A corrupt, compromised and treasonous president. He’s destroying our country. And he’s making many of us miserable. I would like him to resign.
30
Video in from G 20 shows US Treasury Secretary Steve Manuchin
giggling and grinning obsequiously with Crown Prince Mohammad
bin Salman.
Macron of France appears to be the only leader willing to confront
the Crown Prince face to face.
25
It's kompromat today, and perhaps conspiracy tomorrow.
6
Trump Derangement Syndrome in full flower.
Convicted liar sings to feds that Trump had business dealings with Russians, therefore overturn election with electoral vote total Trump 304 and Clinton 227 and install Mike Pence ?
1
How about let Mueller do his job before writing a column like this. Total nonsense, lets see how it shakes out. When the report comes out (if it's allowed to come out) then draw conclusions and write your articles and op ed's on it.
4
The incredible hubris to think that developing a Moscow tower would be ok is astounding.
That alone should send all these rats scurrying away for cover.
6
The Republican Party endorses and defends 45's actions, and has no intent or interest to expose the miscreant troll for the noxiously toxic, disdainful character. The GOP has too much at stake to lose by turning on their diminutively overbearing leader. They bought the lies. Importantly 45's absolute support for Putin is accepted and recognized by Republicans as demonstrated strength and enhanced power by embracing despots, dictators, and autocrats maligning, denigrating, and degrading their racial, ethnic, and religious minorities. Maintaining racial and ethnic supremacy is the common denominator that emboldens both the Republican Party and 45 to mutually defend and protect each other.Their fear of electoral extinction is on their minds. In the wake of the Democratic tsunami that assures control of the House, evidenced by the significantly expansive election of multi racial, multi ethnic, multi immigrant, multi religious, and LGBTQ representatives, the GOP sees the writing on the wall. Republicans refused to support Mia Love, the Haitian who embraced the GOP as the shining city on the hill, only to be bluntly disturbed to experience that in the end, the Caucasian males, and more importantly, the Caucasian females, in the Republican Congress, refused to join her in condemning the racist Haitian remark, stemming from fear of Twitter tirade attack. Same with Russia. The GOP made its deal with the Devil. Now they have to live with it whether they like it or not. Race matters.
4
The day to day strain on Mr. Trump has to be brutal. Every move he makes that might affect Russia is potentially a disaster. It may well be Mr. Putin does not care all that much, but what he does care about is how Russians see him as a leader. Mr. Trump acts in Ukraine or Syria or Iran and there could be serious response from Moscow not in a rational way but out of fear created by this ongoing investigation. Mr. Trumps actions as a developer now becomes suspect and his sons and daughter are suspect regardless of what they do. There has to be a breaking point when the President decides to cut his losses and end this. Pardoning anyone will make matters much worse. Mr. Putin does not want to be remembered for causing a US President to resign or end up in prison and Donald Trump does not want to end up humiliated and his children facing prosecution. The next few months will be interesting. History might say that Mr. Cohen brought down a president by endless lies. Be certain the Republican Party will go just so far and then dump Mr. Trump. This will not end well.
5
Ms. Goldberg,
I have not followed your work long but you are quickly joining the ranks of Charles Blow, whose columns I no longer read. There is no objectivity, only hyper-partisan alarmism. I need reasoned arguments supported by unassailable facts that help me understand how unhealthy DJT is to our country and present that as convincingly as possible to those that are not similarly outraged.
You seize on every innuendo and small building block that feeds our instincts about DJT as if it is case-closed, lock him up. No minds will be changed by arguments supported by pure instinct and emotion. I tune you out as noise even though we are politically aligned.
This column is an example. Mr Cohen’s confession does not prove DJT was compromised by Russia, it just feeds our suspicions. If you have evidence that he has or continues to pursue deals now that he controls the levers of power, that would be persuasive.
I offer this feedback in hopes it may inspire you to reach for a higher standard of intellectual rigor and filtering so that you may use your megaphone as a meaningful voice in shaping the debate.
2
Sigh, businesswise this whole presidential gig may prove to be a very negative outcome for the family interests. Much better to have lost and let Putin, Fox, Trump TV torment HRC and allow Trump Towers, Casinos and Hotels to proliferate the earth undisturbed.
3
Great opinion and conclusions! Yep, I'm not wise in these matters, but I was right in guessing it all had to do with hotels et cetera -- I figured it like this - Trump gives Putin a free hand in Ukraine and the Baltics (may has to wait until second term if there is one), no sanctions, for hotels and casinos.
CORRUPT!! We sure got a dud low-life Prez. without scruples and principles. and you know he thinks that taking communion is a sorta asking God's forgiveness...he's got it backwards...the sincere, humble and devout penitent makes his confession BEFORE and if he does not he should NOT take communion. So what does Donnie do when he goes to church? mumble the words of the general confession?
2
Oh the salivating for the comeuppance of Donald Trump. I appreciate that too but this ain't it, that Cohen lied about waiting for an email about help for a Trump tower in Moscow after he said negotiations had ended? ending months before the election in any case? That's it? Schiff making something very dark and leverage-menacing about a foreign government knowing some candidate made a misstatement (as if Trump ever cared about making misstatements?) Sorry Ms. Goldberg, best not open the champagne yet, he does far more appalling things right out in the open and on a daily basis with impunity. Ha!
3
Russia only affects Trump because he wants something from Russians, he was already corrupt.
Trump is corrupted from childhood by having vast amounts of money to solve his problems. He learned from his father how dishonesty pays so long as one is not caught by anyone likely to do anything about it. He has wanted to be an admired and famous person but never cared about how he achieved that end. His voice and diction skills are excellent. He has been professionally trained. His rhetorical skills are equally excellent. He is clever and schemes all the time but his reasoning is absent of intellectual erudition. He has a narrative and he sticks to it. But has no skill at finding plausible evidence for his assertions. He often repeats lame and stupid thinking without any concern. His money have served to save him many times over in circumstances which would have ruined nearly everyone else.
5
Trump is compromised by reality.
8
Could that pre-inauguration quote of the Fake President included in Ms. Goldberg’s column, i.e. “NO NOTHING”, a double negative, be a Freudian slip? If so, Trump was actually indicating, and publicly admitting, that he had much to do with Russia. For someone who brags about his intelligence and Ivy League pedigree, his poor grammatical usage is remarkable in itself.
3
Trump lies daily. His repeated denials of ties to Russia were not believable at the time, but have now been shown to be lies. His cult will not care. Last night, I recorded Hannity out of curiosity. He attacked Robert Mueller, Hillary, the Christopher Steele dossier, Comey, McCabe, Ohr, and more. This is a deliberate, concentrated effort to discredit any facts coming from the Mueller investigation. The Trump cult will not accept the facts. What the average Hannity viewer and Trump cultist ignores is that Republicans have held full control of our government for nearly two years, yet none of what Hannity feeds the gullible daily has come to pass. Hannity is a false patriot choosing profit over duty to country, duty to responsible journalism. SHAME!
5
Peter Strzok should be reinstated and get an apology from the 5th column known as Fox News and the Republican Party.
2
So let me get this straight, Clapper lies to Congress, Brennan lies to Congress and a personal lawyer you all laughed at a year ago lies to Congress and we have a ‘Constitutional crisis’. Advice, never start a sentence that starts w/“Adam Schiff says”, at that point the cart is in the ditch.
1
I don't think its much of a surprise that Trump was interested in a Tump Tower deal with Russia. Nor is it surprising he did not want to limit his options until he was fairly sure he would get the nomination. I would have been surprised if he had not done so.
As for his public statements, they were literally true as there was apparently no actual "deal", i.e no funds invested nor any actual contracts signed. There was the potentiality of a future real estate development, but they had not progressed beyond a "letter of intent" and some follow-up discussions. The notion the Russians "had something" on Trump because of that is really a stretch.
2
Trump colluded with the Russians. What's my evidence? Trump repeatedly, incessantly, obsessively declares, "No collusion."
I believe that Trump is such a pathological liar that we need to rethink our concept of evidence. In other words, the more Trump denies something, the more true it is. Had no deals with Russia. Never touched that woman. Am a really smart person.
23
"Trump wanted help building his brand."
Full stop!
That didn't work out quite the way he intended, did it? His brand has been exposed for what it is...a lie.
7
Dear Santa Mueller, I’ve been a good boy all year. All I want for Christmas is a pee-pee tape or a tax return. Either would be great. Thanks.
22
I am hoping for a BIG stack of indictments!
3
Trump ran not to win but to expand his brand. As a former Republican candidate for President Trump felt he could parlay that into a lot of money and get his tower built in Russia. Then he won and he and his family had dollar signs in their eyes because now they could really expand the brand and their bank accounts. It has always been about the money and now they use the White House and the Presidency as their personal mint. He did expand his brand-only this time he got caught.
5
To all those who say, we all knew what we were getting when we elected Trump, may I paraphrase?
We knowingly elected a lying con-man for President, who every day debases the office and hence all who voted for him, because we hated Hillary, we hated Obama, and we hate progressives who think they know more than the rest of us. We hate that we benefit from the Democrat’s programs. It is all so complicated, we just want some simplicity for a change.
Pity those who hate more than they advance their own cause.
23
The writer is hoping and speculating. There has been no evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors. Lying as a politician is not an impeachable offense.
16
@Alan Klein
Why is Trump afraid to show his tax returns?
Even if not for last year, some previous year.
24
@Alan Klein 1) There is circumstantial evidence, plenty of it. 2) Impeachment does not require a president to have committed crimes. It's fundamentally political.
29
@Alan Klein
"Lying as a politician" is too broad. It includes trying to highlight how aspects of a given policy will meet some of the requirements of various groups despite the fact that their interests directly conflict. That's the truth about "all politicians lie." But in this case we're talking about a president using the office to make official pronouncements to the American public that are false, with the sole intention of shielding himself from accountability for his actions. And there's plenty of evidence of that. The problem is that his supporters capsulize it as "personality, not policy" and as such condone it.
36
This is why a former intelligence chief referred to him as an Putin asset.
9
I'm not a lawyer or expert on US law, but would not the suggestion in the context of negotiations to build the Moscow tower of giving a penthouse apartment to President Putin constitute a breach of the the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act if that suggestion was floated to people in Moscow? It was a promise of a bribe was it not to help achieve the goal of building the tower?
19
@Mntrunner - Yup, it was attempted bribery if it was offered. And it applies even if Trump wasn’t running for office.
13
Video footage in from the G 20 shows US Treasury Secretary Steve Manuchin giggling and grinning obsequiously with Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.
To their credit Trump and daughter Ivanka kept relatively serious expressions.
Macron of France appears to be one of the only participants to confront Crown Prince seriously face to face.
7
You’re overdoing it. Democrats in the House will do all the hearings and investigations they can come up with to occupy C-SPAN for the next two years. (That’s what Americans voted for.) You no longer have to keep up the front that you believe or care about any of this.
2
Seems Grandpa just forgot. The same way is formally strong attorney is now a weak one.
2
The GOP leadership in the US Senate cannot avoid the obvious: There is growing evidence that president of the United States has not been complying with his Oath of Office. There is little doubt in my mind that, during the coming weeks, we will have clear evidence of 1) the president's knowledge and involvement (indirect) in a conspiracy to sway the 2016 Presidential Election in his favor and 2) the president's financial ties (and dependency) on Russian oligarch funding for his businesses funneled through DeutscheBank.
Our political system has checks and balances in place to hold elected officials accountable to its citizens.
My concern is this: If the leadership of the US Senate is shunning its responsibility to hold the president of the United States accountable, then who is?
11
The events of this week bring to mind a pairs of words that may foretell the disintegration of the Trump empire:
"Money Laundering" and "Civil Forfeiture."
I believe Russia has the goods on Trump's financial activities, including "money laundering". I imagine Mueller does too. And so, Mueller has crossed Trump's so called"red line", and Trump must be very afraid. A means to dispense justice in money laundering is known as "Civil Forfeiture". For Trump, this could mean the loss of his and his family's financial empires.
9
Mr. Cohen lied to Congress and should face consequences. If he is sentenced, one of only a handful of folks to be sent to jail for lying to Congress in decades, can we expect more indictments. Mr. Comey, Mr. Clapper and Mr. Brennan all lied to Congress, lies exposed by media, and they have not been cited with the crime. Mr. Cohen’s lie concerned a timeline of legal business dealings between a person not the President of the United States and a possible foreign investment. The others were all employees of the federal government.
2
@Collie Sue
Those other people are opposed to Trump. So they are immuned.
1
I would think that the republicans would start to consider that it is time to try to remove Trump so Pence can become president. He probably is more appealing to the evangelicals who form a base of support.
That would also mean the Trump could be paraded as a victim of 'false news' that so many seem to cling to. Motivating the non evangelicals to continue to support the republicans
2
I hope that Ms. Goldberg is correct, but I regretfully suspect that Trump will squirm out of this.
Obviously, multiple agendas were in play: Putin’s interest in inflamming distrust of the U.S. electoral process is probably independent of Russian oligarchic interest in getting Trump elected.
And Trump, Inc. interest in doing whatever it takes to smear Clinton intersects with different Russian interests that hit the Trump team as being out of their league, so they withdrew Trump Tower interests at the precise point that they realized they were in over their heads with dirty tricks that weren’t coordinated with Trump Tower interests.
In short, lots was going on for the sake of Trump which Trump probably didn’t know much about, because he’s a patsy for several kinds of interests, but as narcissist he has to pretend to be in charge, when he wasn’t. So, we’re going to see a lot of prosecutions, but I doubt that we’re going to see impeachable disclosures about Trump.
I really regret to suspect that, because Trump is a cancer on American government—and global leadership. But we should appreciate that American government is surviving him: He’s largely contained by advisors who are letting him play blowhard, without yet doing a lot of damage. He’s doing damage, no doubt. But it’s a greatness of America that we can get along without, in effect, any real president in the presidency.
5
This story is becoming more than just a failed presidency, it's now into a potential overthrow of our government.
It was always clear Putin had something on Trump and likely about money. I doubt he cared all that much about a tape, perversion or not. We've heard worse about him. Plus, it might be disgusting but not really illegal, only as a blackmail tool and if released, that's over. So it has to be serious crimes that could send him to jail.
The Trump family has no knowledge of or interest in the laws concerning governing but they no doubt know financial laws and how to get around them. He figured he'd make a run for office, highlight his brand, no doubt lose but parlay that into more fame and fortune. Then Putin got a whiff of possibilities, would have known he could outsmart a greedy narcissist and saw his opening.
The real mystery is not just what Russians have on Donald Trump but on the rest of the Republican congress because they have strongly resisted this investigation every step of the way, far more than just placating his base would warrant.
15
Face it- If the Moscow Project didn't fall through, Trump would have still taken the deal. He WANTED that deal.
Just like he wants a piece of the Mohamed Bin Salman’s Red Sea Project which will sprawl across 3,800km of an untouched nature reserve, and will boast an academy of the arts, several yachting clubs, more than 2,500 hotel rooms and more than 200 shops.
The “Riviera of the Middle East”
7
Please don't forget, Pence is as bad or worse than Trump, because he's more subtle and too many people think he's OK. He's not: "The Danger of President Pence: Trump’s critics yearn for his exit. But Mike Pence, the corporate right’s inside man, poses his own risks." https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/23/the-danger-of-president-pence
7
The massive failure we are seeing couldn't have happened without the Supreme Court decisions that loosed an unlimited flood of money into US elections. It finished the separation of the government from voters that started with "the government is the problem" under Reagan. Politicians don't court voters, they court donors. As a consequence politicians don't serve voters, they serve donors and money floods upwards to the donors from the rest of the country. In the process, conservative values like defending the Constitution, lost their meaning. The Tea Party started out as a defense of liberty and the Constitution, then they got funded by Koch et al. The Gingrich formula of winner-take-all and anything-goes took over, enabling Trump to win by humiliating and bullying rivals and attacking the Free Press and breaking rules right and left. Most voters are scrambling to get by and don't spend time researching what is happening and why. That's a feature of this kind of politics that makes propaganda more effective and postpones reform until there's an economic disaster.
FDR style reform (the New Deal) reduced inequality dramatically and set us up for 70 years of prosperity. A big part of it was progressive taxation that made huge piles of money harder to accumulate. Partial reform, like Dodd-Frank, was easily undone. Vote Progressive to avoid Great Depression III and WWIII (the Everyone a refugee War).
9
Those in positions of power that are close to this president and advocated his policies are now at grave risk politically and legally:
donald jr
pence
mcconnell
nunes
What we are seeing is just the beginning of the fall of an US president!
Only the best people....,
8
While it’s true he might not have won, it appears that Trump has lied to the American people about his business dealings with Russia. By lying, he could be a blackmail target. Further, he cannot be impartial on issues that affect Russia. He may also be compromised by his relationship to Saudi Arabia. Since he cannot recuse himself from Russian or Saudi issues, he must resign if he has any loyalty to Americans.
4
@Nb
But a sociopath has loyalty only to himself, if the term “loyalty” even applies.
Having watched President Trump force himself into the national spotlight on a daily basis for the past 2 years, I do not think it much of a stretch to identify him as a sociopath. If he’s not, he’s missing one heck of a fine opportunity.
6
@Nb
Trump had business dealings around the world in many countries during the election. The voters who elected him accepted what he does and trusted that he won't compromise America. Everything he's done to date, including Russia and Saudi Arabia, have not compromised our national security and economic interests. In fact, he's shown his resolve and strength. His sanctions on Russia have increased. He put moral scruples on the sideline to assure America's interest in the Middle East vis a vis Saudi Arabia. To argue he wants to build a hotel in either country and therefore compromised his policies, is just illogical and politically motivated.
1
Stop waiting for Mueller. The Democrats in Congress now must get Trumps tax returns. All the evidence needed to impeach him will be in there. Why else would he refuse to release them? And if he refuses to release them, arrest him for contempt. Then impeach him.
6
@Vanowen
Is that the only reason you would not want to release your tax returns?
Everyday that Trump is in power is a party for the Republicans and their billionaire, big-polluting, oil-selling, thieves. Our emergency is their celebration.
12
There's weak and then there's this. A politician lying to the public is not a unique event and doesn't make them a patsy to a hostile power.
Something may come of the Russia conspiracy theory pushed by the left for years now, but this ain't it. In the mean time, you guys are just Alex Jones-lite.
2
If Trump is "compromised" because he had business dealings or explored the possibility of doing a large business project in Russia (building a hotel) then what this means is that virtually no one who is a businessman in our now economically integrated world is eligible for political office! Only, since college (no adult real world experience) professional politician deceivers and 'dreamers' like the Clintons and Obama need apply to run for office. Which apparently would suit the interests of the democratic party and the NY Times stable of Left wing writers like Goldberg just fine.
5
@winthrop staples
There is no shortage of other businesspeople who manage to go about their business without them and/or their associates repeatedly lying about it.
4
@winthrop staples: Trump obviously isn't rich enough to eschew conflicts of interest.
2
the last sentences say it clearly: Putin has loathed Hillary for years and surely did not want to see her win, knowing she would be a strong opponent.
it is also more than likely that Putin has long known Trump's business involved money laundering for various shady characters around the world, including Russian oligarchs, and he also knew that an inexperienced Trump would be more likely to be a puppet than an opponent.
when Trump and his minions rant on about collusion, what they understand is clandestine phone calls, meeting in the back rooms of restaurants, called out quid pro quo deals,
6
Cohen's plea deal is proof of nothing except the fact Cohen lied. There is nothing illegal about a private businessman pursuing a business deal in a foreign country. Where is the proof that Trump's pursuit of properties in Russia have any direct correlation to Putin? There is none. Only wishful thinking on the part of the Left.
The Clinton's did business with any foreign country with a checkbook while she was a sitting Secretary of State. And enriched themselves immensely along the way. Where did all that Foundation money go? Why aren't you asking questions about her business dealings with actual foreign government officials and businessmen?
You're double standard is nauseating.
4
@TheRealJR60
Hasn't the Clinton Foundation been audited multiple times? What questions about where the foundation's money went do people have?
5
We are following the money, but they are but crumbs in the overall scheme of things - there are multiple national security issues at play - indeed, remember Flynn ? ( I still think he is the key, if there are actual conspiracy and treason charges to be laid against the President and others)
Having said all that, I think that long ago (perhaps even during the Bush era - Russians play the long game) the calculus was to steal an election and put into motion acts that would enrich the Russian Czar (Putin), the oligarchs around him and others around the globe.
They knew that republicans had essentially brought America to a standstill during the Obama years. (filibuster and block everything in the Senate) They also knew that when the time was right - republicans in control of all three parts of government, that they could steal trillions. (as well as consolidate power)
The calculus was that regardless of whatever means to the end they wished, that even if a sitting President was indicted (to be seen), that a republican controlled Senate would never convict. Even if it got that far, then pardons would be flying around everywhere.
In the meantime, deals were made, and whole portions of independent states around the globe would be ''annexed''. (Crimea, Georgia, Syria) The oil would flow freely again with part or all of sanctions lifted, and as a bonus, America would be thrown into Constitutional crisis.
<---- look over here, while we steal over there ----->
6
Here we all thought Donald was conspiring with the Russians to win the election, when all along, he was conspiring with the Russians to puff up his brand and make a killing. Offering Putin a $50 million gift wasn't personal, Sonny, it was strictly business.
He didn't want the job after all. What a relief!
2
@Occupy Government
Funny!
1
Mitch McConnell should be investigated, what do the Russians have on him. He will ultimately go down in history as on of the biggest traitors to his oath of office this country has ever endured. Without Mitch, there would be no Trump..
12
McConnell's mission to pack the federal judiciary with extremist judges, deliver tax relief to the American oligarchy, and bankrupt the safety net supersedes any respect for his oath of office to protect and defend the United States from all enemies domestic and foreign, to defend the Constitution, and to see that the laws are faithfully executed. He and the remnants of the historical Republican Party are in thrall yo and in fear of perhaps one quarter of the electorate that is the proto-fascist Trumpist movement. They fear they will never survive any primary challenge, and would be voted out of office unless they continue to abide this grotesque debasement of our laws and society. So this cunning fool is the inheritor of the legacy of Everett Dirksen, Howard Baker, Hugh Scott, Bob Michel, and many other decent Republican legislators of the past, who would have put up with this infamy not for one minute.
5
Republicans no longer need Trump - the Supreme Court is set; the appeals courts have been stacked; tax cuts have been passed; etc...etc...etc... Now, they will do what was done to Nixon, slowly back away - hi ho the cher-i-o the rat stands alone. The House Dems will take the heat for his demise, Pence will be moved forward, and they have a clean nominee for 2020.
3
@Ile
Assuming Pence remains clean when the dust settles.
2
@Ile
I agree with you except for Pence. Yes, he wants to be president, but I feel he'll be tainted by the Trump Administration. Remember, we'll go through some months of witnessing an "injured", vindictive and writhing president who will be using Pence as a "shield" (for his own convenience). The scene will probably sicken the electorate... I may be wrong, but Pence isn't likely to be a finalist.
2
GOP members of Congress: DO YOUR JOB!
Signed,
Your 328 Million Employers
6
So, Michelle, you’re telling me that yesterday, just before leaving to lead the G20 summit and sign a new trade agreement, that the President suffered the administration-ending consequences of the exposure of the “leverage” that the Kremlin has been holding over the President’s head. Talk about a nothingburger!
I guess that was the leverage they used over him to get the US out of Syria, to not kill Russians in Syria, to raise the price of oil, to support the German/Russian gas pipeline, to cut back on NATO funding, to not provide military aid to Ukraine and other Kremlin friendly policies. Oh yeah, that’s the OPPOSITE of what the President did.
You prove yourself to be a not serious person yet again.
2
I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIA — NO DEALS, NO LOANS, NO NOTHING!”
He was correct he has no deals with Russia.
I'm not sure how he could be compromised.
Trump lied to the American people. Sad but not news. Move on sheep. Move on to 'thing that will destroy' Trump #7,256.
2
"Opinion Columnist" - nuff said. Show us the evidence. It's been over 2 years now and it's still just a lot of journos screeching and FBI agents charging people from crimes created by the probe itself.
every time you cry wolfe more and more people stop listening.
3
The malfeasance of the GOP to stop this traitorous president who allows Russian interference in our elections and elections in other countries, who is allowing the deterioration of Western alliances, who allows Russian adventurism( especially in the Ukraine), is cause for the indictment and imprisonment of half the GOP. They know what's going on, but they are risking the America's strength and security for the unforeseen future for the sake of the odious plutocracy this country has become. It is all about money in the pockets of those in power, namely, corporations and the 1% and the politicians whose pockets are filled for their traitorous behavior.
Greed is destroying the USA.
5
Imagine if Trump had been president during the Cuban missile crisis instead of Kennedy. Would his response have been "well Kruschev (sp?) said vertthey
1
What would Republicans and Fox News be saying if Hillary had been elected had done all these things?
2
@Independent
She did worse...and thankfully was not elected
2
Seems morning crew missed it. Once again:
In fact, this will be determined by the 2020 election, but our Sovietized mass-media out of New York City will continue the attack ad nauseam for certain--even Burr wasn't hated so much by Jefferson.
That given aside, the House will be quite entertaining over the next two years in watching how they will stomp on Trump but show success with their elected issues, e.g., healthcare, abolish ICE, permanent middle class tax cuts, forgive student debt, and, of course, plant Cultural Marxism wherever possible.
So it goes with American democracy.
4
@Alice's Restaurant - Trump invites the media's response with his multiple daily lies and accusations. Excepting Fox News, the media's duty is to report the facts, and while they aren't perfect, they're much more reliably accurate than Trump, Giuliani, Conway, Huckabee, McConnell, et al. If Trump kept his mouth shut and stayed off of Twitter, they would have much less to work with. As far as "Cultural Marxism" goes, it doesn't exist, just a Breitbart/Drudge/Infowars myth.
3
Since Trump lies with a regularity that other people exhibit while breathing, this is likely no surprise for those of us who might be paying attention: "So we now know that Trump lied to the American people about at least one part of his business relationship with Russia..."
What's up with the 39% of folk that think Trump is doing alright?
3
At this time of year so many of us look back at the classic film "It's a Wonderful Life." Apply Trump to the Jimmy Stewart character and poor Clarence's plan wouldn't work at all. Trump has never really helped people unless he got more in return. Our world has really not been improved by his time on the earth. Not even Mike Pence can any longer come out and say nice things about him. The final straw was his poor, abused fixer Mr. Cohen, not even he can say anything nice about Trump no, this time he's speaking the truth.
Well, Clarence it's time for you to admit that the world would be better off without him. So Donald, go ahead and jump and this time no one will pull you out.
5
Trump's staunchest supporters will never get it. Last night, as MSNBC, CNN, NBC, etc. covered Cohen's confessions, and their implications, extensively, FOXNews had Tucker Carlson giggling with glee as Dear Leader's plane touched down safely in Buenos Aires, and then he showed some unflattering photos of Stacey Abrams and sneered about her "complaining" about her loss, while adding some lies about what happened in that race. FOXNews watchers could only have been dimly aware of the real news that all the rest of us were grappling with. And they will continue to be just like Plato's cave people, mesmerized by the flickering nonsense that emanates from the Trump/Putin network. When impeachment finally comes, or Trump is forced to pull a Nixon and get out of town quickly, or he is actually convicted of several crimes, they will be outraged, angry and seething with vengeance.
14
@RDA
They are quite literally being lied to by their choice of 'news' source on a daily, no, hourly basis.
10
The hack revealed true facts. Can we please get some stage lights on the Truth?
Those Russians are Just Red Herrings.
If it had been Jorge Garcia, the master hacker on 'Hawaii 5-0' who found the truth and leaked it, would we be claiming Trump was in Jorge's back pocket? Investigating Trump for unhealthy reliance on a hefty Hawai'ian's hacking chops?
The "leaks" supply enormously convincing evidence that the 2016 Democratic Nomination for President was rigged -- heavily and prematurely rigged -- starting no later than mid-2015. That was not Trump's or the Russians' doing.
As a Bernie Sanders supporter, I deeply resent this displaced focus on the Russians. The Hillary Clinton campaign took over the finances of the Democratic National Committee in the summer of 2015, close to a year before HRC was nominated. As Donna Brazile told us in "Hacks."
