pearls about porn stars and start talking about the deficit, the international chaos, and the corruption in Washington.
9
@Mor You started out well but ended on the wrong message. We have big problems that can be fixed by smart people working together under sound leadership: fiscal responsibility is one (includes the deficit), but also immigration, infrastructure, tax reform, health care... things that immediately come to mind and affect everyone. These are not Left or Right issues but problems that have to be solved.
12
@David When all democrats only care about regaining power do not expect them to do the right thing for the country. They are hurting Trumps foreign policy as we write. A country divided this much by politics does nothing for us in foreign countries no matter how hard you try.
A few days ago, we saw the NY Times claim that McGahn's testimony to Mueller was John Dean Redux.
That wasn't true. Cohen's testimony is John Dean Redux.
1
As has been repeated here in this article amid the breathless speculation, hope and hyperbole suggesting that articles of impeachment will be forthcoming, today if not tomorrow, a campaign finance law violation, if one is found in something other than a plea bargain statement, will not lead to one. All the loud rhetoric of the NYT and the many adherents of its overheated rhetoric that it desperately seeks to be labeled 'reporting' will not alter this basic fact. If this is all there is, and after two years it's really doubtful there is more, at least among those of us who accept reality, then even the House's attempt to impeach, should Democrats gains a majority, will not be followed by a conviction in the Senate that requires a two-thirds majority to occur. This is nothing but the same sound and fury we have heard from liberals since HRC lost the election and shattered Democratic dreams that now also include establishing a Socialist Workers Paradise. Ah, the Humanity!
1
@Allen: "Ah ...!"
the ever-looming specter of "socialism".
could you bring yourself to making a distinction
between "socialism" and "social democracy"?
it is indeed the latter we find more appealing!
8
@Allen
Clinton won the popular vote by approx. 3M votes. She lost a gerrymandered Electoral College vote by 77,000 votes. The EC is a remnant from Reconstruction to keep slaveholders in the Union. I pay taxes which support welfare for Southerners who send 19thC men to Congress.
4
Yesterday Michael Cohen claimed that Trump ordered him to buy silence of two women who claim to have had sexual relations with Trump. Forget Congress. I wonder what Melania thinks of this? Or is she just another enabler who is just looking out for herself?
15
@Kanaka
Melania is just a cold hearted user who basically married Trump to be his beard, in return she gets to use his wealth and social contacts to further her own interests, it is the case of a user using a user. No one with half an ounce of self respect would marry someone like Trump, and no one would subject herself to the constant stream of humiliation he brings to himself and those around him. People point to Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton, but there is a difference there, she didn't marry him to 'get ahead', when they married neither was a big deal, and as sleazy as Bill was (and probably is), it is nothing compared to Donald Trump and the reason they stayed together was because they do have a real relationship, if a weird one.
14
@Kanaka: who cares what she thinks. I don’t even thinks she cares what she thinks. Remember that outfit of hears with the slogan?
7
@bill d
Hillary Clinton fought for, and got medical care for First Responders, despite the GOP. She also got benefits for single mothers and their dependents. Bill Clinton left jobs, and a full Treasury, a few years of peace where the MIC couldn't take all discretionary spending. Bush squandered that money on a war for oil, which he didn't even get. He also got us mired down in some strange "Peace Agreements" with war lords which Obama had to contend with. Even so, I would take Bush over the crook in the WH; he might have been incompetent, under the sway of the hawk, Cheney, but he wasn't mean and small. His tax cuts robbed us of needed revenue, and benefited his rich friends. He didn't set out to harm Americans; Cheney did, and had a huge influence over a man who really didn't like being President. He spent most of his time on his ranch. Trump spends his time on private golf courses, demanding two scoops of ice cream.
I realize that you elect a president, separately a congress and then a senate, all with various rights and obligations.
How about not giving any one person so many rights to influence politics by that one person, so he/she can pull the country in ridiculous directions?
You seem to have a top-down method of selecting a leader for your country, where you now have no 'leader', but a senseless thug not controlled by well thought out checks-n-balances.
In Denmark and most European countries we have elections where a parliament is chosen, and that parliament members choose a leader. This more often gives us a leader that is in tune with the population.
At least in smaller countries like Denmark, and it also give higher voting rates of above 80% because people feel they make a difference with their vote.
USA has such an old fashioned way of voting, that seems to not reflect people's opinion as a country.
You could of course make the relation between each state a bit looser, and the power of the federal power a bit weaker, to e.g. resemble the EEC as it were before EU, so that each state is actually more like a country as we have it in Europe and Asia?
Or do more than 50% of you actually think that a collective USA is of the benefit to all citizens?
Just wondering!
14
@Peter Rasmussen
The government was designed a hundred years after Parliament in Great Britain became the key governing body. The concern was that if such a system was created in the new country that the big states would dominate and the small ones would have no say. Thus the strange arrangement in the U.S. The problem in this country is that too few people vote who are not worked up over something so those who turn out have too much voting power. The Republicans are a minority but they vote more often than Democrats or independents and so manage to gain more political power than their proportion of the electorate would be expected to give to them.
7
@Peter Rasmussen Australia too has a parliamentary system where the PM is selected not by the people, but the parliament and has seen 5 soon to be 6 prime ministers changed in recent years.
The American system that allows people to directly vote for the President is better than the parliamentary system, but the US system has other problems like the electoral college that is out of date and unlimited campaign financing without restriction that is corrupting the political system.
9
@Peter Rasmussen
The parliamentary system is also superior in that the leader cannot hide behind a spokesperson. The PM must face their peers every day for the entire nation to see and hear. They cannot hide, nor can they shirk answering questions.
Now imagine Trump facing that every day. He wouldn't last a week.
16
The Republican Congress members are all quietly humming Hail to the Thief under their breath. They know who and what he is, but it serves their needs: power, greed, secrecy & a lockdown of the democratic process.
Gotta wonder how many "witch hunts" and eventual indictments are coming their way. All that political "insider trading" may have led to some foreknowledge of the hacking.
We'll see what Mueller & the courts find out. SP Mueller's mandate is to pursue any & all crimes discovered during the Russia probe.
Your subtitle refers to Republicans standing by DT, but the lyrics of America the Beautiful are "stand by her and guide her". Hmm. Her. We the People should all be humming THAT on our way to the polls to vote them all out!
11
Is our democracy in peril of dissolving into chaos because of POTUS?
His actions are never about American ideals and protecting our heritage. What he touts as demonstration of his leadership has yet to be seen...outright abuse of human beings, marginalizing and dividing diverse and multicultural Americans...doctoring a few numbers here and there,...smoke and mirrors,...voilà.
And when his spokespersons Sarah Sanders and Kelly Ann Conway are asked the very real and pointed questions about the concerns Americans have regarding this administration, and they deflect and patronizingly say, "what Americans really want to talk about..." And begin their spin about the economy and taxes, etc. - I cringe on the inside. No unrealized future, nothing, is worth turning a blind eye to the decimation of our country and culture by DJT who is actively destroying our country from within and without. WE THE PEOPLE have the power to change this nightmare.
8
@Sa Ha
Sanders directs questions to "outside counsel"; who would that be? An elderly former Mayor who was in Brooklyn when the Towers came down? 300 fire fighters died that day, because Giuliani refused to fund their request for radios with bandwidth allowing them to communicate with the NYPD. If they had been given those radios, they would have received the warnings from the NYPD hovering in helicopters outside the Towers, trying to warn them. That is why NYFD sent reps to FL to tell voters there what Giuliani did to them; he did not get the nomination he wanted. Now he is back aligned with a corrupt, incompetent President.
The GOP has benefitted from the fruit of the poisonous tree and will not give up their ill-gotten gains. They would not have won either the presidency or the Senate if it were not for trumps illegal actions and their complicity in covering them up.
At best, once they have gotten their last SCOTUS judge confirmed, they may throw Trump under the bus, and keep what they have stolen.
5
The thing that would surprise me is if the Republicans DID say something. It is not in their interest to do so.
2
I do not see any Republicans in Congress willing to criticize Trump and run for re-election, no matter what Trump has done or will do as long as he cuts taxes, makes government incapable of regulating anything that affects businesses, and fills the courts with right wing judges. He could even ask the Congress to extend his term in office to be indefinite and they would try to amend the Constitution. Trump can use his office to advance his private business interests, he can reward supporters and business associates with government offices, and even indulge in insider trading in securities markets with impunity. There are some in Congress who would even let him share secrets with foreign governments at his own discretion. The man has carte blanche like nobody ever before.
7
The standard bearer of the Republican Party has been implicated in a felonious crime but Republicans continue to be passive and
protective of the president. Oversight of the executive branch has been abandoned and they have become enablers and abettors. They will have to decide very soon whether they are
a political party or a crime family.
14
Ps. Mitch McConnell's voicemail is not longer accepting messages.
9
There is no reason to assume that Republicans given the chance to create endless misery as well keep power will jump ship. And there is no reason to believe Trump's support will waver in any way. This is in many a horrible country. Even as an anarchist/socialist I had some residual feeling that members of congress have some notion of democracy, decency and integrity, circumscribed as it might be. The Democrats remain deeply compromised. The Republicans have entered a state on moral numbness that is what? Something I don't yet have the words for.
3
I like the way the Times headlined this article by saying "the presidency's fate rests with Congress"--instead of "the President's fate..."
"The President's fate" pertains to one person, Donald J. Trump, who has dishonored and demeaned the authority, honor, and role of the office of the "presidency" by turning it into his cult of personality with his often inappropriate authoritarian, bullying style.
The job and responsibility of Congress is to serve as a check and protect the office of the "presidency." It is not to protect an individual acting as President, who is disrespectful to the office and damaging the credibility of the United States with his pathological lying, distain for the law and ethics, and making enemies out of our allies in order to curry favor and carry out the wishes of one of our foremost enemies, Vladimir Putin.
So far, the Republican-dominated Congress has refused to take any responsibility to hold its party's leader accountable and in check in order to protect the Constitution and democratic functioning of this nation.
The GOP's silence says the party supports President Trump's bad behavior and perhaps criminal actions, that are killing this once great country every day that the unfit, destructive Trump plays at occupying the office of the U.S. presidency.
6
@PB
Trump has filled the courts with young right wingers who will protect the rights of the powerful and diminish the role of democracy for four decades. He has sown so much confusion in government and appointed office holders determined to undermine government regulatory operations that no Republican since the gilded age has accomplished. He has cut taxes and forced government go into debt over a trillion dollars and probably doomed Social Security and all health care assistance. He has made addressing climate change extremely difficult. In a word, he may be a scoundrel but he's doing what Republicans want done better than any Republican in a century. That's why he is not being held accountable.
5
The one thing we can thank Trump for is showing the abject hollowness of the Republican Party. Trump seems to have split the party, taking most of the haters and religious fanatics (often the same crowd). That left the Republicans, unwilling to speak against Trump, as merely the handmaidens of the super-rich. Deficit hawks? Fuhgeddaboudit. Free-traders? Fuhgeddaboutit. A sane, if harsh, immigration policy that the corporations need to get a work force? Fuhgeddaboudit.
