mueller hearing

[Pete F.]

SCHIFF: From your testimony today I'd gather that you believe that knowingly accepting foreign assistance during a presidential campaign is an unethical thing to do.

...

MUELLER: And a crime, given certain circumstances.

SCHIFF: To the degree that it undermines our democracy and our institutions, we can also agree that it's also unpatriotic.

MUELLER: True

SCHIFF: And wrong.

MUELLER: True.
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[Pete F.]

One notable feature of the day was that the Republicans essentially accepted the assertions of the Mueller report as factual. By and large, they did not seek to contest the facts Mueller reported, but rather attacked alleged bias and the legal significance of the facts in the document. One of the functions of the report was to establish a common set of facts, and today’s hearing—in its own peculiar way—suggests that it has done that, at least to a point. The Republican members’ questions did not seem to doubt that McGahn was telling the truth and that Trump was lying. They accepted that Trump had asked Corey Lewandowski to get Sessions to unrecuse. While they fought on other matters, they didn’t contest the factual ground that Mueller has staked out.
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[Pete F.]

On the same day Mueller warned Russia is interfering in the 2020 election “as we sit here” & that accepting foreign assistance has become the “new normal”, Senate GOP blocked two election security bills, including one requiring campaigns inform FBI of offers of foreign help.
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[JohnR]

Originally Posted by nightfighter

Look, all you needed was uniforms to figure which party had the microphone and was on the clock.... Mueller was a dud, or ill.
Dems have to be disappointed.... despite calls from most of the announced 2020 candidates to proceed with impeachment proceedings.
Expecting a slam dunk, they got a face plant..
Trump treated the media to a victory lap... Gave them much more time and sound bites than they expected. See what they do with it. I didn't hear much there for them... And, said the guy who voted against HRC, he (Trump)still makes me sick.


So sick of the divisiveness....

In typical congress fashion, it was dividing on Party lines. Listened to part, watched some.

Mueller looked tired and lost his fastball. This is not to say he was a stooge or a liar or anything like that. Seems to underscore why he earlier asked not to be brought to the Hill to testify before Congress.

He did not bring anything new or sensational. This was the political equivalent of the Pats / Rams Superbowl. Little gain by both sides, low score

Originally Posted by Pete F.

On the same day Mueller warned Russia is interfering in the 2020 election “as we sit here” & that accepting foreign assistance has become the “new normal”, Senate GOP blocked two election security bills, including one requiring campaigns inform FBI of offers of foreign help.
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We need to do better, including FBI / NSA at blocking foreign digital influence. People also need to understand this is something Russia has done since long before Al Gore invented the Internet.

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by JohnR

In typical congress fashion, it was dividing on Party lines. Listened to part, watched some.

Mueller looked tired and lost his fastball. This is not to say he was a stooge or a liar or anything like that. Seems to underscore why he earlier asked not to be brought to the Hill to testify before Congress.

He did not bring anything new or sensational. This was the political equivalent of the Pats / Rams Superbowl. Little gain by both sides, low score




We need to do better, including FBI / NSA at blocking foreign digital influence. People also need to understand this is something Russia has done since long before Al Gore invented the Internet.

i agree with all that. But is there any rational reason to believe, that the outcome of the election would have been any different, had Russia minded its own business? They didn’t hack into vote counting machines, they didn’t hypnotize us all with the Jedi mind trick.
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[JohnR]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

i agree with all that. But is there any rational reason to believe, that the outcome of the election would have been any different, had Russia minded its own business? They didn’t hack into vote counting machines, they didn’t hypnotize us all with the Jedi mind trick.
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I don't know if they created enough influence to change the out come of the election merely with their efforts of 2015 to 2016. If one goes far down the Russian Influence rabbit hole they surely could not offset all the pro-progressive, CPUSA influence they've generated over seven decades.

Clearly the Force Choke is still applied to some people

[spence]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

i agree with all that. But is there any rational reason to believe, that the outcome of the election would have been any different, had Russia minded its own business? They didn’t hack into vote counting machines, they didn’t hypnotize us all with the Jedi mind trick.
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Given the scale of interference outlined in the report it's hard to believe it didn't have an impact. Given the election was decided on pretty thin margins it's quite possible it did push Trump over the edge.