Then, as head of the DNC, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz clearly did everything she could to rig the Nomination for President for Hillary. The contents of Podesta's leaks just add fuel to the kindling.
What about the Truth of What was revealed, and not just the How?
Just because Bernie is forgiving and mild-mannered, does not mean that what the Clinton campaign and the DNC did was right. It's about time someone -- maybe not the NY Times, maybe not the world's greatest journalists -- put the hot lights on the original offense in this case. Maybe it wasn't criminal, but it put a giant thumb-on-the-scales of a "fair fight."
1
Oh please. You’re talking about internal political party dynamics to quickly select its nominee and the other is the theft of mail by an adversarial power intent in sowing dissent and division within the United States to delegitimize the candidate of one political party and augment the chances of her opposition. One that they knew well and as it turns out was eager to invest time and capital to construct a large tower in the Russian capital. But hey. Go Bernie!
7
@Gabriel
If the DNC and Hillary would do that to Bernie, just think of what they might have done to all of us!
@mitchell
Touché.
So while the majority of Americans voted for the other candidate, the antiquated Electoral College elected a Russian asset and security risk to the highest office of the land.
14
Cable news has been awash with Trump statements having absolutely no contact with the Russians, that's zero, zip, nothing, could never have been, or however you wish to put it. Now he claims he had the right all along to do what he wanted, basically admitting he has lied all along. Then he states Cohen has lied about all this, but his lawyer Guiliani states his written replies to the Special Counsel are consistent with Cohen's statements. So if Cohen has lied Trump has lied, one wonders if Manaforts lawyers got this all back to Trump in time.
5
We are following the money, but they are but crumbs in the overall scheme of things - there are multiple national security issues at play - indeed, remember Flynn ? ( I still think he is the key, if there are actual conspiracy and treason charges to be laid against the President and others)
Having said all that, I think that long ago (perhaps even during the Bush era - Russians play the long game) the calculus was to steal an election and put into motion acts that would enrich the Russian Czar (Putin), the oligarchs around him and others around the globe.
They knew that republicans had essentially brought America to a standstill during the Obama years. (filibuster and block everything in the Senate) They also knew that when the time was right - republicans in control of all three parts of government, that they could steal trillions. (as well as consolidate power)
The calculus was that regardless of whatever means to the end they wished, that even if a sitting President was indicted (to be seen), that a republican controlled Senate would never convict. Even if it got that far, then pardons would be flying around everywhere.
In the meantime, deals were made, and whole portions of independent states around the globe would be ''annexed''. (Crimea, Georgia, Syria) The oil would flow freely again with part or all of sanctions lifted, and as a bonus, America would be thrown into Constitutional crisis.
<----- look over here, while we steal over there ------>
1
Trump's nauseating praise of this murdering dictator, Putin, has been a giant red flag from the beginning.
And if that $40 million Florida property which Trump resold to the Russian oligarch for $90 million doesn't scream of money laundering, what does?
Follow the money.
11
One wonders if it's not just Scotus appointment fever motivating Republicans. Nunes and others are perhaps also compromised?
9
GOP Senators won't care because they're compromised as well. Cohen was the RNC deputy chair. GOP campaigns were suffused with laundered Russian cash. There are more co-conspiators to come.
4
It is long past the time for someone with the power to ask, “What did the VICE President know, and when did he know it?”
Mr. Pence was reportedly hand-picked for the job by Ms. Ivanka Trump and Mr. Jared Kushner. I remember reading an article that they falsely told Mr. Trump that his plane had a defect in order to get him to spend a night in Indianapolis at the Governor’s mansion.
It defies credibility - mine, anyway - that Sargent Schultz-like, Mr. Pence “saw nothin’, heard nothin’, knew nothin’.” Of course, if he actually did emulate the Sargent despite being an close insider (as opposed to, say, Ms. Palin, whom Mr. McCain reportedly kept at more than an arm’s length), we need to worry about his ability to make reasoned decisions in ambiguous circumstances from the Oval Office, if indeed he ends up there.
4
And now I hear that Putin "rejected" Trump's meeting cancellation and that Putin is summoning Trump to meet in Argentina? Reuters (reported in the Jerusalem Post) reported this yesterday. Is this true?
If true, then that's just more ammunition for the notion that Trump is a puppet.
4
Can we start referring to him as "President Individual 1" from now on? Please? Pretty please? It brings such mirth to this otherwise abysmal holiday season...
8
Trump is compromised by his lack of character and moral compass!
4
Every passing day, Trump is becoming less useful to Putin.
When the day comes that Putin realizes his money laundromat in the USA is about to be shut down, he himself will release the kompromat.
Trump’s and the whole GOP starting with Mitch McConnell.
8
@Opinioned!
Exactly. Why deal with all this drama when beautiful little Cyprus is sitting right there.
1
It's ridiculous. This is just one of many smoking guns! By not divesting himself of his companies, Trump has allowed his Presidency to become compromised by every single place where he either owns property or is attempting to do deals. He's corrupted by the Saudis (they saved his failing hotel in NYC) corrupted by the Russians (as Cohen just clarified), corrupted by the Chinese (Ivanka is still winning trade patents there)! This continues to be the most corrupt Presidency in history. All he had to do was divest himself of his business and not hire his family, but he can't even do that. And the corrupted fools in the GOP aren't even mildly protesting. It's sick. And it's wrong.
13
I often ask myself what the noise coming out of the GOP and Fox News if this had been a Democrat who had done this. The impeachment bus would have departed a long time ago. Remember uranium 1, Benghazi, and emails? They seem quaint compared to the graft and wholesale dismemberment of our politics by this crew and not even a peep from the right. Unbelievable.
7
One of the things so surprising to me about Trump's base is that rural folk are generally (or used to be) wary of rich, never-worked-a-day in their life-- city slickers.
It seems lifetime's ago that McCain----or was it Romney?---committed what was thought to be a major gaff in that they couldn't remember how many houses they owned.
This was considered a big deal and an example of the un-reality these wealthy, spoiled-brat folk show constantly with their privileged separation from the great unwashed.
Yet these very same people vote and support Trump; literally a man so far removed from working folk that he may as well be an alien.
That's how much they hate The Other. They are willing to throw in with the most materialistic, shallow and clownlike City Slicker of all time....from New York City! That Trump's goofy vain-glorious hair isn't a deal breaker to these kind of people is just remarkable.
Fear and hate is the only thing they care about.
10
Reading the news this week with a better attitude, a bit more confident that the world will not blow up if I take my eye off of the smoking, bleeding trainwreck that is this Presidency. Maybe spare a few brain cycles for my work, family, maybe get in some exercise.
But then Ms Goldberg points out 'Every day of the Trump presidency is a national security emergency.'
Uh, thanks. And I had imagined cranking down the blood pressure meds too.
All of this must be taking a vast psychic and toll of the country, and an economic one as well. A vast impact on health. Millions of Americans must be affected, including the ones who have been patiently waiting for the coal fields to reopen.
Here's the next feature for the Times: how we are getting by, on a daily basis. I bet many people aren't.
4
@Robert
Christmas is coming soon.
I enjoy gathering all the youngsters together under the Christmas tree to tell them the story of our current American madness...
“Well kids, once upon a time there was a B-movie actor who wanted to be president. To grab his audience’s attention, he came up with a catchy turn of phrase — ‘Government is NOT the answer to our problems. Government IS the problem.’
“Many people thought this was very clever. Plus they liked the ex-actor’s suit and his spiffy haircut. And so...”
5
We are not going to useat Trump now or win in 2020 based on the Russia. story, why don‘t you get it? We better start focusing on policies that concern working Americans. The renter class and not the so called elites that are secure with cushy 100k + incomes, stock and home ownership. It‘s all about addressing the rampant inequality. Even a 15h minimum wage and Obamcare won‘t suffice but are just pathetic alibis for doing nothing to fix the situation and therefore will not allow us to win elections.
We can do both.
1
@heinrich zwahlen
Are rooting out corruption and helping working Americans mutually exclusive ?
1
Republicans, animated by political cowardice or neo-Nazi dreams of sanctioned brutality, are incapable of checking Trump and his stooges.
Trump, an unsophisticated mob boss, is clever enough to constantly attack any source of independent thought--a free press, congressional opponents, the military, the courts, the Dept. of Justice, voters, individual protesters and leaders of democracies who question his stability or intent.
It's not clear that even this Cohen evidence of Trump's vulnerability to Russian threats to reveal his Russian entanglements (or the personal ugliness detailed in the Steele dossier, which has proven to be largely on target) will dampen the enthusiasm of his hate mobs or of Republican office holders.
Trump is the greatest threat to national integrity since the Civil War and it may be we won't emerge in the aftermath as a democracy. The United States has become the greatest threat to international stability and rule by law.
2
What do you call it when an official statement is made that confirms what everyone already knows is true?
1
Does anyone else think Mike Pence's knowledge and participation in all this needs to be investigated?
10
"The question now is whether Senate Republicans, who could actually do something about it, will ever be moved to care."
The answer is the Senate Republicans are not going to do anything until the report is issued. If the House impeaches Mr. Trump, then it will depend on how damning the report is whether they remove Trump fro office.
In the meantime they are going to keep working hard to stack the judiciary with conservative appointees. This was their goal all along and they are succeeding bigly.
If the report continues a narrative that Mr. Trump is low down, lying snake in the grass, but does not offer solid proof that he is in Putin's back pocket, the Republicans are going to say, "so what else is new", and keep on working to get the judiciary as conservative as they can between now and 2020, when it is likely Mr. Trump will be voted out of office.
1
The whopper of the nothing burger continues to pile up. All at the expense of tax payers and a majority of voters whom votes are sought to be overturned by frivolous accusations, hypotheticals, and a media bent on destroying a sitting POTUS.
Cohen is now a proven liar and any testimony he could presumably supply would be inadmissible in a court of law.
1
@Indie Voter
It is not Cohen's testimony, but the corroborating evidence he can supply (recordings, emails and texts, bank records, etc.) that will take center stage going forward.
3
@rella
You are just wishing on a star...Mueller already decimated Cohen's office, his apartment, and any other domicile he had.
All they have him on in respect to Trump is "misleading answer".
Pretty weak.
@RobWi
Do you really think that the corroborating evidence has been made public in its entirety at this point in the process?
3
If by compromised you mean controlled, I agree.
1
Trump & Co. make Nixon's mischief look like child's play.
Trump is compromised. Not exactly BREAKING NEWS.
1
How long has this been going on? I mean this Russia/Putin scandal. I'm astounded by the hypocrisy of this. And by that I mean those who are outraged by Russian interference in US politics.
Seriously, folks. How many governments has your government overthrown, either directly or through proxy? The answer is "more than you can count on you fingers."
Back during the Vietnam war, I was in military intelligence. It was not an intellectual exercise. People were killed - by the thousands (in the case of Indonesia, a million or more) - based on that "intel."
There are good reasons to want the Trump/Pence cabal out of power. This ain't one of them. If this Russia nonsense is what outrages you, as the old song goes, "before you accuse me, take a look at yourself."
Just as an exclamation point, if you are not willing to get into the streets and stay there (peacefully) because there is a racist in office of President, you are part of the problem. Voting ain't the solution. It's what got us to today.
1
"But even before those inquiries begin, we can see that Putin has been in possession of crucial information about Trump’s business interests that the president deliberately hid from the American people."
Every president lies. Get Over it. The real question is, how substantial are those lies, and what could their impact be.
So far, this is a nothigburger.
It is comparable to saying, if Putin knew that you couldn't really keep your doctor under Obamacare, then Putin had leverage over President Obama.
It's a bit ridiculous to ascribe such importance to the fact that Trump lied during his campaign about his business interests. This was not under oath, and it was not during is presidency.
Print something when you have something substantive.
An electorate with any whiff of critical thinking can see that Trump and his ilk are rotten liars and criminals to the core...
I guess an ellipse is the only way to follow that statement.
Given what we already know publicly and the way Trump continues to publicly incriminate himself, I can only imagine what Mueller's got. And I look forward to seeing it and the reactions of people like Mitch McConnell who has aided and abetted a criminal president. At least Paul Ryan had enough instinct for self-preservation to run for the hills.
3
After reading this piece I am reminded of the fact that the Russians weren't faced with the impossible -- the ability to covertly influence the votes of millions of Americans -- in order to meddle trump to victory. Trump won the electoral college by only a tiny minority of about 70,000 votes spread out over 3 swing states. The Russian disinformation campaign on social media in tandem with Trump's non-stop lies about "Crooked Hillary's" corruption and illnesses would have easily suppressed votes in these regions that were largely undecided right up until the day of the election. We're talking a mere 10 or 20 thousand voters from each state whom were inclined to vote for Clinton but that decided simply not to vote at all because there were too many doubts cast. Sounds totally plausible to me.
3
@Vickie: James Comey elected Trump by flinging Anthony Weiner's computer at Hillary at the peak of early voting. It was a virtual assassination.
2
@Vickie
Not to put too fine a point on it, but tactically the prime goal of their meddling was to influence potential Clinton voters to: a) vote for Jill Stein, or more easily, b) just stay home and not vote at all.
As far as option 'b', the Comey bombshell 10 days prior to the election was the final nail in the coffin.
2
@Vickie Except the NY Times already concluded if any factor swung the election it was Comey, not Russian interference.
A second special investigation should be opened up against Trump cronies in the Senate and Congress who have willfully suppressed the facts pertaining to Trump dealings and investigations merely to advance conservative causes. They have failed in their sworn duties to defend the constitution.
Nunes and his republican colleagues on his committee who prematurely concluded Trump's innocence should be on top of such list.
6
@Assay
The fairly broad immunity conferred by the speech and debate clause of the Constitution may limit what can be done in this area.
What person running for any office gives up his day job? There are all sorts of lawyers for example who continue lawyering while running. There are some politicians who hold one office while running for another office. Do they quit their first political job while running?
Also, Trump, a non-politician, but rather a businessman, was not expected to win. Should he have shut down all avenues to his real estate business just because he ran for president and give up his career? You're expecting more than others would have done.
1
You are missing the point. Intentionally I would guess. In this particular case, the candidate LIED about pursuing a relationship with Russia. Comparing the Presidency of the United States with other minor office holders is disingenuous.
If you can’t see the dire potential of such a global conflict of interest,I am wasting my time writing to you.
7
@Alan Klein The point is that he repeatedly lied about it and may have instructed others to lie. The lies mean that Russians know he lied, therefore having leverage. There likely was a quid pro quo as well in Russian's desire to lift sanctions. It may become clear soon, that this, is just part of it.
3
@BBHt
There was no conflict because he dropped the plan before he became President. Even if he lied as a candidate, which is something no other politician ever does when running for office, that isn't an impeachable offense. Just don't vote for him in 2020.
Could it be possible that some of the Republican donors, and some of the politicians are also compromised? Remember that it's not just Russian money, but possibly Saudi, Malaysian... etc. There may well be very deep corruption and perversion, and Trump may have leverage over some in Congress, along with the Russians having leverage? Remember that there is a yet unexplored connection to Epstein too, and that allegedly involves many close to Trump, defenders as well as Cabinet member. I think we will be truly shocked when all is known.
4
The book “House of Trump, House of Putin” by Craig Unger reports that Mitch McConnell has been receiving money from Putin the day Donald Trump got the nomination. And he still continues to receive Russian money until today like a salaryman.
The book “Fear” by Bob Woodward reports that Paul Ryan knows that Trump is being paid by Putin and his only response is—“This doesn’t leave the Party. That’s how we know we are family.”
Both books have appendices that list actual, published, verifiable sources that you can independently check out.
The GOP should now be renamed as “The Russo-Republican” Party.
6
I shudder at what seems to be almost blase comments by some readers ho-hum approach to a level of deceit and corruption from this administration that is daily eating away at our constitutional rights and the rule of law. The venality of this WH is unlike anything we have seen in modern times. It's dangerous and erodes not only trust in our institutions, but within the culture which is becoming dangerously polarized. Regardless of the absence or presence of a "smoking gun," either our democratic institutions will bring the criminal occupying the WH down, or the entire House of Cards will fall, bit by bit - or in a stunning fall. One thing is for sure, we're in new territory that will define our future.
4
I couldn’t agree more with your comment. Where is the outrage? This man is blatantly lying to us in a manner that no politician would dare. I thought his appeal was that he wasn’t a politician. At this point I’d prefer a regular politician than this criminal enterprise operating out of the WH.
3
Senate Republicans have allowed our White House to become the laughing stock of the political world. Surveys reveal that 70% of the world does not trust Donald Trump. The more we learn about what goes on there the more we are disgusted with our present corrupt administration. What the Republicans don't seem to realize they will go down with Trump and their party will be demolished for decades.
3
The irony is that if the GOP congress had properly carried out its oversight responsibilities they would have help this administration become a lot better and have improved Trump’s standing. Instead they kowtowed to him and it’s a disaster for this country in the long term.
1
“If the Russians are aware that senior American officials are publicly stating things that are not true, it’s a counterintelligence nightmare,”
If that is true, it is a nightmare that began a long time ago and grows more nightmarish every single day.
2
Given what we've learned thus far, it is clear that Russia played a major role in helping to put Donald J. Trump into the White House. His presidency is therefore illegitimate. And if Trump is impeached and is forced to resign his office, as Richard Millhouse Nixon was forced to do in the 70's, then Pence should not be allowed to succeed him as well. Hillary Clinton should be allowed to finish out Trump's term.
Trump is clearly not qualified for a variety of reasons. He lacks the temperament, the intelligence, the curiosity, and the intellectual integrity and honesty to perform as is customarily expected of our Presidents. In fact, he's a total disgrace -- an embarrassment to those of us who value truth, justice, and integrity.
In January, let the impeachment hearings begin!
4
The weakness in all outrage of the kind Ms Goldberg effectively induces is that the peril being exposed remains only danger, and therefore essentially a matter of thought rather than experienced actuality. Trump won't be held accountable as long as even reported facts can be denied with impunity. It won't happen until Putin plays his aces and we get seriously hurt by Trump's inability to block him.
2
Trump is one individual. Republicans in Congress are a unified bloc, aiding and abetting this unpatriotic grifter. Will they be held accountable?
3
Obama and Holder failed to prosecute the bankers after the collapse of the economy. Many many Americans felt that there were two systems of justice: "them and the rest of us". I voted for Obama and admire him but his legacy is tainted by this laissez faire. He also lost Congress and his presidency never realized its potential. It pales in comparison to what awaits Trump and the Republicans .
2
So do the private meetings with Putin signal that trump is still trying to do a deal for a Moscow Trump Tower? Once he returns to private life he will need the business & financial support from Russia to get going again.
Maybe this is the real reason the Putin meeting was called off. Too many questions about what they talk about when alone. Once it was exposed trump had to have a reason so he used Ukraine.
trump will still find a reason to speak to Putin to tell him it is still on & going fine for him.
1
So Trump pursues a business opportunity, which is normal in that he is in the hotel industry. He continues to pursue this hotel while campaigning, a campaign in which everyone said he had zero chance of securing the nomination. When this actually occurs, he abandons the deal. So what's the crime? What's the leverage the Russians have on this aspect? Exactly zero.
This is just another example of throwing enough mud in the hope that something sticks. The truly serious aspect of this entire episode is the fact that the DNC and HRC had unsecured email servers that were hacked by foreign intelligence services. They then released the information via WikiLeaks, and shock of shocks, the opposition actually wanted to see what the emails said. You cannot tell me that Dems would not have beaten a hurried path to Assange if he had RNC or Trump emails.
2
If winning the election was all a big mistake, depriving Donald of business opportunities, it's not obvious he gave up all his options. Doesn't he still want a Trump Tower in Moscow? Isn't he still pandering to the Saudis?
Donald will be the worst president in history. And history will blame Mitch McConnell for permitting it.
1
It's put up or shut up time for federal Republicans, especially those in the Senate. In fact, if even a half of what is alleged about Trump is confirmed, the Republican Party should become a pariah. It's time for those members who care more about country but were afraid of Trump to stop being afraid and pile on to put a stop to him. It is also time for any Republican politico with a shred of decency to (neologism alert) whig out of the Republican Party. Our system of government really only allows for two parties. It's time abandon the Republican Party to its diehard rump, the true Trumpists vs those who went along for the ride, and move on!
3
The Senate Republicans are not going to do anything until Mr. Mueller issues his report. At that point the Democratically controlled House, if it believes he is guilty of crimes, will impeach Mr. Trump. Like with Mr. Clinton if "all" he has done is lie and collusion with the Russians cannot be proved, I doubt that the Senate will vote to remove him.
The Republicans and their base are putting up with all of Mr. Trump's shenanigans because he, with the Senate Republicans are, and will continue, to pack the courts with conservative judges.
This has been their goal all along and they are succeeding bigly.
If all the report reveals is that Mr. Trump is a lying, unethical, scoundrel, this will hardly be news. We already know that. In this case I suspect the Senate Republicans will say "so what" and keep on packing the courts.
Until we see the report this I am speculating and so is Ms. Goldberg. Its her job but I understand it is just guesswork so far.
1
Ironic that the man who made much of his celebrity off the "reality television show" concept has turned what were previously straight news shows into reality television by outdoing himself almost daily in his level of audacity.
1
My memory is a little foggy, but awhile back I read a short piece on a poll that had specifically asked Americans what movie character they "would most like to be" - not which was "the greatest" or which they "admired most," but who they wanted to *be.*
That vaguely remembered poll may not have been very scientific - it was no doubt spawned by some pop culture site - but the "results" got lodged in my head all the same, and I hate to say this, but they had at least the ring of truth. The *winner* by a landslide was "The Godfather," I guess some sort of unholy two-headed monster combining all the virtues and the villainy of both Don Corleone and his son Michael.
That poll often springs to mind when I read articles pondering the continuing popularity of our Teflon Don among his faithful warriors, despite ... well, everything. Sheer power unafraid to cross over to the dark side when necessary; blustery, killer decisiveness without any apologies; all the best words paying lip service to fine, very fine moral principles; such a single-minded devotion to "family values" that it's bound to crush any family.
Trump gained ascendancy in the Republican Party simply by dismissing the 16 Pretenders to the Throne as "weak, very weak." We like our leaders strong, very strong. Any prissy over-attention to ethics is emasculating.
How can anyone watch "The Godfather" films and forget that these terrible American tragedies are cautionary tales?
Of course we loved our Archie Bunker, too.
2
Republicans in Congress and in the Trump administration act loyal to Trump, despite knowing full well that Trump only uses people. He is mentally incapable of loyalty, not even to his own wife after the gift of a child.
They're stuck like crabs in a bucket: When one tries to escape, others will pull it back down.
The result is that all crabs are trapped.
As long as Republicans behave like crabs, nothing will matter. Not the truth, no amount of scandals.
The going interpretation that any unprecedented presidential move is presumed legal, of course, doesn't help. There's no red line. The only way out is to keep voting Republicans out of office.
3
In a normal world, Republicans would have had enough patriotism to put a stop to Trump's selfish and unAmerican activities. But with numerous Congressional Republicans visiting Moscow since Trump's election, it's hard not to wonder whether Trump's the only Republican compromised.
3
What truly astonishes me is that there are things we've known about Trump (and his family and associates) since February of 2017 (and earlier), and yet only now are we getting to the point of legal confirmation of a vast trove of evidence that's already been out there available for public consumption since before Trump's election.
Oh well; I guess the wheels of justice among the rich and powerful (meaning the GOP, really, not Trump) turn far more slowly than the bullets fly when a white cop suspects a black teenage boy might be a threat with a knife from 30 yards away.
Funny how that works.
Trump has been multiply impeachable, multiply convictable, for two years now; and yet our "justice" system has allowed him and his cronies to do immeasurable damage to millions of people during this whole time.
Wherever the resolution of this criminal, plutocratic takeover of the US government ends up going, you can be sure a large number of us will never trust either government or business, ever again.
When one worries about the tribalism that is sweeping the planet now, perhaps these past two years should be re-evaluated carefully, to understand what happens when citizens are ignored by governments run by and for the tiny elite of the rich, and all those under them who are complicit with their scheming.
2
I didn't totally believe him when he said it on the campaign trail but I entertained the idea that he was telling the truth if not for just a few minutes or so. Now after two years of listening and reading his lies everyday to the American people, there is no doubt in my mond whatsoever that he lied, deceived and obstructed at any cost.
1
While certainly no fan of Trump, I don't really see much empirical evidence of huge compromising intel that Russian might have to "plunge him [Trump] into political crisis". Yes, most likely Trump and his cohorts did lie about the extent that business negotiations were going on at a certain point in time. The average man in the street would be, "So what? We all know politicians lie." Let's see what Mueller has to say at the end of the day. Speculation without any formal written report doesn't do much but sell newspapers at this point.
2
In fact, this will be determined by the 2020 election, but our Sovietized mass-media out of New York City will continue the attack ad nauseam for certain--even Burr wasn't hated so much by Jefferson.
That given aside, the House will be quite entertaining over the next two years in watching how they will stomp on Trump but show success with their elected issues, e.g., healthcare, abolish ICE, permanent middle class tax cuts, forgive student debt, and, of course, plant Cultural Marxism wherever possible.
So it goes with American democracy.
2
Trump's attacks on the EU, our NATO allies, the free press, the presidency, the electoral system, and the courts have given Putin more than he could have hoped for.
3
Long after trump is gone, whether by impeachment or via the passage of time, we will have to live with the fact that 60,000,000 people (give/take) rabidly support trump. 63,000,000 of us (give/take) think trump is an abomination. There is a deep divide in this country at the electoral level mirroring deep fissures at the philosophical and social levels.
The 63MM are on target, in light of trump's lies, norm breaking, bigotry, misogyny, sexual predation, unpresidential behavior, rank dishonesty and general incompetence for the office.
After he is gone, we will be left with the thought that 60,000,000 minimum (how many third party or independent folk would vote for trump in secret due to their shame at supporting such a rank bigot) are living in a state of abject fear of minorities and in fear of being bypassed economically. Voting for trump should be the worst that they could do, but what is worse is that they would vote for him again.
The departure of trump will not mean the departure of his White Nationalism agenda or the departure of the bigots and those who believe that might makes right and that solipsism is a feature, not a bug.
It is shameful that the US comprises 5% of the world's population but has such a disproportionate share of the world's wealth and has, in the blink of an eye, morphed from arrogance to running scared. We are a deeply fearful nation and trump has exploited that fact.
We seem to have thrown away our values. We are in deep trouble.
2
The naivety of this piece is disappointing. It intends to open our eyes to the fact that there are dirty political tricksters and liars operating within the Trump camp. Of course there are. Those types have been operating since the beginning of politics, and on all sides. The president recently tweeted that he tries to tell the truth whenever he can. He is a manipulator on the highest level. Absolutely. What sets him apart is not that he does these things, rather that he freely admits it. There has only been one 'decent' man in the oval office in the my lifetime and that has been Jimmy Carter. The rest differ from Mr. Trump in only one way, their appearance of being decent.
As for Russia compromising Mr. Trump, the only thing that is clear is that Russia has no power over anyone at all. That is evident in their constant posturing and muscle flexing. They are all bark, no bite.
Our GOP Congressional leaders are just followers. They follow the whim of the ignorant herd of Trump supporters and as long as the herd continues to support this malevolent security risk in the White House, the GOP leadership will not lift a hand to protect our democracy. If the herd sniff the aroma of the Trump corruption and begin to break away, then the leaders, too will peal off from the herd and begin to assert some moral qualms about Trump's lies, corruption and misuse of the office. 2019 should begin that process in earnest.
1
For the rest of my life I will remember the complete and utter dereliction of duty the GOP has demonstrated over the last few years regarding Trump. As far as I'm concerned, their unwillingness to take a serious look at Trump and hold him accountable borders on treason. It is deplorable that they've let this go on for so long with nary a whimper...
2
There appears to be a whole trove of evidence, sitting a basement somewhere, gathered by the House Intelligence committe that has deliberately never seen the light of day. Is it worth considering that Nunes et al, and McConnell and his posse in the Senate, are complicit in this obstruction, and may have been assured, bribed, by the president that their complicity will be rewarded with a pardon?