But they do share destroying the environment and making the planet unlivable, and taking from the poor and giving to the rich.
12
While our legal system works mostly as expected for ordinary citizens, it’s monumental, expensive and taxing on the country to make our presidents accountable for their criminal offenses. For the Office of the presidency, shouldn’t the bar be so low for criminal tolerance, so that we have an honest and the most ethical leader ?. A crime is a crime, whether it meets be threshold of an impeachable offense or not. Moreover, the current president is implicated in crimes committed before he became the president. Shouldn’t he be treated as an ordinary citizen for those crimes?
Right now, we have two different due processes, one for ordinary citizens, and one exclusively for president that drains the entire country. While we confiscate toddlers, who in the hope of life, committing a crime of trespassing into our borders, we are expected to maintain infinite patience for our president’s offenses including those implicated in a crime.
5
The collusion (Putin-Trump-Republican party) continues. Chances are they will fix this election as well as they did the last one.
3
Who are you going to believe, Trump, his legal team, media enablers and political enablers or the steady quiet work of those investigating and prosecuting the mess left behind by Team Trump? There is no doubt about it, President Trump will never be able to bluster his way out of this. Unless we have a "Wag the Dog" moment. I don't think even the likes of Robert DeNiro could clean this up.
Can you imagine that first meeting between Trump and DeNiro?
3
If we are so fortunate to elect a Democratic majority this November, the majority's focus should be on (1) acting as a check on this Executive's excesses (2) policies that reinforce our commitment to helping those who have the least in our society, and (3) initiatives that promote clean energy, budget sanity, multinational approaches to problem solving, and basic research that supports both social and economic ends. Let's focus on the future, folks. Turning immediately and solely to impeachment would be a losing cause and probably lead to both houses in Republican hands come the 2020 election. Prove that Democrats have viable ideals and can govern, even if every single initiative dies in the Senate and results in a veto. Bring forth the ideas!
9
So none of this has anything to do with alleged Russian collusion, hacking or anything else Trump has been accused of. In the absence of that, Mueller and company went oooking for something — anything — to squeeze Trump’s associates, and here we are. Just remember that this will boomerang around the next time a Democrat is in the White House, and from now on presidencies will be crippled by partisan attempts to take them down by whatever means necessary, even if the charges have nothing to do with the stated reason for the investigation.
4
@Steve Jones Bill Clinton, anyone?
4
@Ricky You’re right, and that was wrong too. It was petty, it was partisan, and the Republicans were wrong. Clinton’s mistake was lying about his relationship with Lewinski. If he had just come clean there would have been nothing for the special counsel to nail him on. With Trump, all this stuff is tangential to the allegations of Russian collusion. It’s a case of investigating a person and trying to find a crime vs investigating a specific allegation. That’s an awful precedent. If it is successful, then winning an election doesn’t mean much because the opposing party will do everything possible to find an alleged crime in the newly-elected president’s life and drag the country through an investigation. No one, not even people who hate Trump, honestly believes a campaign finance violation should result in the removal of a president. This is all opportunism.
@Steve Jones
You might change your mind if Trump's tax records are ever released. New York Magazine documented one large loan of 250M to Trump with a money trail back to Russian oligarchs in London. Recently an unmarked plane arrived in FL with 95M for The Trump Organization. Do you think that plane was paid for by the EU? Putin bought a President; he is very satisfied with his purchase.
Let the Republicans in Washington do all they can to skirt
honest conversations about the seriousness of these turning points (i.e. Cohen pleading guilty and the outcome of Manafort's case). That's not where energy should be expended.
Instead, it's time for the Democrats to reach out to those who didn't vote in 2016. Communicate how topsy-turvy this administration is. Remind them that when people like Cohen don't pay taxes, they have to pay more. Encourage them to register to vote. Get them to the polls. whenweallvote.org is the initiative that needs to be embraced.
15
At least two commenters have pointed out that an expense might be a campaign expense even if personal funds are used to pay it.
I accept that, and note the definition of "campaign expense" used in the Duncan Hunter case: an expense is a "campaign expense" if it wouldn't have been paid were the payer not running for election (or re-election).
I've heard that same definition used for Trump's payoffs to the two mistresses, and that definition makes sense to me. But I've also heard that these mistress-payoff expenses were not "campaign expenses" because Trump would have had good reason to make them even if he weren't running for President -- obviously, to prevent his wife from finding out. It's quite clear that a non-campaign expense doesn't become a campaign expense merely because it boosts the payer's candidacy.
4
An interesting aspect of this is that Trump didn’t actually pay Cohen back, one of the Trump “companies” did. So the indictment for campaign finance felonies would be against the company, not “a sitting president”; therefore not prohibited by any real or imagined justice department policies against indicting a president.
1
@MyThreeCents You make some good points, but the timing is the thing. If they were negotiating with the two women only so his wife would not find out, why the rush to get it done before the election? The payments were made at Trump's direction to his fixer Michael Cohen. It doesn't really matter that the funds came from his company. A company that he still controlled. BTW, Melania already knew he was an unfaithful philanderer, hence the separate rooms in the Trump Tower and now the White House.
3
@Joe Parrott wrote:
"If they were negotiating with the two women only so his wife would not find out, why the rush to get it done before the election?"
Joe,
Negotiations with one of the two women (I forget which one) had reportedly been going on since 2011, long before Trump considered running. As I understand the law, a non-campaign expense doesn't become a campaign expense merely because it will make the payer a more attractive candidate. The acid test is whether the payer had a non-campaign reason for making the payment, and Trump did. Melania did find out about both women, true enough, but that didn't happen because Trump told her. As is true of most men like Trump, he tried to hide his philandering from his wife, and he launched that effort several years before he launched his Presidential campaign.
A question for Mr Liptak: Since Congress established the DOJ, is it possible that a Congress controlled by the Democrats could legislate (subject of course to a Presidential veto) to overcome what is merely a DOJ policy to not indict a sitting President? As another reader put it, it makes no sense that committing a felony to win himself the election that then becomes the obstacle to his being charged for the felony!
14
Republicans will pretend that their position of absolute authority and control over every level of government is at risk, however a familiar pattern of races that are simply "too close to call" will always result in a republican winning by a few votes. They may sacrifice a seat or two in order to maintain the appearance of voters having a say, but they will not relinquish their vise like grip on the levers of power.
The rich will continue to dictate how the rest of the country gets to live, and their compliant dogs in the political system ensure that nothing will change.
18
I am stunned to see that those who made promises to defend the constitution and protect and adhere to the rules of law can so easily turn a blind eye to the presidents infractions and abuse of the very same. I don't get it.
60
Between the Cohen and Manafort convictions and everything else nothing will happen. The present crop of Republican officials don't care as long as they get the campaign contributions and lobbyist gifts. If and when the Democrats win they should consider asking the IRS to investigate all these people's tax returns. Also consider having the Republican leadership tried for treason.
17
The Republicans in Senate and House will not put interest of USA and democracy above their narrow partisan interest as long as 90% of the Republicans support Trump. The only way out of this nightmare is to mobilize public to vote, otherwise the current status will continue despite the stunning development yesterday.
14
Our country's fate rests with the American people. We need to show up for the midterm elections on November 6th and let the republican congress know how we feel about letting criminals run OUR country. They put their petty corrupt careers ahead of this country and they deserve to be booted out this next election. Let's make the message loud and clear. Everyone must participate on November 6th.
12
A commenter writes:
"... never, never have I felt ashamed to be an American."
Sorry to hear that you are now. I'm not, but I was when George W. Bush was President and the US invaded Iraq. I took some consolation in the opposition to that war by some members of both major parties, even though most Senators (for example, Hillary Clinton) voted for the war.
4
I am not a Trump supporter. Like the majority of Americans, I voted for Clinton. I consider Trump the worst President in history. While I have a low opinion of Vice President Pence he is far preferable so I want Trump to go. II do not believe that there is anything close to enough evidence to impeach Trump. Yesterday Michael Cohen claimed that Trump ordered him to buy silence of two women who claim to have had sexual relations with Trump. Cohen did so while pleading guilty to tax evasion, lying to a bank and failure to report his actions as campaign contributions. All three involve lying. More than the claims of an admitted liar is required, a lot more.
The special prosecutor was appointed to investigate Russian meddling in the 2016 election, including whether Trump or his campaign were involved. The convictions of Cohen and Manafort do not relate to the true focus of the investigation. We need to wait to see what Mueller finds regarding Russian meddling and Trump’s involvement. Until them talk of impeachment is wishful thinking. While I share the wish more than wishes are required.
10
The Republican political calculus gets more difficult. McConnell, Ryan, and the bulk of their party in Congress held their nose and supported Trump, knowing they were making a deal with the devil. They have stuck with him to get their tax cut, 2 SCOTUS justices (one extra-constitutional), a bunch of other federal judges, a hacked-up health care law, etc. But they had to be thinking that Trump would damage the Republican brand, and he has. It has become the Trump brand, with all the cache that brings.
Now they're deep in the swamp, and the question becomes, at what point do they abandon him to save their own skins, either this year or in 2020? Do they nudge him behind the scenes, actually impeach, or continue to hope for the best. One has to believe this occupies the Republican leadership.
10
@Ken L
Their skins are long past saving. They are taking us to the precipice of all sorts of bad happenstances, far beyond the surreal horrors of this administration that have already occurred, and although I fully understand the negative effect of resentment on one's soul, I cannot imagine forgiving the GOP for their complicity in this ongoing disaster. EVER!
3
The countries fate is in the hands of Congress.
This Congress has proven it will do nothing to remove Trump.
We must vote out the Republicans.
It's really that simple.
41
"With Cohen Implicating Trump, a Presidency’s Fate Rests With Congress"
Yeah, about that. Congress. OK.... well, we've see what this current Congress is capable of ignoring already, so I'm not holding any high hopes of honor, integrity, and statesmanship suddenly surfacing after being notably absent amongst the majority party in the House and Senate.
I'll check again after November.
16
Can this really be happening? The President is implicated, by a man under oath, in the commission of two felonies, and the Senate is not even going to open an investigation? WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO OUR COUNTRY?
63
We need to see what us in Mueller's report.
1
I don’t think there is a blue wave coming. It is possible that it is purple (blue a little but largely red and purple: GOP-lte dems) coming back.
But let’s say Congress looked purple.
What exactly are they going to do for average americans?
Crickets.
That’s right.
2
While we are all waiting in vain for the GOP to wake up, it might be more practical to attack the problem at its source- the Trump media chorus Fox “News”, AMI, Sinclair etc.
I read recently that Sinclair may have licensing problems. Pecker may have problems now. Hannity probably has done something illegal - Cohen was his lawyer too) Perhaps something could be found to attack these networks that engage in pure propaganda and have successfully manipulated large segments of our citizens to swallow the most outrageous lies.
Yes we all have First Amendment rights. But using the rare privilege of a broadcast license to affect public discourse by outright lying should not be countenanced. They should have a fiduciary duty, like investment advisers with their clients, to convey at least the best knowable version of the truth. And then their audience can be free to debate with their fellow citizens on any given problem. Broadcast standards forbid using certain nasty words on TV so why should outright lying be permitted.