What should be more disturbing though is that even though it did happen, Trump and a lot of the GOP is still denying or downplaying the threat to our electoral system or opposing efforts to improve it.

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by spence

Given the scale of interference outlined in the report it's hard to believe it didn't have an impact. Given the election was decided on pretty thin margins it's quite possible it did push Trump over the edge.

What should be more disturbing though is that even though it did happen, Trump and a lot of the GOP is still denying or downplaying the threat to our electoral system or opposing efforts to improve it.

yawn.
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[spence]

Originally Posted by JohnR

He did not bring anything new or sensational. This was the political equivalent of the Pats / Rams Superbowl. Little gain by both sides, low score

Largely because he was ordered by the DOJ to not bring anything new or sensational.

That being said, what's in the report is already extremely sensational.

Russia meddled in the election to help Trump
The Trump campaign encouraged it and expected to benefit from it
Pretty much everyone involved including the President lied about it
When investigated Trump repeatedly tried to obstruct it
And now Russia (and others) are going to do it again and Republicans don't seem to care

Dems should have started impeachment hearings three months ago.

[JohnR]

Originally Posted by spence

Largely because he was ordered by the DOJ to not bring anything new or sensational.

That being said, what's in the report is already extremely sensational.

Russia meddled in the election to help Trump
The Trump campaign encouraged it and expected to benefit from it
Pretty much everyone involved including the President lied about it
When investigated Trump repeatedly tried to obstruct it
And now Russia (and others) are going to do it again and Republicans don't seem to care

Dems should have started impeachment hearings three months ago.

Neither the report, nor Mueller's testimony in front of Congress had anything sensational. No smoking gun. No Indictment.


Trump is a sheitty President. I get that and I agree. Someone give me a middle of the road, fair, honest, and high integrity politician than won't bankrupt our country, or take away my rights to give to others so I have an alternative. Right now I am at write in but the crazier the left gets the less unappealing being never Trump gets.

[spence]

Originally Posted by JohnR

Neither the report, nor Mueller's testimony in front of Congress had anything sensational. No smoking gun. No Indictment.

Ok, so ordering your council to create a fake paper trail while you're under investigation is like, um, no big deal? The report is full of stuff like that.

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by JohnR

Someone give me a middle of the road, fair, honest, and high integrity politician than won't bankrupt our country, or take away my rights to give to others so I have an alternative. .

the left and the
media make it almost impossible for such a person to get a fair shake. McCain was a senile old racist, Romney a heartless plutocrat. if you want someone to the right of Liz Warren, that person needs to be able to fight back, and effectively. i’m not saying it needs to be Trump, but it can’t be a gentlemanly milquetoast wimp
either. not until more of the media isn’t partial.
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[scottw]

Originally Posted by spence

Dems should have started impeachment hearings three months ago.

that's exactly what I've been saying

[The Dad Fisherman]

Collins: At any time in the investigation was your investigation curtailed or stopped or hindered?

Mueller: No.

[spence]

Originally Posted by The Dad Fisherman

Collins: At any time in the investigation was your investigation curtailed or stopped or hindered?

Mueller: No.

Clearly he's speaking internal DOJ process as the report states countless instances where witnesses lied, evidence was unavailable because of encryption, deception or refusal to cooperate and that's not even counting the cases of obstruction.

[PaulS]

Originally Posted by spence

Clearly he's speaking internal DOJ process as the report states countless instances where witnesses lied, evidence was unavailable because of encryption, deception or refusal to cooperate and that's not even counting the cases of obstruction.

I believe he also said evidence was destroyed. And if Clinton ever refused to answer questions or not meet, the Repubs. would have been screaming.