3
One can easily imagine what Republicans would be screaming and doing if a Democrat had even half the involvements with Russia that Trump has. The noise, the din, would be deafening. Instead, they play the ancient Chinese game See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil. We have no real talk yet of money laundering, which House Intelligence Committee Chairman-to-be Adam Schiff is focused on with laser-like intensity. The Russian gangsters who line Putin's closet always need laundries, and it strains credulity to believe Trump wasn't running one, with his inability to get any other financing because of repeated bankruptcies. Both sons Donald Jr. and Eric bragged about Russian financing before 2016, when Donald decided it was time to deny it. The shoe will drop. And finally the noose is closing.
1
Talk about conspiracy theories while offering your own. It's not the least bit unusual a potential business deal like this is kept quiet. It happens all the time. Its been proven the dossier is fiction. To say every day is a national emergency is ridiculous.
What could Putin possibly do to Trump knowing he was working on a potential project. Trump's business is not construction. It is selling his name essentially. He gets royalties and a cut of sales. No different than your average McDonald's.
It is of no concern to me if Trump worked on a naming royalties deal that never materialized before his election.
This is one more of a long line of trumped up crises and will turn up nothing.
Lying seems to be a politicians best friend. Obama says he made the economy and the oil boom. That's laughable. If anyone believes Hillary Clinton did not lie to Congress they either refuse to see the truth, are blindly partisan, or ignorant. Bill Clinton lied under oath to a grand jury. Obama stood before thousands of people and millions on TV and confidently lied about healthcare ramifications. He knew he was lying. There is plenty of lying all over D.C. and it's not limited to republicans.
If anyone brings factual evidence Russia colluded with Trump's campaign fine. But all this hysteria about a daily Constitutional crisis and now a national security emergency?
Collusion is not a crime but deserves removal from office. That's why Hillary is not punished for her collusion with Russia.
1
Not only Trump but the entire Executive Branch is compromised.
2
Vladimir didn't want Donald to actually get his tower in Moscow. That would have made their relationship too obvious. Instead he used it as bait to get Donald to do his bidding. Or perhaps as part of a compensation package for Donald should his operatives fail to hack the election.
4
And the answer is: no. They won't be moved to care. Why should they be? Under his rule (seriously), they are getting to do what they want. Strip the federal government. Downsize oversight. Get rid of those silly public protections that stifle profits at the top -- stuff like keeping our water clean and our air breathable. Stop public education at the very least! Who needs an educated electorate? Certainly not THIS GOP, who LOVES being able to lie at will because their base doesn't read or understand what is going on...
4
Trumps lying about his involvement with Russia during the campaign is immoral,unethical and might have been the reason he was eventually elected by those who believed him.
Is it illegal to have lied?
Can someone please explain this?
1
Anyone who believes anything said by Donald Trump should be prevented from casting votes in any election. A ten year old with an average education could detect the lies told by Trump as lies. So why do so many American voters still believe/support Trump? We could sooner believe in the Tooth Fairy than in anything told us by the duly elected (or selected by the Electoral College) POTUS.
2
Does any of this matter? I do not think so.
I'll be surprised if anyone among GOP leadership actually believed any of Trump lies. So are top Administration officials. It's simply impossible to preventing anyone, who can not get even the most basic security clearance for any Govt employment, from becoming US President if s/he can win elections and support of the majority party and Trump satisfied all of his constitutional duties. Even if Muller investigation proved all of our worst fears, I doubt if GOP Congressmen would dare to impeach him and even if he is impeached not many policies would change.
The more crucial question for me would be - why such people succeed in American politics and more so in corporate America for so long. It's an irony that "known" corrupt millionaires and billionaires like Trump roam free in USA and our laws can not even touch them. It's an irony that we had to employ a special counsel and a team of high profile and expensive lawyers and excuses like Russian Collusion and "obstruction of justice", to prove almost any of Trump's frauds to put him in jail. Yet, so far US democracy is unsuccessful despite of engaging almost full force of American government machinery, legally allowed.
2 most probable reasons are-
1) Destruction of our education system, which produce too few decent people to counter vast ignorance & servants of crony capitalism it manufactures.
2) Transformation of American democracy where highest bidders rule.
3
The sentence here that says every day of the Trump Presidency is a national emergency is the one of many that truly stands out about this matter. Forget Senate Republicans doing anything about this matter as long as Senator McConnell runs the show. Senator McConnell, along with his group of sycophant mindless followers, would sell out America to anyone for any sum for any matter as long as it keeps the control and power of the Republicans and President Trump. People like Senator Flake may only speak out because they are not running for re-election. Every country in the world and its leadership that is either an enemy of or adverse to America has already taken advantage of the naive fool who sits in the Oval Office. Perhaps at the next White House press conference, President Trump or Press Secretary Sanders can be questioned about this topic by Jim Acosta. Let the show begin.
2
I will give Trump this one thing. He managed to fall into a job where he can insulate himself from law enforcement and the IRS. And where he can count as a given on the support of the crazy 30% that is still worried about Obama's birth certificate.
What a spectacle- an impeached but not convicted Trump running for reelection in 2020. There is no limit to the depths of this tragic-comedy.
2
His voters see all of this as poking a finger in the eye of the Establishment, in the eye of the law they feel oppressed by re: crimes committed, taxes paid, speeding tickets, whatever individual beef they have had with government. They voted FOR this type of behavior not against it. It is a REASON to keep their support for Trump not oppose him. Breaking the rules is a sign of strength and taking what you deserve while only lessers must obey rules.
Ironic they are the ones waving endless flags patriotism and shouting America first.
1
Trump is compromised by far more than his attempts to license his name to a building project in Moscow. Reporters need to be less lazy and to learn to follow and explain the money trail. Trump's entire business depends on the need that mafia states have to launder money. His real estate projects are primarily banks to warehouse the hidden assets of oligarchs who are brutally suppressing their own people while draining the wealth of their countries. Although much of this cash flow is from Russia and controlled by Putin, Trump is also compromised by the Saudis and by other corrupt regimes.
Putin is a thief who has inhibited the development of Russia for two decades. He invests in global chaos to increase fear and unquestioning patriotic nonsense within the Russian electorate (while maintaining absolute control over the Russian media). There is no reason that the Russian economy should be limited by the ups and downs of oil and gas prices. This is the direct result of the regime's corruption.
Trump is a small player in the global financial picture. Buying him off cost next to nothing to the oligarchs. The fact that this useful pawn has been elevated to the White house is just a short-term bonus.
Please continue to detail the ways that Trump and all western democracies are compromised by our hunger for cash flows from mafia regimes. But, let's get more explicit about the depth of the problem. Trump is just a glaring example of a much more pervasive global disease.
2
Where are the Republicans on this? Why aren't they demanding more answers? Where are those red-state Americans who claim American values while still supporting a lying, vulgar and now apparently truly corrupted President they once said they would despise?
The time is running out to for them to decide; President first or Rule-of-Law first? It will be a defining moment for them and for this country.
3
Reading the excuses made for Trump here, I can only conclude that his backers have no idea whatsoever what a conflict of interest is.
5
The fact remains that Trump must, and rightly be made an example of, so that we never will have to sink to such depths of depravity again. Anything less, and another maniacal crook will be foisted upon us by a non-remorseful Republican Party.
2
I wonder if Trump is more worried about Mueller or what was discovered about money laundering in the raid at Deutsche Bank.
If the two investigations link up...impeachment will be the least of Trump's worries...
3
Two years ago, we entered into a new world where the president could throw out a bald faced lie and if caught, simply amend it. But saying he didn't want to lose a business opportunity if he didn't win the election, while unethical, sounds genuine to me.
What matters here is that people still believe Individual #1 is truthful and trustworthy. Until they accept that he is not, and never has been, the details don't matter. And don't expect Fox News to sort out the difference between Hillary's imaginary stroke and Donald's actual connections to Russia.
2
I'm guessing that Pence, like Spiro Agnew in 1973, only looks good in comparison to Trump, but that sooner or later we'll find out he's been involved in something, too.
5
"Every day of the Trump presidency is a national security emergency. The question now is whether Senate Republicans, who could actually do something about it, will ever be moved to care."
Well, so far, they don't seem to care at all. Certainly DT's base does not. For them, constant consumers of Fox and Friends, et al, it's all "fake news." DT can count on it, he's banked on it, continues to feed on it. In this case, as in all the cases of depredation by these miscreants, we can count on their sycophancy, their venality, their calumny. Knaves and fools all.
1
After several years of observation, I believe Mr. Trump is overly reliant upon impulses emanating from the deep nether regions of his cognition; perhaps his brain stem, the reptilian brain structured to advance survival and dominance at its most primitive level. He is an historic exemplar. His thought processes and verbal outbursts indicate that he is only marginally domesticated and socialized. That he is tenuously attached to law, country and culture, employed strictly as a transactional ploy to his personal, singular advantage. That life from his perspective is or most certainly can be; indifferent, unloved, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. He readily speaks of it with alarm and fear mongering. The world is a "nasty place" according to him. He has no empathy for others, except for his closely associated biological pride. He compensates by seeking alpha status through the manic pursuit of fame, wealth and dominance over men and women. This litany of descriptions is fully demonstrated in vast outpouring of words, deeds and deceptions-his life story. He is first, last and foremost dangerous to all that fall under his influence now as President, he is FERAL with all that that entails. For the love of all we hold dear, be forewarned and prepared-he's loose upon the planet, forthrightly being pursued and hunted-and he knows it.
1
Mitch is a traitor to the country and will not do anything if he could grab more wealth and power
3
There's nothing illegal about telling lies in political campaigns - people do it all the time, especially Repubican operatives like Corsi (swift boater against John Kerry, trasher against Hillary, earns his living trashing Democrats with stories only a Republican could believe...) and Roger Stone (prides himself on creative lying, prostitution, long time fried of Donald Trump).
What was illegal was coordinating their lies with Russia's manipulation of dumb American voters as revealed in their texts on Facebook. That was the crime, not telling the lies.
If Americans are so racist, anti-women, and ignorant that they will be taken in by absurd conspiracies (pizza pediophiles in DC) they will get the leadership that their ignorance deserves. Unfortunately, the Electoral College voting system visits their stupidity on the rest of us who are marginally better at being able to sort fictions from facts.
5
@San Francisco Voter: No decent person of integrity would abuse the fake mandate of the slavery-rooted Electoral College as Trump does.
@Steve Bolger
Unfortunately there are too many persons lacking integrity who support Trump - namely all Republicans who voted for him.
1
The June 9 mtg in trump tower was to get trump to denounce magnitsky act which affects Putin inner circle. The guys were expecting dirt on Hillary. (Btw- what dirt?after all this time what was the dirt?) no work on magnitsky, no moscow tower (June 14).
1
Lying about a Trump tower Moscow wouldnt mean anything to his base. If Putin has leverage over Trump its something visceral that his base couldnt ignore (like a pee tape.)
1
Once more, Michelle's hatred of Trump overwhelms her lack of compliance with journalistic standards of fairness and honesty. She conflates information and makes unsupportable assertions. It is shocking the Times permits hatred and misinformation to rule its op ed page.
@No: Trump simply isn't respected. He is a fake himself.
1
Conspiracy theory gibberish dies in daylight.
Did the author just seriously bring up the "pee tape?" Give it a rest already. Odds are it doesn't exist, NOR does it have to. There's a very good reason why Trump hasn't released his financials to the public — because it's littered with blatant prove of international fraud and corruption. THAT is what the Kremlin is blackmailing him with.
2
Well, maybe Prez Trump engaged in a teeny weeny bit of Russian dealery while deep into his 2016 presidential campaign. But he had his fingers crossed behind his back while Putin was engaging in a cyber attack against the USA, while Trump's company was doing business the illegally with a sanctioned Russian bank, and while Trump was baldly misleading American voters about his Russian ties.
Character trumps everything (sorry!) so Trump's ostensible and profound perversion implied by the "pee tapes" should panic any decent human being concerned with public integrity. As for leverage, the number of knaves at home and abroad holding the goods against Donald Trump likely number too many to count.
2
Putin is not letting his man in the White House cancel their meeting.This time I wonder if the lowlife in the WH will insist he bring a "buddy"lest Vlad tries to bump him off.Sick of winning yet,trumpsters??Are you starting to get that sinking feeling that you've been had by an idiot con man??boo hoo.
1
I cannot wit until the truth destroys trump
3
Stupidity, incompetence and laziness combined with recklessness. What a winning combination. Once Trump is gone, whatever the method of his leaving, what will the Republican party be? Who will lead it and who will follow? How many of them now in Congress are aware that they are sowing the wind and simply will not admit it even to themselves?
3
It hardly seems fair. Trump never got his building in Moscow, but Putin got a White House in Washington D.C.
7
Well,
Tell me this ain't "fake news"...
None of the things mentioned have occurred under trump presidency... He's a businessman not a politician... he was doing business in June 2016 while then Pres Obama was overlooking the Gov't and COMMANDED not to retaliate or engage with Russia on their interference... Trump likely didn't know about it or just like all of us read news reports since he wasn't even nominee...
Is he clean as a whistle... I seriously doubt it... but pieces like this just add fuel to the fire of his rhetoric... But I guess catering to the rage of uninformed readership overshadows the integrity... once held by Grey Lady... now known as Shady...? :))
He’s not a “businessman.” (Never has been.) He’s a grifter and a con man.
1
Without documentary evidence , Mr. Cohen's testimony is without value, other than telling Mueller where he might go to look for concrete evidence of wrongdoing. One would assume that Mueller would have already been aware of any such areas of investigation , so it is questionable what assistance Cohen's testimony is to Mueller, other than as click bait material.
"the closest I came to Russia was in selling a Palm Beach mansion to a Russian oligarch in 2008"
Between a completed sale and some preliminary meetings to prospect a never started Trump-branding property, technically the done deal is closer.
@Erwan
The mansion in question was sold by trump at a 100% profit, and at the time was the most ever paid for a Palm Beach mansion, AND in the middle of the sub-prime real estate slump.
Looking at trump's almost preternatural talent for failing at business, bankruptcies, etc. it seems amazing that he got a wealthy Russian to take that property off his hands for 10s of millions of dollars more than trump paid for it, and in the middle of a real estate market that had tanked. Just lucky I guess...
Fun fact: not long after the sale, the buyer, Dmitry Rybolovlev, had the mansion razed to the ground.
6
@Erwan
Agreed. The sale of the Palm Beach mansion, at a highly inflated price, was a cash infusion for Trump's failing business. This was done to prop up his brand so that Russian (and other) oligarchs could use it to funnel their stolen money into other projects (in Toronto, Florida, etc).
Reporters need to learn to follow the money. The shell companies that warehouse money in Trump branded properties are money laundering operations. Trump is only one of many parasites who are part of this global game.
The "Moscow Tower" was a stupid idea driven by Trump's childish ego. Putin never took the project seriously, he knows that Trump's value is greater as a small-time lackey in his money-laundering business and now (unexpectedly) as a way to disrupt US global interests for a few years.
5
"The question now is whether Senate Republicans, who could actually do something about it, will ever be moved to care." In a word: "NO". When in the last 10 years have they cared about anything other than power? Anything.
13
The emoluments violations and money-laundering have been out in the open for the entire presidency.
What the heck is going on in this country?
Oh yeah, Republican senators afraid of the deplorables (that's what they are!), probably compromised themselves and way more interested in preserving their power in the short term than fulfilling their obligation to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
12
Republicans: Get rid of this pathetic, train-wreck of a “ President.” Stop enabling!
14
The latest Bannonite Spin (let's face it, his Troll Farm runs the WH) is around the G20, which the WH is predicting as a failure.. because of Robert Mueller! As in, 'Donald can't meet Vladimir because of Robert Mueller.' Quote: "the investigation has hampered [the president's] diplomatic efforts on the world stage." Likewise, the CIA has hampered Donald's ties to Saudi Arabia.
8
If Cohen lied once why wouldn't he lie once again? Should we ever believe anything this man says?
@H - There's hard evidence to back up what Cohen is saying.
4
@H
There is that, but the threat of a lengthy prison sentence has the power to sharpen the mind wonderfully! It loosens the tongue, shall we say.
1
@H
Mueller doesn't believe one word out of any of these people's mouths without documentary evidence to back it up.
You must have forgotten that the feds executed a search warrant for Cohen's offices and his hotel room and seized boxes full of papers, his computers, and recordings of phone calls.
THAT'S why we should believe him now.
Why does nobody remember this?? Oh right... good ol' Murdoch...
3
Why did Cohen lie if the Trump crime family wasn't up to no good? Americans who still believe the lying leader need to have their heads examined for mental illness. Donald Trump is a continual liar and they refuse to believe it.
8
This newspaper, the author and the readers cared not a whit when Bill Clinton lied under oath in a federal court to try to cover up his activities so why the different standard with Trump? Everyone knew he was a large property developer and that he had interests around the world including Moscow before the election. This was all taken into account by the voters and is thus a non issue.
As usual the Times is trying to build a mountain out of a molehill which is what they always do to conservatives and particularly to Trump.
Yeah, we get it, you all hate Trump! So what else is new?
2
@Steve W Everyone didn't know the extent of Trump's money laundering. Clinton did not personally disparage multiple government agencies and the Republican party. By the way, perjury is a "process crime" only. Rush said so!
1
Oh, it was indeed taken into account by voters, who preferred Clinton to Trump by several million votes.
2
@Steve W
“...lied under oath in a federal court to try to cover up his activities...”
Steve, I agree that lying, while under oath in federal court, is a very serious matter. However, the nature and relevance of the specific question a given lie was offered in answer to counts for something, doesn’t it?
Are lies to questions about campaign finance violations, or major fraud, or money-laundering in the interest of a criminal syndicate, or colluding
with a foreign power to interfere in a national election — on the same level as lies uttered in denial of an extramarital affair?
Steve, Donald Trump is, for reasons unclear, beholding to Vladimir Putin. An American president lives in fear of a foreign leader revealing... what?
We don’t know. We need to find out. This is a matter of national security.
Trump’s associates are lying under oath. And Trump himself frequently tells lies on television about these matters. Getting to the truth is proving to be difficult.
As you point out, when Bill Clinton was confronted with a semen stain on a blue dress, he was less than truthful. Shamefully less. That whole trial was shameful. And not just for President Clinton.
Are you implying, Steve, that the gravity of these two matters is, IN ANY WAY, comparable?
4
Wishful thinking.
3
The 'investigation' is based on the fabled “pee tape” and report. Does this tape really exist, is the report really true, who paid for this report? If the tape doesn't exist or report is false then anything that came from it is the fruit of the poisoned tree and should be thrown out.
As per Trump and his many sycophants, do what they do in cattle country: lasso 'em, round 'em up in the corral, load 'em on trucks and ship 'em off to slaughter.
Unfortunately, these crooks will more likely be let loose into the pasture to happily graze their lives away. Hope I'm wrong.
4
The result f Putin’s leverage is Trump’s campaign to make America Worse, by installing corrupt, ignorant and destructive cabinet members, stoking civil unrest and tarring our democratic ideals and institutions. Trump is a traitor, clear and simple - or a nincompoop, or both. Pence must be in on the deceptions, too. Ivanka and Jared, Don Jr. - all involved with his plans. This is why the State Dept. has been reduced to a hollow office, fronted by grinning Pompey, and why the CIA head did not show up at the hearing, as scheduled. Sessions must be glad he’s not in charge now of the Justice department. Yet the GOP is backing their figurehead without pause or sho of the slightest concern. Criminals, all.
4
Clearly, Michelle, you are ignorant of the meaning of "proof".
It should be clear to anyone paying any attention that Trump, his family, many Republican officals, the NRA and Trump assocate's are in the pocket of Putin and Russians. On top of that Muller will show for all to see what a crook Tump has been for years.
Once Muller releases his report all hell will break loose. I just hope our country can with stand the storm coming our way.
Many people who supported Trump will declare they never supported him just as people did when Nixion went down. Even a few will declare they are independants not Republicans... I for one will not forget all those who supported Trump they are dead to me..
8
Trump has no morals or conscious, so the "pee tape" is meaningless to him, he could care less if it got out to the world. The leverage leads back to Bayrock, it's staring everyone right in the face. What Trump can't stomach is being shown to be a business failure, loser, and ego-busting sapp to the Russion mafia. I have no doubt they (Russion Mafia) could ruin him financially in one fell swoop if they wanted to, that's the leverage over our comrade President........
4
Good analysis, but I just wonder whether Putin's knowledge of how big a liar Trump is really give him any leverage over Trump, as this analysis implies. Those who detest Trump --more than half our population--already know that our president is a serial liar who makes up fantasy, who cannot be trusted to reveal mistakes. What can be added to make him less truthful? And his supporters --for some strange reason still largely stick by him (albeit he has lost some support)---but he still maintains their loyalty sufficiently to control the primaries (his "Samson's long hair"). They nod agreement when Trump complains of being unfairly persecuted by the Mueler's band of Democrats--a "Witch Hunt". So if Putin were to publicize the business deals with Russia, even the "pee tapes"---I fear the only reaction he would get would be "Trump will be Trump!"---making allowances for the non-Washingtonian who will make America Great Again--in spite of his reputed many incompetencies and shortcomings.
3
Russia probably has stuff on Trump that would be very embarrassing -- for a normal individual. But, Trump seems to have no shame. A "pee tape", if such exists, would just be added onto the long list of things that would already horrify most decent people: the Access Hollywood tape, the affairs with porn pros, the abject failures of his many business ventures, not to mention the huge policy blunders that his administration is making. Trump is oblivious to it all and gives himself an A+. How could anyone ever blackmail such a swamp creature? Trump is a national security threat, but that has nothing to do with Russia or Putin.
3
I cannot see any alternative to impeachment if this country wants to maintain its credibility of the world stage. There is so much damning information already, and Mueller's report hasn't been released yet. I know what I want for Christmas this year.
7
@trump basher ... I am confident in R Mueller's ability.
1
Why aren't millions who voted for Trump not running to their windows and shouting out, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take him anymore"?
I just don't get it. All I know is that it is very difficult to be proud to be an American these days.
6
@Ronald Aaronson ... maybe they're out there raking the forest.
3
Trumps says Cohen was lying.
Who believes that from Trump?
ANYONE?
8
As the snowball rolls downhill it gets bigger and BIGGER.
No doubt Cohen has tapes and emails and a paper trail that goes from NY to Moscow.
Somewhere, John McCain is smiling.
8
You have a President who is a congenital liar. All these debates and arguments, in spite of all circumstantial evidence pointing to his collusion and neck-deep involvement with Russia to get elected as President in 2016 only show, the impotence of the American democracy and legal system and absolute stupidity of his supporters. Third world country and the largest democracy India by now would have got him off the chair simply by people power by now. USA is a paper democracy ruled by a despot.
7
@quirkoffate. Actually, we just had an election (which despots generally don’t allow) and the President’s party fared much better than his predecesdir’s party at the same point in his presidency. “Russian collision” was not an issue at all in the campaign because a free people worry about the truth and policies that actually affect them and Russia is neither.
1
Saving my air miles to fly to DC the night he quits or is impeached. My bet is on the Don being a quiter.
I have a special bottle I will pop in front of the WH with my sons to celebrate. See you there.
17
@K Hunt - I'll be dancing in a street in Vermont but I will be with you in spirit.
2
@K Hunt you’ll be saving those mikes until they expire. One can only be impeached for crimes committed while in office, if this were even a crime.
This is one of the weakest and shameful postures in printed journalism. You contradicted yourself twice in the first four paragraphs!!! Oh and none of this, IF IT WERE TRUE, would change the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. Enjoy your freedom and economic growth crybabies!!
3
This is such shoddy journalism. The author admits that "we don't know if.... blah, blah, blah, but blah, blah, blah." Really lousy stuff.
So far, the only convictions that Mueller has obtained from his targets that have anything to do with Trump or the Trump campaign are plea deals regarding minor perjury. These are the same types of convictions that were obtained by HUAC, the House Un-American Activities Committee during the dark days of the McCarthy inquisitions and by that farce of an investigation run by Comey and Fitzgerald in the Plame Affair.
If Cohen can be prosecuted for lying to Congress, then so can Holder, Clapper, Hillary Clinton, and Koskinen.
4
@JOK
The former National Security Advisor, Flynn, lied to the FBI about a conversation he had with the Russian ambassador concerning lifting sanctions after Trump's election. That is pretty serious stuff.
2
It ain’t over till it’s over...and we are a very, very long way from it being over. Before we finish, his whole family will be shown to be up to their ears inlying to congress and corruption; the Republican Party May never recover. Sad!
1
This is nothing. Obama saluted with a cup of coffee in his hand. Now that's treason.
5
Q: Who is the Democrats' equivalent of Alex Jones?
A: All of them, apparently.
You have to be completely divorced from the reality of US policy in last two years to think that Donald Trump is under some secret influence of the Russians or Putin.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia%E2%80%93United_States_relations#From_Trump%E2%80%99s_inauguration_to_present_(January_20,_2017%E2%80%93present)
You all are clutching at straws and none of you cared a bit when Obama promised to do more bidding for Putin "after the election."
4
After watching Trump fawn over Putin like a meek spineless coward in Helsinki he's not just compromised by Russia. He works for them.
14
Republicans have not yet explained why they voted for Trump even after the intelligence community publicly stated in early October 2016 that the Russians were working in favor of Trump's campaign and against Clinton's.
Ding, ding, ding. Shouldn't some alarms have gone off in voters' heads? Shouldn't Republicans have asked themselves: hmm, why does Putin favor our guy? Does Putin think Trump is going to make America great again? Or does Putin consider Trump a useful idiot who will help bring down America?
So, thank you, Republicans. You knowingly elected a buffoon beholden to the Russians for no good reason.
9
The Russians HAD leverage over Trump. What can they threaten him with now? We already know that he's a liar, a tax cheat, a welcher, an adulterer and a pervert. The only thing that could possibly damage his reputation is for someone to accuse him of being a Boy Scout who goes to church every Sunday.
3
And what do we hear from spineless Congressional Republicans regarding this latest revelation? CRICKETS!! Can you imagine if this was a Democratic President? The hypocrisy is mind blowing.
9
What an embarrassment is this illiterate fool we have in the people's White House at present, constantly bellowing his denials of wrongdoing.
I look forward to a laser-focused summary of his illegal activities being trained on him, with the result being his removal from office.
12
The cowardice of the Senate Republicans is the real story here. We know what Trump is; a liar, greedy money driven indecent human being.
The question is what will it take for the Republican leaders to finally recognize that he will lead them to ruin, as he did in the midterms.
They are truly cowards.
13
Are Trump and his cronies more mendacious or stupid? It is a very close contest.
As Mueller moves through the fourth quarter, I'm predicting overtime. The mendacity is scoring well, but the stupidity seems equally tenacious.
6
The world is compromised by Russia; to the extent that it is dependent on it -- which is a huuge extent.
If Progressives, Neocons, whatever, can get the Russian people to elect Western corporate friendlies; thereby surrendering administrative control of their resources to Western capitalists, that group and or collective will accomplish what Napoleon, WW1, and Nazi Germany could not.
1
We already KNOW that several members of his team met with Russians regarding the Magnitsky Act at the infamous Trump Tower meeting. We already KNOW that, at the RNC Convention, they suddenly changed the GOP platform to stop supporting Ukraine with defensive weapons against Russia. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Trump Tower in Moscow was supposed to include a personal, $50 million penthouse gifted to Putin himself. According to the Moscow Project, “at least 26 high-ranking campaign officials and Trump advisors were aware of contacts with Russia-linked operatives during the campaign and transition. None of these contacts were ever reported to the proper authorities. Instead, the Trump team tried to cover up every single one of them."
Knowing all of that, shouldn't every American want to see Trump's tax returns?!
8
I must admit I am somewhat entertained. Especially now that the house has flipped and we will finally see some progress in the investigation of The Trump Organization. How Trump used luxury high-rises to clean dirty money, run an international crime syndicate, and resurrect his failed real estate empire into his seat in the Oval Office is the stuff of classic thriller novels. Trump is right when he says that he is boosting the ratings of the news outlets, I'll give him that!