The way things stand, Donald Trump could eat a live baby on television and his propagandists would find some way to justify it (and then blame Obama and Clinton for it).
So someone out there please think of a way of ridding ourselves of the cancer that has been growing on our airwaves so that we can get back to a civil debate again.
9
Wow. Despite political differences I used to so respect Senator Graham. What happened to him?
Golf with DT and one’s morals fly away? Does everyone DT touches become contaminated?
Is there one statesman in the GOP Senate?
14
@KCForgive me! Of course our precious Sen. McCain is an amazing statesman. And his Jr Senator, Jeff Flake is one as well. What is it with Arizona?
Don’t have to always agree on issues to be able to recognize a statesperson.
Q.: What negative reactions could there be to trumps pardoning Manafort?
2
I continue to believe that Republicans have been soured by Putin, the Koch Brothers, the Mercers and Sheldon Adelson that the fix is in and that they will retain their majority. How else can you explain their behavior when they could dump Trump for Pence. He would give them their ideologue judges, their deregulation, their tax cuts and a healthy dose of theocracy for good measure....but with far less madness and drama.
6
@ Bruce Rozenblit: I agree with your analysis but the problem goes deeper than the GOP’s behavior during the Trump presidency. The GOP during the Obama presidency was beyond shameful and of course, their complicity in the disgusting Bush-Cheney era is beyond words. They rubber-stamped the stupid war that cost trillions and still is far from over technically, given the mess in the middle-east.
People of this country should dump the GOP. This is beyond partisan politics. It is about a gangster organization that is ruining the nation.
I recently read a book by Gordon Lafer called the One Percent Solution. It should be required reading for everyone before they vote in the next election. What the GOP is doing for their corporate masters is the worst thing that happened to the US since it days where the constitution allowed slavery. Please do yourselves a favor and read it.
17
@Blunt: i could not agree more!
and thanks much for the recommendation.
2
First we heard "truth isn't truth" and this morning the Tweeter of the Free World informed Americans that "a crime isn't a crime." This is good enough for Trump supporters and the GOP, but it's rejected by every patriotic American. Trump and his Republican Party are disgusting.
18
The GOP in Congress will need a backhoe to set the bar any lower.
9
Question for the legal affairs reporter: Adam Liptak. What are the consequences and advantages of Michael Cohen, via his lawayer, stating he would unequivocally not accept a pardon if offered.
2
@Anastasia
Accepting a Pardon is an admission of guilt for a crime needing a Pardon. Cohen maintains his innocence; therefore, he does not accept the need for a Pardon. We'll see how long that lasts.
Sen. Graham is wrong: Don Jr. already conspired by suggesting a time frame
“if it's what you say I love it especially later in the summer."
https://www.axios.com/what-to-know-about-the-trump-jr-email-saga-1513304...
11
Birds of a feather.
1
It is. time for Republicans to search their souls and put patriotism above partisanship. Continuing to support and standby a president when now there is evidence that he was involved in illegally influencing the election and also hired a campaign manager who is guilty of multiple counts of fraud, goes beyond the pale and only demonstrates the corruptness of those who support him.
We have a president who is not looking out for anyone but himself, even his cronies suffer ill fates under him, and unless impeached just as he has done in the past with multiple bankruptcies of his companies he will take our country down with him.
6
No matter what is shown Trump has done for he was sworn and since, no Republican voters nor elected officials will take any action, the DOJ will not indict, and the Congress will not impeach with the Senate voting to turn him out of office. In addition, there will be no ability to force Trump to not continue to serve his private interests with the powers of his office, no way to make him feed into the divisiveness which he has benefitted. He will run wild through 2020 and if re-elected through 2024. Whatever is left will be for whoever is the President and whoever are in the Congress, and the American people to sort out and set right again. Our country is in for a lot of preventable destructive behaviors but the partisanship is going to render us pretty much impotent to do anything to mitigate the damage.
2
@Casual Observer
Well maybe we'll just have more of the peace and prosperity he's delivered so far. Some of us are fine with that.
1
@Allen What peace are you referring to? Threatening nuclear war with North Korea (before then calling Kim Jong Un a "great guy")? Alienating all of our allies? Separating innocent children from their parents? And what prosperity are you referring to? The rebounding economy thanks to Obama? Or the "prosperity" for the 1% from the Trump tax cut while ordinary folks' wages stagnate and health insurance costs skyrocket because Trump intentionally de-stabilized the insurance industry and the state health exchanges with his attacks on the ACA? How about the unnecessary trade wars and tariffs that are harming farmers and American manufacturers? Don't be fooled by the stock market. The bubble is about to burst and the people who already suffered during 2008 are going to be hit again and even worse.
Gotta admit, I wondered the same thing as this commenter, when Trump picked Manafort in 2016:
"Why was Manafort chosen as Trump’s campaign manager in the first place?"
Manafort's legal "issues" were public and well-known when Trump picked him. True, Manafort resigned from the campaign fairly quickly, but he shouldn't have been named in the first place.
The fact remains that Manafort was convicted of things he did long before he went to work for Trump. If Manafort knows of wrongdoing that occurred in the Trump campaign, he should tell Mueller (or anyone else who will listen) all about it. Trump insists Manafort has nothing to tell because there was no collusion. Nevertheless, if Manafort knows anything that indicates there was collusion, I'd like to hear it. If he's withheld that information as a "bargaining chip" to reduce his sentence for unrelated misconduct, I don't like that, but I think Mueller should "bargain" with him even so, since any evidence of collusion that Manafort might have would be extremely valuable.
1
Adam Liptak: The statute of limitations for most federal crimes is five years. This would put Trump safely beyond prosecution for any Pre-election activities should he win another term. There is, however, recognition that in some cases, such as for a fugitive, the clock can be stopped until they are found. Could this apply to Trump? That is, could prosecutors in 2024 argue that as because as president he was beyond prosecution, the statute of limitations should be extended?
2
These legal actions are not serious enough to alienate Trump from Republican voters. As long as Trump enjoys the overwhelming support of Republican voters no Republican legislators will speak out against Trump. Even if Democrats control both houses of Congress, they are unlikely to all be unconcerned about Republican voters who support Trump and who would be free to do much to stop Trump without risking their seats. This man may not be called to account until he leaves office and the divisions his conduct have produced may persist far into the future.
Voters - WE have a choice here.
To be the judge who takes out corruption and dishonesty.
To be the protector of our Constitution promising equality and freedom for ALL.
To be the advocate of our Values in diversity and opportunity.
Let's go out and VOTE for Democrats in the midterms, because Republicans won't do any of the above for us. WE THE PEOPLE must take this upon ourselves and take ACTION!!
18
If I were indicted for being anywhere near Trump, the last person I would choose to represent me is someone close to the Clintons.
3
Impeach in the house and hold the trial in the Senate. Even if the Dems take the house the senate will not try Trump.You need 60 votes in the senate to impeach a president. Its time to cut the impeachment dream off and use the ballot to send 45 back to his Tower. The senate refused to vote on The Garland nomination and people think they will vote to dump Trump? The Right can't even bring itself to condemn Trump's tweets.
6
I disagree:
"There is absolutely no way that the Republican House is going to impeach Trump, and there is no way that the Republican Senate would remove Trump if impeached."
If Democrats control the House after the midterm elections, I expect Trump will be impeached. If there's evidence that he did something wrong, I expect the Senate will convict him, even if (as I expect) the Senate remains Republican-controlled.
I do not expect, however, that the Senate will convict Trump if there's no evidence of collusion. So far, we've seen none. Maybe Manafort will disclose some. Maybe Cohen will. It hasn't happened yet, though. If it doesn't, all we'll have are what we have now: lots and lots of unsupported allegations. I agree that the Senate won't -- and it shouldn't -- convict Trump based on unsupported allegations, no matter how sincerely the allegers may believe those allegations are true. Evidence, yes; allegations, no.
4
Adam: I am most interested in if there are realistic legal and political maneuvers that can delay the Kavanaugh confirmation to after the midterms. Kamala Harris spoke to the seriousness of this today but what recourse do us Dems have in our powerless position today?
Secondly, the Cohen and Manafort outcomes today still don’t yet show collusion. Campaign finance is not enough to indict or impeach. What legal grounds do we have now or might need to be proved to show obstruction of justice?
Dems DO NOT hand the midterms to the GOP by pursuing more leftish candidates or punishing moderate Dems: if so you may fail to recapture the House. Don’t ask about impeachment now: wait for Mueller and get independents on your side!!
3
In light of yesterday’s legal actions, this President should not be naming a Supreme Court Justice. Write / call your Senators - everyday - until they get the message loud & clear. Then, please make sure your friends and family are registered to vote. We need everyone to vote this November.
8
@JCAZ
'this President should not be naming a Supreme Court Justice.'
Can you quote the law you are using here? can you tell us where it says the president cannot do this? no? thought so.
3
@Shark how about where does it say that a president can't nominate a supreme court judge during an election year? oh wait, it doesn't, but McConnell did it anyway. Turnabout is fair play.
There's a good chance many of these Republicans already know the situation and somehow are incriminated one way or another.
7
Absolutely! EVERY Republican is in thrall to Putin or the Russian Federation. I'm surprised they did not get the memo. We know so much than they do. Sad.
2
A commenter asks, rhetorically:
"If yesterday wasn’t enough for the GOP to take off the blinders, what will?"
Let's not forget what actually happened yesterday:
1. Paul Manafort got convicted of charges based entirely on misconduct that indisputably had nothing to do with Trump. Maybe Manafort will now tell Mueller something from his time with Trump, but that's just speculation. Manafort certainly has a motive to tell Mueller whatever he knows, but Trump insists there's nothing to know. We'll see what Manafort tells Mueller, if anything.
2. Michael Cohen formally admitted what we already knew: that Trump asked Cohen to pay off his two mistresses. Cohen added his "admission" that this violated campaign finance laws, but he didn't say that Trump agreed with Cohen's legal opinion. Clearly Mueller agrees with Cohen's legal opinion, but we already knew that. Maybe Mueller and Cohen will turn out to be correct; maybe they won't. Right now, all we know is that Mueller believes (or at least alleges) that Trump violated campaign finance laws, that Cohen agrees with him, and that Trump disagrees.
If Cohen had claimed that Trump told him to violate campaign finance laws, I would have exactly the opposite view on this. But Cohen didn't say that.
2
@MyThreeCents
Liberals would rather hold close to their fantasies and continue to believe that whatever Mr. Cohen and Mr. Mueller believe is evidence of a crime. Like the evidence for collusion, anyone with common sense realizes that they will be waiting a long time, like eternity, before they see any.
@MyThreeCents let's not forget Manafort is one month away from starting trial number two defending against criminal charges of obstruction of justice, failing to register as a foreign agent for pro-Russia Ukrainian interests, and witness tampering.
3
@MyThreeCents You are making stuff up. It doesn't matter if Trump "agreed with Cohen's legal opinion." Cohen is claiming that Trump directed him to pay off the two mistresses to prevent their stories from negatively affecting his campaign. This constitutes a Federal crime. It doesn't matter if Trump didn't know or believe it was a crime. It is still a crime.
