Bannon Will Take Down Trump

[AdamSmith]

I now think Bannon, though crazy (not much by the standards of these times of course), is the one wily enough to take down Trump.

For Bannon's own crazy means. Good enough for me.

Something is happening here, I think (we'll see), faster than we ever thought.

Get out the popcorn.

And believe in the Constitution meanwhile.

[Candyman]

I'm beginning to think he may have flipped.  Would he burn the house down if he didn't?

[AdamSmith]

Bannon was a Goldman Sachs fairly genius-level investment analyst before he invented Breitbart.

And got filthy filthy rich off it.

He ain't stupid, even if he is today nuts.

[MsGuy]

AdamSmith, the most difficult single challenge for a true insurgent is getting his hands on enough cash to establish himself as something other than a no-hoper. Even run on the cheap, a real campaign devours money. One of the reasons I took seriously his effort to dislodge incumbent Republicans was his ability to deliver a slug of Robert Mercer's coin very early on in the election cycle when most donors, even if interested in the candidate, are inclined to sit on their cash. That's all gone bye bye now.

Further, even if he isn't kicked out the door,  a loss of editorial control of Breibart would take away his most effective bull horn. (see same  article)

On the other hand if he and The Donald don't kiss and make up and Trump can actually stay focused long enough to really go after Bannon, maybe he will grab the Orange One in a death grip and drag POTUS  down with him.

We can only wait and hope.

[AdamSmith]

9 minutes ago, MsGuy said:

a loss of editorial control of Breibart takes his most effective bull horn. (see same  article)

If yes, YES.

Ain't happened yet, fur as I know.

We'll see.

[tassojunior]

Look over there !

These guys are genius manipulators of news. Almost daily the top news stories are what they decide they will be. The horrible things they do are hardly mentioned. 

[TotallyOz]

The more I read of this book, the more exciting I become! LOL

The idiots that voted for him, however, knew this about him and did not care.  I do not see them caring now either.

I just hope when the bastard is out of the White House that his name is ruined around the world!

[AdamSmith]

1 hour ago, TotallyOz said:

The idiots that voted for him, however, knew this about him and did not care.  I do not see them caring now either.

Those idiots were in the electoral MINORITY, remember.

As for once he is out of the White House...well, repeating myself for the umpteenth time...

...next, the Big House.

[tassojunior]

Be careful what you wish for the genie always says.

2nd most popular politician in American. (GOP landslides). 

[AdamSmith]

4 minutes ago, tassojunior said:

Be careful what you wish for the genie always says.

2nd most popular politician in American. (GOP landslides). 

There is that problem, to be sure.

And then of course third in line is the Speaker... 

[Lucky]

1 hour ago, TotallyOz said:

The more I read of this book, the more exciting I become! LOL

The idiots that voted for him, however, knew this about him and did not care.  I do not see them caring now either.

I just hope when the bastard is out of the White House that his name is ruined around the world!

Oz, you have always been exciting. Now get excited!

[AdamSmith]

15 hours ago, Candyman said:

I'm beginning to think he may have flipped.  Would he burn the house down if he didn't?

And KABOOM!

'Bannon may already be cooperating with Mueller': tell-all book shifts frame of Russia inquiry

In Fire and Fury, Steve Bannon is specific about what he regards as the most dangerous aspect of the investigation: Jared Kushner’s ties to Deutsche Bank

One of the many telling vignettes in Michael Wolff’s book is the sight of Steve Bannon, then White House chief strategist, pacing the West Wing, openly dispensing odds on Donald Trump’s chances of surviving in office.

Bannon gave Trump a probability of a third that he might limp to the finish line because of Democratic incompetence; a third that he would be pushed from office under the 25th amendment on grounds of mental incapability; and a third that he would be impeached.

That a man who was for many months Trump’s right-hand man would brazenly give out such doom-laden predictions is remarkable enough. But letting the world know of it via Wolff could make it a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The most explosive aspect of Bannon’s take, revealed by Fire and Fury, is Trump’s handling – or rather mishandling – of the Russia investigation that rages around him. Assuming Wolff’s account to be accurate (and Bannon has said nothing so far to suggest otherwise) the former chief strategist considered Trump entirely out of his depth with regard to special counsel Robert Mueller’s inquiry into possible links between Russia and the Trump team.

On a practical level, Trump did not have the “discipline to navigate a tough investigation”, Wolff writes, nor the savvy to bring on powerful lawyers. Most seriously, Trump was, in Bannon’s estimation, unable to grasp “how much Mueller had on him and his family”.