9
The once Commie- hating flag waving macho GOP has been emasculated by Trump. The only members of the GOP who dare speak ill of 45 are those no longer getting a paycheck after Janaury 2019. Trump is only being the Trump New Yorkers have known for a years an empthy suit.Putin must be having buyers remorse now that The Mueller Cavalary is coming over the hill. If only Putin's rube Trump could have gotten over his Obama envy this can of worms would not have been opened.Have we forgotten that all of this started with crowd size, bugging of Trump Tower by Obama and firing Comey. Trump has opened a can of worms that is likely to not only cause him nightmares but also cause his family bussiness ireparable harm. This is one of the few times Trump has a legitamate right to blame Obama for his plight. It all started when Obama made Trump want to crawl under the table at The White House Correspondents Dinner. Trump's anger to get even with Obama has clouded his actions eversince.
13
Was it a word that rhymes with "halls" that got my previous comment banished?
Anyway, my main point was that the House should take the initiative to probe Trump's other scandalous collusion, namely the Saudi one. If he doesn't come crashing on his Russian connections, perhaps he will on the weight of covering up the murder of a journalist and possible complicity in war crimes in Yemen.
8
@Marjona It may have been a word that rhymes with "halls." I always try to think 'sunday school' when posting online. It may be overkill, but it keeps my comments from getting bounced.
1
Was there ever really any doubt?
6
What about that Penthouse???
3
@FritzTOF
Yes, Bribery to influence a Foreign Power is ILLEGAL!
2
Micheal Cohen, he seems like a truthful guy, doesn't he? That's a man you can depend upon to always tell the truth, except when you can't. Pretty thin reed to try to use to damage a President.
2
@Steve W
Don't you care if the president elect was using his position to negotiate business deals with Russians? We already KNOW that several members of his team met with Russians regarding the Magnitsky Act. We already KNOW that, at the RNC Convention, they suddenly changed the GOP platform to stop supporting Ukraine with defensive weapons against Russia. Each of those last two items are not disputed. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Trump Tower in Moscow was supposed to include a personal, $50 million penthouse gifted to Putin himself. According to the Moscow Project, “at least 26 high-ranking campaign officials and Trump advisors were aware of contacts with Russia-linked operatives during the campaign and transition. None of these contacts were ever reported to the proper authorities. Instead, the Trump team tried to cover up every single one of them."
Knowing all of that, most of which is not even disputed, why don't you care?
10
@Steve W - Trump lies more than half a dozen times EVERY DAY. Doesn't that bother you?
3
@Steve W He is just the first step in a big investigation. Many organized crime dons have fallen when the weakest link opens up to the Feds.
3
"Every day of the Trump presidency is a national security emergency." This needs to sink in to a sizable minority, still clinging at a lunatic fantasy of Trump as big protector daddy.
The national danger is not from the "deep state" and the frothing at the mouth hordes of criminal immigrants threatening to overrun our border. It is the colluder with all the world's sadistic dictators, enemies of free press, murders of journalists who is the true national security emergency.
It is the unhinged moral weakling who is threatening our values, our freedoms, and our prosperity. Indeed it is exactly as Michelle Goldberg put it, every day of the Trump presidency is a national security emergency.
9
The problem with Ms. Goldberg's column is that there was no deal for the tower. Try as she might, the facts are what they are.
The deal was dead before the election. Anyone who reads your column knows you despise Trump. Michelle. the novelty has worn off and you really need to find a new nemesis to vilify. Your anti Trump arguments are weak and you come off looking like a crazed liberal e.g. your last column read more like a favorable book review for Lisa Baron.
4
I feel for you now that you know (2 years later) that you were had and that your vote went to a convicted liar and criminal but do not take it out on M. Goldberg.
The fact that multiple members of DJT’s campaign team have been convicted of felonies and lying about their relationship with a foreign power during a presidential election is also not something you can blame on a single journalist.
DJT did this to himself!
There is no one else to blame and no where else to hide.
9
@George Ms. Goldberg's view of Donald Trump is shared by the majority of Americans. We hear of 90% Republican approval of Donald Trump. But that's only 22% of the populace.
Forget brand loyalty for a minute and see the man for what he is: a self centered narcissist who is and always has been out for himself. He doesn't care about you, me, or anyone other than the sycophants who bow to him. He doesn't deserve your loyalty, no matter what your political ideals are. He doesn't care about you, no matter what your political ideals are. He's only for himself. Period.
2
The deal wasn’t done, but it was dangled before Trump as his reward for cooperation or incentive to ally with Russia. If the deal was done then Trump no longer has an incentive to please Putin...and Trump loses value because then the conflict of interest is in the open.
Trump does the same thing in dangling a pardon on front of Manafort. Trump can’t actually give a pardon because then Manafort loses his incentive to protect Trump. But in dangling it and keeping the hope alive Manafort might cooperate.
2
But just as disheartening our Democratic party leaders, the ones at the top who have largely kept mum through this two year debacle. While it would be stupid to change out Pelosi and Schumer as we prepare (I hope) an all out effort to win in 2020, after that new leadership is crucial.
The number one problem we have seen repeatedly in world history the population is blind to what is coming. Including our news media who can't see past the horse race. This country and the world is at a tipping point, or cross roads if you prefer in pretty much every arena. We are not on the peace and love trajectory or anything close to it you fools.
Burning Down the House, Talking Heads
Watch out you might get what you're after
Boom babies strange but not a stranger
I'm an ordinary guy
Burning down the house
Hold tight wait till the party's over
Hold tight We're in for nasty weather
There has got to be a way
Burning down the house
Here's your ticket pack your bag
Time for jumpin' overboard
The transportation is here
Close enough but not too far,
Maybe you know where you are
Fightin' fire with fire
All wet! Hey you might need a raincoat
Shakedown! Dreams walking in broad daylight
Three hun-dred six-ty five de-grees
Burning down the house
It was once upon a place sometimes I listen to myself
Gonna come in first place
People on their way to work and baby what did you except
Gonna burst…
1
"The question now is whether Senate Republicans, who could actually do something about it, will ever be moved to care."
Answer: No, they won't.
If they did care, then they'd have to find a new useful idiot who would sign all the bills they send to him without reading them. Thankfully, even in the corrupt and anti-American world of the GOP, a new Trump would be difficult to find.
But, no, they don't care. And how could a political party with no shame or morals whatsoever care? As more of this Mueller investigation unfolds, it goes to show just how beholden they have been to the Russians, in one way or another. It wouldn't be surprising to find out that the notes documenting meetings of the Republican Congressional Caucus are written in Cyrillic.
5
Trump is compromised. At what point do we look at at congressional Republican's actions. They are clearly compromised and are providing aid and comfort to their criminal president and his Russian mob boss.
11
The republicans are consistently moving the goal post and ratcheting down on more extreme tactics to cheat. Why would they all of a sudden have an epiphany and call Trump out when half of them are Gerrymandering and cleaning voters from the registries and racist robocalling all to make it into office and enrich themselves and horde. The USA is a decaying cesspool fizzling out the last few bubbles of post war imperialist winner's advantage. Unlike World War 2...there is no great super power to save the world from the 3 largest militaries at present (USA, China, Russia) and they are currently being ran by authoritarians. They have tricked the populations into being slaves to their own digitized vanity. Now we huddle around the pixel confirmation bias signals in our own virtual tribe bubbles. Put on all black the next time there is resistance on display in your area and go do something to feel alive. They are just going to keep throwing you down the stairs...until your dollars are worthless.
2
The truth is too difficult for most of us to handle. Beginning in 2000, if not before, a corrupt and greed driven political party, using racism as its driving force, the Republicans, owned by a nascent oligarchy, sought to control the levers of power in our nation by any means necessary. They succeeded, and even during the interregnum of Barack Obama controlled much of the power in our nation. They are anti democratic, fascist, and racist to the core, loyal only to money and power. In Trump, they have found their perfect figurehead-greedy, stupid, and vain. Our nation teeters at the brink of disaster.
9
Russia doesn’t have to USE leverage over Trump…..the fact that it HAS such leverage has proven to be an effective tool for Vlad to control the traitorous puppet occupying our White House. Trump knows Putin owns him so he's deathly afraid of offending him.
3
Trump is not going ahead with the Russian Trump bldg. He had no part of Hillary Clinton's Uranium One deal (treasonous?) that earned her most of a billion dollars in thank-you payments - but Bob Mueller actually is mixed up in it.
There is no connection at all linking Trump to Russia and the anti-Russia vote went for Trump, which is something that really bothers the propagandists at the NY Times.
The assignments handed down to Michelle are becoming a joke to critics of the rank politicization of what used to be an important newspaper here.
The funny part is the Democrats - who ALWAYS went to any meeting promising dirt on an opposition Dem or GOPer - are trying to make Trump, Jr. look bad for doing exactly the same thing a year or two ago.
2
What is this person still doing in the WH?
Why hasn't Congress impeached him?
My god, he is a national security threat.
6
Yes - it's beyond time to sound the bullhorn that ALL REPUBLICAN SENATORS are committing treason due to their failure to stop the President's treasonous behavior.
10
It's about economics and energy or petro fuels.
https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2017/01/17/remarks-vice-president-joe-biden-ukrainian-president-petro-poroshenko
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkmenistan%E2%80%93Afghanistan%E2%80%93Pakistan%E2%80%93India_Pipeline
WHAT? WHAT?
I can't hear you, Michelle!
Trump is lying too loud!
3
PBS Frontline was informative declaring that the Trump
organization gave up actual construction in the 80's.
Then deciding to market the name, and charge a fee
and build in marked up maintenance for the back end.
But when you stiff your vendors word gets out.
Any legitimate business would falter and die.
Clearly he was scrapping for some green and the (Reds)
know a stooge who could be frequently counted on to cleanse
some benjamins.
My guess is that all gang is going to be spiking the egg nog
with maalox until the jumpsuits and de-lousing become reality.
3
Cohen knows a lot and President Cheetoh McBonespurs is starting to act more and more like an organized crime boss. Yesterday he called Cohen “weak and stupid “ and then said he didn’t commit any crime but even if he did do any of the alleged deeds they weren’t criminal anyway. I was expecting him to start calling Cohen a “ stoolie” and a “ ratfink “ like an old James Cagney movie.
4
Funny in a way.
All those years the Republican Party obsessed about Reds under the Bed and called out liberals as being Communist sympathizers - and now their president is a Russian asset.
8
The Republicans in congress appear ready willing and able to do NOTHING to stop Donald Trump. With their white nationalism, anti-fact fervor the GOP has hitched a ride on the Trump titanic and it looks like they are going to ride it down into the Mariana Trench. Yee Ha!
5
I truly hope Robert Mueller and Andrew Weissman go to prison for the rest of their lives for the horrible way they trump-up charges, trap people, and 'flip' people into creating complex schemes that nobody really understands. You must really hate Donald Trump and/or his supporters if you support this farcical, rambling persecution of a sitting president. This makes Whitewater or Iran Contra look simple. Shame on you. Just shame on you. I wish I had the circumstances to leave the country and never see you vultures again. The anti-Trump maniacs, like Michelle Goldberg, simply will not rest till Trump is gone for good and his supporters marginalized into the low-paying service sector where they supposedly belong. They don't really care about anything else. How badly lawyers and journalists like her have ruined our nation. It's truly a shame.
1
The value of winning the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Presidency in 2020 has just increased by a lot. We can expect a shift in leadership of a magnitude equal to Nixon/Ford to Carter.
5
Cohen lied about Trump's efforts to do business in Russia, but beyond that I don't see much here. Trump has been trying to do a deal in Russia since the 1980's - without any success. Perhaps the biggest revelation in this story is that Trump - the master negotiator - couldn't close a deal in Russia.
6
@J. Waddell, there may be more here. But, we just don’t know, yet. I’m sure Muller will get to the bottom of it. But, in the meantime, we have newspapers to sell and people to entertain. So, let’s throw out some red meat to the scavengers.
Look at Trump's history. He has led a charmed life, inheriting a fortune and never having to be accountable to anyone. When he became president Trump figured that the presidency would not interfere with his career and in fact he could capitalize on the prestige of being president by continuing to do business with the Russians and Saudis. In short, Trump is all about the money. Mueller has seized on this and is following the money. That is why Trump is desperately tweeting that Mueller must be stopped. An innocent president would do the opposite. An innocent president would insist that the investigation proceed until all the facts in evidence are discovered. This does not take a genius to figure out.
16
@nzierler
It's always about the money.
3
“If the Russians are aware that senior American officials are publicly stating things that are not true, it’s a counterintelligence nightmare,” Adam Schiff, the California Democrat in line to take over the House Intelligence Committee, told me.
It's actually pretty simple: the American people have a compromised president and a complicit press that is only now awakening to the seriousness of what they themselves have wrought.
14
A year ago, I would have thought this to be an over the top statement: it is almost, as if, someone in Moscow has that precious, unmonitored, not-secure Trump cell phone number, and makes daily calls to it, telling Trump what lever to pull, what shade to throw, and what part of our government and democracy to destroy. For nearly two years, we have watched the incremental destruction of our country. Putin could not have written a better playbook.
14
The problem, sometimes his gain, for Donald Trump is that he is compromised by life in general. He took that road usually not taken. Be it Russia or simply the truth, he has chosen his way. He was fortunate enough to win the presidency of the United States. He has made billions. Soon, he may have to pay it all back. Dreams die hard in America, something he never learned but still forgot. We are of laws, of truths. Ultimately, there is no room here for those who claim them as theirs alone to interpret.
11
I'm starting to wonder more and more - Why did we impeach Nixon while trump can do whatever he wants, considering Nixon's crimes are peanuts compared to trum's thuggery? WHAT is it about today's politics that allows a corrupt president to behave this way without consequences?
27
@TermlimitsNow, I compare Nixon to trump also and have the same disconnect as you do. I also ponder this: even those who did not help elect RMN would acknowledge that he had a level of competence for the job: a lawyer familiar with our laws and constitution; a long-term holder of elected offices; intelligent and respected if not well-liked. Moreover, there was no implication of hanky panky during his elections, which he won by solid majorities. The problem with trump (beyond the severity of his crimes and I suspect, treason; beyond his lack of knowledge and experience) is that he did not win a fair election, and in fact lost by a landslide. So what is to be done if he is removed from office? In my view, EVERYTHING that occurred on his watch--every law, every appointment-- is as illegitimate as he is. How does the USA handle that prospect?
7
The new media changed. Fox News. That’s the difference.
5
@TermlimitsNow The problems are the gerrymandered voting and the electoral college. The votes from a handful of states have more power than the rest of the country, and the electoral college groups our votes into segments that gives more weight to those states.
While it might have been necessary in the 1800's, it is extremely outdated now.
5
When it comes to Trump, the wish of many "progressives" to see him indicted is so strong that their standards for proof have become so lax, that anything, including wishful thinking, hearsay, rumor, political allegations and a claim by an admitted liar, are immediately considered "proof".
6
@Mike: Trump is the biggest liar of you all.
5
@
To which admitted liar do you refer, Cohen, Manaford or the President?
These days its hard keeping our liars straight.
6
@Mike - Multiple indictments, guilty pleas, convictions etc. are pretty good proof. The right was willing to incarcerate Hillary for things that aren't even illegal.
5
The number and strength of GOP congressional spines is inversely proportional to the number of self-identified GOP supporters of the president.
Nixon's fate was sealed when his dropped into the 50 percent range but he didn't have Fox News carrying his water 24x7. Fox News viewers are so isolated from any other source of information that they would not know the world had ended unless Fox News decided to report on it.
Unless and until common sense errodes the wall of wilful ignorance that the GOP relies on it will be difficult to rid ourselves of abhorrent "leaders" like Trump.
14
Many Americans believe that God runs everything anyway.
3
This a very informative and concise column, telling it like it is, I'm reasonably sure, There certainly are more details to be revealed. And they will be. Unfair business advantage is one thing; treason another. Trump's on the run ... speaking like a frightened child claiming in aggressive attack, that the dog ate the homework. But what I particularly appreciate from this column ... now, to-day ... is the feeling of being freed from the grip of Trump, if only from frustration over his obstinate persistence with untruth and getting away with it. It's over for him now ... it's that evident. And he faces a new House. He's managed power-over until now behind lies upon lies in an extraordinary way that privilege of the entrusted office of presidency allows ... amounting in the case of Trump to abuse of power. However, at the end of day the truth stands over, unmasking the lie, refusing being dominated ever. Lies don't last simply because they can't, as we can plainly see .. even for the most "powerful." Talk about impotence! ... when it comes to persistent refusal to accept.
8
Above and beyond all else, it is Donald Trump who has compromised Donald Trump. His life-long disdain for authority, diminution for others, disrespect with financial obligations and disregard for social norms have woven a tattered cloak that is full of holes and tears, and under which he can no longer hide.
It was always obvious that Trump's cuddling up to dictators like North Korea's Kim, China's Xi and Russia's Putin were motivated by his visions of greenfield opportunities and the dream of generating huge personal wealth in countries where the Trump organization had yet to establish a beachhead.
Russia may end up being the quicksand that finally does Trump in, but it his his own pathologically characteristic and reckless willingness to throw caution to the wind that has truly compromised him, all by his little old lonesome.
Unfortunately, in the process, he has now compromised the well-being of America and Americans, and for this, he deserves no sympathy. How ironic that his promise to Make America Great Again may, when all is said and done, have been a sham designed to hide Trump's making America grovel.
11
Yes, clearly, but what does Putin have on Mitch McConnell?
22
It’s been 562 days since Robert Mueller was appointed special counsel. At the rate this investigation is proceeding, in another 1,267 days we will have re-elected Donald Trump.
Good work!
1
@Jim - Trump is toast. One way or another he will be driven out of office. Being the quitter he is, he will probably throw a temper tantrum at some point and resign if he's not driven from office.
2
When will enough be enough? I'm tired of all the lying. This mendacity is not that far off from treason as far as I am concerned. These were secretive business dealings with a foreign government during an election. Jared wanted a back channel communication. Trump talked to Putin for 2 hours with no one present to record what happened. I could go on and on. Yet I turned on Fox News, the fab five, after the news broke and they were all, except Juan, making excuses for Trump and minimizing it. And that is the main news source for millions of Americans. State TV. Why not call it Trump TV?
10
And yet Putin gave trump the American presidency and so far trump hasn't delivered his $50 million penthouse in Moscow - how typical! So yea! Trump is indebted to Putin for this and who knows what else.
Now trump is now avoiding Putin at the G20 like most of us avoid debt collectors.
The trump-Tide of money laundering will inevitably prove out too, and just as dirty - typical Republican.
9
Cohen's most important paragraph is her last: None of this matters unless Senate Republicans are motivated to care. Indeed, we have only got to this absurdly protracted point in history because the Republican Congress (and by extension their constituents) do not care. They have the bigot they want in power. This is their moment and nobody is going to take it away from them.
9
(1) "Flynn...lied to Vice President Mike Pence":
Flynn was fired because, in a very narrow sense, a WaPo story in Feb 2017 about his contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak made his continued employment untenable, not that he was belatedly discovered to have lied to Pence. It was the public airing of his problematic connections with Russia in December, not their sudden discovery or unacceptability to the WH, that necessitated his firing. His actions were decidedly not inimical to the WH which, as everyone can see now, likes to cozy up to the Kremlin.
Maybe Flynn did lie to Pence, maybe he didn't; I've always been inclined to think "lying to Pence" was merely a cover, likely a lie itself, or, more generously, something along the lines of Rosenstein's letter recommending Comey's firing, i.e., a rationalization that may have an element of truth that it was expected the news media would swallow. But that was never the reason he was fired. It just does not make sense. Trump was not in the dark; hard to believe Pence was.
(2) "The question now is whether Senate Republicans, who could actually do something about it, will ever be moved to care."
Um, no (although "ever" is an out). That question has resoundingly been answered long ago and many times: No.
4
Dear Republican Senators: When will any of you, even one of you, become your generation 's Senator Howard Baker. History is watching all of you.
8
So, Trump said he had "no deals." And Cohen now confirms that Trump didn't have any deals. I suppose you could claim that Trump's tweet was misleading, or didn't disclose all relevant facts. But that's not really evidence of any collusion with Russia, and has absolutely nothing to do with election interference.
Just as a fun thought exercise, the NYTimes ought to imagine that the same set of facts applied to Obama instead of Trump. Then, imagine how different the article would look: "Cohen's Plea Fails to Implicate Obama," or "Obama's Innocence Confirmed by Cohen Plea."
2
@David
Here’s a thought, why don’t we stop playing “whatabout?”
5
@David: Oh, I suspect Cohen will testify that Trump had “deals” of one kind or another with Russian oligarchs and that Mueller has hard evidence to back up Cohen’s testimony.
2
@David Or, let's put it another way. Imagine if, throughout the campaign, Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama had been trashing our allies, their own intelligence community, flattering and siding with and defending the murderous Vladimir Putin to a degree that had many wondering what was up, all the while insisting there was no relationship with Russia (a big lie), and it turns out there was a massive relationship with Russia, including offering a $50 million penthouse to Putin....you want us to believe that the same people who want to put Hillary Clinton in prison over a legal personal email server, want the Clinton Foundation investigated for years on end, and want Obama investigated over the IRS doing its job...wouldn't say anything? Right.
2
Thank you for this article, Ms. Goldberg. You tell it as it is. Your point about Putin knowing Trump was lying all along gives me chills.
6
Is it even possible to shame the Republicans in Congress - and more specifically, the Senate - into finally, at long last, taking some action against this lawless president?
Aren't they supposed to be Americans first, and partisans (a distant) second?
6
I ‘m tired. Can’ we just do health care,immigration,infrastructure. Not nessessarily in that order and vote him out in 2020.
3
Trump is not the only one compromised by Russians (and probably Saudis, Isreal who knows what other foreign operators).
Mitch McConnell and GOP are recipients of Russian money. Doesn't matter whether it's done indirectly. Justice Kennedy's son was involved via Deutsche Bank. How did Kavanaugh's debts disappear? How did Whitaker's debts disappear?
Russians have been funneling money and dark money through various organizations and corporations into funding and influencing politicians and political groups, mostly the GOP. Remember the NRA? This is just the tip of the corruption iceberg.
Why do you think the GOP has forced legislation like Citizen's United while working to remove transparency and reporting requirements?
12
Sadly, I suspect you are correct about most of these things.
2
Trump was not compromised by Russia but instead compromised by his insatiable greed for money. Karma will inevitably catch up with President Trump; it’s only a matter of time. It’s extremely sad when people like Trump and others like him sell their very souls and morality for the lust of money. Trump’s presidency has never been about serving the country; it was always about serving himself.
As far as Trump’s tax returns…..America and the world will get a chance to view them when the Mueller investigation is completed.
8
Since the early days of the russia investigation Trump has been stating that he has no business, no dealings, no relationship with Russia. Putin has known he was lying. He could threaten a wikileaks release of the trump lies and hold the president under a threat. He's a plant. A beholden asset. The party of trumputin is the party of russia.
10
Michelle this deal was well known long time ago and the deal was not done so what's the big deal here. Since this deal was not done therefore he had nothing going on in Russia. You don't think the Obama admin didn't know about this proposed deal?. What is the leverage ? no deal was done. Before you write another column yes Trump held a beauty contest there in 2013 so you are not surprised.
1
@Larry: oh, there is more, much more, and backed up with hard evidence, or Mueller would not have offered a plea deal.
1
@Anaboz:Keep listening to MSNBC which the alternate Democratic ego of republican Fox News. They never, ever give Trump any credit and if you notice never have opposing views especially shows like Rachel. Look for the truth don't just listen to one cable show which is there to rile up the listeners.
The hatred and vitriol the right showed against President Obama was overwhelming, and those same right wing republicans now claim the left is simply out to "bring down" President Trump. The right screamed from every mountaintop about the rule of law during the Clinton impeachment and claimed the affair was not the issue but rather the lying and the cover up. Now they have convinced themselves that president Trump's 'crime' was menial and this is a witch hunt. it must be nice to be a republican -- acting like a 3rd grader and trying to bend the rules in your favor at every turn...
8
It could be the only thing that would move republicans to act against t rump would be if he switched parties and went after big oil. That would get their blood boiling. Saving American democracy, not so much. The republican party has been anti democratic for approximately a half century.
As far as the people who keep electing these hacks; the under educated basket of deplorables, mostly from dixie I say this: You people don't deserve to be called Americans. Your ancestors took up arms against their Nation in a war of treason and they lost. And their progeny, You!, have awaited the "second rising of the south" ever since; hoarding guns and ammo to use against your Nation all the while lambasting NFL players who protest the treatment of African Americans at the hands of the police.
It is far past time for those of US who live and work in those areas that are prospering and who pay our taxes so We the People can have a Nation, it is time to cut the states like Mississippi off.
No more bailing out states that refuse to join the Union or the 21st Century.
No more sharing the wealth with folks who honor traitors (and losers) and yearn for dictators. No more.
5
"One of the chief questions in the Trump-Russia scandal has been whether Vladimir Putin has leverage over the president of the United States, and, if so, what that leverage looks like."
Perhaps it is worth remembering how much money the Clinton's accepted from the Russians. Millions more, in fact, than did Trump.
No, not perhaps. Certainly.
But far be it from the NYT to address the obvious.
1
If the Russians had Hillary in their pocket the way they have Trump, why were all their election interference efforts used to elect Trump?
2
If the Republicans have any integrity and love for their country at all, they would be telling Trump to resign immediately for the good of the country.
They won't, of course. And this proves (once again) that their years of rhetoric about character and family values was and is a sham.
Lindsey Graham is the epitome of this hypocrisy, double standard and dishonesty and illustrative of what the GOP has become.
He was one of the House prosecutors of the Clinton impeachment and their case against Clinton was that he lied about consensual sexual contact during a civil suit and supposedly encouraged other people to lie on his behalf.
Trump's crimes are so much worse in that his lying was done to deceive the American people in order to get elected as president, which we now know he desired to advance his, and his family's wealth and power.
In a sane world, Trump would already been impeached and removed from office. Unfortunately the GOP has decided not only to protect the "swamp", but to advance its entrenchment and make it wider and deeper and murkier than anyone can fathom.
If the whole Trump election story was a movie script it would be rejected out of hand as being too fanciful for believability. Yet, here we are.
The corruption is deep and wide this this bunch. And the head of the crime mob is Trump himself.
4
@David I agree that the repulsive repubs in congress will do nothing. They are no better than trump, and they have shown that when we twice elected President Obama.
3
By Ms. Goldberg's standard, Hilary and Bill Clinton were even more compromised by Russia -- to the tune of $500,000 for a half-hour "speech" followed by Bill's visit to Putin -- than Trump.
2
Should I guess where you get your “news”?
5
@Anaboz I get my news from the NY Times, the Wall Street Journal and RealClear Politics. All three have reported on Bill's $500,000 payment.
BTW, where I get my news is utterly irrelevant to the truth, and merits, of the facts I present and the arguments I make.
So next time, try to deal with the issue, as opposed to making an ad hominem attack (and a weak one at that): how do you distinguish Putin paying off Bill, in order to get favors from Hillary, from whatever compromise it is that you think Ms. Goldberg is worried about?
Michelle.
The Trump organisation laundered dirty Russian oligarch money. The money went in the back door of the Deutsche Bank Moscow office dirty and came out the front door clean.
That money kept Trump from going personally bankrupt.
Trump owes his entire existence as a “successful businessman “ to the Russians.
That’s it. It’s simple and fairly well known in the banking compliance community in Europe.
11
Well, I’m hoping that during their raid of Deutch Bank’s Frankfort office (ostensibly related to the Panama Papers) the German authorities happen to stumble upon some evidence of Russian money laundering.
1
Trump is not subject to blackmail by Russia, Trump is conspiring with Russia to undermine the Western world order that began after WWII. Russia gets "great" again, Trump gets money. It is not rocket surgery, its simple!
PROSECUTE RUSSIAGATE!
2
trump was, is and always will be a man of no substance. Only since Toto has pulled back the curtain we can now clearly see the person behind his fake persona.