4
I long for the days long ago, when Republicans were just normal people who subscribed pretty much to the same moral precepts as everybody else, and just wanted to be left alone to run their businesses.
8
Ya know. I feel the same way about Democrats. BTW, I'm Independent. A plague on both their houses.
@fFinbar
Thank you, Mr. Independent. No doubt you will refuse SS, an entitlement put in place by a Democrat, FDR. No doubt you will never use Medicare, an entitlement put in place by a Democrat, Truman; and, later made a benefit for all by a Democrat, Ted Kennedy. Please enlighten us as to which benefits Independents have given Americans. So far, your contribution is to take enough votes from a decent, qualified candidate in order to put an incompetent grifter in the WH.
Several commenters write that Trump shouldn't be tossed out because Pence would come in.
I disagree entirely with that (not that I like Pence or think much of him). If Trump colluded with the Russians, he should be tossed out, period.
My only requirement would be evidence. Trump shouldn't be tossed out just because his critics don't like him, or because he lost the popular vote. He should either be voted out of office in 2020 (assuming he's alive then and runs for re-election), or he should be tossed out earlier (or later) if we find some actual evidence of collusion. So far, all we have are unsupported allegations of collusion, but no evidence whatsoever. That's not good enough.
2
In my 75 years, I've been angry with politicians and politics, especially these last years watching party being put ahead of the needs of the people. I've felt frustrated. I've felt helpless, unrepresented and many other emotions, but never, never have I felt ashamed to be an American.
Today I listen to a few weak peeps from Republicans, and I know they will do nothing about the criminal in the presidential office. And I am ashamed.
39
@Bon, I think any sincere and thinking person would feel the same.
5
@Glenn Thomas
Bon and you and I are in the majority.
The world is ashamed for us.
1
In response to the invitation to pose a question to the legal affairs correspondent, I have a few.
1) How soon must the prosecutors decide whether to retry Manafort on the 10 hung counts of his indictment.
2) Several legal commentators have suggested that the manner of the Cohen plea strongly suggests a cooperation agreement either under seal or in principle with his attorney whom the prosecutors know and trust; can you assess these comments and explain why that is.
3) A bit off the topic, but President Trump and others repeatedly claim that Mueller and Comey are "best friends" - what is the known extent of their relationship. Thanks.
1
There is absolutely no way that the Republican House is going to impeach Trump, and there is no way that the Republican Senate would remove Trump if impeached.
Congressional Republicans have demonstrated over the past 2 years that they have sold their souls to Trump for Gorsuch and a massive tax cut for their puppet-masters, the 1%.
As I see it, the only possible way to "remove" Trump from office might be squeezing Trump to resign leveraging charges they are planning on bringing against Junior. And it would have to involve some kind of coordination with the NY District Attorney based on evidence Mueller shares, since state charges would not be subject to a presidential pardon.
18
I don’t think Jr would do it. If they had something on Ivanka and or Jared, that would shake potus.
2
@Dan88 What if Trump resigns and Pence, as president, pardons Trump?
Considering the utter corruption of the current Republican politicians in Congress, there is no hope that Trump will be held accountable for his criminal activity and corruption in office. Indeed, Republican politicians and Republican voters have proven over and over that they admire the way Trumps criminal activity and corruption and try to emulate him.
5
If the Republicans refuse to act against President Trump, is there anything that can be done to remove him from office? Where in the Constitution does it say he cannot be indicted and tried for a high crime?
8
@SCH Impeachment by the House of Representatives = indictment. Trial is by the Senate. Conviction by the Senate on the charges brought by the House = removal from office. A President is only removed from office that way.
2
“the thing that will hurt the president the most is if, in fact, his campaign did coordinate with a foreign government like Russia. Anything short of that is probably going to fall into partisan camps,” Senator Lindsey Graham
Wrong. Not “his campaign.” There will be consequences only if it is proven that Trump himself colluded with Russia. What his lemmings did is immaterial in the grand scheme of things and Teflon Trump will just brush it off as usual.
Short of that, calls for impeachment will only rally the right and make Libs look deranged to middle America.
3
@Jay Lincoln This is the death of democracy. If the left doesn’t get its way in a presidential election, the game plan is to look for anything that can be used to investigate, cripple and then end that presidency. No respect for the outcome of elections, just hysteria, mafia legal tactics and lots of posturing from high horses.
@Steve Jones By "anything", you mean criminal activity and, at the very least, encouragement of a hostile foreign power to try to manipulate U.S. election results?
The true believers with blinders on can chant “lock her up” and harass the media until they’re blue in the face, but one thing is clear amid this whirlwind of activity: The GOP is corrupt and woefully inept. There will be consequences come November. The house of cards is collapsing.
24
I have run out of words to express my disgust at the Republicans' hypocrisy. They're all are acting like there's some kind of footnote in the Constitution that says, "Should a sleazebag criminal happen to win the presidency, any of his illegal actions must be overlooked because, meh, we all knew he was shady to begin with. And this goes double if he's a Republican!"
The American people deserve so much better.
19
Well, one way to find out whether Cohen ever really said this would be to ask him:
"Mr. Cohen said [Trump] directed him to break the law."
Just ask Cohen this question:
"Did Trump tell you to break the law -- any law?"
What Cohen actually said was that Trump told him to pay off these mistresses, period. Cohen added his opinion that those pay-offs would violate campaign finance laws. Frankly, I couldn't care less what Cohen's opinion on this legal question may be, then or now -- unless, of course, Trump actually said (which Cohen has never claimed): "Pay off these women, even though I know [or "think"] those payments will violate campaign laws."
Maybe Trump did say something like this, but that's not what Cohen said. What Cohen actually said was that Trump told him to pay off the two women, period.
3
Last I heard ignorance of the law is no excuse.
4
@Phil You are right. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. MyThreeCents is mistaken. Trump directed Cohen to take an action that is a Federal crime. I have seen him make this mistaken assertion already.
The sitting president can obviously be indicted. The department of justice memoranda are merely opinions that were never adopted and do not amount to “policy” of the DOJ. Therefore there is no policy for Robert Mueller to follow or to be bound by and he can invite the president right now. Especially since the opinion memos at DOJ are completely wrong.
6
If Trump = corrupt failure, then the Republican Party also = corrupt failure. Failure to perform the most basic constitutional duties that they all *swore on a bible* to uphold!
They lie to themselves, to us, and even to their God. The history books will not be kind to these people who failed the country. This is beyond party issues, but Republicans refuse to face that reality.
7
Those die hard Trump supporters might not be swayed but that also undermines their credibility as decent, law abiding citizens.
19
@heinrich zwahlen
Trump supporters are swayed by what seems to be the obvious obsession with attempting to undermine his legitimacy, by any means or methods possible. Decent, law abiding citizens would recognize this vicious two-year attack effort for what it really is. For those who do it will only strengthen support by them for Trump and bring out far more GOP voters in November than can currently be imagined. Watch.
The entire GOP continues to betray their constituents. Fire them all this election.
10
Impeach Clinton: Lies about sex too save own skin. Definitely say GOP
Impeach Trump: Lies about sex to win presidential election. GOP say nothing here.
When the President commits the high crime of influencing his own election, and his own party refuses to impeach, the GOP has become corrupt. It is up to us to vote the bums out, restoring our system of government.
11
Linsey Graham was ready in 1999 to boot out Clinton to cleanse the office of the presidency because his conduct in public office was out of bounds to paraphrase him. What a hypocrite!
Trump is an unindicted co-conspirator on multiple felonies charges, but Graham and his GOP collaborators don’t think that Trump is out of the ballpark in his unethical and illegal behavior? Trump is a real and present danger to this country who would be impeached immediately if his Republican enablers weren’t subservient and self-serving. They are complicit in their silence.
17
The headline should read “A Presidency’s fate lies with a COMPLICIT Congress”.
12
I dont think you wrote this headline when Obama and every other predident was at their 1st mid year elections. Again, you are exaggerating and misleading your readers to imply that THIS election is a referendum on Trump whrn we all know that it would be extremely unlikely for ANY President to gain seats his 1st midyear election. Try to be honest.
3
@Patrick McCord FDR and Bush, Jr. both gained House seats in their first mid-term elections, and Clinton did in his second mid-term election, And no other president since Nixon has been a demonstrated criminal. That's honest.
7
@Patrick McCord In one respect you are right, this election is not just a referendum on Trump, but on the entire complicit GOP. Don't worry, whatever the election results Trump will coin a big shiny lie for you to hold on to.
3
Manafort and Cohen have bit the dust.
Wound Donnie Little Hands surely this must.
Permit me to wax droll.
Will justice start to roll,
Or are its wheels too corroded with rust?
5
As citizens it is our duty to vote "straight blue" in November. Throw these despicable republicans out....top to bottom. Their irresponsible and near treasonous actions cannot be permitted to continue.
12
Let me get this straight. The GOP is perfectly ok with a person in the White House who has committed felonies to get elected.
24
@johnny99
The biggest donors, the top 1% who contributed bigly to his election, did not do that out of altruism. They got permanent large tax cuts for themselves; $600/yr for the 99%, set to end in 2027. Think about a permanent tax cut for GE, Carl Icahn et al; then think about your $600/yr tax cut which has an end date. Think about how those revenue reducing cuts will be repaid; small business taxes, and homeowners' property taxes will be fair game. Most of you won't even remember who put those tax cuts in place, in the middle of the night, behind closed doors, only Republicans admitted.
How can one expect any level of decency and upholding of the Constitution from a group of cowards and hypocrites. They have failed to uphold their oaths since day one of the a Trump Administration, so why would we expect them to do so anything different now?
9
The repubs are probably waiting for their talking points orders from Russia and the coordination instructions from Fox entertainment. The Trump ship in slowly sinking and the rats are starting to abandon hoping to salvage their own skins. Corruption and blatant disregard for laws being the SOP of this administration and by fiat, the repub congress, makes this entire mess the more egregious and utterly disgusting.
7
The mad ramblings of ‘Dolph Giuliani have made it clear that he wants the investigation “wrapped up” by the beginning of September.
Be careful what you wish for.
5
I fear Democrats will NOT rise to the occasion to take the House.
Politics needs ongoing drama. Trump's daily Tweets have drama.
Democrats lack and they are still too intellectual for many voters.
Trump is finding ways to turn the investigations into his drama.
He is an escape artist, who knows how to dominate the media.
I suggest Democrats hold "idea contests"on how to win the House.
=================================================
A major Donald Trump meltdown is just around the corner. Just like a cornered rat, he'll be vicious, vindictive, and, oh well, he'll be Donald Trump.
Congress needs to dump this liability.
6
Congress is a politically bipartisan corrupt crony capitalist corporate plutocrat oligarch welfare "den of thieves" and " House of Lords." Trump has no fear for his fate coming from Congessional cackling and crowing profiles in avarice and cowardice
3
Democrats are going to vote for Democrats; Republicans are going to vote for Republicans. Any hopes of Republicans abandoning President Trump are magical thinking. There is no way on this Earth that we would vote for Democrats who are the party of open borders, Islam, Crime, Socialism, and hatred. I understand you're writing to your base on NYT.