“He doesn’t necessarily see what’s coming,” Bannon is quoted as saying.

We now know from the Guardian’s account of excerpts of the book that Bannon believes the June 2016 meeting between Trump’s son and Russians bearing promises of dirt on Hillary Clinton to have been “treasonous”. We also know that Bannon puts the chances of Donald Jr failing to have informed his father of the encounter at “zero”.

That is not evidence that would satisfy as meticulous a prosecutor as Mueller, but it does shift the frame of the Russia inquiry. Trump may try to belittle Bannon’s involvement with his campaign and subsequent time in the White House, scoffing that he had “little to do with our historic victory”, but few will buy that.

“Bannon was an insider in the campaign at the highest level, and in the White House all the way to last August,” said Richard Painter, chief White House ethics lawyer under George W Bush. “He was talking to the president constantly – I can’t imagine Trump not confiding in him, including over the Russia inquiry.”

That in turn raises the possibility that Bannon might cooperate. Certainly, there is no love lost between him and Trump family members, notably the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

“Bannon may already be cooperating with Mueller for all we know,” Painter said. “He has no incentive to cover up for Trump, or his family members.”

Play Video

 

1:18

 Fire and Fury: Key explosive quotes from the new Trump book - video

All of which increases the significance of Bannon’s interpretation of the Russia investigation as it reaches possibly critical stages. Where he places his focus is clear from the book: the financial doings of Trump and his immediate family.

When Trump gave an interview to the New York Times last July in which he warned Mueller not to delve into his family’s finances, Bannon’s response was scathing. Wolff writes: “‘Ehhh … ehhh … ehhh!’ screeched Bannon, making the sound of an emergency alarm. ‘Don’t look here! Let’s tell a prosecutor what not to look at!’”

Bannon is specific about what he regards as the most dangerous aspect of the Mueller inquiry: “It goes through Deutsche Bank and all the Kushner shit. The Kushner shit is greasy. They’re going to go right through that.”

Last month it was revealed that federal prosecutors are looking into Kushner’s ties to Deutsche Bank. Those ties include the $285m borrowed from a bank which has been implicated in Russian money-laundering scandals to refinance his holding of part of the old New York Times building in Manhattan. Last July, the Guardian disclosed that Kushner bought the property from a Soviet-born oligarch whose company was named in a high-profile New York money-laundering case.

“Watch Kushner” and “watch Deutsche Bank” seem to be two of the takeaways from this extraordinary chapter in an exceptional presidency.

The book also gives an account of events on board Air Force One, in which a misleading public statement was prepared to explain the Don Jr meeting in Trump Tower with the Russians.

As was previously known, Trump took control of the statement, insisting the meeting was exclusively about the adoption of Russian children. In fact, the Russian contingent offered incriminating intelligence on Clinton, a crucial detail that was not mentioned but which became quickly public after the email chain involving Don Jr was released.

Wolff gives a more complete rendition, again assuming the accuracy of his account. He writes that the entire White House communications team was relegated to the back of the plane while Trump was up front composing a public statement that could be construed as an attempted cover-up, exposing the president to legal peril.

“It used to hurt my feelings when I saw them running around doing things that were my job,” Sean Spicer, the then White House director of communications, is quoted as saying. “Now I’m glad to be out of the loop.”

The person who remained in the loop was Hope Hicks, currently a successor of Spicer’s as communications chief.

Bannon is said by Wolff to have seen Hicks as “nothing more than a hapless presidential enabler” and flunky for “Jarvanka” – Kushner and his wife, Trump’s daughter Ivanka.

In the fallout from the Trump Tower meeting and false statement, Wolff reports a fight between Bannon and Hicks in the cabinet room. “You don’t know what you are doing,” Bannon is said to have shouted. “You don’t know how much trouble you are in … You are as dumb as a stone!”

The pair, Wolff writes, never spoke to each other again.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/04/trump-russia-steve-bannon-book-robert-mueller

[Candyman]

Well, well, well!  That was interesting.  I wonder how many people have flipped at this point.  5?  10?  more?

[tassojunior]

All the people who want Pence to take over as president mystify me. The guy is far to the right of Trump (and Attila the Hun).

And he's dangerous because he's exceptionally popular and clean-cut. 

I'll take an unpopular, batshit crazy Dumpt as an adversary any day. I hope he burns the GOP to the ground. (Not that the Dems are much better).

And did you see in the book where he said "Why don't we just put everybody on Medicare??" Crazy .