3
If Trump was a Russian agent he could not have been more effective in doing great harm to our nation. His obsequious behavior toward Putin in the wake of a proven attack on our democracy should have sufficed to have him removed from office. The Cohen testimony is just the tip of the iceberg. Prison is too good for this traitor.
4
Wow who knew that getting a hotel built in Russia is what it takes to rule both Russia and the USA.
That hotel must have really soft sheets and towels.
2
How dumb does Trump think we are?
He cancels the meeting with Putin because of their aggression toward Crimea; Trump doesn’t care a whit about Crimea, this is a smoke screen to look tough. It likely went something like this. “Vladimir, the tugboat thing worked, thanks for the cover, I’ve cancelled our meeting at the G20 to look tough, so we’re still good on everything right?”
3
Mueller has already discovered that the Russians have been bailing Trump and his organization out for decades and that he is compromised by Putin. Remember during the campaign in 2016 that Russian oligarch (Depraskin?) who bought his property in Florida was seen all over the place, his private plane at the airports in the cities where Trump was campaigning. Give me a break. Mueller is your last chance to expose this charlatan who wants everyone to kiss his...ring.
5
It's not that Senate Republicans don't "care" about Trump's compromising and treasonous relationship with Putin. It's that they are complicit in the whole mess: they all took Russian money laundered through their domestic terrorism wing, the NRA. They are just as guilty as Trump, and when the trials begin we want McConnell, Ryan, McCarthy, Nunes and the rest of these thieves, liars and traitors in the docket along with Trump, his crooked family and cronies, along with the odious Wayne LaPierre and the rest of the NRA executive board.
5
McConnell is complicit.
5
Lefties can say whatever they want about the deeply flawed Trump. But when they have the temerity to wrap themselves in the flag and masquerade as PATRIOTS, it's down right sickening.
1
@Mitch: What are you? A scoundrel?
2
So—the dossier is true.
260
@Mjxs
Nothing in here supports the claims of the dossier...
4
@Mjxs Yes, the dossier is true. The author had 4 russians with knowledge of the events, but never named them to protect them.
15
@Parker dossier is irrelevant
Trump's history and actions speak for themselves - he's always been compromised by gold dangling in front of him. Add the lack of moral compass and you've got someone that is compromised. This isn't a Democratic or a Republican issue - quite simply this guy is not worthy of the Presidency. We can do better than this and the country deserves / needs more. We can have it all in a leader we just currently don't - Strength with a Moral Compass we can be proud of, leader ship that looks and plans for the future generations not for selfish aggrandizement.
23
“There was a good chance that I wouldn’t have won, in which case I would have gotten back into the business, and why should I lose lots of opportunities?”
The answer to Trump's question, of course, is that he chose to run for president. He totally fails to understand the responsibility and public trust he asked for and, astonishingly, was given.
6
Why cover up a business deal? Was it simply a front for contacts in a conspiracy in which Trump and his people wanted or had input into how the Russians attacked Hillary Clinton via the social media? When Trump asked the Russians to find Clinton's 30,000 missing emails was he conspiring overtly, as he so often does, to make his actions seem legitimate? There was a Russian intelligence officer in the mix. Why have a spy assist in building Trump Tower Moscow? It is possible that there was never an intent to build it in the first place. That would explain why Trump and his people went to the trouble of covering up their "building plans".
4
Goldberg asks "The question now is whether Senate Republicans, who could actually do something about it, will ever be moved to care."
It is absolutely certain that the Republicans "care". They always have.
The real question is, at what point do Republicans decide that the Trump is detrimental to advancing their own personal interests; to advancing party over country?
5
Senate Republicans care about only two things, namely tax cuts for the rich and packing the courts with rabid right wingers. They’ll stick with Trump so long as he owns their base.
13
@walkman So justices should be sporting inoculation tags? See: Down boy!
Look for Michelle's new single (.mp3): "I Am Credulous Going On Nebulous." At trendy download sites everywhere.
1
It doesn't seem like Trump has cut Russia any slack since he offered them the traditional inaugural olive branch in 2017 ( remember the "reset button" Obama and Hillary proferred?)
He's sending defensive weapons to Ukraine and impinging on their fossil fuel business with incentivized fossil fuel production in the US and actually attacking Merkel for buying Russian gas.
Last year American fighters decimated about a hundred Russian mercenaries in Syria in a pitched battle.
1
Don’t confuse the country of Russia with the Russian oligarchy. Their interests seldom coincide. The same is true with us and our oligarchs.
1
@Doug Brockman Trump needs to send in our Special Forces to cut off the Spetsnaz at the Borgo Pass. But get it done by sundown, you know.
@Doug Brockton yes, sone good does get accomplished in spite of him.
1
How could a fizzled deal with a private partner mean that Russia has leverage over Donald Trump? This whole Russian investigation has been the making of mountains out of molehills.
Robert Mueller has nothing but trumped up charges against people like Michael Flynn to brag about. His investigation has failed to find any illegal collusion between the Russians and the Trump campaign in 2016. Yet it continues.
It's time for Robert Mueller to stand down and fade away. Past time, really. The country suffers when our criminal justice system turns political. There's no place for politics in our criminal courts.
3
You are completely missing the point. As a candidate, tRump promised , bribed, a foreign power to influence a US election in his favor. It’s a crime.
7
How could? By knowing things he’s kept secret, Putin could embarrass Trump. Provided, that is that Trump can be embarrassed, a fact not in evidence.
Trump said he had no dealings in Russia. Never met with anyone. No collusion.
In fact, his team had repeatedly lengthy meetings with the Russian ambassador. In fact, they had a development deal underway. One that we know of.
And what we know so far we know only because of Mueller. You say he’s learned nothing. I say everything we know today we know because of his work. How likely do you think it is that we’ve heard the last worst thing? Seems to me each revelation is worse than the last. Why assume we’ve hit bottom?
It’s not a politicization of the Justice department. These aren’t trumped-up charges with no documentary evidence. Manafort and Flynn and others have lied about their financial ties and association with Russia.
If it was all on the up and up, why lie? If not, how do we know Trump isn’t trading state secrets for Russian hotels?
3
The biggest problem we have in trying to convince Trump supporters how unacceptably corrupt their man is, is that they are willfully blinkered. It's just like climate change. It's just like science. It's just like gun control and a plethora of other issues. They love their man because he is against progress and the mythical, dreamy past is where they want to be. Hopefully, even the most devoted cult-of-Trump member will soon see that just like Trump University, it all was just a scam by just another grifter and they were taken in - bigly.
8
@Anthony Taylor
"The biggest problem we have in trying to convince Trump supporters how unacceptably corrupt their man is, is that they are willfully blinkered."
Ain't gonna happen.
4
Michelle Goldberg informs her readers that on Thursday morning Michale Cohen "pleaded guilty to making false statements to Congress about efforts to build a Trump-branded property in Moscow that extended into the 2016 presidential campaign." However, she fails to add that Cohen on Thursday morning also told the court that ‘The Trump Tower Moscow proposal was not related in any way to Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign. Moreover, the proposal had nothing to do with any alleged collusion with Russia regarding the U.S. presidential election." According to Cohn'd plea agreement, there was no collusion.
The column's headline says "Michael Cohen's latest plea is proof" that "Trump is compromised by Russia." Cohen latest plea actually provides evidence that there was no collusion. Cohen tried unsuccessfully to persuade Moscow to green light the Trump tower Moscow project by issuing the necessary permits, but Moscow refused. If Trump and the Kremlin were partners in a unlawful conspiracy, why would Moscow kill the project?
3
@William Case, then why has everyone in the trump administration lied, over and over again, about chatting with the Russians during the campaign? Every single person, from Flynn to Sessions to Donnie Jr, to trump; they all conveniently forgot only one thing. "Oh, yeah, now that you have those records, I guess I DO remember talking to that Russian billionaire guy about some things! Four times in one month, yes, now it's coming back to me!"
Every single one, lied about one thing. Russians. Oh, I'm sure you would want this just to go away if it was HRC who was elected. For trump folks, American security (and Russia's aggressive history!) comes way, way behind your loyalty for the liar in chief.
If there's nothing there, why does trump's story keep changing? His supporters just don't have any common sense about it. No healthy skepticism, just Redgood, Bluebad.
6
Because the sanctions weren’t lifted? You tell me.
Who knew emoluments could be so complicated?
3
@deb
Only one person in Trump's administration has admitting lying to investigators. That was Michale Flynn, but his lie didn't related to the 2016 election campaign or collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. Many people think the changes against Flynn might be dropped. His sentencing keeps being postponed. He might tell the court he pleaded guilty only to protect his son from Mueller investigators.
it's a "Reality TV Show" that we're "really watching"--a fascinating nightmare taking place right before our eyes for the past two years; and we'll stay glued to it, on the edge of our seats, as the drama continues to unfold.
I can hear the announcer in the voiceover: "Why the lies? Have the Russians 'compromat' on Trump? Will the Trumps be prosecuted of tax evasion? Will the Trumps evade justice? STAY TUNED, America!"
2
Ms. Goldberg writes: " Every day of the Trump presidency is a national security emergency. The question now is whether Senate Republicans, who could actually do something about it, will ever be moved to care."
The answer is simple: No. Given a choice between saving the country and saving Trump, the Senate Republicans have already made their choice. And it isn't the nation.
7
@David Derbes Yep. Political career 1st, USA takes the hindmost. Same reasoning of JFK, LBJ, & the Trickster: send the sons of poor folks to war! See: There ain't nothing new out here. Thanks much.. Vietnam-era draftee/veteran
1
So he lied for Trump to keep them both out of trouble, now he lies for the government to keep himself out of trouble... Self serving?
Article speaks of leverage 100% but doesn't mention what leverage. But proclaims 100%. ok good journalism.
Trumps business his business was looking to build a hotel, so what, so what his business talked to Russian government and/or companies to build a hotel, so what!
Again, what proof is there that leverage exists and it certainly wouldn't be leverage over a business deal.
IMOP, Trump and his spin group will spin this enough as usual in their favor, because of poor journalism and the continuing of guilty until proven innocent media articles, this is USA, not Britain.
If you know something about someone that they’d prefer remain secret, is that not leverage?
How many things has Trump categorically denied that Mueller has proved true? Meeting the Russian ambassador. Abetting the use of stolen, perhaps fraudulent information from Wikileaks to affect the election. Paying Stormy Daniels et alia. Now, building hotels in Russia.
How likely is it that Mueller has discovered the last tawdry compromising fact of Trump’s Russian interests? How likely Trump is immune to blackmail or uninterested in money?
Trump could put all worries to rest by obeying the constitution and proving his loyalty: sell his businesses and invest in a blind trust. By choosing not to do that he invited critical skepticism. By lying about it, he invited prosecution.
2
At the end of the day, this whole thing is going to be about money laundering. The key lies in the relationship of Russian oligarchs, Trumpy, and Deutsche Bank, plus a little Panama-Cyprus-Caribbean on the side.
8
45's "confession of motive" reveals his hubris and narcissism and the limits of conducting foreign policy strictly by transactional means. He has been unable to see the bigger picture. Successful business transactions often happen because options were kept open as long as possible. Political office responsibilities go beyond earning profits for shareholders and serving clients. Especially in democracies, office holders serve their constituents by ensuring their rights to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". This requires maintaining the integrity of political office by looking out for the welfare of the people and nation. 45 has looked out for the welfare of himself and his family for years to such an extent that he presents himself as being above the law. 5's boast that he alone can fix what is wrong with the country and his preference for a nationalism without alliances (except for his version of NAFTA 2) show his comfort with being alone and discomfort being with others (except when he is on stage). While "no man is an island entire unto himself", 45 certainly tries to be. Like four fighter jets flying in formation in close contact with each other, they do not take into account the reality of the mountain they are about to crash into. 45 and his mob are like those doomed pilots. Let us hope the horrific damage will be limited.
6
Trump was compromised by Russia, and I think that the investigation into how will eventually turn up money laundering. With so much money to wash, and with DJT in a business that provided so many opportunities for laundering, the temptation to cross the line would have been too great. NO, it wasn't the lure of sex in a Russian hotel that was Trump's downfall, but the easy money to be made changing rubles into dollars. This is what Putin holds over Trump's head - and it will come out.
To understand why a man with Trump's wealth would put himself in such a position is another matter. In the near future, we will program the mind in the computer based on a "survival" algorithm, which will provide irrefutable proof as to how we trick our survival program about what exactly is supposed to survive - producing minds programmed de facto for destruction. When we discover this and it is shared universally, we will begin the long trek back to reason and sanity. See RevolutionOfReason.com
4
I think the key word here is BRAND. Trump is consumed with his "brand." Unfortunately, in pursuit of enhancing the Trump brand, he has all but destroyed America's brand. It's a long road back from this gutter we are in. The only way to redeem ourselves is to show the world that American justice will prevail, the Trump brand will become transparent as the money laundering organization that it is, and all who collude will be at the very leadt have whatever sick evidence that Trump is using to extort thier silence revealed. Today gave me hope that we are finally on our way to making America's brand great again.
7
@TheBossToo: I doubt American "justice", such as it is, will improve under the jurisprudence of Trump's judicial appointees.
2
How far we have fallen. It used to be that compromise meant working with others to come to agreement for the betterment of the country. Now compromised has come to mean the collusion of Trump and his GOP enablers to bend to the whims of an enemy foreign power. The former has been nixed by Republicans for decades and the latter is now GOP foreign policy.
4
@just Robert
Bingo.
2
It is somewhat amusing to hear Trumps ever evolving storylines as new evidence and fact appear. I believe I heard a bit earlier that he tweeted something to the effect that his dealings in Russia were only as an honest business man. So now we have gone from absolutely no Russian dealings to just a little as an honest business man. Imagine that. Apparently Trumps perception of honesty and that of most others are planets apart. The walls just closed in on trump in a significantly major way. Each passing day in this farcical presidency delivers another level of bewilderment as to why Trump is not yet serving time in prison.
7
And....the Republicans give a collective yawn. As long as they have their precious tax cut for their wealthy donors, they could not care less about the US, its republican democracy, or any of us.
10
Most Americans long ago reached the conclusion of Michelle Goldberg’s column headline: “Trump Is Compromised by Russia.”
The latest plea by Michael Cohen is important, confirmatory evidence of that conclusion.
There is no need, however, to get in front of the process. We best serve our interest in assuring survival of the world’s oldest democracy by letting this play out and doing everything possible to protect Robert Mueller and his team.
5
....we've all been waiting almost 2 years for Mr. Mueller to provide some evidence Mr. Trump was directly involved.
...by the time he's done, Trump will either be on his way to a second term, or back to the Apprentice.
...a complete waste of taxpayer dollars so far - we'll see what crumbs he might find along the way......
What was Michael Cohen's personal motive for lying to Congress in the first place? The fact of a business negotiation extending into June 2016 was not illegal in itself? Why perjure himself to cover up activity that was completely legal? Did he explain that?
1
Let us see. Trumps casinos and other businesses go bankrupt. No US or other reputable banking establishments (an oxymoron) will loan him money. Where to go for money? The Russian Criminal Syndicate. Well let’s launder some of that money through real estate development, ala Jimmy Hoffa and the teamsters, and the other mob. The Trump Group and the Trump Administration are a criminal organization. They were surprised by their election victory and cobbled together a kleptocracy of historical proportion. Where is Congress? Making their own deals with the kleptocrats.
4
Our delemma is not just a dirty and compromised president in the Oval Office, but the fact that he is part and parcel of an entire corrupt industry - the high end condo market. It’s a situation that’s producing some very tortured investigating - journalistic and otherwise - which tries to carve Donald Trump away from that herd. The recent PBS series on Sinking Cities demurely points out that one reason Miami is incapable of proactively dealing with its already occurring flooding is that 60%(!) of the real estate is own by foreign LLCs , shell companies for launderers of corrupt money from around the globe. All you have to do is drive down one of Miami’s condo canyons and see that there are not lights on in thses buildings on any given night. The high-end NY market is no doubt in a similar situation. There are a lot of interests who don’t want to see that exposed, but in the long run we’ll all be much better off if it’s exposed and dealt with.
6
Congressional Republicans will step up when it's about to be revealed that they, too, have financial "investments" in Russia. It's the only explanation as to why they haven't guided their voter base away from Trump. They're in it together.
When information from the Deutsche Bank and the raid on Trump's financial lawyer's office comes to light, we'll start seeing some resignations.
Who knows, Cohen might even go down in history as a hero of our Democratic Republic...
Nah....
6
A national security emergency?
No, Obama’s red line was a national security emergency.
Since Trump got to the White House, we have been tough on Russia.
That is the proof of the pudding, not the silliness over deals in Moscow that never got done.
1
If using chemical weapons in Syria was a national emergency, what has Trump done about it? Nada. He handed Syria over to Assad to finish the war with whatever brutality they saw fit. He’s equally uninterested in the Saudi brutality in Yemen.
It’s too bad there are no Trump hotels in Syria and Yemen. Too bad for them, that is. Especially for them.
And where is the response to seizing Ukrainian ships? Tough, or not tough?
Someone’s made clear that even this lapdog Republican senate won’t tolerate patent pro-Russian measures such as lifting sanctions. McConnell and others have spoken publicly about it. Trump knows where his bread is buttered, and Putin may well be keeping his powder dry. There’s still time for this to play out. We’ll see if tough is as tough talks.
1
The silence from the GOP is what amazes me the most. Republicans have gone to ground. They don't want to breath a word about Mueller because, most likely, the Senate will be forced to protect Mueller. They do not want to have that conversation while the media is fired up and there's a lame-duck budget deadline looming. To my knowledge, Jeff Flake is the only Republican who has murmured a word so far. That was before the most recent news broke as well.
Can you imagine the uproar if Democratic campaign personnel had lied to two Republican led committees? We don't even need to broach the subject of Ivanka Trump's emails. The GOP silence is deafening.
I'm hoping Republican leaders are closeted in a strategy meeting right now. The session minutes read "How did we get into this mess? A discussion on getting out." I think the conversation focuses centrally on when to dump Trump and just how hard. If I had to guess, Republicans are still trying to ride the gravy train. However, if they misplay the ongoing catastrophe that is Trump, they risk losing not only the White House but also the Senate in 2020. Meanwhile, Democrats have a chance to improve their advantage in the House.
If I were a Democrat running in 2020, I'd peg my opponent to Trump and talk non-stop about pocketbook issues. The voter can fill in the blanks when it comes to Trump's mess.
3
Thank you Ms. Goldberg for the entertaining, if hysterical, article. Despite your attempts to "prove" illegality on the part of the President, and Russian "leverage" over him, this latest revelation regarding Mr. Cohen proves neither point. It doesn't even prove that our truth-challenged President was lying when he said he didn't have a deal with Russia. In fact, he didn't. He wanted one, but it didn't happen. That is neither illegal nor a lie.
If Russians wanted to exert control over a presidential candidate wouldn't a better way be to make a deal that ties them to Russia? Again, no such deal occurred.
Despite the high-fiving "gotchas" of the liberal commenters here, this latest revelation is of no consequence. President Trump may be guilty of something, but the various revelations provided by Mr. Mueller thus far are nothing more than guilt by insinuation, which is exactly what you, Ms. Goldberg, are practicing with this hyperbolic article.
1
You apparently don’t know what a deal is, or proof is, or leverage is.
A deal is any negotiation, consummated or not. That’s why “breach of contract” is a thing, and why nondisclosure agreements exist.
Proof is convincing evidence. We have lots of incontrovertible evidence disproving Trump’s statements about a variety of things related to Russia and the election.
Leverage is, for one, knowing something someone else would like kept secret. That’s why blackmail is a thing, why Trump requires nondisclosure agreements, and why he paid his courtesans to keep quiet. Leverage is what Putin knows that Trump prefers we don’t.
Glad I could clear that up for you.
2
@James K. Lowden
Mr. Lowden,
Thanks for the condescension. It builds character, I guess.
I have been involved in many deals over many years and they are merely conversations until an actial agreement (the deal) has been struck.
I would note that leverage isn't much if it is merely the knowledge that a prospective deal was cancelled in June 2016 instead of January 2016. In either case, it is before the election and resulted in no laws being broken.
As regards "proof,"well, we have proof that President Trump has only a loose relationship with truth. What we don't have, at least to my knowledge, is any actual evidence of collusion with Russia or obstruction of justice. Ms. Goldberg, Charles Blow and, apparently, you are striving mightily to make the case, but, in fact, no charges have been brought, as yet. The small indications yet provided by the Mueller investigation are, as I noted, merely guilt by insinuation. Wishful thinking on the part of hordes of angry, bitter liberals doesn't change that.
It may yet be that President Trump is found guilty of something that causes his removal from office, but it hasn't happened with Mr. Cohen's admissions.
1
The difference between Nixon and Trump: Nixon had the decency and patriotism to resign, whereas Trump has not a shred of decency and his patriotism comes second to his own self interest. I cannot conclude that a Trump would ever resign; maybe he will and maybe he won’t.
I sense that he will determine his own future, and that he always sees a way to survive. The details of his survival likely will resemble a slippery eel caught in a net: the fisherman must have a good sharp gaff and a precise hooking move at the neck or else he faces the teeth, or loses his catch to the deep blue sea.
Mueller seems to kno this.
2
You give Nixon too much credit. Decency was not on his resume.
Nixon resigned when senate leaders explained that he would otherwise be impeached and that those votes were already counted. Impeachment was certain. As ever, Nixon chose the easy way out.
“If the president does it, that means it’s not illegal”. The decent need not apply.
1
No one talks about the Palm beach sale to a Russian. Yet the price paid for the mansion was millions more than its actual value. Where I come from, this is a common practice to a) launder money, and 2) receive a bribe. But Donny never lies does he? And he claims he has never had any dealings with Russia.
5
In order to care it requires of republicans that they have a heart. One wonders what beats in the chest of their leader in the senate— Mr. McConnell of Kentucky. Do the people of Kentucky have any idea how much animus across this great land of ours has accumulated against them and their soul-less senior member of the senate who refuses month after agonizing month to lift a finger to reign in this rogue president? Kentucky is so much more than the blue grass state these days. It is home to the one man with the single greatest power to challenge a growing tyranny in the nation's capital. One must further wonder whether the Russians have compromising information on Mr. McConnell as well. Putin's reach into our democracy obviously extends beyond the mere Oval Office. We are imperiled by the cowardice, avarice, and venality of powerful people here and seem nearly helpless to do anything about it. Mr. Schiff of California, we are placing a heavy burden of expectation on you and your committee. Please don't fail us.
6
This is a nothing burger. It follows a pattern. The left learns something about Trump that they are sure is evidence of... I'm not sure... but they know it's really really horribly bad and will certainly end the Trump presidency. Speculative column inches (oh, the trees, the trees) are spent asserting that it will only be a matter of time until the Mueller police knock on the WH door at 3 in the morning and take him Trump) away.
Weeks pass. Then months. Nothing.
Did Bloomberg quit running his business (or having a proxy run it) while campaigning for mayor? Did you think he'll give it up if he runs for president? trump wasn't doing anything illegal. He wasn't president. See, billionaires are different. They aren't trying to make wealth from their political position. The Moscow Trump tower would have nothing to do with whether or not Trump was president.
Here's the play. When the evidence is overwhelming, beyond any dispute, for example when Trump's taxes are revealed and Adam Schiff (thank you!) asks the interpreter what Trump discussed with Putin in private, and perhaps when the demonstrations are again massive, then:
Trump will quickly pardon his family, and perhaps others he wants to continue doing business with, then he will resign.
Pence will become VP and pardon Trump, in the interests of the country (!).
And the Republican Senate will continue to appoint racist and misogynist judges, who think the oligarchs deserve to reign free of restraint.
And hopefully in the next election we really will elect a responsible and adult president, assuming the Democrats can get their act together, and will begin, as usual for the Democrats, the business of rebuilding our destroyed country.
3
Ms. Goldberg's near-to-closing line, "Every day of the Trump presidency is a national security emergency," could never be more telling and true. It is what we conscientious public, press and intel people have suffered for the last 2 years. And it is emerging that the Trump Organization is nothing more now, and has perhaps always been, a criminal operation, with the criminal-in-chief now running our country.
7
The far greater shame than Republican Senators continuing to fall into line, has been the distorted mentality of any American citizen who voted to maintain the Senate’s Republican majority.
6
Great piece, Michelle. Keep at it, thank God for our free press.
4
The question isn't really whether Russia has something on Trump; of course, it does. Between his 30-plus years of travels to Russia, in his weird, never-ending quest to build a Trump Tower in Moscow; his Eastern bloc wives; and his decades of money-laundering for the Russian mob, Trump knows he's a Russian asset, too. The issue is, when will Republicans cut him loose, and will the United States survive the destruction and chaos Trump has brought?
7
It is time to consider the extent to which Republican apologists for Trump have played an active role in concealing criminal activity. What did Mitch McConnell know and when did he know it?
7
I can't be the only one who thinks none of this will even be close to realistically impeachable offenses.
1
Unfortunately, the Senate's Republican leadership, Mr. McConnell, has embraced Trump's approach of "stonewall and lie long enough and the public will forgive and forget." Nowhere is that clearer than in his unbelievably hypocritical approach to the Garland/Kavanaugh nominations, and his single-minded pursuit of a Federalist Society-trained judiciary. While McConnell is the Senate leader, Trump's claim that he could shoot somebody in Times Square and get away with it is likely understatement.
4
The key word in this article is Leverage. This is why Sally Yates went to the WH to tell them about Flynn and his lie to Pence, it was Leverage Putin could use against Flynn. I think a majority of Americans know that Trump is not highly intelligent as he constantly boasts about so it’s no surprise that he’s been had by Putin. Never underestimate a KBG agent like Putin. Trump and family looked at Russians and saw dollar signs but Putin saw Trump at a patsy he could use. I don’t think Putin thought it would be so easy to get this fool in the WH. Now I wonder how many of the republicans in Congress are also under Putin’s thumb because they seem not to care about keeping Mueller’s investigation going or they would protect it.
6
Trump never expected to win the election. His candidacy was always about advancing his brand, lining his pockets, and indulging his ego, which would explain why he didn't consider abandoning his business dealings in Moscow even after he became the Republican nominee. He has no more notion of the responsibilities of being President of the United States - of working as a public servant to advance the interests of the country and improve the collective lives of its citizens - than he has of working in a public company and answering to shareholders. So much for the Republican voters' claim of "we need a businessman as president".
Trump is all about Trump, and no one else. He is all ego, greed, and entitlement.
3
Cohen and Sater were working for a commission. They put the deal together and try to persuade Trump to go for it.
I am fervently hoping we will see the day when Trump and all his enablers, particularly in the Senate, go to the ash bin of history reserved for only the most disgraced. Our nation needs this sweep of collective catharsis.
The GOP may need then to go by the wayside, if only in name. The party of Lincoln no longer exists.
6
Unfortunately none of the episodic weekly “revelations “ seem to be mitigating the chaos or getting closer to getting this madman out of the Oval Office, do they? They’re just providing fodder for news people and comedians. It’s exactly the type of reality tv show Trump loves.
1
It appears that our present president may have gained office via seriously illicit means involving international conspiracies, lies, fraud, etc. - and with republicans in Congress seriously complicit. How will we as a country accept as legal the mandates made, the federal judge appointments, the laws passed, the protections throttled, etc. during this period when the administration's very existence may be a falsehood?
3
Trump isn't much of a president but he'll always be Individual number 1 to me.
3
One can only hope that justice will be done. Trump will be gone,
somehow, some way ,so that we can clear the road ahead and find our way back to civility. I can't help thinking of the abuse
that secretary Clinton has taken throughout these miserable two
years. Those rallies with the "Lock her Up" rants, the disgusting products sold depicting her physical features , distorted, filled with hate.The misogyny thrown at her before and after the election. She was not a perfect candidate but she never deserved
the abuse received, or the hate shown her. If women are to succeed in politics, this must never happen again. Thankfully, young women are pouring into the congress now. Let's hope they can go forward without the sexism we've seen before and one day a woman president will succeed in this patriarchal country.
6
So what, in fact, did Trump and Putin talk about oh so privately for 2 hours in Helsinki? American interests or Trump interests?