3
@rc05689. "...Democrats who are the party of open borders, Islam, Crime, Socialism, and hatred." Propaganda - as Trump might say, Fake News or alternative facts. But, without addressing your rant, the expectation is that the Democrats will show up to the polls while the Republicans won't. Seems like there are signs this will happen.
2
@rc05689 Do not believe the fake news of Rush and Alex Jones. Democrats are not the party of open borders, Obama deported many more illegal immigrants. Democrats are not the party of lslam. The USA has a bill of rights. One of those rights is the Freedom of religion. That right protects you to practice your faith here in the USA. Democrats do not like crime. They do support a justice system that protects all of us, innocent until proven guilty is the basic premise. Republicans stick together, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. One commentator said, "Attacking Trump is like attacking one of our friends." He lies. He bullies. He cheated all Americans, Red and Blue, bluffing his way into the White House. The question for Republicans is, "Why do have a friend like that?"
2
@David M Unlikely, but we'll see.
If yesterday wasn’t enough for the GOP to take off the blinders, what will? Beyond the taint of criminal activity, there is the abject narcissism general incompetence in everything that Mr. Trump says or does.
You’d think that they would move to impeach merely to protect the GOP brand - it’s not like Mike Pence is a flaming liberal. But I guess they are too afraid to do the right thing now, and would rather endure the collective backside kicking that they so richly deserve in November instead of standing up for principle now.
5
Bill Clinton was impeached for having a consensual extra-marital affair. Donald Trump? He's a Republican.
8
@Chicago Guy
Bill Clinton was never impeached; there was a lame attempt by a known adulterer, Hyde, to impeach Clinton. He failed; he was having an affair while his wife was dying of cancer in a hospital. Again: Bill Clinton was never impeached; he served 8 yrs. and left us at peace with a full Treasury. You might want to question Hannity's grasp of historical facts.
As a Canadian it might be easier for us to see the forest through all the trees. Trump is the most uncredible leader ever. He is a pig.....fooling around on his wife, lying to every American....the list goes on. His command of the English language is juvenile to say the least. What makes him so bad is that he is throwing Americans to the wolves. Canadians and the rest of the world are not perfect, but we are allies and he puts American enemies on a pedestal. He is a crook, always doing his best to cheat at whatever he can. I wish the GOP and Republicans would wake up.....you need a president who truly wants to make America great. America is great......but America, but because of his tariffs, many are losing jobs and businesses. Trump may have good intentions all be it...but the way he goes about doing things are just not thought out. The world is a dog eat dog world.....Americans need a Champion....an honest and loyal one. Good luck. Americans and Canadians are awesome neighbours/neighbors......but with people like Trump, things will only continue to get worse......all this news cannot be "fake news."
5
The NYTs promoting fiction, yet again. If I tell you to break a law, and you do, the indictment is for you, not me. Your lack of ethics and criminal behavior must be punished. An external voice, whether from a person or one's delusional consciousness, has no liability. Cohen had a duty to abide by the law, not Trump's preference. He could have quit to preserve his integrity, but the moola was too good. Wrong choice, esp. for a lawyer. Punishment ensues. Lawyers don't lose their autonomy or individual responsibility because they have a client. Let's get real here. Were all the mistress payoffs by politicians pooled, it could save the Social Security system. Our corrupt system will countenance this "crime of the century" as a misdemeanor.
4
That’s not the way the law works and you know it. The mobster who tells his henchman to commit a crime is liable for the crime. Cohen didn’t commit these acts of his own volition. He did it because his (mobster) boss told him to.
4
@Igmar Shatz That’s not the state of the law. It’s a crime to direct your subordinate to break the law.
4
@Igmar Shatz Your point is wrong. Trump is just as liable for the payoff as Michael Cohen. Trump is calling Cohen a bad lawyer, but that is why Trump put him on the company payroll. Cohen was a lawyer who would threaten Trump's enemies like a two-bit loan shark. Yes, Cohen could have resigned or not followed the order. But that is not the type of man Cohen is. Donald J. Trump is a criminal in the White House. Many suspected it, but now everyone knows it. Wake up, Dude.
2
Let's not forget he got into office with 3 million fewer votes. And cheated. And lied. He never had a mandate for his extreme agenda yet his pushed forward in spite of that. He only ever cared about his base (a minority that seems to swallow up his lies like they are candy). The answer is clear here. He must go. He is a cancer on this country. The sooner we get rid of him, the quicker we can start the healing process. Enough with the reality show presidency!
6
Cohen would implicate his grandmother if it meant he would stay out of prison. I bet he would incriminate his wife and children too. He is a crook who should go straight to jail. I do not trust one word this man says.
5
So you’re admitting Donald Trump hires criminals and pays them for decades to do his legal work. Good for you. But what’s with bringing Cohen’s wife and children into it? That’s pretty weird, even for a Trump supporter.
1
WPLMMT. You might read the list of corroborating evidence presented in court yesterday, before you embrace the party line.
2
Two words: Un-indicted co-conspirator
Let Lindsey Graham's words about impeachment and morality ring out throughout the land!
1
"Unindicted Co-conspirator".
My president should be facing a felony charge.
7
I suspect that even the Republicans in Congress who are appalled by Trump and his coterie of crooks have calculated that if they abandon Trump now they will not improve their chances in November, so they might as well ride it out and hope for the best.
1
I'm looking forward to Donald Trump's first campaign rally in prison.
6
Of course republicans are going to stand by their man.
They have more tax theft to initiate, roll backs to pollute, and radical right wing judges to put on the bench. OF COURSE they are not going to do their Constitutionally obligated duty to be a check on the President.
They are ALL complicit.
6
Try to imagine what these same GOP representatives would be saying if the news from yesterday involved the close associates of Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. These shameful people have placed party loyalty above the rule of law, honesty, patriotism, or our nation's well-being.
2
They followed the guy because they believed it would be to their advantage. Even though Trump is more con man and likely criminal than conservative, it has worked out well for Republicans. In the eight weeks or so before the election, Republicans need to do the math. Will supporting the former chancellor of Trump University, the CEO of Trump Water, the allegedly racist boss of The Apprentice, be a plus or minus electorally and as Americans.
1
When history looks back on this, what side would you want to be on? I want to stand with the party that, despite flaws, supports health care for all Americans, who twice elected Obama, who rejected the hypocrisy and venality of a party that voted for a man who had multiple affairs, lies incessantly, denigrates war heroes, destroys the environment, surrounds himself with grifters, and enacted a tax cut for the 0.1% that adds a $1 trillion to our deficit. I want to stand with a party that supports inclusion, that brought us out of a deep recession caused by the excesses of the GOP, that realizes we're in a global economy and support policies that enable sustainable growth. Do you want to be on the side that promotes blatant racism, misogyny and divisiveness? Whose president praised conspiracy theorists, including one who claims the murders of 20 six and seven year old children cut down by a demented nut didn't happen and incites violence against their parents. Do you want to side with a party that has denied climate change while the evidence is completely opposite, who continue to promote fossil fuel growth while renewable energy is far outpacing coal and oil job growth? History will clear on this one.
3
The president can be indicted if the Deputy Attorney General of the Justice Department agrees that indictment is a necessary remedy. Why would he conclude that? If obvious criminality by the president is well-documented and supported by evidence but impeachment is not an option - as it is not when the House of Representatives is a corrupt body complicit in the president's crimes.
The only thing saying the president cannot be indicted is a 2000 memorandum by the DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel. "The logic of the memorandum’s own reasoning supports the conclusion that the Constitution permits prosecution of a sitting president when the impeachment process no longer provides an effective means for upholding the rule of law."
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/07/how-robert-mueller-might-be-...
5
So Cohen was a complete and total liar before and now THIS is the truth? The guy would admit to anything to get out of trouble. Or at least avoid a more harsh punishment. And now, unfortunately, none of the charges have to proven in court since he plead guilty to them. When this is all said and done, Trump will some how come out of this unscathed as he always does. I'm not implying that's a good thing, it's just the way it is.
I can't help but thinking that if the DNC didn't sandbag poor old Bernie in 2016, we wouldn't even be going through this mess.
1
Who pays Lindsay Graham's greens fees at Trump's golf course. Gov. Bob Taft IV of Ohio pleaded guilty to many misdemeanors when his greens fees were paid by the then President of Chemical Abstracts. Graham guilty of accepting gratuities as was Taft?
2
So as I see it the Republican Party has as its leader someone who has illicitly gained power and won election, and has continuously engaged in reckless and dangerous behavior and rhetoric...isn't it now more than time they take a stand as to which side of history they want to be on?
5
The real question is not how these latest revelations will affect Mr. Trump. We already know that his supporters are zealous and will not reconsider their support for this very flawed president. The real question is how much the continual drip, drip, drip of immoral, and illegal, ooze leaking from Trump and his minions will affect the Republicans who still support him and are now running for election in 2018. 40% of voters may still support Trump, but what about the 60% majority who have had enough of all this filth?
2
The GOP so far are signaling that they'll overlook domestic crimes and conspiracies, they'll only act when Mueller proves Trump's collusion with foreign foes. This is a mistake. How many more chances will they have to exit gracefully on their high horses?
1
Nothing will happen unless eligible voters opposed to the Trump GOP’s corrupt plutocracy register to vote and vote for Democrats this November. Please do all you can to this end - if only to restore a modicum of “checks and balances”. With the Trump team’s mounting legal troubles, the billionaire funded Russian-Republican cabal will go into overdrive to interfere and incite.
2
Smart Republicans should understand by now that the national embarrassment known as President Trump must end.
Americans who may wince at the notion of casting a vote for Mike Pence would probably agree that he would be a leader of whom we'd all be less ashamed.
1
So if we assume the Justice Department won't indict Trump while he's president, what about after he's out of office, either due to impeachment, resignation, or losing the next election? How does the statute of limitations apply here? Can a sealed indictment be made and held until Trump leaves office to get around any time limits?
2
One Republican after another pointing out that the convictions have nothing to do with Russia, to which we must say, so what? Trump is impeachable for ANY crimes that he committed.
I don't think the Constitution says anything about Russia.
5
I have absolutely no faith that a GOP-dominated Congress will do anything so support American democracy and upholding the rule of law. Two GOP congressman--Hunter and Collins--have recently been indicted for using campaign funds for personal expenses and insider trading, and Hunter's misdeeds have been public since 2016, when it was revealed that he paid for video games and school tuition for his son with campaign funds.
My only hope is that we vote Republicans out at every level of government and THEN insist that those voted into office uphold the rule of law at all levels of government.
5
How likely is it that Manafort or Cohen will face local/state prosecution for tax evasion? Relevant, of course, in the context of potential presidential pardons
2
The “fate” of the President is at stake? Hardly. Nothing short of Russian collusion will move the Republicans. Even if the Dems do win majorities in both chambers, the margin will probably be too small to carry a vote to impeach in the House or to reach the two thirds majority needed in the Senate.