"Throughout 2016, the report found, Paul Manafort, President Trump’s campaign chairman, gave private polling information to Russian agents and shared campaign strategy with them; in June 2016, Donald Trump Jr., the president’s son, arranged a meeting with Russians at Trump Tower in the expectation of getting “dirt” on the Hillary Clinton campaign; on July 27 of that year, candidate Trump publicly called on the Russians to hack Mrs. Clinton’s emails, five hours before they attempted to do just that; the campaign then devised its strategy and created its messages around WikiLeaks’s releases of stolen files from the Democratic National Committee"

[Got Stripers]

Seems simple to me, both the report and Muellers testimony show Russian interfered in a major way, the Trump campaign while not proven guilty of conspiring with the Russians, they gladly accepted and in fact encouraged help from a long time enemy (very American of them). The report and testimony also proof Trump on multiple occasions made attempts to hinder, stop and then tamper with witnesses and the other reason he wasn’t charged was due to the guidelines under which Mueller was operating. That’s my interpretation of it and I don’t need a dozen posts to attempt to show where I’m wrong, because that’s as futile as my going beyond the above opinion to prove your wrong. Move on, Congress will either dig up more, get financial records, start proceedings to impeach or we move to the election and it’s decided there, I personally can’t wait for one or the other.
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[PaulS]

Originally Posted by Got Stripers

Seems simple to me, both the report and Muellers testimony show Russian interfered in a major way, .
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And the Repubs. just blocked election security bills.

[scottw]

Originally Posted by Got Stripers

Seems simple to me, both the report and Muellers testimony show Russian interfered in a major way,
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you know that was all during the Obama presidency ...right???

[spence]

Originally Posted by scottw

you know that was all during the Obama presidency ...right???

According to Mueller they're still doing it today.

[scottw]

Originally Posted by spence

According to Mueller they're still doing it today.

muller didn't appear to know what day today was

[Pete F.]

Here is the reason they put forth a bill to make this not only bad form but illegal.




And you can read the bill here
https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-...%5D%7D&r=1&s=3

[Sea Dangles]

The intention just was not there. Next witch hunt is looming
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[Got Stripers]

Originally Posted by Sea Dangles

The intention just was not there. Next witch hunt is looming
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The intent to conspire with the Russians maybe not, the intent to obstruct an investigation DEFINATELY!
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[Sea Dangles]

Originally Posted by Got Stripers

The intent to conspire with the Russians maybe not, the intent to obstruct an investigation DEFINATELY!
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Definitely. NOT
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[Got Stripers]

Originally Posted by Sea Dangles

Definitely. NOT
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So you must be smarter or more informed than the hundreds of formal federal prosecutors who basically agreed with Mueller, stating that if anyone BUT a sitting president would have been charged, can you please scan your legal degree and post it for proof you have those credentials🤣🤣🤣
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[Sea Dangles]

Originally Posted by Got Stripers

So you must be smarter or more informed than the hundreds of formal federal prosecutors who basically agreed with Mueller, stating that if anyone BUT a sitting president would have been charged, can you please scan your legal degree and post it for proof you have those credentials🤣🤣🤣
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I was actually trying to show you how to spell definitely. (Without caps)
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[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by Got Stripers

So you must be smarter or more informed than the hundreds of formal federal prosecutors who basically agreed with Mueller, stating that if anyone BUT a sitting president would have been charged, can you please scan your legal degree and post it for proof you have those credentials🤣🤣🤣
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then why didn’t Mueller ( who everyone in the left was tripping over themselves to adore for two years) just indict? he said the protocol against indicting a sitting potus was not the reason he didn’t indict, he said the investigation didn’t establish that trump committed a crime. does that mean anything to you? was mueller bought off by trump?
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[PaulS]

WASHINGTON — The Senate Intelligence Committee concluded Thursday that election systems in all 50 states were targeted by Russia in 2016, largely undetected by the states and federal officials at the time, but at the demand of American intelligence agencies the committee was forced to redact its findings so heavily that key lessons for the 2020 election are blacked out.

Image
One section on recommended action was almost completely redacted.
One section on recommended action was almost completely redacted.
The report — the first volume of several to be released from the committee’s investigation into Russia’s 2016 election interference — came just 24 hours after the former special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, warned that Russia was moving again to interfere “as we sit here.”


It also landed hours after Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, personally stepped forward to block consideration of a package of election security bills.
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[Got Stripers]

Mitch is useless and time for him to go.
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