That is the Big question that hovers over everything Trump does concerning 'foreign policy' especially as regards Russia.
How about Saudi Arabia talks? Are they tainted by Trump family member Jared Kushner's financial interests? Why has he held phone calls and private meetings that have absolutely no accountability to the government he purportedly 'serves'?
The Trump crime family has been using their Oval Office positions to enrich themselves since day 1. What about all the unused inauguration monies never accounted for?
They are nothing but a self-serving bunch of grifters posing as administration officials working for the USofA. They don't know enough for their positions to be effective but they all know how to lie, cheat and steal for money.
All the while Mitch McConnell delivers the GOP look the other way policy to help cover up this greedy mess.
3
Trump is also highly compromised just by merely being Donald J Trump. All the worst possible traits of any politician, business owner, executive, husband, friend and neighbor rolled into a single and singular human being.
2
The continuous cover up by the Republicans, their lack of upholding their oath to our country leads one to wonder......
How many of them took money ..directly or indirectly from Russia?
5
Trump doesn’t know the meaning of obsequiousness.
1
Nothing ever changes--not understanding the forces unleashed by history, itself, is a 'constant' in US foreign policy. It makes the same mistakes, again, and then five more agains-repeating the errors made by those who were in the Oval Office in the past. No compromises where compromise is required! No insight into the motives let alone the policies of the alleged enemy! Like blind animals--and yet the US rules the world it barely comprehends--a 'sure and certain' recipe for further blunders in the future. Isn't it about time for the US to study real history, rather than depending on 'ideological' myths , which may be comfortable but offer no salutary guidance as to appropriate policy? No deals, no nothing, no loans--how silly can one get? Don't answer that--the response would have to be too frightening. Learn from the past! Know the motives underlying the policies of any alleged antagonist--OR! I shiver and shake, mulling over what may yet happen, when a nation acts in ignorance of facts--behaving like a child as if the world were a toy--when it just ain't!
1
More stuff from the "resistance". The fact that these folks see signs and indications like the early Christians kept thinking the Second Coming was at hand. The liberal media and the Dems have been waiting for the connection. Putin and Trump where Trump is the junior partner. More foolish thinking can not be imagined. Trump is driving the bus. Mueller might well have evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors by Trump. But the Hillary Clinton debacle was caused by herself and the Democrats who insisted on ramming her into the nomination despite the fact that she should have been indicted. Mueller pulled the lets indict Russians who will never stand trial trick and make politically motivated charges about the DNC hack which in fact was leaked by a disgruntled unnamed DNC operative. This whole Russia hysteria mess is the direct result of a cynical manipulation of the liberal news media.
Trump said to reporters yesterday Nov. 29, 2018:
"There was a good chance that I wouldn't have won (the election), in which case I would have gotten back into the business, and why would i lose lots of opportunities."
Trump has also told reporters that there was nothing wrong with him doing business wherever or however he want to during the election -- nothing illegal about want to build a tower. If all this is true, and it seems to be, why would Cohen change his travel plans to go to Moskow and end the Moskow tower project on June 14, the same day that WAPO reported the DNC e-mail hack, and then lie about when they ended the project? Especially when Trump continues to this day to deny that Russia was behind the hack. Even if it was true that Russia hacked the e-mails, regardless of whether Trump believed it or not, why would he give up a business aspiration that was so important to him if he still thought he might lose the election?
88
@Peter B.
So Trump just admitted that Cohen's statements are true. Trump was engaged in ongoing business negotiations (at the very least) with Russia -- while he has said he never had any business connections in Russia.
Now he appears to be grasping at the old straw, "So what?"
33
@Peter B.
I believe Trump when he says he thought he might lose. Why else would he beg the Russian government to release stolen Clinton emails on national television?
The part I don't believe is that Trump's business interests in Moscow were unrelated to his campaign.
24
@Peter B.
Now, let's not confuse people with sound logic. /sarc
7
I'm less alarmed by the President's behavior, than the stunning dereliction of duty on the part of Congress. Cynicism is far too inadequate a noun to explain our legislators' reluctance to do the job they were elected to do; that is uphold the Constitution.
639
@Dave Hardin
You've summed it up rather well.
25
@Dave Hardin
There is enough evidence to send Trump to jail, and he will be there once he leaves office. The real question is why the GOP Congress, in breach of its own Oath of Office, has not moved for impeachment -- my guess is that if it does not do so before the end of the lame-duck session, the GOP is dead for a generation in any state where people still understand what America is all about.
I suppose the Deep South and parts of the West may be mad enough at Washington to elect GOP members or Senators, but even they will have to put a long distance between themselves and this treasonous mess.
40
@Dave Hardin
Congress is supposed to get things done that benefit its point of view and it is content to allow Trump to be their useful idiot in this. As long as he delvers tax cuts to their masters; voids regulations that thwart their masters; and installs hard right judges to uphold their masters religious and economic goals, they do not care if Trump is Satan. When he is finally untenable, they will jettison their now-used-idiot, claim no personal involvement, and still retain all their desired policies. Win-Win.
People who obtain the power write history and if they took power wrongly it is forgotten. Only the policies remain.
RealPolitik is America.
27
So borrowing from this piece by Ms. Goldberg America does not have a President in the White House we have a Security Risk in the White House. Every day is unsafe for all of us. How long must we endure this constant anxiety? Or do we just learn to live, for all intents and purposes, at the whim of President Putin?
386
@Gretchen King. We will endure this as long as Republicans hold the Senate and are subordinate to the guys who pay for their elections.
27
@Gretchen King Yep, big security risk. Like, say, affirming that there were certainly WMD in Saddam Hussein's arsenal? Like, say, agreeing to keep Federal Deposit Insurance intact but repealing the rules that went with that insurance? (Clinton 1999.) Like drawing a "Red Line" on Syria's use of chemical weapons on its own citizens and then saying "just kidding?"
Oh, yes, our standards of safety and security in 1993-2016 must have been so much higher than they are now?
How many shrewd journalists gave us the true picture of our security back in those good old days?
Risk is out there. It is real. But this game of pretending things were always safer or better during the 24 years before is not Real.
2
@Gretchen King
It's a sad truth, but it looks like we must endure Trump and the security risk for another 2 years. The Mueller report will eventually come out and probably cripple his ability to do damage until he's voted out. But, there will always be the possibility that Putin could pull out his ace card.
9
Many living Americans have lingering unease that George W. Bush is a provable war criminal. Now we have someone for whom the presidential seal is like the pinky ring of a mafia don - someone with the unbelievable audacity (or is it magical thinking?) to say "I have a no-conflict-of-interest provision as president." Is the U.S. presidency a giant loophole, protecting its occupant from blatant high crimes? No, it sets a bright line for them. But the responsibility for protecting the country from an off-the-rails executive rests with our board of directors, namely Congress. Bill Clinton was impeached for lying about whether he'd received oral sex from an intern while on duty. What's the key thing that GWB and DJT have in common that lifts them above the rules? I say it's being Republican. I think the Republicans in today's Congress would never have criticized - let alone moved to impeach - Richard Nixon. And judging from the resounding results of our recent elections, most people are way beyond fed up at this point.
6
When will it serve Russia to dump the compromat they have on Trump&Co. to further humiliate the United States and advance their interests?
Sacrificing a major piece to obtain a checkmate, or draw is to be expected from a land of chess masters.
Perhaps when doing a major grab of Ukraine, Georgia, and the Balts to freeze America into inaction?
By the time it is sorted out Russia will have boots on the ground and secured the nations, after having responded to fraternal requests for salvation from Russian populations.
2
I admire our nonviolent approach to witnessing, resisting and overcoming the banal evil in America. It is awesome to see the nation patiently deconstructing cognitive distortions. We are faithfully navigating between appeasement and coersion. Creating pathways toward greater human dignity... in 1959, MLK emphasised that nonviolence is not only the destination nonviolence is also the way. http://www.thekingcenter.org/king-philosophy
102
@WJKush
It's becoming exceeding more difficult every day to exercise patient restraint.
The vast majority of Americans, indeed the world, want to see bold and swift action taken soon against this obvious corrupt administration.
Deep breaths no longer work.
4
@WJKush And that’s wonderful, ultimately it serves us almost all well, but NOT those in his path, the many who are being sacrificed to his whims.
3
@Emily Mervyn Thanks for speaking up for those being sacrificed and suffering. We must redeem their hurt by standing firm for human dignity. The experience across time and across the world is that nonviolence is much more sustainable. Yes, it *seems* more costly to me too. So, let's treasure our victories.
4
DISREGARD EARLIER SUBMISSION- INCOMPLETE
GOP and later Senate and House committees had to know that Trump had ulterior and personal motivations in his hands off approach to Russia. This was obvious at the GOP convention in 2016. Trump never said a word about Russia or sanctions in his nomination speech, and he surrounded himself with people who had close ties with Putin and the Russian Oligarchs. Minimal vetting by the GOP of Trump's background in deals with Russians should have raised alarm bells. Congressional committees could have dug deeper. Once the Con Man in Chief realized that beating Hillary was more important to the GOP leaders than exposing perjury and subversion of US national security, he thought no one would dare breach loyalty and tell the truth. Nixon made the same mistake as did Oliver North and whoever directed Scooter Libby. One must wonder if Mitch McConnell is in any way concerned about the stain on the GOP created once again by a GOP president with aides and close advisers who are being indicted in record numbers.Mueller is clearly sending a message that goes beyond the corruption , self dealing and subversion of Trump
6
Doug Mills, What an AMAZING photo. Looks like a still from a horror movie. Very expressive of our current political situation.
2
In light of this article, I'd like to urge everyone to revisit the NYT "Operation Infektion" video series about Russia's role in its pursuit to dismantle our democracy, (including connections to DJT). I hope everyone reading this comment who hasn't watched the 3-part series will be sure to watch them now. They ought to be required viewing for the entire USA. Here's the link: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/12/opinion/russia-meddling-disinformation-fake-news-elections.html?fbclid=IwAR2G-UGozBKUotmkz7zwQHAIqHp5SRDP_HDUhgxjUOeK76zCjlkhmxezBfU
3
Full of false premises & projection…
Mueller is a political prosecutor. His products—unproven, unopposed— are indictments or their equivalent. They are Mueller's tale, not "The Truth."
Mueller is conflicted & corrupt.
Mueller's perverse (Stalinist) architectonics—a SC in search of a crime (in violation of SC statute)—which has it exactly backwards—proves venal purpose—a conspiracy of Obama-Clinton Ds & never-Trump Rs to weaponize FBI/DOJ to exonerate a crook, fix her election, take out a president.
The purpose of the Mueller operation wasn't to save the country from Trump. It was to shield the Obama-Clinton-Mueller cabal from justice. Instead of Hillary burying their high crimes, Trump would prosecute them.
Obstruction is a red herring (Myers v US). Notwithstanding, Trump doesn't have to fire Mueller. He can hire DiGenova who will indict him.
The only clear suborners of perjury are Mueller & Weissmann.
Mueller has zero "Trump Russia collusion (not a crime, BTW)" & is trying to compensate w/ quantity—fabricated &/or coerced process crimes/Trump-assoc moves DOJ had long ago dropped/"crimes" of non-extraditable Russians. Note how Mueller shooed the Russians who came forward. Why? Bc it was a show indictment…as opposed to the indictable Uranium-1 Russia-Clinton crimes that FBI Dir Mueller buried…
Endgame—checkmate in 2: Trump must hire DiGenova AG & prosecute the entire Obama-Clinton-Mueller cabal to reclaim presidency, restore equal justice for all & save the Republic.
2
@Marian
Interesting.
While I am not convinced either way, I suspect there is far less to all this than indicated in the media. The revelation is simply that politicians lie, cheat and steal, but we all knew that.
What is truly amazing is how this Op Ed, and especially the comments here, show complete ignorance when it comes to separating belief from fact.
2
@Marian
You might have a point if this whole thing was akin to a 'he said, she said' argument.
But what most people forget is that Mueller has literally 10s of thousands of pages of documentary evidence in the form of text messages, emails, sales receipts, investment records, real estate transactions, tax returns, bank statements, travel documents, etc., etc. in addition to all the contents and audio/video files contained on seized computer hard drives to back up all of these allegations.
There have been multiple search warrants executed, mainly against Manafort and Cohen, but certainly others who have chosen to cooperate have also had to turn over documents, from Flynn on down the line. No smart prosecutor worth his or her salt would simply trust what any witness is telling them without solid proof.
As much as Trump would like to claim this is a 'witch hunt' or pure 'McCarthy-ism' (the amusing links they both had to Roy Cohn aside), McCarthy's baseless claims amounted mostly to lists of names of people he didn't like that he had drunkenly scrawled into notepads.
Mueller is light years beyond that.
@Marian Yep. The proof the pudding is in the conviction. When the jury speaks it matters. Until then, it's all argle bargle.
Senate Republicans will be moved to care about Trump's misdeeds and lies precisely when those start to truly damage the party with their base, and not before.
This is not an anomaly. From what I have seen over the past two to three decades, Republicans have been putting party and power before country for much of that period. The only times I have seen them put country first is when it repairs factors for the party--in other words, it's not really country first.
In that regard, Trump is less the bellwether that is the cause cause than he is the most obvious recent symptom. Treating the symptom is essential, but if you don't deal with the root causes you will get recurring symptoms. Trump has plenty more fact-free, power-first acolytes in the wings, so who will be the next most obvious symptom is anybody's guess.
4
“Russia has never tried to use leverage over me. I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIA — NO DEALS, NO LOANS, NO NOTHING!”
Interesting that his inauguration crowd was loaded with Russians. a few took pictures with Mike Pompeo. Hmm
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/amid-trumps-inaugural-festivities-members-of-russias-elite-anticipated-a-thaw-between-moscow-and-washington/2018/01/20/0d767f46-fb9f-11e7-ad8c-ecbb62019393_story.html?utm_term=.a0ef40b88982
4
@scott k. Yeah, I haven't seen anyone marching down my street singing Moscow Nights. You don't suppose this is another in the long series of Chicken Little pieces in the press?
Think of the mess we’d be in if the 2016 election were shown to be flawed, with Trump’s involvement. Impeaching him would not be an appropriate remedy. It would leave us with Pence, who’s also be coming to the presidency through a flawed process. Would we then appoint the Speaker of House? Install Clinton? Hold a new election? What would happen to all Trump’s court appointees? As the evidence grows, I’m coming to think that Mueller will keep building his case, but never actually pounce on Trump. If he does, it will cause a constitutional crisis.
4
@AB if both trump and pence have to leaveoffice, the speaker of the house becomes president
Some people complain because the investigation is taking "so long." I guess they never knew, or have forgotten how long the Nixon saga played. That investigation was done well, and it seems to me that the Mueller investigation is being well done too. Mueller is smart, has a long history of courage and strong character. I trust him to be fair to all parties, and also to follow the law and bring indictments where they're due.
15
We need laws requiring complete financial disclosure of all sources of income, asset valuation with how accumulated, and income taxes going back at least 10 years for every politician from candidacy through 10 years of retirement.
11
When the words "Russia and Trump" were first announced, there was complete denial that anyone connected with his campaign had ever met with any Russian representatives. At this point making a list of senior campaign officials who DID NOT meet with a Russian representative would be a shorter list than those that did.
14
It looks like the Russians may have had information Trump stretched the truth.
Cong. Schiff believes this presents a serious counterintelligence issue. (He also calls out the President’s “obsequiousness” to Putin; he must not be paying attention to the Administration’s actions.)
It would not be news to the American people that the President isn’t always at one with the truth.
But, it’s hard to see how a jumbled explanation of his Russian business dealings would move the needle any real way. This is not the stuff of blackmail.
The Mueller investigation may yet find there’s something there, there.
The Cohen plea doesn’t make the case.
2
Republicans fear and oppose democracy because they know they cannot win honest elections.
Consequently, there is close to zero possibility that more than a few Republicans will stand up for American constitutional democracy.
Once a modern Republican, never again a loyal American.
15
"In a normal political world, Republicans would have enough patriotism to find this alarming and humiliating. "
The Republicans have not been a 'normal' good faith, loyal opposition party for a very long time.
12
Did Donald Trump go through a security clearance before he won the Republican nomination? Much of what is being revealed now should have been brought out BEFORE he became a candidate for the presidency. Trump's tax returns should have been made public as a condition for running for office. Therein lies clues to his business dealings with Russia. Trump's business ties should have set off alarm bells way before he was nominated to run for president.
11
@Edorampo: Trump has never ever been formally vetted according to the process normally applied to anyone applying for a US security clearance. The people who voted for Trump were all the vetting he needed to get elected president.
11
@Edorampo
The Republicans don't care. They never cared. It's all about the $$$ to them.
2
Everyday, I think we cannot learn one more thing that would alarm us and make us respect Trump less. Everyday, there are new revelations and an ongoing nightmare of compromise of our national security. Yet Russia plows and bullys ahead. Who would think seizing three Ukrainian ships would be accepted with little or no consequence? Neither that, or the revelation of Cohen’s lies is moving the Senate to action. What has happened to our so called leaders? To the moral fiber of our country?
9
@Susan Kelly the GOP lost it's soul long ago.
1
"Compromised." More than that Michelle, he's Putin's poodle. Every revelation confirms the Steele dossier. Only unseen is the tape of what happened in that Moscow hotel room.
15
Traitors all.
11
Trump needs to be tried for treason.
20
@BlackJackJacques See: The Constitution for requirements. When it comes to the prez, it's Article II or it's nothing (burger).
Without freedom of speech and the press, Trump could run the United States as a virtual mafia state, just as Putin does in Russia. Trump’s target after Mueller will be the free press and it’s journalists. Watch for it coming and fight it.
16
By the way, those children are still in cages. It has been 6 months for some of them. They have done nothing to deserve this. There are over 2000 of them. Caged in the desert. Shut away out of sight. Forgotten. This IS what the US is about now.
26
@joyce
...also teargassed on the Mexican side of the border
1
Robert Mueller's face would look good on Mount Rushmore.
14
Here we go again. Hyperbole and hysteria. But, not one piece of evidence.
7
There is obviously plenty of evidence. There are now emails, financial arrangements, witnesses and a host of other documents. Amusingly, the Russian dossier pulled together by Christophe Steele (MI6's top Russian expert) has once again been confirmed.
All that stands against this mountain of evidence are the mountain of lies told by Trump and his people. They are ALL proven liars at this point. Yet Trump true believers cling desperately to each lie even as it crumbles from the weight of evidence proving it to be false.
Father of lies is not a good look but those believing the lies are even sadder. This was treason.
31
@MiguelM
Wake up. There is tens of thousands of pages of documentary evidence and recordings to back all of this up.
When warrants were executed to search Manafort's residence and Cohen's offices, do you really think the feds were there to check the kitchen cabinets for what kind of breakfast cereal they prefer?
25
Uh, Cohen’s confession is evidence. If you’re looking for a signed confession from Trump, you won’t find one. As any prosecutor will tell you (and any defense counsel for that matter), Cohens’s statements are evidence—very compelling evidence, in fact. And I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see a few bits of paper corroborating his statements, although criminal enterprises are careful to minimize or eliminate paper trails. Regardless, pronouncements like yours that “there is no evidence” are simply wrong. And it’s not a matter of opinion. Cohen’s statements are clear, compelling, evidence. If they are lies, it will be interesting to see the president prove it.
268
I love Robert Mueller and I'm not even American.
Enjoyed a great 3 weeks in Nevada, Utah and California this time last year, including Thanksgiving (5th visit since 1996), but won't return till this blimp is in chains.
23
Doesn't anyone care that the President, or future President, of the United States was and is working with the greatest enemy of America and democracy for the past 50 years?
8
So one of the questions I see floating out there: will Dump say on the campaign trail, "I had nothing to do with Russia. Nada." And I think the answer to that question is, Yes. Pathological liars will hit you in the face and swear they didn't...
9
Like a broken clock that's correct twice a day, Trump does occasionally stumble on the truth.
"I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIA ... ... NO NOTHING!”
Is his crafty use of the double negative 'no nothing' him just begging for a chance to confess and seek your forgiveness?
Whoa, why's everything in the room such a bright rose colour? I'm getting really dizzy, chewing on my red baseball cap and the Made in China label.
7
Republican politicians fear primary voters more than Russia.
5
I think we can all forget about Senate Republicans doing much of anything but making more excuses and protecting the criminal in the Oval Office. Perhaps these GOP members should be investigated themselves. Let's see what they were doing besides running interference for Donald Chump.
12
How can the Republican party ever again make a moral or ethical stand without simply receiving absolutely justified ridicule and contempt. They are now the party of the gutter.
14
@TOBY The GOP rank and file don't care. They are neither ethical or have any true morals. The evangelicals who give mulligans for Trump's behavior are living proof of this.
1
Allen Dershowitz, just stated that lying, like Michael Cohen did, is not a crime, and "special counsels can find wrongdoing where it doesn't exist." Although, I don't always agree with some things he says, or who he defends, he is a distinguished lawyer, with decades of experience, and who am I to question him, especially on this issue. If dementia, and incompetence were a crime, then we would have something major with this President, to charge him with.
1
@MaryKayKlassen
Dementia may be onset in regards to attorney Dershowitz
2
@HoboYoda It seems to be what we are dealing with in lots of politicians, etc. and lying, too. I think Giuliani has a case of dementia, also.
2
We can easily imagine that these trickster characters Corsi and Stone also have their hooks in the GOP senators.
What about the Giuliani-Weiner-PizzaGate stories just before the 2016 election?
4
Now I get why no reputable bank or NY business elite shun Trump. Article after article documents a pattern of just a total lack of business sense or knowledge---without is Dad's money, a team of ambulance chaser attorney's, and a reality crazed public, he would be lucky to get a job as a Walmart greeter.
3
Now he is saying he "lightly" looked into doing a building somewhere in Russhia. Oopsy - is it hard to backpedal when you have bone spurs?
6
.
►►The question now is whether Senate Republicans, who could actually do something about it, will ever be moved to care.◄◄
Now that they got their two Supreme Court seats, a pack of lower court seats, and Trump's signature on their tax cut bill, I suppose they might find the time to start worrying about the national security of the United States.
.
Or not.
2
The LEFT suffers from severe cognitive dissonance. On the one hand we told constantly that Russia is a collapsing country. Destined to disappear because of dwindling demographics, an economy in ruins and filled with helpless people looking to America to solve its so many problems
Yet on the other we are expected to believe Trump spent a small fortune and endured 3 years of hellish media and *win the Presidency of the United States* all so that he could build a hotel in Moscow... A den of all powerful malign interests that are somehow in total command of our political system... presumably from their run-down ramshackled huts... from which they terrorize the world... with little money and a collapsing economy.
You see how fun this becomes?
1
@RoyTyrell
The only people who have constantly told us that ". . . Russia is a collapsing country. Destined to disappear because of dwindling demographics, an economy in ruins and filled with helpless people looking to America to solve its so many problems" are the right wing element in this country. This has been going on since the 1950's.
Donald Trump is egomaniacal, greedy, morally bankrupt, not smart and not a very good businessman, so I can totally believe that he would jump though hoops in order to build a hotel in Moscow . . . but I don't think that's all that's at stake for Trump.
No, this isn't fun. Only a sociopath would think this is fun.
Sad and pathetic what our President is, did and does. The people deserve better.
1
Most of those who are lobbyists, or elected politicians, spend little time in jail, most receive a fine, and some get reelected. Think Robert Menendez. The human animal is tribal, and doesn't want someone in their tribe to suffer. Is that why the liars, fraudsters, and muckrakers, have been in Washington D. C. for decades. I had to laugh, at the fact that George Papadopolous got 14 days in jail. Isn't that a waste of time, as the law is set up for no justice for anyone, but the perpetrator. Does anyone really believe that Trump or any of his minions are going to jail for any length of time, if at all. They will pick one person, to be made the scapegoat, and it looks like Michael Cohen will be it, because we know that Ray Cohen wouldn't of spent a day in jail, kind of like Robert Menendez. The public voting, or sitting on juries, not so smart. Look at who Ray Cohen defended, and what he did, to get an idea about justice, for who, or what really is it? Does justice really exist?
1
Thank you Michelle Goldberg for having in your headline what most of the country already knows - that Donald Trump has been compromised by a hostile foreign power, that he has lied about it on the world stage to the American people, and that he has as a result betrayed us , the American people . We know that Donald Trump is a pathological liar. And we know that his entire life and career has been built on a lie from the tabloids that he manipulated years ago in New York to the way he has tried to manipulate and delegitimize the press within the first two years of his presidency .
What we also now know that he has been compromised by Russia and Vladimir Putin, it has been evident to anyone who has been paying attention before Michael Cohen’s revelation today. And now that someone in the New York Times can actually spell it out in one of their headlines, many of us are relieved that the Times has the courage to tell the truth about Donald Trump .
He may have won the election in 2016 but in time we will discover that Donald Trump was one of the greatest losers in United States history.
1
The sooner this scoundrel is out of office the better. Even Paul and Mitch should be jolted out of their stupors by the latest news.
If Trump is “compromised” by Russia because he does business there then he is “compromised” by every country in which he does business. That’s not much of a “compromise.” I’m not “buying” it. Now the alleged pee tape would be a different story.
1
So if Trump offered Putin a $50 Million Dollar penthouse in the new Trump Tower Moscow to get approvals and funding, isn’t that a bribe of a foreign official? That’s totally illegal under US law.
3
Hey Mr. President, Schiff just got real.
3
Every time there’s a new development in the Trump/Russia story, you hear liberals complain, “it won’t make a difference” or “nothing will ever be done.” If we all assume a defeatist attitude, of course nothing will ever be done! Start demanding that Congress take action! Start making noise! And when the full story comes out (it will be a doozy), start shouting in the streets! You are just as responsible for saving our democracy as Congress!
3
@KLM when you have 2 republican senators, one of which is roy blunt, the ultimate airhead, it does no good to "demand action" from them. they are true trump lapdogs.
1
No. He tried to sell himself to Russia.
The author refers to Corsi as a conspiracy theorist? That's pretty peculiar considering this entire article (and quite a few comments on this thread) could quite easily be determined to have been written by conspiracy theorists.
Except that no 'theories' are even proposed, just foregone conclusions with only the airiest of innuendo suggested on which these are based.
2 years, folks. This is the longest slowest slam dunk in history.
If considering oneself a patriot, this situation would warrant introspection and a decision to step down for the good of the country. Even the appearance of being compromised would eliminate one from serving as commander in chief.
Not this president.
Scorched earth and the spoliation of everything not trumpian is what matters to him.
In the end, all the evidence will disprove his “big lie” and he will be seen for what he truly is - a money-grubbing crook. I only hope his complete cabal rides down in flames with him.
1
"Every day of this man's presidency is a national emergency."
Really, Ms. Goldberg--it leaves one speechless.
This is "The Manchurian Candidate" with a vengeance.
WHAT have the Russians got on this man? WHAT will the Congress--hitherto a sort of kennel crowded with poodles and lapdogs--decide to do about it? WHAT are we--the citizens of the United States--proposing to do about it?
I come back to this again and again. A story I've told before:
Britain's King William III, tossed in an open boat. On stormy seas. The King overheard the helmsman, intent on his work--murmuring to himself, "Steady!. . .steady!. . . ."
What else can we do, Ms. Goldberg? Except:
(1) Keep our heads. Don't run screaming into the street.
(2) Write to our Senators and our Congressmen. Call up these worthy persons on the phone. Speak to them loudly and emphatically.
(3) Demonstrate--march--talk to other people--put up signs in our front yard--put bumper stickers on our cars. Whatever. Be a voice. Be a CONSCIENCE. Act.
(4) Pray.
That last was not a joke. I remember--we all remember--after the shock, the horror of nine eleven, we heard reechoing as it were across the United States:
"God bless America!"
Right now, Ms. Goldberg, we don't see skyscrapers toppling in ruin.
We see the institutions of our democracy--
--toppling in ruin.
If you (i.e. anyone) don't believe in prayer, don't pray.
But I do. And I will.
How about you?
Will you?
The NY Times and most of its opinion pieces on President Trump continue to be so unhinged by his 2016 victory that there is no objectivity in anything they write on him or his presidency.