4
@Ed "Nothing short of Russian collusion will move the Republicans."
Huh? Not even that. Now in polls republicans say they admire Putin. Trumps fawning over Putin is a plus for him with his sycophantic sheep.
2
Does anyone really think the majority of Republican Congress has the integrity to impeach Trump? I sure don't. And yes, I do believe there are some decent GOPers, just not too many.
7
Cohen is in fact the John Dean to Donald Trump. Knowing that even a pardon will not save him from doing time on non-Federal charges, should they one day come, he has found religion in trying to save himself and his family as best as possible. If one does not think that this is shaking the Trump world and the GOP, one simply isn't thinking.
Graham is most disappointing because unlike his friend and colleague, John Mccain, he simply can't find a way to put country first. Instead he is grappling with using the last ounce of leverage his party has to ensure the next Supreme Court nominee. Tax cuts - Done! One Supreme Court nominee ripped from the Obama administration - Done! One more to go. Not just yet!
Kavanaugh is a dead stick and should not be nominated specifically because of his partisan stance on forwarding the impeachment of Clinton while backing off of this concept when Republicans are president. Sorry but the timing for Kavanaugh just smells of obstruction. And that is how the democrats should treat this nominee.
It is time to make the word "patriot" matter again. To be a patriot you have to be "patriotic". You have to place country over personal gain and power. You have to be willing to stand up for doing the right thing. And you have to want to be at odds with not a party or philosophy, specifically the GOP, but to be honest and truthful and just. Can we count on Graham and others to do just this?
6
"...few Republicans believed the double-digit felony count would drastically reshape the political climate. Party strategists largely dismissed Mr. Manafort’s conviction, viewing it as not directly related to Mr. Trump..."
I believe that this is commonly known as whistling past the graveyard.
1
One wonders whether there might be murmurings and whisperings among the GOP that the only viable option they may have in the end is to recommend impeachment.
If indeed more evidence (it's hard to imagine that more is necessary) surfaces that points to our President's criminal acts, and Mueller's final "report" leaves it to them to proceed with impeachment if they see fit, they will have to choose between two lousy options:
1) Not move to impeach a criminal President and suffer at the polls in November for their moral and ethical bankruptcy. or 2) Recommend impeachment proceedings with hopes that their moral and ethical turnaround will redeem them in the eyes of the voters.
Either way you look at it, the GOP has performed miserably.
5
@Nuffalready Either way, Republicans deserve what they get. There is NO reason they had to allow Trump to run as a Republican and accept him as their candidate for president. It was clear to everyone that he was not a Republican before and he doesn't seem to have gotten more Republican since. The Republicans have gotten more Trumpish and that is where they are today. Blue Wave, November 2018 !
1
A tarnished presidency breached
by executive overreach
It is high time, and I beseech
this Congress, you must impeach
2
Republicans are counting on Russia hacking this election, and just today the DNC reported an attempted hack of its voter rolls.
Everyone: confirm that you are still registered to vote.
States: use absentee ballots for everyone, so that there's a paper trail.
5
@Barb Campbell
1. Paper ballots
2. Mandatory voting with fines and/or jail time for not voting.
3. Abolish Citizens United and set an amount candidates can spend on campaigning.
4. Abolish the Electoral College. We have the technology to count everyone, regardless of where they live.
1
What, you mean we have a congress.
3
@robert s In name only.
1
There is a four letter word that describes this situation - VOTE!
6
The GOP is laid bare for all to see...wonder how long they will put up with Trump.
I am literally counting the days until November 06, 2018.
4
I don't think "faze" is a real word.
@Steve Lilly-Weber
you may not, but the dictionary certainly does....
faze
[feyz]
See more synonyms for faze on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object), fazed, faz·ing.
to cause to be disturbed or disconcerted; daunt: The worst insults cannot faze him.
1
Never ever count on Paul Ryan or Mitch McConnell to do the right thing.
They $old their $oul$ to devil, Trump, a long time ago.
McConnell and Ryan: the most cowardly, so-called congressional "leaders" in our nation's history.
9
Why was Manafort chosen as Trump’s campaign manager in the first place? An odd selection for an American Presidential campaign given Manafort's known close ties to Putin, a U.S. adversary. Also known were Manafort’s dealings and ca-hoots with the pro-putin, now exiled, Ukrainian Yanukovych. Manafort was a lobbyist for Yanukovych (technically a Ukraine lobbyist but Yanu didn’t do Ukraine any favors, that’s why he can’t show his face there). Why did the RNC go out of its way in 2016 to modify their platform on Ukraine, to support a weakening of US assistance to Ukraine? Was Ukraine really a hot topic in the minds of the Trump base? Do most Americans even know precisely where Ukraine is (I had to check on a map). Why did the RNC choose Michael Cohen, Trump’s fixer, to manage the RNC finances? Cohen doesn’t strike me as a financial wizard; Cohen had to take out a mortgage just to come up with the $130K hush money. How many on the Hill got help in getting elected from the Mercers’ Cambridge Analytica? And what was that odd “Republicans Only” July 2018 delegation to Russia all about? Maybe the deafening silence on the Hill for some Republicans is not a fear of angering Trump’s base, but a fear of being exposed. It’s one thing to lose an election- quite another to lose your freedom cause you’re going to jail for complicity in conspiracy. No wonder they want Mueller stopped.
6
@Cntrlgal
Why? The Lord and Trump work in mysterious ways. Trump would be flattered at the comparison; the Lord, not so much...
2
No surprise at all. Manafort was a master of dirty tricks, just the kind of man prized by the Stable Genius.
2
Obviously, Trump's fate should not rest with an irresponsible, immensely hypocritical, and incredibly cowardly Republican Party. The reprehensible reaction of the Republicans quoted in this article means that these disgusting people endorse campaign cheating. It implicates the entire GOP.
We should demand Justice. Campaign fraud is a felony offense and Trump has just been directly implicated. There must be proof for it in Cohen's records or he wouldn't have pled guilty. The Justice department must convict Trump and bring it to trial. Let it fail in the Supreme Court if it will, but it's the right thing to do, and the precedent needs to be tested in any event.
3
So now the GOP will worry about "polarization". Now. Mitch McConnell will be telling everyone "business as usual" and will continue to ram Kavnenough down our throats. The Trump base will continue to scream "lock her up" but with Collins and Hunter and who knows who else facing charges you have to wonder if some of the crowd is being paid to scream that. The GOP went with a pathetic candidate. He was a godsend for the poor "rich" people of this country. The real question for the GOP is do you continue to stand with Trump, or do you grow a spine and stand up for the country? I bet they stand with Trump. Buyer beware.
1
@Edgar
Wow, who has been under investigation since the Election? Is it Hillary that has a special counsel looking into every nook and cranny? Who is going to continue to scream lock her up? You got one thing right. We who voted for Trump will stand by him no matter how many former lovers he paid off.
Fascinating:
The Trump derangement syndrome has now become terminal.The dislike for the person has become psychotic.
All he has to do is declassify the Mueller docs, and the Real collusion and Abuse of power by the past administration will be devastating to his haters.
Whys he hasn't already done so I do not undertand
His “haters”? Yes, we hate corrupt presidents. What about his enablers who refuse to see the truth?
2
The only things that will cause a "ripple" in the land of Mitch McConnell and the GOP would be an increase in tax rates, threats to reinstate environmental regulations that protect the health and well being of Americans and Judges not approved by the Federalist Society. Crimes are meaningless to the GOP. Patriots?? Not!!!!!!
3
So, the fate of this disastrous, corrupt, dangerous presidency is in the hands of Congress filled with opportunistic, self-serving, corrupt, unpatriotic Republicans who hold the majority? Only a huge voter turnout to replace these Republicans will result in an optimistic future for our country.
6
@MEM A huge voter turnout won't mean much in states like Massachusetts, where both Senators and all 9 Representatives are Democrats. It has to be in the states and districts that are contestable. Resources shouldn't be wasted on ginning up turnout in places already solidly blue, or hopelessly red.
1
This is just more evidence of the moral decay of the Republican Party. It is Trump's party, and the other Republican politicians are afraid to criticize him because they are afraid they will lose their power. Trump is too cowardly to face Mueller's questions, and the rest of the Republican weasels are too cowardly to put country first.
6
Why would anyone expect the Republican Party - expressly at this junction un history - to do anything remotely courageous or tied to their solemn upholding of Constitutional oath? Today's Republican Party is a recipient of financial and power-driven largesse directly driven from the sins of Citizens United decision from Republican SCOTUS. It's more inbreeding of lobbying and pay-for-play, but its now at a level where there's a sense of entitlement (for specific financial gain not to be taxed or reported as income or forgiven debt).
Why would these politicians distance themselves from Donald Trump now? POTUS Trump is the grifter, tax avoidance guru, and supreme abuser of political power. All peas in the same pod. Take a serious look at each House Republican and their reported financial wealth. Honestly, how many of these "public servants" could have attained that stature by their own means? (Some did, no argument there.) If the Chief Executive (POTUS Trump) exudes corruption and flaunts it - and is rewarded by stupid voters who elected him - then it's no surprise House (& Senate) Republicans would take their cue from the top. Corruption today is rampant and Republicans don't give a shake.
That's why they stick with POTUS Trump.
2
The headline on the FAUX News web site, on a day when Trump's former lawyer has implicated Trump in illegal activities and his former campaign manager has just been convicted of all manner of slimy deeds, reads:
"Illegal immigrant charged with killing Mollie Tibbetts may have evaded federal E-Verify system"
Excellent illustration of why FAUX News readers think immigrants are the biggest existential threat to the US, when in reality the biggest threat by far is the resident of 1600 Pa Ave.
6
Let's hear from some Republicans. Are you willing to accept any level of criminality & moral depravity to keep power? If the Democrats are guilty of "Trump derangement syndrome" what are the mental gymnastics of Republicans? There is most likely more coming and coming soon.
4
GOP won't act until it is too late for damage control
2
Yeah Lindsey, that “blue dress” wasn’t so important either ... up until you Republicans went after Clinton for far less than being directly implicated in campaign finance violations of the law.
4
The GOP Congress has abrogated all responsibility - Constitutional, moral, ethical and patriotic.
They have time and again acquiesced in response to the most egregious, damaging and shameful conduct of the Trump maladministration.
With very few exceptions, Republican representatives have proven themselves time and again to be pathetic cowards who have put the (short term) interests of the party before those of their constituents and the country.
They will rightly be excoriated in history as complicit, gutless accomplices who did nothing in the nation's hour of desperate need.
5
Oh GOP why change now? Keep being quiet, letting Devin Nunes run his detective agency, Jim Jordan threaten to impeach Rod Rosenstein, Kevin McCarthy sort Starbursts to send Donald only the colors he likes, Duncan Hunter vacation with a new wardrobe using campaign funds—you know—the important work of US Congress.
Sit back in silence and get voted out. It is a little late to find religion and renounce the glamour of evil. You stood laughing like hyenas in the Rose Garden when you voted to repeal the ACA, trying to deny healthcare to millions of Americans.
You keep blocking votes to force Donald to release his tax returns. Why?
Dems, independents, Republicans, anyone out there who loves America, who believes in the Constitution, get to the polls on November 6 and defend your country. Vote for someone who believes in the separation of powers and the system of checks and balances that this country has relied on.
Being a citizen is an important job. Let’s show up and do it well. November 6, 2018–justice for all.
7
God, I miss President Obama.
Every single day.
15
Like always, Republicans will continue to be a hypocritical hive-mind and put their party before the country.
1
"Trumps fate rests with Congress"
Ahhhh, NO it doesn't, it rests with the SENATE.
So far even after 2 years, Mueller still has NOTHING on Trump as far as collusion or conspiracy with Russia or Russian agents and will find nothing.
So, by all means, continue to gloat with your illusions of grandeur fools. I'll be laughing all the way till November, when that blue wave ends up as a blue swirl down the toilet, because you people have learned NOTHING from the election of 2016.
1
Ahhh.... but we have learned plenty. We have learned that Trump supporters and even the Republican party will accept any level of criminality and moral depravity in a president to hold power.
5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fkbb-4VidMg
At minute 8:40 Lindsey Graham in his speech argued for the impeachment of Bill Clinton:
“So, the point I am trying to make is that you don’t even have to be convicted of a crime to lose your job in this Constitutional Republic. If this body determines that your conduct as a public official is clearly out of bounds in your roll, because impeachment is not about punishment; impeachment is about cleansing the office; impeachment is about restoring honor and integrity to the office.“
2
And this is why trump and the GOP haven't taken the threat of election interference seriously...
If Russia can help the GOP keep congress and the house, then trump has nothing to worry about. That is what trump is betting on.
At the same time trump is actively attacking anything and anyone who has anything to do with the Russian investigation, removing any potential threats that may have info that can incriminate him. All the while the GOP sits on the sideline putting their own political ambitions and their party wayyyy before country. Truly a disgrace.
2
Trump supporters stand by him because he is the greatest and most powerful supporter in modern times of their white, "Christian" privilege, a privilege that is the life's blood of the GOP. To turn on him is to invite electoral disaster at the hands of the base through whom that blood courses. That it turns out that Donald John Trump is just another john, and a felonious miscreant on top of it, is merely a blemish for them. He is the great white hope of the seething bigoted mass of GOP voters, and he is the electoral savior of all sitting Republicans who hope to remain in politics. This is a rotting body at the center of American political life that must be approached by the rest of us as the rotting hulk of the Soviet Union was once confronted by the US - through a policy of containment. It must be contained until, like its Soviet predecessor, it too collapses under its own corruption. And take heart, this will happen. Donald Trump will eventually be removed from office and will most likely be the first US president to serve time in prison after leaving office.
2
The GOP will continue to 'stand by their man' -
it is PARTY BEFORE COUNTRY with the GOP! We can only HOPE and VOTE for a change to this corrupt and treasonous leadership we now have.
4
Trump's fate doesn't rest with Congress. It rests with Republicans in Congress. And they have shown no willingness o even interest in holding this despicable man, this disaster accountable for his actions and behavior.
Instead, they have defended him and corrupt politicians like Nunes have used their offices to obstruct justice. The fact that Mr. Cohen has implicated Trump in a felony is unlikely to change the behavior of people who are just as corrupt as the president himself, just less spectacularly so.
5
I want to know if it's actually true that Donald Trump could pardon Manafort and/or Cohen?
I’m still, still hopeful that there are sliver of republican patriots in congress with a backbone to do the right thing. I hope they understand that wearing pins and stripes or standing up to the anthem or symbolisms don’t make us patriots. Not too long ago in 2016, everybody from Graham to Rand Paul to Cruz called the president exactly what he is.
Reflecting, what started as a patriotic fervor with relentless Benghazi investigation led to finding a private email server/emails into calling Russians to hack those to meetings with Russians for dirt to president’s stupidity of firing the FBI Director to the current Witch Hunt. It is the haunt for this congress, their own making of this entire witch hunt as The throne of this administration. At the end of the day, whether we believe in Karama or not, what goes around comes around.
2
Because the GOP did not abandon trump in reaction to his treasonous behavior in Helsinki, they will support him no matter what he says or does. Traitors all.
3
Have the Democrats figured out what is important to Joe Blow, US citizen yet? - Maybe, I haven't heard anything much about calling for the elimination of ICE lately. (Another illegal alien stands accused of murder in a national story)
If people think the republicans are more likely to provide us with a safe country and economic well being, they will vote republican. The bad stuff will just be unavoidable.
Are the Democrats any different? Here in NYS, Governor Cuomo's administration has the stench of corruption about it, yet he will almost certainly be the Democratic candidate for governor, and will likely be re-elected. Same goes for every NYS legislator.
@Butch I take it this is your rationale for your intention to vote for Trump again in 2020 should he still be around?
2
Of course republicans are going to stand by their man.
They have more tax theft to initiate, roll backs to pollute, and radical right wing judges to put on the bench. OF COURSE they are not going to do their Constitutionally obligated duty to be a check on the President.
They are ALL colluding.
6
If nothing comes of this, it will be clear that the president is above the law. If I became president, I would have my associates remove all the gold from Fort Knox and have my opponents killed. Then pardon them when they are convicted and resign. I could live out my days a rich man with secret service protections. What a country!
Any GOP member who stands by Trump should be shown the door by whatever means necessary. This party before country nonsense needs to stop.
5
I must be naive. I found this out only yesterday. I never watched FOX news before yesterday. I was curious what they would have to say about Michael Cohen and Manafort. To my complete astonishment, they (Hannity) were talking about Hillary Clinton and how dishonest she was! I didn't understand why they were beating a dead horse. I tuned in later and this time there was a very attractive brunette in the mix. They were talking about a TV awards show where two comedians were bad mouthing trump. Again, I was astounded. No wonder people who watch that station are in the dark.
A few days ago, I was walking my dog and one of my neighbors, a conservative, and I got into a debate. He said there should be more fox news. I asked what he thought about the parade being postponed and he said, "What parade?" That was a clue I didn't get until I watched fox. How bizarre this is. Now I know this has been going on for years. People who only watch Fox and don't read newspapers don't know what is going on!!! They really don't know. That's why there are so many trump supporters. Our democracy may be doomed.
2
@Alexis Powers Fox literally did a feature story on the Tooth Fairy yesterday. I'm not making this up.
2
@ChristopherM
Please tell me you're joking. There is no tooth fairy. I'm confused by your response.
I am thoroughly sick of the "will this finally shake the base" stories and the "will they or won't they" takes about Republicans in Congress. The truth, as we have always known, is the truth. By definition and by precedent, Trump's conduct merits impeachment and a serious, good-faith investigation by Congress. The rank hypocrisy and dissembling by Senator Graham and his colleagues doesn't change that, just as Trump's voluminous lies don't wipe out his transgressions. The bottom line is that in a court of law Trump was officially exposed as criminally corrupt in becoming elected and now must be held accountable for that. Any public official who continues to support and excuse this president is unworthy of my respect and my vote.
5
A Republican Congress under the direction of Special Prosecutor Kenneth Starr aided and abetted by Bret Kavanaugh impeached President Clinton because he lied about having a sexual dalliance with Monica Lewinsky. Now the tables are turned: Republican President Donald Trump lied about giving hush money to "Stormy Daniels" violating election finance laws. Will hypocrisy continue with this Republican Congress? Will they continue to consider Bret Kavanaugh to fill Justice Kennedy's seat on the SCOTUS despite his peculiarly zealous pursuit of the prurient details of Clinton's legal (if immoral) behavior? We voters will be watching this all very closely.
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@RLW Spoiler alert: the answer is YES. To everything.
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@RLW
Impeachment failed in the Senate, despite the efforts of a known adulterer, Hyde. He was the guy having an affair while his wife lay dying in a hospital; that didn't help his cause.
When Lindsay Graham prosecuted Clinton in the Senate, dishonor to the office of the Presidency from lying about sex was enough to impeach. Now it seems Trump will have to be found guilty of treason before Graham's willing to rise above "partisan camps". So felonies by our nation's Chief Executive Officer and Commander in Chief are no longer enough to remove him from office? What a disgraceful den of corruption our government has become. And you Senator Graham are an enabler, sustaining this "stain" on the high office of the Presidency.
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@Drew
Clinton was never impeached. Check your history; he beat a ginned up impeachment attempt tied to a girl who made herself available to a middle aged man. Voters liked his policies more than they cared about a stain on a blue dress; he completed two terms, kept the peace and left a full Treasury. Now we have a President blatantly violating the Emoluments Clause which prohibits profiting from the Office of the President; he puts foreign dignitaries into rooms in his D.C. Trump Hotel. His family profits from that.
Congress will do nothing. Nothing. Republican party is now Trump's party. Republicans prostate themselves to Trump; back up everything Trump says or does. Nothing will change until we vote out Republicans. Republicans are plotting to gut Medicare; Social Security and Health Care after mid terms. Vote out GOP for jobs; living wages and health care. Ray Sipe
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At some point, all this lying, corruption and collusion will have to come to a head and this do-nothing, complacent Republican Congress will be ousted. Be sure #Trump is just the symptom, the groundwork was being laid long before his arrival. And rather than focus on those 60M that voted for this piece of work, who seem to be in a daze and continue to follow blindly, more focus should be on the 100 million people who have the legal right to vote in this country, but simply decided it wasn't worth the hassle in 2016. Upcoming #MidtermElections will surely tell whether the American people have had enough of this contaminated filthy swamp now overflowing Capitol Hill and the "people's house, the White House."
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Look, nobody wants Trump out of there as badly as I do, to have Pence succeed him is actually scarier than to have a buffoon at the helm.
Let’s just focus on Congress and the Senate right now and gain control. We can survive another two years of Trump, not a man who’s on a mission from God.
Listening to Alan Dershowitz describe the significance (really insignificance) of non-disclosure of campaign payments, one is struck by the disparity between the giddy NYT headlines and the reality that non-disclosure is the equivalent of "jay walking" per Dershowitz.
Is this really "the one" that will bring Trump down? We have heard this before. I suspect there will be a lot of very angry Trump critics who believed they finally had him. The bigger the belief, the harder the fall.
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If the august senators representing my state, John Cornyn and Ted Cruz (lovingly called Lyin' Ted by Liar of Liars), are any indication, the moral compasses of the rest of the Republican members of that house are lacking their needles and the face of the dial is utterly blank. Their votes in any impeachment proceedings are already writ in stone. As for Texas Republican House cohort, oh, please. We've Louis Gohmert, folks, and though he is easily the leader in the race to the bottom, he has stiff competition. Potted plants demonstrate more independent thought than do folks like John Ratcliffe, Mac Thornberry, Mike Conaway, Jody Arrington and a host of others, little more than programmed automatons going through the motions they are told to do, not anything they have thought through and figured out on their own.
Independent thought. This is what you forfeit when you fail to hold your representative in Washington to their sworn responsibility to uphold the Constitution: Automatons obeying handlers. What we have as a result is corruption such as it has never before been on display in the nation's capitol.