@jefny, that's the nature of an opinion piece, it does not need to be objective.
@jefny
But.... you're here.
Fox would suit you more?
1
In 2016 when some states voted for DJT and became “red states “ who knew that meant russia.
2
So, if this columnist is convinced that Trump is compromised, why doesn’t Muller, with his vast resources and years of investigation, drop the hammer? Or, is he compromised, also? How do we know that there is no “pee tape” on Muller? Or, is Muller just dragging this out to let Trump finish his term? Maybe he’s getting a kickback, from Trump. It seems suspicious. And, these days, suspicion is all we need to theorize, endlessly, without, conclusive, evidence.
1
The Trump Crime Family is going down and they are taking Senate Republicans with them.
1
Let's turn this into a quaint story. Trump followers will one day be able to tell their grandchildren that they voted for a traitor to be US President.
1
Michael Flynn lied, was compromised by the Russians, and now he's gone. Why can't the same be said of Trump? WHY DO NO RULES APPLY TO THIS MAN??
2
Trump's compromise was obvious last evening when Russia told Trump and the world that the meeting with Putin that he wanted to postpone was still on as far as Russia was concerned. Donald Trump is not in charge of his own life and destiny--Putin and Russia are. It couldn't be clearer.
2
Watergate has "Deep Throat"; Russiagate has Cohen and Manafort; and both are singing like canaries. There is enough right now to impeach Trump for lying. Compared to Watergate, Trump has surpassed Nixon in every aspect. At least Nixon was not under control of a foreign government.
3
It seems to me that justice in a situation like that which we will soon find ourselves in is not decided by any arm of government, but by the governed. In the streets. Hopefully, with peaceful protests. Hopefully.
Anyone who doesn't understand by now that Trump is a Russian intelligence asset must be singularly stupid or blinded by partisanship. What is the definition of an intelligence asset. Well it's a broad one. Russia has a spectrum of assets in the US ranging from useful idiots to full agents of the Aldrich Ames variety. Where is Trump on this spectrum? Certainly not a fully paid agent but he's more than a useful idiot because obviously the Russians have kompromat which probably relates to his corrupt business dealings rather than the more erotic stuff. It's only enough that he believes they have kompromat although they almost certainly do and its clearly increasingly affecting the exercise of American foreign policy. The 64,000 dollar question of course is why the Republican party is covering for him and indeed people like Pompeo since it's hard to believe the CIA don't have a fair idea of where Trump fits on that Russian asset spectrum.
6
@John: Tying up the US in courts judged by Dunning-Kreuger cases will leave each state squabbling with all the others. It will be impossible to remove so many life-appointed drones.
Putin had three goals in meddling in the 2016 election:
Destabilize the US
Delegitimize US and, by extension, Western Democracies.
Damage Clinton to the point that, if she won, she’d be ineffective.
Trump was Putin’s instrument for achieving all three.
Trump was in Putin’s pocket because of Trump’s desire for Trump Tower Moscow and because Trump loves rich, powerful people who flatter him.
When Trump’s people accepted the Trump Tower meeting with representatives of the Putin regime and didn’t report this to the FBI, Putin knew that Trump was all in.
22
These coherent, cogent and factual arguments will never make their way to the 10's of millions of Trump voters since Fox News and Sinclair broadcasting have become unofficial propaganda arms of the McConnell - Trump GOP party.
The US Congress under Paul Ryan and the US Senate under Mitch McConnell had failed to perform their Constitutional duties and act as a co-equal branch of the US Gov't. The Federal Courts are the final barrier to overthrowing the democratic basis of our government.
27
We're engorged with so much evidence against Donald Trump from so many bewildering directions simultaneously that it can't, at least for now, be reduced to comprehensible form.
The sheer magnitude of the avarice and the lying and the traitorous dealing and the covering up is simply overwhelming and, at the same time, numbing. Who can keep track of it all?
Please, Mr. Mueller, when the time is right -- and let's hope it's soon -- make this overload of mendacity, malevolence and subversion of democracy completely understandable to not only We the People, but to even the morally bankrupt Republicans on Capitol Hill, the browbeaten federal judiciary and the politically compromised majority on the Supreme Court.
What we need -- clearly, convincingly and in bite-size pieces digestible by the masses -- is unadorned proof beyond a reasonable doubt. We got it in the 1970s, and the reason we desperately need it again is that we have now what we had then: a criminal president.
However, unlike during the Nixon denouement, what isn't at all clear is how we're going to get rid of him and all his autocratic, divisive, even hateful impulses. And that, for an everyday citizen, is downright frightening.
1091
@Dotconnector
Nixon was an absolute Saint compared to Trump and his enablers in Congress and the cabinet.
And Nixon richly deserved what he got--and so did Ford, for pardoning him--and was kicked out of office for it.
Trump and his enablers deserve far, far worse.
136
@Dotconnector
Wired has an analysis indicating that Mueller is playing follow the cookie crumbs in his indictments. Some other time I'll find out if nyt permits links, but for now if you search " Robert Mueller's Endgame May Be in Sight " the Wired article will be the first hit. Searching through the indictments would give you the "bite-size pieces digestible by the masses" you want at the cost of some effort. Given the present attorney general and president a final report may never appear.
47
@Dotconnector You left out his base. It needs to be made available in a cardboard op up book written in crayon with bright colors and pictures
64
Donald Trump, the republicans in Congress and Trump's apologists debase the United States of America every day that Trump remains in office.
There is just no other way to describe this situation.
979
@TDurk It's a whole lot more than debasing. Defrauding, deceiving, delegitimizing, and destroying also come to mind.
56
@TDurk
True -but they do so only with the support of their respective electorates.
18
@TDurk
Now TD is getting a sense of what the eight dark, oppressing Obama years were for patriots, the religious, and employers across this country. The military was starved, policemen were officially hated by the White House, and the government actually sued nuns.
Angry Islamists were told by the president that they were right and terrorist Iranians got more cash from Obama than they knew what to do with.
1
The discussion of collusion should now shift to the relationship between the president and the Republican held Senate. What does this group of self-serving, unpatriotic, and constitutionally unfaithful politicians know that they are unwilling to reveal to the American public? Why are they so blind to the obvious truth that the President of the United States has been compromised by a foreign power? Republican Senators are clearly incapable of holding themselves to the high standard required by their office and constitutional oath. At least now. The extent of their complicity with Trump will be clear when Robert Mueller’s report is issued. One can only hope that at that time, they step up and finally act in the interests of the American people. If they refuse, this era will leave a trans-generational stain on America that will not easily be erased.
16
You make a great point. And, these lawmakers will never allow themselves to be held accountable to the law.
1
@Bob All too true. They need to be indicted along with whatever players Mueller continues to turn up. Seems like we need special counsel for each senator and appointee who is behind the agenda of the thing in the white house. Let's start out easy with mconnell and whitaker.
@Bob - your comment raises the question as to why the media, the Sunday talk shows, have failed to ask the Republican leadership precisely and directly about their supine acquiescence to all-things Trump. They may well answer, "Well, he's the president and we like his policies on the economy, which is booming." But what about his constant lies? His denigration of the Justice Department, the CIA, the federal judiciary? His conflicts of interest? Not to mention the environment and his costly tariffs? And, most pointedly: "Do you think he's setting a good moral example for your children?"
I wish Trump would have a "Dangerous Liasons" moment where he walks into the House of Representatives, and Republicans and Democrats alike shout "shame!". Of all the lies, lying to the public about dealing in Russia during the election is the one that makes my soul sick. That was fraud. He should have told the truth so people could decide on his merits. I am a democrat but I could have tolerated a Jeb Bush or John McCain presidency. The day after Trump was elected we were very sad and worried. We are still sad and worried. Trump needs to resign. I'm hoping there are some talks going on in the background where Trump is offered a pardon for himself and his family if he simply goes away. Then I hope the FBI seizes his assets and makes him pay just like they did to Manafort. Let's just see if Trumps super model wife stays strong with a pauper. We work so hard to support our family and afford health care. I'm sick of paying Trump and his family to golf and live the high life. He's a lazy, mean, old, corrupt man and he needs to go away.
17
In a way, it doesn't matter if President Trump is compromised by Russia. While it may matter greatly to our country, no matter what happens, it's all a huge win for Vladimir Putin. His whole goal was and is to destabilize democracy in the West, so that he can project greater Russian power abroad. Whether Trump is personally compromised or not, the United States itself has been ethically and morally compromised by dealing with the kind of corruption we're mired in now. Putin can say "Look, they're no better than us. See how corrupt they are too." If President Trump survives all of this and stays in power, it's a win for Putin. If the President and his administration falter, it's still a win for Putin.
President Trump sees everyone as "winners" and "losers." Well, we do have a president who's a winner. It's just that his name isn't Donald Trump.
16
I think they will "grow a spine." But it isn't really that. They have every reason to hate Trump, and now that his popularity is low, and that everyone he touches is smudged, and the Meuller revelations are plowing the field ahead of them, they can roar out of their foxholes and show their "character." Just like the Republicans did with Watergate.
5
Is any of this surprising? I mean really. Who puts a promoter of coal in charge of the EPA? People that don’t believe in climate change? Can’t make it up.
12
Starting today a primary goal of the Democratic Party must be to guarantee that this is mitch mcconnell’s last term in office and that he is voted out in 2020- if not forced out sooner!
The senate majority leader knowingly looked the other way when there was credible intelligence from federal sources that DJT had been compromised.
Now it’s public record and undeniable.
As a result we have a tax bill that hurts the working class and saves the 1% billions and a supreme court judge that likes beer.
mitch has been complicit in all that DJT has done because he has either allowed these transgressions to take place or actively participated in the deeds.
mitch mcconnell is a national security risk and a national disgrace!
With mitch is a leadership position there are no checks, there is no balance!
11
An American President has been compromised by a foreign power and 40% of Americans don’t care. That is the measure of their true love for this country.
18
@RAD61 That’s the depths to which we as a nation have follow. Time to learn Mandarin.
Republicans are only loyal to their party, they could give two cents about the well-being of the USA, it is only a cash cow that they can plunder for their and their donors personal gains.
If they were tethered with morals, ethics or ideals they would have put an end to:
The explosion of the deficit by Trump
The political interference into our free market economy (GM) by Trump
The sub-servitude to Russia
The tariffs and related bail-outs
Trumps denigration of the DOJ, Intelligence Community, and any decorated military personnel who disagree with Trump
The GOP is a joke, but not a funny one, a dangerous one.
10
@D Henderson
And the snow job that lies ahead will be outrageous.
"If you ask an intelligence officer, did the Russians break the rules ( in 2016) , or do something bizarre, the answer is no, not at all, " said Steven L Hall, who retired in 2015 after working for the CIA for 30 years, where he was the chief of Russian operations. The United States "absolutely " has carried out such election influence campaigns historically, he said, " and I hope we keep doing it."
- Russia Isn't the Only One Meddling in Elections. We Do It, Too. NYT article Feb 2018
And the Russians will keep doing it too. Bags of cash, leaking scandals, and planting false information per social media to try to defeat or promote a candidate - all part of the game both we and the Russians play. There is pretty good evidence that the US 'influenced' the election of Boris Yeltsin in 1991 and his re-election in 1999. He was 'our pick' as they say. A lot of American 'advisors' showed up in Moscow around that time. And Russia plummeted into it's greatest depression since the 1930's.
So let's not get overly 'outraged' by this whole thing. Did the Trumps collude? Maybe. But if I was the FSB I wouldn't trust those guys as far as I could throw them.
As for unscrupulous business dealings, Putin and his Oligarchs are better masters of those than Trump. Would they rat on him? Only if it was to their advantage. Putin is much smarter than Trump and will play him, and keep him off balance, just like other world leaders do. And Trump's paranoia is easy to incite.
5
Great piece. Thanks for spelling it out for me!
3
The lies by Trump and Russian help did swing the election. Just think during the debate when the idea of Trump being a Russian puppet, Trump said, not really, but I did have a meeting with Russians about dirt on Hillary and it just so happened that a few days later DNC hacked materials were released and oh I have been negotiating a hotel in Russia with 50 million going to a Putin apartment last month. And General Flynn had a meeting with Putin. And oh by the way we are getting a little internet help from Russia GRU. Do you think he would gotten elected.
7
@dave Sadly, I do. The Supreme Court appointments meant more to most of his base, as a means to restrict women's reproductive rights, than anything he and Russia were doing
A further excellent article from NYT about this sad affair which inevitably as a side effect from partisan haggling within Capitol Hill continues to both underscore the need for Press Freedoms while diminishing respect for the Trump vision of what a President should be. If I may leave you with an old saying....” All that is required for Evil to triumph, is for good men/women to do nothing”.
3
Trump is compromised by greed and pride. And he'll pursue whatever opportunities he has to advance himself. Unfortunately he was handed the White House and now we all have to deal with the consequences.
6
Trump reminds me of a 4th grade boy I taught in the 1990s who was well on the way to becoming a sociopath. If he wanted something, say a ball, that another student had, he would simply try to take it. If the other student didn't want to give it up, he would hit the other student and take it.
When I would admonish him and say his behavior wasn't acceptable, he would look a me as though I was stupid and very patiently tell me, "I wanted the ball. Now I have the ball."
Trump wants what he wants, and to him that's all that matters.
15
If impeached and if convicted, greed was the primary motive that undid Trump.
4
The Republican Party is so corrupt, the best Republican President since Dwight Eisenhower has been Richard Nixon.
4
All of Trump's actions for the past two years show that Putin has a hold over him. Trump has vilified everyone on earth at one time or another except Putin. That is proof enough that Putin has enough to ruin him.
5
Nothing that i’ve read about Russian involvement in the election makes me think that after the Mueller investigation we won’t still have President Trump and a Republicans Senate. Cohen lied, Trump lied, Manafort lied, Eric lied, etc. I find Trump’s lies about the Moscow Tower project less criminal than his denial of climate change, tax cuts for the rich, race baiting, and broken promises for “better, cheaper, health care.” We’ve tolerated those lies, I have no doubt we’ll tolerate his secretly hedging his bets on a Moscow hotel deal. His connections to Russia are the least of our problems
5
There is no doubt that there is a subpoena in Adam Schiff’s top drawer for DJT dated January 2019.
Did someone say, tax returns?
6
The USA is compromised by Trump.
And Russia.
4
Michelle, he'ill step into a real murky legal waters if Trump announces today that he'll pardon Paul Manafort even before he's sent to the prison for 10+ years for lying to Mr. Mueller and his team of highly skilled and no-nonsense investigators.
With Michael Cohen's guilty plea yesterday to Robert Mueller about lying to the congress about a Moscow hotel and casino project that Trump was pursuing till June of 2016's campaign, the cocoon that our Russia helped president was hiding in, will come out in the open .
Just lying now that he was pursuing that deal in Moscow because he thought he "wouldn't have won and why should I lose lots of opportunities ?"as you've quoted him here, Trump has proved that he really should never had been selected as a candidate for the president of the United States by his equally crooked Republican party members.
After denying for more than two years since assuming the control of this great country and after lying through his dirty teeth saying,"I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIA-NO DEALS,NO LOANS,NO NOTHING" as you quoted him here again,Trump is proving each and every day that goes by that he's beholden to Putin and Russia.
Now it is up to our new Dem members of congress, who came into politics only because of their hatred of the Groper-In-Chief, to ask for Trump's financial dealings with subpoena after subpoena asking to see his tax returns for the last 10 years, maybe this saga of Russian meddling in our electoral process will come to an end.
1
Good column by Ms. Goldberg in stating the obvious.
A more interesting aspect of all of these new revelations is that three of the central characters (the POTUS, Manafort, Corsi) have lied themselves into a corner, and lying about lying is a conundrum they can't seem to get themselves out of.
Cohen's decision to finally tell "the truth" to the Special Prosecutor is simply a convenient way to have his sentence whittled down to a tolerable time behind bars.
Shakespeare reminded us of the doltishness of their complicity:
But if I tell how these two did co-act,
Shall I not lie in publishing a truth?
Even if the newly inaugurated House finds multiple reasons for impeachment of the POTUS in the next term, it is a foregone conclusion that he GOP-controlled Senate will do nothing. Thus, the 2020 election cycle may be the only hope we have of extricating the country out of this swampy morass of grifting liars.
3
The entire Muller investigation is the result of the Trump crowd lying about Russia. The cost of this investigation should be charged to Trump.
Clinton was impeached for lying, therefore.......
2
I have only one question.What would the republicans be doing if Obama had done all this? I thought so.
5
June, 2016 is the crucial month. Three events that connect Trump and Russia occurred. First, as noted, the Trump Tower Moscow deal ended. Second, the Trump Tower meeting on June 9 took place where Kremlin agents offered "dirt" in the form of hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee in exchange for sanctions relief from the Magnitsky Act. Third, five days later on June 14, Donald Trump's birthday, the Russians delivered. Now that Paul Manafort, who attended the meeting has been caught double-crossing the Special Counsel, it may fall to Mike Flynn to connect that vital conspiracy dot that what appears like a deal, acts like a deal, was, in fact, a deal.
Trump has managed to con 45% of our citizens but this con would never take hold, without the GOP and their ministry of misinformation, Murdoch's faux news. Trump will be pay his sins, but unless America punish the GOP and their evil plutocrats that perpetuated this con, they will find plenty other carnival barkers and hucksters to bamboozle America.
9
The only positive in this debacle called the Trump presidency, is his total incompetence at everything, including lying. He accuses Cohen of being weak, which for Trump means he is angry he ‘flipped’. He has consistently said he ‘has never had anything to do with Russia’, but follows up with ‘even if he did that was not illegal’. It’s like listening to a 10-year old.
7
"Every day of the Trump presidency is a national security emergency. The question now is whether Senate Republicans, who could actually do something about it, will ever be moved to care."
I believe the republicans care deeply. But not about the country. Not about the rest of us.
They care about themselves and their futures. I imagine most of them wake up every day with a ball of lead in their bellies. Hard and heavy and cold.
The ones most like Trump wake up in a hot, scheming delirium. As if they never went to sleep at all. Insect like in the single minded will to survive. Eat or be eaten. Kill or be killed.
Having watched the republicans in action since the rise of Trump has hardened me. I have no sympathy for them, at all.
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg spied for the Russians and were tried and executed. I don't think Trump or his children should be executed. But I don't think they should spend the rest of their lives in a "white collar" or "country club prison".
I think they should be housed with the general population. So they can experience democracy in action.
8
Not this Congress. Need to get rid of them in 2020.
2
Would one really expect clowns who saw an evil plot in every action Barrack Obama took to maybe do the right thing. Naw, he's their boy. They will win or win with him. I say "win or win" cause their rube voters are too dumb to see how corrupt they are. So really great material, good read, but don't expect the GOP Senate to do anything, except maybe work harder on a national voter suppression act or making it easier to buy a howitzer cannon.
1
As the Trump sack of lies and deception gets bigger it becomes harder and harder to carry until it ultimately crushes its bearer.
1
One explanation for the senate republications' abdication of responsibility is that the Russians are blackmailing them too, possibly through hacked emails, possibly through Russian money funneled through the NRA to McConnell and others. We can hope Mueller is checking this out too.
7
@Glen
Thank you, Glen. I have been saying this for months. Think about it: why did the NRA become so powerful in recent years? In the past, they were "there" but just an annoyance-they never wielded such power. I believe McConnell is totally compromised by the Russians via the NRA. And, BTW, how come NO ONE has ever commented (It seems) on McConnell's I"ll decide what is worthy to go to the floor. Talk about an autocrat.
1
The real question is what did the Republican Party (Mike Pence, Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, Lyndsey Graham, etc.) know and when did they know it. The vicious blood sport of the past two decades has been the destruction of the Clintons and the Obama presidency. The incentives for Mitch McConnell were and are overwhelming—two Supreme Court justices, 50 federal judges, etc. The conspiracy with Russia is not just Trump. The entire Republican Party is part of the criminal conspiracy. They knowingly worked with Russia and they actively impeded the investigations into Russia’s role.
This is a criminal fraud of massive proportions. My vote my donation to the Democratic Party and to Hillary Clinton was stolen by the Republican Party. There is absolutely no question about this. The RNC need to be held accountable. There needs to be restitution. I still say the RNC can be and needs to be sued for billions of dollars.
America cannot call itself a democracy if one of its two major political parties is a criminal enterprise.
9
The Trump administration has provided weapons and money to the Ukrainians to defend against Russian aggression. Obama withheld even small arms from the Ukrainians when Crimea was taken and the Russian separatists seized eastern Ukraine. Using Michelle's logic, what did the Russians have on Obama?
@Chris It was not "Michele's logic", it is the flood of clear facts she has reported. Try reading the article.
Always wondered why Mr. Trump went out of his way to lick Mr. Putin's boots. It seemed so out of character for such a meticulous megalomaniac. Now I know.
3
But this is Trump we're talking about. No one has leverage of this sort over a guy who lies more often than he exhales. So Putin gets angry at his friend in the very white house and tells the world that Trump lied about real estate deals, or bed wetting adventures, or whatever. Who would care? What difference would it make?
I foresee and foretell that Trump will go down as the most disgusting president in history. I hope that doesn't sound too harsh.
2
Russophobia is the oldest trope in the book --- the tried and tested way to get Americans all riled up.
1
The Silence of the Elephants - rebranded slogan for Congressional Republicons.
I think Trump told each and every one of them on his first meeting after inauguration that he would release something classified about them individually if they did anything against him during his reign.
He has the Republicons scared to death just as he hopes threatening the democrats will do:
From CNN this week:
The President told the Post he wants to save the documents for when he can use them against the Democrats most effectively. "It's much more powerful if I do it then," Trump told the Post, "because if we had done it already, it would already be yesterday's news."
2
The secret to effective use of leverage is to not 'use' it.
Merely the threat of potential use is exponentially more effective.
The subject of the potential leverage self regulates.
Sound familiar? Helsinki?
2
Trump has president has developed the most effective working relations with Russia. The US establishment during the cold war may have considered Soviets as our number one enemy but following Reagan and Gorbachev's detente and break up of the Soviet union relations with Russia have been improving and Trump continuing to do that and compromise for enabling world peace, space exploration and defeating terrorism is not a bad thing but a good thing. What Cohen did or Manafort did before the election that did not in any way result in a different outcome in the US presidential election of 2016 is irrelevant and inconsequential to the alleged dragged on Russia collusion saga.
4
@Girish Kotwal
So now it's "compromised".
https://williamblum.org/essays/read/overthrowing-other-peoples-governments-the-master-list
As an avowed opponent of Donald Trump's style and policies, and a former, longtime journalist, I would take issue with Ms Goldberg's characterization of the ongoing Russian-Trump saga as a "scandal." At this point, when there still is no hard evidence (at least no hard evidence that, to my knowledge, has been made public) that Trump colluded with Putin, et al, to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. I think it would have been prudent,
and more fair, to have referred to the situation as the "Trump-Russian story" or "saga", or some such, other than the "scandal." In this age of violently alienated political camps it is not helpful to keep throwing gasoline on the fire and give Trump's base further "evidence" of bias against their man. It will only be a scandal if and when Trump is officially outed. Yes, we may be close to scandal but, in my view, we are not yet there.
2
My mom taught me a great saying: "There are some people you can not confuse with the facts". This goes a long way to understanding why 40% of Americans love a d support Trump. The Republicans in Congress obviously just ignore the facts for judges, tax cuts for the rich and to maintain their own power. We live in scary times where truth and morality do not seem to exist.
11
@Seth Riebman
Our current crisis has made it obvious that to a wide swath of the American public, truth and morality are mere decorations that are subservient to selfishness.
Goldberg's gift to us is the clarity of her thinking and writing. She sheds light on a complex series of events with concise declarative sentences.
Trump is out of running room--his ability to divert attention to extraneous topics is shattered by the Cohen news. He has no way out, it is only a matter of time.
The only question is, in retrospect, how many of his prominent supporters (including Republican Senators) will turn out to have been co-conspirators?
11
Thank you. Your summation of the alleged collusion is the best I've seen. And the clearest. I am 71, and like many my age, I never expected to see American policy at the mercy of Putin and Russia. You wove the disparate threads together, and your column should be the starting point for anyone who wants to know what happened.
10
I assume that Republican senators are doing a cost/benefit analysis on being "moved to care," and I'm not sure patriotism enters into the equation, outside of its cost/benefit value.
20
Throughout the cold war years we were told that The Soviets (Russians) didn't share our values of honesty and integrity. Then we were told that Trump's administration was more transactional than those in the pass (see Saudi Arabia). We were never told that, simply because we abandoned our values, Russia would be acting more honorably. If Trump has been compromised, the Russian will certainly take advantage.
5
GOP and later Senate and House committees had to know that Trump had ulterior and personal motivations in his hands off approach to Russia. This was obvious at the GOP convention in 2016. Trump never said a word about Russia or sanctions in his nomination speech, and he surrounded himself with people who had close ties with Putin and the Russian Oligarchs. Minimal vetting by the GOP of Trump's background in deals with Russians should have raised alarm bells. Congressional committees could have dug deeper. Once the Con Man in Chief realized that beating Hillary was more important than exposing perjury
16
At this point we are living a thriller - blackmail, double agents, fixers, Manchurian candidates, secret bank accounts - we have it all. Too bad there are real-life consequences, which might include the downfall of the republic.
39
Questionable, even despicable, people have occupied the Presidency in the past. But has there ever been a President whose intention and primary motivation was to use the office as a personal piggy bank?
25
@Bluesq
Even had there been such a person he would never have gotten away with it because his own party would have put a check on him. Do I blame the Republicans? Definitely, but I equally blame the right-wing media that acts as a check on Congressional Republicans. The whole party is irredeemably compromised by the money they take from the billionaire class, just consider the honor recently bestowed by Trump on Adelson’s wife. It takes the meaning of “trophy wife” to a whole new level.
1
And oh, the irony that Hillary Clinton couldn't be president because a personal email server no one knew about (even Russia didn't hack into that server but they did the DNC's) "could have been hacked by foreign adversaries!". I wonder if Trump supporters can even begin to grasp the vast and gross hypocrisy of Trump's and their hysteria that Hillary's emails might have compromised the US!
36
This is fourth grade level connect-the-dots. Are these people for reals? If Trump somehow escapes this, our laws and democracy needs to be reexamined.
16
Yes, Mr. President Trump's comment to reporters about pursuing the Moscow deal during the election yesterday (“There was a good chance that I wouldn’t have won, in which case I would have gotten back into the business, and why should I lose lots of opportunities?”) coupled with his bold-faced lie to the American people shortly before the inauguration ("I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIA...") are damning.
Is a bank robber who attempts to rob a bank but fails allowed to use a "Well, no money was taken, so there is no harm" defense?
Mr. President Trump's supporters will be intoning "well, he won, the deal didn't happen, so there is no harm" defense of their compromised leader.
25
When the Democratic Congress tases over they can force Trump to show his off shore accounts and bank statements which this culture of corruption GOP are refusing to do. Manafort had 33 off shore tax free accounts I bet Trump has more from Russia and China . Lock him up.
15
Trump aligns himself with dictators and insults our allies. Trump, in his actions, is dictator like. He wants complete loyalty, does not recognize a democracys separation of power. In fact he never says the word democracy. He is busy undermining the institutions of democracy, calling it the swamp and the deep state. Trump has turned what he calls a swamp into a mighty sewage system.
America has never lived under a dictator like Mussolini or Stalin the mass murderer, and is very naive about the nature of dictatorships. But we are headed in the direction of one with Trump. To his base he is a TVcelebrity that always entertains, always incites and keeps things hopping. They look no further. They like the show. But Trump rules by abusing power, abusing democracy, and stoking fear. The republicans will not cross Trump because anyone who does will immediately lose his job.They love their salaries more than they love their country.
Every citizen should know what a democracy stands for and how it works and they should feel a sense of responsibility.. America needs a president who loves democracy, tries to uphold the laws of the country, and pays attention to the needs of all the people, and unifies and makes them more secure.. They say you never know what you have until you lose it. We certainly could lose it--from neglect.