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Kavanaugh must come to an immediate, grinding halt. Now.
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Trump prefers to try his case in the court of public opinion: Twitter, Fox etc.
Mueller prefers to try his cases in a courtroom.
A man is known by the company he keeps. - Aesop
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Wow, even now, with Trump implicated in open court as an unindicted co-conspirator in a felony, accused of breaking multiple federal election laws and the crimes directly related to his candidacy, no Republicans will say out loud, "If this is indeed true, and I hope not, then the President will have to consider resignation, since we can't have a felon in the White House, no matter their party." What a bunch of hypocrites.
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We have a Republican majority in a CINO. Congress in Name Only.
Where is the Congress we need to defend our Constitution?
Their inaction is disgusting.
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Very soon, at least some GOP critters will start proclaiming that Trump is a Democrat. Always has been, etc.. And after the Midterms, it will be a known " FACT" in GOP world. Guaranteed.
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Simple solution--go to the polls and vote In november! Send these complacent legislators packing and end this joke of a presidency.
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@Golonghorns100 Remember, though, that Russia and Republicans are working together to suppress the vote and disrupt the midterms. The GOP no longer bothers to hide their schemes to disenfranchise voters. One day Trump will be gone, but the GOP we see today is the GOP that we'll be dealing with until the Party collapses under the weight of its own breathtaking corruption.
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This country has developed into the politics of division rather than that of inclusion. I would be willing to bet that if we let down our defenses we would find we have a great deal more in common than not.
What we are waiting for is that person who makes the effort to unite both parties and he/she will likely have to come from Congress.
Who will be the one or what will be the event that creates the authentic connection we want for our political discourse? Compromise for the greater good will return to this country, there is no longer room for all or nothing politics!
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Republicans own this mess. Please vote in November. The mess needs cleaned up, and it will otherwise be ignored.
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I will vote for candidates based on their policy proposals, not on what they think about a story to be told by a creepy lawyer. Policy is what counts.
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@Nancy I will vote for country over party.
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@Nancy Which is one of many reasons that I vote against the GOP on a regular basis. The fact that they now openly and willingly support a confessed sexual predator who lies more than he tells the truth just cements the fact that their policies were not based on the good of all of us, but rather the good of a select few.
That creepy lawyer was your boy's for years, and is a direct reflection of your boy's character. You can trust him if you like, but I would never leave him alone in a room with my granddaughter, or trust him with my checkbook, much less the nuclear football.
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@Nancy I beg to differ. Even the world's worst dictators have made some decent policy decisions; it is their total lack of morality that is the problem. Remember, even a broken clock is right twice a day.
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I am so pleased with yesterday’s events. The truth wins, sometimes.
The Republican Leadership response to Cohen’s Court testimony regarding the unnamed Candidate for Federal Office brings to my mind the upper crust nefarious characters in “Trading Places”. They were very, very powerful and wealthy yet placed a bet on an unlikely person’s unlikelihood of success. That’s about where the similarities end since “Trading Places” actually had a very redeemable hero! But the 2 Old white guys? McConnell and any number of Senators, Representatives, RNC heads, or Hannity.
Mueller is the underdog, so let’s all surge our support for him. Bring it home, Bobby! The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
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As more bad news emerges on the Trump front, it is not hard to imagine that GOP Senators and House Members feel themselves being further nudged towards jumping ship. Every Republican must be anxious about how this is playing out in his or her constituency. Disassociation with Trump may not stop the questions but could make them less hostile. Whether the Party will go for broke and try to shore up their moral credibility by impeaching the President is a lot less certain. Esoteric campaign violations, even those involving sex, are not sufficient to trigger proceedings for the dismissal of a president, any more than having sex with an intern did. More than that is going to be necessary to get Republicans out of their seats. As for indicting the President while he is in office is at least questionable constitutionally. And if the Justice Department decides to depart from previous policy, it seems to me highly probably that Trump will pardon himself, which would surely give rise to an even bigger crisis. So it looks like Senator Graham is right - this situation will depend for its resolution on whether there was or was not collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Provided a clear cut case can be made that the majority of voters can understand, even the most die-hard Republican will throw in the towel.
1
"Campaign finance violations — I don’t know what will come from that..."
The goal posts keep sailing back.
"... but the thing that will hurt the president the most is if, in fact, his campaign did coordinate with a foreign government like Russia."
Okay. Call the President to testify before Congress then.
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“Today’s events are a bombshell, and if nothing shakes them loose from their purposeful inertia, the electorate will do so,” Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, one of Mr. Trump’s most outspoken Democratic critics, said of the Republicans.
Thank you, Senator Blumenthal. I expect that the House RepubliCANTs will continue to collude with the president's high crimes and misdemeanors -- until they are thrown out on November 6th.
Let the swamp-draining begin...
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Is it not obvious that Russian money has flowed to republicans in Congress? They are protecting themselves, not just trump
13
The Republican-controlled Congress continues to stonewall and obstruct justice. In fact, they have been acting as co-conspirators in their attacks on the Special Counsel's investigation sanctioned by Speaker Paul Ryan. At this point, there is absolutely no chance of impeachment and that may change only if the Democrats take back both the House and the Senate. The lawyers in the Southern District of New York have the right after Michael Cohen's two guilty pleas to crimes performed "at the direction" of Donald Trump to move forward to indict him. There is absolutely nothing in the Constitution to prevent this, just unwritten Justice Department policy which may not even apply here. Everyone chants the mantra that "No one is above the law." Now is the time to put that into action. Indict Donald Trump and all those others who conspired with him. We may never get political justice; it's time for legal criminal justice to prevail. Our Constitution demands it.
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The GOP Leadership has demonstrated it is the AMORAL and CORRUPT Government Of Putin.
It has left zero options for independents other than to embrace Democrats near and far.
I will be doing exactly that.
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The obstructionist democrats have no message so they run on impeachment and fake collusion. Meanwhile the economy is booming and the world is at peace, all on Trump's watch. The swamp just doesn't get it. Keep taking your polls. How'd that work out in 2016?
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@Steve Curious, how can Dems be 'obstructionist' when the GOP has all of the marbles and the majority - the White House, Senate and the House. If they're having difficulty moving anything forward, it would seem that it would have to be because of disagreement, or because of "obstruction" from within.
4
Seriously? Any decent republican president could pass tax cuts and loosen regulations. Trump is nothing special as far as furthering the republican agenda. What he is doing is staining the party brand and almost ensuring a far left candidate will be elected. This Trump worship is really gross. Elect a better man next time. Like a man who can pass a criminal background check and can release tax returns to the American people. Trump worshipers are becoming an embarrassment. You could have had 8 years of republican rule with a marginally better candidate than Trump. He's made fools of you, used you, and turned you into a joke, not only nationally but internationally. The Republican Party could have been great but you voted it away on a total sad sack, schoolyard bully and loser. A TV reality star and a criminal. The republicans and the "base" could save face and boot the whole regime and take control of the party. Ryan is third in line to the presidency. Then possibly Ryan could win reelection in 2020. Not likely, but at least it would show that you were fooled and not just fools.
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No repulsive wants to implicate themselves in dirty politics even though they know they are totally complicit. It would be difficult for them to admit that they were so wrong to back t-Rump and the dirty election. This is who they are folks. Vote. Our lives and democracy depend on it.
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If you stand by someone who is morally, legally and politically corrupt, you are morally, legally and politically corrupt. Hypocrisy is the hallmark of the GOP.
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@Discerning
Or is it corruption?
Or dishonesty?
Or greed?
Or mean-spiritedness?
Or cruelty?
Or ignorance?
Or stupidity?
Or selfishness?
Or etc., etc., etc. ...
The behavior of the GOP is horrifying. And to think that only in the recent past were these same individuals shouting for Hillary Clinton to be imprisoned for using a private server for government emails. Pigs will fly any day now.
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The bright side is that things are only going to get darker for Trump & Company.
His fate is in our hands. Vote!
14
During Watergate the Repubs backed Nixon until the very last moment before possible impeachment. There is no reason to believe this far more corrupt Republican party will do anything different. Despite the literally thousands of lies Trump has told, despite overwhelming hard evidence of his corruption and criminal activity, the Repubs are so corrupt they will still do everything they can to keep him, and themselves, in power. Anyone, politician or voter, backing Trump at this point is fully complicit in corruption and criminal activity. Shame on you all.
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Republicans will do nothing because their constituents adore Trump.
3
The founding fathers missed what to do to impeach a congressional majority that is reckless and defends an unfit, likely criminal president.
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Expect the corruption and scandal in this administration to roll out in waves of disclosure as dirt begins to be dug out of this white house. I believe we've yet to see the worst.
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Thanks to The NY Times for using chyron. Sent me happily to my dictionary!
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Friends DO NOT let friends vote Republican.
9
QUESTION: Why are Republicans being such hypocrites?
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Crooked Donald! To paraphrase John Dean - a cancer HAS grown on this presidency. Vote out of office the abetting Republicans this fall. The swamp needs deep cleansing.
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Donald J trump, Unindicted Co-conspirator.
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The GOP is like Captain Renault in Casablanca:
"I'm shocked! Shocked to find that gambling is going on in here." At the very same time they are taking a wad of cash from an invisible donor or PAC.
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So, Senator Graham from my home state of South Carolina says that "Campaign finance violations — I don’t know what will come from that . . . Anything short of [campaign coordination with the Russians] is probably going to fall into partisan camps."
Shame! Shame on him and his colleagues who make such a morally compromised calculus. Senator Graham may well be right that President Trump can get away with such things politically, but that is VERY different than saying the President didn't break the law. In fact, according to Mr. Cohen's plea agreement, the President knowingly committed felonies in order to order to help himself get elected. But Senator Graham equivocates on the matter because he knows that speaking up will be politically risky for him in South Carolina.
The only Republicans in Congress speaking up are those who are not seeking reelection. Senator Graham and his Republican colleagues are cowards.
980
@jrinsc-Indeed. How will Trump-supporting Republicans react when it's clear, public, and beyond a shred of doubt that Trump has committed treasonous acts against the U.S?
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@jrinsc, I don't know why this lesson has not taken hold yet. It seems that with every new scandal or revelation or indictment people are "surprised" that Trump has political cover and that nothing seems to come from it. As long as Trump's base believes Fox News and no-one else, no Republican in a typical midterm has any reason to turn on Trump, and many reasons not to. It literally doesn't matter if he's personally guilty of a crime.
1
@jrinsc
Expect the GOP cowards in Congress to do what they always during a Trump catastrophe. Dodge, Distract and Deflect.
And I notice that monotone SHS just robotically read her standard old responses to searing press questions... "The President has been clear"...."I'm not going to get into the back and forth on details"..."As the President has stated numerous times, he has done nothing wrong".
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78,000 votes over 3 states turned the election to Trump. If 39,000 of them had voted for Clinton instead, she wins. Or if more came out to vote and voted for Clinton. Now we know a lot of voters were swayed by Russian interference to vote for Trump. And we know that Trump/Cohen paid off people to prevent bad news that may have swayed voters away from Trump. And there's surely more bad news coming to show this election was tainted.
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