17
"...a chance I might not have won"
Even under great pressure, he cannot bring himself to use the word "lost"
9
I've had enough of this illegitimate "presidency". Congressional Republicans, when is enough, enough for you? Trump, his eldest children, and a cabal of shady characters betrayed our country with a hostile foreign power.
Look at still photos of Trump and Putin emerging from their private conversation in Helsinki. Look closely at Trump's posture, body language, and expressions. Whatever Putin said or showed to Trump behind closed doors, Putin clearly owns him. And we're learning how.
How can Congress let this go on? Our national security is at risk, and it's distressing and demoralizing to see our country prostrate before Russia, and now Saudi Arabia, in our foreign policy, and abdicate our global leadership because of that con man.
Special Counsel Mueller keeps revealing, with each indictment and conviction, the criminal conspiracy that installed Trump in our White House. Trump's whole life is a trail of deceit, lies, business and tax fraud, money laundering, shady dealings, racism and misogyny, disturbing sexual practices, hypocrisy, and abject moral failure.
We deserve better — a president who loves our country and is beholden to America and her people, not Putin, the Saudis, or China. We deserve one who knows, respects and upholds our Constitution. One who honors human rights, not separates families or gases them at our border, or turns a blind eye to the murder of a US resident journalist.
GOP, do your Constitutional duty. Impeach and remove Trump.
37
Treason is betraying one's country, usually for personal gain.
Trump is committing treason by putting the interests of Russia (and Saudi Arabia) ahead of American interests because of personal financial reasons and because the Russians (we now know) have leverage over him.
Let's not forget that treason is an impeachable offense (Article II, Section 4 of The Constitution).
21
The patriotism of our Republican representatives is limited to the quotes found on our currency.
12
His devious, omnipotent, malevolent ways are finally coming home to roost. A failed, pathetic, unpredictably incompetent leader in any realm he now proves to be, worst of all, a bad inept liar. What does it take for the feckless leaders of the GOP, never mind his base to acknowledge the mess this self-serving miscreant has created for this country put the brakes on this megalomaniac.
15
My crystal ball tells me that Pence is practicing his acceptance speech as president but wait, what if he's involved, what if certain congressmen come out, Graham, Nunes, McConnell and say they have been extorted to be cooperative, the rest are knowingly scared of what they know through rumors from the NRA that Russians have been some of their major contributors. The house of cards will fall after this and all the others suddenly jump ship on supporting Trump , leaving Trump to develop an "illness" that he says would keep him from serving any longer, or perhaps he will defect to Russia. But there's more,some democrats already knowing the possible outcome are voting down Nancy Pelosi as speaker because they know the person in that spot could very well be president at some point...
7
@Missy
Oh, please, don’t get my hopes up! Pelosi would be a terrific replacement for this den of thieves.
I do believe that pious Pence is involved. He was in charge of the transition and has witnessed it all.
As a Russian asset everything Trump has done while holding the Oval Office must be scrutinized and reversed if necessary.
My bad, Trump must be removed from office immediately.
9
Here's a tie no one seems to be looking into: Trump's father's relationship with the NYC-based Russian mafia. Fred Trump made his millions in real estate, a storied playground for the mob, back in the day. Perhaps those alliances continued on through his son.
Brighton Beach has long been ground zero for the Russian mob, and just a stone's throw from where Trump real estate empire all began. Coincidence? Probably not.
23
@Sarah The Trump Village, Wabash, Shore Haven developments in Coney Island and Brighton Beach and Starett City in Canarsie only started to become Russian controlled in the mid 80s early 90s Before then it was a bastion of middle class Americans living in some pretty affordable housing . It was the springboard for the Trump luxury brand . Donald used to accompany his father on rent collection trips to these developments. I believe these are still rental properties. Starett City (I believe) has 100,000 rental units
The GOP legislators do not care what is true, they care only about keeping the flow from the oligarch donors coming. That is why they are fine with a totally compromised GOP potus, fine with any sort of Putinish blackmail of their potus, fine with their potus covering for political murders by Putin and mBS, fine with ignoring major challenges like climate change, fine with crumbling infrastructure, fine with voter suppression and gross gerrymandering, fine with alienation of civilized allies, etc. Nothing matters to them except getting payoffs from the oligarchs.
21
Like in the movie "The Producers" Trump has sold well over 100%
of his Presidency.
Russia owns about 60%. Sheldon Adelson owns about 60%. In time we'll find out the details of how much of an interest Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman owns.
Trump will have to get all his "investors" to want the same thing.
Where do the American People fit in this equation?
As Trump would say..."what a stupid question."
10
You know Gerrymandering has gone too far when members of Congress start thinking their districts encompass parts of Russia.
16
Help me understand in what ways Russians being "aware senior American officials are publicly stating things that are not true" a "a counterintelligence nightmare." (quote from Adam Schiff via this article.) I'm sure this is obvious to others.
Blackmail
When Trump said “Russia has never tried to use leverage over me. I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIA — NO DEALS, NO LOANS, NO NOTHING!”, he forgot to add "...to the best of my remembrance".
3
The Senate Republicans have their corporate tax cut, the neutered A.C.A., Gorsuch and Kanvanaugh. They no longer have a need for Trump. Given enough evidence, they'd have to convict. They're not going to let Trump drag them into a already perilous election year.
1
@Richard Mclaughlin But the Kochs, ALEC, Adelson want more. The thing about greed is that there’s never enough, the corrupt are never satisfied. Pigs keep gobbling; they are motivated by greed. McConnell et al are in for the long haul and the GOP sheeple are blind.
1
Why is there no doubt that Russia HAS leverage over Pres Trump? That would be my question of M Goldberg. Is it because he considered building there but didn't? Is it because Cohen lied to Congress? Because it seems everyone does that; Comey, Clapper, Strock, Clinton. Michelle Goldberg's opinion seems to be just that, her opinion, however weak.
2
He acts guilty every time he protests. If your partner, wife or kids talked to you like that, you’d know they were lying.
@Tony
Why are you repeating the falsehood that Hillary Clinton lied to congress? Still? By this time? If that were true, wouldn't the Republican controlled Congress have indicted her? I mean legally, instead of just base baiting? They tried seven times.
Key in your statement: "...it seems everyone is doing it..."
That's the critical difference: none of your assertions (assumptions) are matters of fact; while even Cohen himself says he lied to Congress.
However much I doubt Trump conspired with the Russians to gain the White House, it has been obvious from early in the game he wanted his connections to them kept securely hidden. He is an irredeemable liar, an emperor of lies. Anyone loyal to him must adopt a routine of lying to retain citizenship in his empire. But now the slow steady will of the Republic of Truth is gaining the advantage and we see the walls of Fortress Trump tremble.
3
“Every day of the Trump presidency is a national security emergency.”
Chilling or hyperbolic?
I swear I can’t tell anymore...
3
If a member of the Trump Organization offered a free condo to Putin or any Russian official as reported elsewhere, it is a violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act 1977 which Trump as president has repeatedly disparaged.
3
Nunez should be investigated for ties to Russia. Has he gained financially? I wonder what his bank account looks like these days.
6
GOP doesn't care, it's all fake news, and thw Dems won't impeach because that might rock the boat. History will condemn Trump but he will never be ousted let alone prosecuted.
With the latest bombshell report, there is only one question left? When will Trump make his move to fire Mueller? He already sacked Sessions and put a lackey in charge of the Justice Department.
3
Still can't accept the result of an election in which your candidate lost?
2
@Joseph
Still can’t accept that the election was hacked by Russia and that they own your guy?
1
"I alone, can fix it."
Yep, the fix is in, alright.
When Mueller or one of his proxies offers you a plea deal, please don't take it Mr. Trump.
I want to see his mugshot with a buzzcut. It's the very least he can do considering the generational damage my children will struggle to clean up for his and his cronies fouling up the country for a the sake of a few bucks he'll spend on an overdone steak doused in high fructose syrup lace ketchup.
We, together, can fix this. We just need a few strong women and men who put the country before their party and benefactors' interests.
7
When all the cookies crumble, Nancy Pelosi may end up the first woman president of the United States. It's not farfetched.
5
Trump is doing a slow walk to eventual Impeachment in the House
Iffy in the Senate given GOP majorities.
But white Evangelical men and women adore Trump. He is so beloved with them none of this matters. His positions on abortion and racism are core to this crowd.
They will consider this a coup d’etat.
And they have some very violent, heavily armed people amongst them. It will be a scary time.
4
It makes me so angry and feeling helplessly frustrated that not one Republican in power is protecting the American People from this selfish, egotistical, narcissistic man who has way too much power, even for a 'very stable genius' (finger pointing to head). Yes, the House will do true oversight starting in January but the Senate will continue to pound through McConnell's unqualified judges.
Not even if Trump was found to have murdered someone would the Senate do anything. The House could impeach, the Senate would never convict. Two more years of feeling terribly unsafe with this fake president.
I will never forgive any Republicans. You got an R next to your name, you are my enemy.
12
@sophia if you wanted to say the glass is 1% full instead of 99% empty, perhaps Jeff Flake FINALLY taking a stand will encourage more GOP senators to finally do their job of representing the American people and not protecting the corrupt POTUS. One can only hope.
Could we hear chanted “lock him up”. After all turn about is fair play.
4
This is the end for Trump. Who in law enforcement will be able to arrest the president and restore the WH to the people. We have a constitution and a system of government that is now beholden to a Russian crook named Putin. The Supreme Court must step up and restore the rule of law to our country. We are not helpless in this stupid republican contrived situation of government dereliction of duty and lawlessness. Who will arrest these crooks.
2
Ah Ms. Goldberg, what an ergot in the rye you purport to be. I believe the law will support that Mr. Trump had the right to conduct is business affairs right up to the time he became President Elect. Your omission of fact and fondness for inexorable apoplectic chronicle is quite telling.
2
@Kurt Pickard But he said he wasn’t conducting business affairs with Russia. Or are you ok with repeated bald-faced from the President?
@Frank
Business implies that money is changing hands, Frank. This clearly wasn't the case with Trump. Talks, negotiations and explorations aren't doing business and quite frankly aren't in the public interest.
DJT is a national security risk 24/7/365 until removed from office. Period.
Given the facts that are now public record he could not get a security clearance yet he sits in the highest office in the land.
As the chosen leader of the GOP senate mitch has a moral and legal responsibility to protect our country- NOW!
Where is mitch?
mitch?
mitch?
Everyone is looking for and waiting for mitch!
3
Trump is definitely compromised by Russia, but I don’t believe we truly know the depth of the deviant nature of it. Putin has been grooming and stroking Trump for years, possibly decades. The real estate deal was just a big, shiny, golden carrot he dangled to get Trump to expose himself (both literally and figuratively) so that Russia would have kompramat. Trump exposed himself to Putin financially (money laundering) or personally (pee pee tapes or worse). He is also very likely lying about who shut the deal down (he keeps insisting, unsolicited, that it was he who nixed it). The Trump camp is too cognitively and ethically compromised to have surmised that a deal during the campaign would have been bad, but Putin would have known it was, and he may have wanted to shut it down to give Trump a little taste of just how much power he has to control things. At that point, Trump was already compromised and wouldn’t have been able to protest. He would never have let that deal get away from him, so it wasn’t he who canceled it. Does the Steele dossier say anything in depth about this deal? What a prescient document it is turning out to be.
6
“Republicans would have enough patriotism to find this alarming and humiliating.”
Republican patriotism was always the shallow God and country, love it or leave it kind.
Patriotism, n. Combustible rubbish ready to the torch of any one ambitious to illuminate his name. In Dr. Johnson's famous dictionary patriotism is defined as the last resort of a scoundrel. With all due respect to an enlightened but inferior lexicographer I beg to submit it is the first.
Ambrose Bierce
5
Anyone who watched Trump's groveling press conference with Putin in Helsinki recognizes that the president is compromised. We may not know what the leverage is or how damaging it might be, but there is no doubt that the Russians have something on the president. And every day we're coming a bit closer to understanding the extent to which the Republicans control the leader of our nation.
10
Churchill once said, "this is not the end, it's not the beginning of the end, it is perhaps, the end of the beginning."
4
Ultimately, Trump cares little for what educated Americans think of him. His leadership style has not departed much from the crude business guidelines set forth in Trump/Kushner playbook. The president is very aware that, sadly, a well played dog whistle gets him enough votes to outrun those of us who play fair.
4
Goldberg lays out in devastating detail how a US President is compromised by Russia. Trump being elected is like nothing I ever thought I'd experience in American politics. I was sick from the time he ran, and increasingly certain he'd win. I know plenty of people who despise Trump's rise, but few traumas have been similar for me. Trump invokes in me the horrible disease which claimed someone I loved dearly. That horror persists because of the Republicans.
Republicans lack even a modicum of decency or patriotism and find nothing Trump does either alarming or humiliating despite the fact that every day he creates a national security emergency. If we wait for Senate Republicans to exercise the power deliberately vested by the Founding Fathers in the first branch of government precisely to stop a corrupt and compromised despot like Trump from rising in the first place, we will wait forever.
Trump continues to destroy America because of the protection Republicans, specifically in the Senate, afford him. What we're seeing is the exact opposite of how a "Separation of Powers" as elucidated by James Madison in Federalist 51, and paramount to the survival of our republic and democracy, worked for approx. 240 years.
Senate Republicans make a simple Machiavellian political calculation that their electoral future is tied to Trump's success so they continue to protect him at all costs, destroying both Congressional independence and America itself in the process. They all must go.
26
Problem is Trump is such a bad actor. A smart person who was compromised would at least make you think he wasn't compromised. Trump must have never watched Professional Wrestling. Pro Wrestlers at least made it look real. Trump has insulted every group,with exception of his ALT Right pals, he has a beef with. No one is immune from the childish name calling of 45. No one but Vlad. Compromise is a word for polite society. In the lingo of the real world Putin owns Trump. In the presence of Putin Trump's stature changes he hunches his shoulders in the presence of his Boss.
10
So Ms. Goldberg’s point here is that Trump is guilty because he won the presidency.
Had he lost as we all expected there would be nothing here.
1
@Tuco Had he lost, the Russians wouldn't have leverage over the president. But Trump would still be a crook and a liar.
1
@Tuco
I suggest you read the column again.
@Tuco seriously?!
Of course Trump wants to do business in Russia and since Putin is a ruler for life, he’s got to stay on good terms with Russia and with Putin.
Trump lies so much that nobody can trust him. Unless there is independent corroboration it’s just irrational to believe what he claims. He lies confidently and fakes sincerity so well that he gives the impression of believing what he says. If his behavior gets him what he wants, then he cares not about any other consequences might result from his deceitful behaviors.
3
The disease is the Republican party, Trump is just the symptom. A party that has left all allegiance to the country and its people for the favor of a small oligarch elite is committing conspiracy against the people.
They have to be punished. Away with them.
8
Just more nonsense from a witness who is completely not credible. What is Trump accused of exactly? How does Russia have leverage over trump when, in the worst case scenario, thr effort to build a Trump Tower in Moscow ended before he was even the Republican nominee? Even if the effort was continuing to this day, how is that illegal? The president cannot legally have conflicts of interest. It’s literally not possible. The emoluments clause does not apply in this situation because we’re not talking about gifts or using the office directly for business purposes. It’s also very vague. Wasn’t this supposed to be about Russian collusion? Where is the collusion? Doesn’t Robert Mueller have to produce an actual Russian who colluded with the Trump campaign he legally? Does everyone understand that even if Donald Trump, Jr. had received damaging information at the infamous Trump Tower meeting, it wouldn’t be a crime? Virtually every crime that has been prosecuted is a direct result of the special counsel existing.
2
@Scott
So many obtuse questions. It is impossible for the President to have a conflict of interest? No big deal if Trump was negotiating with Russia until June, 2016, to build a tower in Moscow, then lied about it? But the most absurd comment was that prosecutors are the reason that crimes are prosecuted. If there were no prosecutors …..
Evidently you didn’t understand the argument. Putin had leverage over Trump because Putin knew Trump publicly lied about having business dealings in Russia. Guess what? A majority of Americans still care about whether our president lies when it comes to dealing with an enemy. Not all, it’s true. I guess you’re in that category.
Maybe Trump would’ve been elected if he’d admitted there were business dealings with Russia through June 2016. But Trump didn’t know that. So he lied to the American public. And Putin’s knowledge of that lie gave him leverage. Hence the change in the Republican platform concerning Russia.
This simply and plainly stinks. Just how much more do we need to know before Republicans decide to put country before Trump. I never thought I could feel this ashamed and this fearful for the country I love.
8
I can't help but wonder if there are a few Senate Republicans tied up in this mess too. Why else would they be so spineless in the face of Trump, when they have Pence waiting in the wings? I've always wondered why Mitch McConnell sabotaged President Obama's attempt to alert the American people about Russia's interference prior to the election. Was it simple partisan extremism on McConnell's part, or something more sinister? I guess we'll have to wait and see.
9
Republicans have made their loyalty clear: Donald Trump.
Unfortunately, Trump’s corruption pales compared to the institutional failure of the Republican Party.The Republican Party is a co-conspirator and they have betrayed the trust they owe to America.
5
Imagine the Republican outrage had Obama demonstrated the obeisance to Putin the way Trump has. The latest incident with Putin's attacking Ukraine's boats with no response from Trump demonstrates that Trump is compromised and his presence at the G20 summit is farcical. This is a president who has no standing on the world stage because he is clearly in the back pocket of Putin.
6
The between the line s reading of Trump’s statement before he left for Argentina at the end of the article says it all- “ If the deal went well we just aren’t that important , the deal was more important. This man is going to Benefit for years off of being President unless he get thrown out of office or at least revealed for the grifter that he is.
1
Western capital had banished Trump. Trump's last card was approval by Putin. "Will he be my friend?"
Don't take much to connect the dots to "lock her up", and getting the crowds pumped on defeating Putin's enemy.
Trump's dumb luck. America's and the world's dumber misfortune.
Let our smarter recourse proceed against the forces that drag such malevolence into the future, whipping us with the tail of stark stupidity.
3
We know that "the big lie" and "big denials for big accusations" are fundamental strategies in Mr. Trump's scabbard. But we shouldn't get distracted by their use as strategies. They are LIES - repeated, knowing lies to the American people, used by Mr. Trump to hide his culpability. I think he should face criminal charges for that. This layman's sense is that when a president uses his office to issue lies to the public, in order to shield himself from justice, the crime that's committed is treason.
7
Trump’s election is illegitimate and his character is beyond despicable. How can he remain President when he is always duplicitous,mendacious, and dishonest with the American public? He is compromised by his payments of sexual hush money, by his financial entanglements with likely an extensive Russian money laundering operation in his highly leveraged real estate organization, and by his collusion with Putin in influencing the election.
Where is the outrage in the Republican Party, in its leaders, and in its voters?
I feel that the entire election is as fraudulent as the character and conduct of the President. Every day he is President is an affront to our democracy, our constitution, and to our national interests. Again when will justice be served and decency and civility restored? I wish desperately that the popular vote winner was President. In my opinion, she deserves the honor and has the character, experience, and resiliency to serve the public well. We have been deprived of what
the majority of Americans voted for and that is a tragedy beyond our imaginations!
9
All the Senate Republicans have folded for the lord of darkness and are A okay with not protecting Mueller except almost goner Flake. In the face of glaring evidence of the gravest of crimes and of Trump wanting to obstruct justice in every possible way including firing any and each investigator and all who refuse to fold for his crime dicates.
Characterizing our times is that the whole worldwide power abusive crime syndicate is getting visible and caught in the public eye except on FixNews. The criminals want to continue pursuing their rotten 'business' as usual while being exposed to the public's naked eye. Not gonna happen. Their crimes getting laid bare is a sea change. Voters will finally find their spine and vote in a reckoning of justice. For the septuagenarians this may be not threat enough, but Cohen got the message, and the still clueless Trump kids are about to find out that their dad and their own arrogant refusal to pick up on the simplest of life's cues and clues (elementary decency or sincerity or just being a good guy or lady anyone?) has wrecked not only their character (turned into that of a fugitive always on the run for the truth) but also their lives for good.
The truly disgusting way 'talent manager' Marv Dauer covered up for Les Moonves his sexual assault in the hope of bribes and 'business' is a perfect painting of the servility with which the GOP is folding, always folding, for Trump, for the gun manufacturers, the big polluters, and the oligarchs.
3
“If the Russians are aware that senior American officials are publicly stating things that are not true, it’s a counterintelligence nightmare,” …
But wait. Trump publicly states things that are not true all the time. His supporters will laugh and call the lies hyperbole. His detractors go on and on fact checking Trump when the reality is, trying to find the truth in Trump’s speeches is sort of like trying to find hidden secrets on Beatle albums. Maybe there is something there but why bother looking. What you do find is not likely to be meaningful.
In any event, Russian knowing that an American official is lying is only a counterintelligence nightmare if the official cares about people finding out he is a liar. Clear Trump does not care. Lying is part of his brand.
The real danger with Trump is domestic. We the American People cannot trust what our President says. This goes well beyond the lying behavior of most politicians. In Trumps case, assuming he is lying is a better bet than assuming he is telling the truth. It is hard to have a functional government in that situation.
4
If Trump offered Putin a $50M bribe in the form of a penthouse in his Moscow development, it is a direct violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. FCPA violations are not minor issues. Routinely, US business people are sent to jail for violations.
4
The whole world can see that Donald Trump is willfully ignorant, impulsive and totally self-centered, and everybody can play to that; leverage is almost superfluous. We elected him, people. The Russians didn't. They at most enabled our folly at the margins. Trump isn't a fluke, he's a deadly sign of worse to come.
2
There are probably more individuals, both here and abroad, who knew about Trump's shenanigans with Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential elections, and liable to hold Trump subject to coercion, hence, blackmail, a highly dangerous situation for the security of these United States. But Trump, a superb liar, has been able to sneak his way by saying "so what'? now that his assertions were found to be false. This bully is as scurrilous as a snake, aside from from the poison he spews on a daily basis and with rather full accommodations by Twitter (that knows that most of what he says is either an insult, an exaggeration or the 'truth according to Trump'; not to put too fine a point on it, a lie). I suspect that Putin is willing to hold an embarrassing secret (fotos?) as long as Trump plays his game...which always runs counter to U.S. interests. I guess Michael Cohen may need bodyguards for his own protection, as mafias have always been available prn.
1
"The question now is whether Senate Republicans, who could actually do something about it, will ever be moved to care."
No. Next question. As a professional historian I only wish I had another century in me to live to read about this period. Hint: Trump will not be hated as much as Rience Priebus, Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, Mike Pence, Stephen Miller, and many other fellow travelers who put our democratic republic in the crosshairs.
The GOP is a malignant cancer; Trump is just a metastasis. They stand for everything decent society, religious traditions, and humanist understanding recognize to be simply unethical, wrong, and unsustainable both as a republic and as a viable species that can live together.
They have gone mad and are willfully trying to destroy the country.
5
"The question now is whether Senate Republicans, who could actually do something about it, will ever be moved to care."
Well the only one of them that I can think of is dead and buried, John McCain. His dear friend Lindsey Graham turned out to be an opportunist and Trump golf buddy.
The interesting part for me, one rarely discussed, is that for 50 years the Russians put hundreds of agents and many millions of dollars in securing Kompramat on hundreds of Western business figures and lower level politicians. Some of them have undoubtedly since risen to positions of power (some with Russia's aid as well). This aid could have been kept secret from the person who they had leverage on and only revealed when that person was in a high enough position.
So do the Russians have anything on any of our Senators or Representatives? We all hope not but it would follow the well-documented path of how Russia attempts to game the Western Democracies. Support their campaigns, attack their opponents. Move the chess pieces around the board. It would explain the refusal Republicans to speak ill of Trump.
Putin probably has more cards in his hand and up his sleeve than we can count. Trump is the Joker and it is turning out that in this game, Jokers are wild. Putin is now destined to win no matter what the outcome. This round is already his.
2
I'm just completely missing the point here. The allegation was supposed to be that Trump stole the election. Now it's that he was building hotels? I think the Democrats should go back to talking about health care.
3
@Mike Livingston
You didn't miss the starting point: did the Trump Campaign conspire with Russia to steal the election? You did miss the point from there, which is that the President and his campaign officials are required to answer questions truthfully and cooperate with the investigation. If other crimes are discovered, such as money laundering, campaign finance violations or perjury, those crimes can and should be prosecuted. The integrity of our Democracy is more important than Donald Trump's business interests, and his compulsion to lie to anyone about anything, if he thinks it benefits him. Remember, both Clinton and Nixon were taken down as a result of lying under oath, not the original allegations being investigated.
3
If we could get into the innermost thoughts of GOP senators it would be astonishing to think they believe their President's priorities rested not with doing business with Putin and using the Russians to sabotage Hillary's chances but with being completely ethical in pursuit of winning the election fairly. They know Trump is corrupt. The question will be do they have the courage to remove him once they are tasked with rendering a verdict on his impeachment? On what charges? Take your pick: money laundering, obstruction of justice, perjury, abuse of emoluments, collusion with Russia. This should be a slam dunk.
3
Down with the GOP. Unbelievable. They knew much of this at the time and McConnell wouldn't go forth with Obama and warn the people.
Shame on them.
1
Trump is what? "Compromised"? Ya think? Really Ms. Goldberg, if ever there was an understatement made. The man is SO compromised by so many things that calling this episode out with that heading really fails to inspire much reaction from me. Part of the explanation for my reaction (or lack thereof) is that I've become partially immune to the machinations of Trump and, regarding his financial misdeeds, they interest me less than his ability to LEGISLATE despicable and immoral policy initiatives which directly affect the lives of every decent American. Now I'm not saying that today's revelations from Cohen aren't important but honestly, after all the cesspool politics of the Trump crew over the last 2+ years and their KNOWN connections with Russia (and desire to cover them up), I think your heading shed no new light on a president that is known to have colluded with Russia and Putin since before he was elected to the office he has so defiled since moving into 1600 Penn. Ave.
1
It is difficult to assess any of this stuff until the actual report comes out. Two days ago everyone was saying that Paul Manafort had meet Julian Assange. It turned out to be false but the media made an entire news cycle out of it. The last two years of news have been worthless. There have been more stories about the George Papadopoulos guy, Michael Cohen, and Manafort than climate change, prescription drug costs and failure of our healthcare system, our continued war combined. The Mueller investigation will be a bunch of hot air; maybe some people will go to jail for lying, but it is totally irrelevant to the lives of Americans. It is theater, political coplay, which is why the media spends so much time on it.
1
Everything Trump touches is compromised.
Everything that touches Trump compromises Trump.
Trump has no perspective beyond Trump.
Trump only and ever sees angles that put money in his pocket (or out of someone else's pocket) and/or send Monoamine Neurotransmitters to his ego (or restricts them from anyone else's ego).
2
Just remember, Trump’s base (which is a third of the country) dosn’t care or, even worse, will dig in that it’s a left wing conspiracy. Sad.
3
"We still don’t know for certain if Russia has used leverage over Trump. But there should no longer be any doubt that Russia has leverage over him."
Boy is that line naive and ignorant. If Russia has leverage, they always use it. Check with anybody (that's right anybody) in the U.S. intelligence community.
You guys sure have a lot of growing up to do.
3
It is worth remembering that Corsi is a charter member of the birther conspiracy that Trump used to further his candidacy for years before he actually launched his campaign. The two of them go way back.
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"Alarming and humiliating" is the perfect description of this American chapter.
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Wow. This is a hot mess of a Presidency that simply takes your breath away on a daily basis.
What a cleanup is left for the Dems. In my lifetime its basically been Republican destroy, Dems repair. Trump has simply turned on the overdrive.
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Trump is more than compromised, he in fact IS Compromise manifested.
Compromise of dignity, humanity, integrity, honor, truth, character, decency, compassion and honesty.
Compromise in the twisted single minded pursuit, totally selfishly, and with utter contempt and disregard for all others, of only himself.
Be it Self aggrandizement, Self enrichment, or Self delusion, it is now and always has been for this sociopathic empty shell of a human being about him and ONLY him. No one else matters.
Truly. No One.
It shall be so right up to the moment the flames of his own making consume him, and the chains of justice encircle him. He simply is capable of nothing honorable.
A completely detestable person.
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