[boiworship]

I see that Bannon has now become complimentary re the Drumpfs and Don Jr. He must need the Mercer money.

[Guest Larstrup]

 

[tassojunior]

Is it always known when someone testifies before a grand jury?  Do prosecutors avoid this knowledge by getting written statements from someone to present to a grand jury?

[Guest Larstrup]

4 hours ago, tassojunior said:

Is it always known when someone testifies before a grand jury?  Do prosecutors avoid this knowledge by getting written statements from someone to present to a grand jury?

I think it’s more common to find out after the fact that someone has testified before a grand jury than it is to know beforehand that they are about to. It’s usually  a very secretive process. Typically witnesses leak information once they’ve testified and that’s how we’ve learned some of the information so far in this case.

 It was suggested yesterday that this was a Mueller tactic to get Bannon to cooperate and to be interviewed  by the special counsel prosecutors.  Which is also to Bannon’s benefit.  If he were to testify before a grand jury he would not be allowed to have his attorney present, whereas being interviewed by the special counsel, he will benefit with counsel at his side. 

Mueller seems to be pulling all of the right strings with these people and someday it will be fascinating to read this chapter of our history.  

I think we can already identify many of those whom will be on the wrong side of it. 

[AdamSmith]

And now back to almost equally fascinating Congressional lines of inquiry...

Jeff Flake's 20 most damning lines about Donald Trump's assault on the press

1. "For without truth, and a principled fidelity to truth and to shared facts, Mr. President, our democracy will not last."

Flake, right from the start of the speech, is talking about BIG stuff -- like the future of democracy. And, he's right: Without an agreed-upon set of truths -- and a group of people trusted to fairly judge whether people adhere to those truths or not -- democracy starts to fall apart.

2. "2017 was a year which saw the truth -- objective, empirical, evidence-based truth -- more battered and abused than any other in the history of our country, at the hands of the most powerful figure in our government."

As of last week, President Trump had said more than 2,000 things that were either totally false or misleading, according to a count kept by the Washington Post. That's more than 5.5 factually inaccurate or incorrect statements a day. Every day.

3. "It was the year in which an unrelenting daily assault on the constitutionally-protected free press was launched by that same White House, an assault that is as unprecedented as it is unwarranted."

It's important to harp on this point from Flake. All White Houses -- and all politicians -- don't love the way the media covers them. They want the coverage to focus much more on what they've done as opposed to what they've failed to do. But, what Trump has done is well beyond that sort of territory. He has embarked on a comprehensive and purposeful attempt to vilify and discredit the media for his own political purposes.

4. "It is a testament to the condition of our democracy that our own president uses words infamously spoken by Josef Stalin to describe his enemies."

This is the line that has drawn the most attention -- and controversy -- from Flake's speech. "Sen. Flake, turn on the news," tweeted Republican National Committee Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel. "It's wall-to-wall with biased coverage against @POTUS. He has every right to push back. Comparing the leader of the free world to murderous dictators is absurd. You've gone too far."

5. "The president has it precisely backward -- despotism is the enemy of the people. The free press is the despot's enemy, which makes the free press the guardian of democracy."

This is a Republican senator -- albeit one who is retiring -- basically calling the Republican President of the United States a "despot." Stunning. Even in an age in which that word has lost almost all meaning.

6. "When a figure in power reflexively calls any press that doesn't suit him "fake news," it is that person who should be the figure of suspicion, not the press."

CORRECT. And, an important point: Trump uses the phrase "fake news" to describe stories he doesn't like. That, of course, doesn't make them fake.

7. "Mr. President, so powerful is the presidency that the damage done by the sustained attack on the truth will not be confined to the President's time in office."

If Trump's presidency ended today, there is NO doubt that his lasting legacy on the office, our politics and our country would be his disdain for facts and his attempts to vilify the media for trying to do its job. The idea -- forwarded by Trump -- that objective truth simply doesn't exist and everything is a matter of opinion and perspective is hugely corrosive for democracy.

8. "Here in America, we do not pay obeisance to the powerful -- in fact, we question the powerful most ardently"

One of my favorite quotes about journalism comes via Finley Peter Dunne: "The job of the newspaper is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable."

9. "No matter how powerful, no president will ever have dominion over objective reality."

Trump is putting this argument to the test. He may not have dominion over objective reality but he is working very hard to make the case that objective reality doesn't even really exist.

10. "A major difference between politicians and the free press is that the press usually corrects itself when it gets something wrong. Politicians don't."

This is especially true with Trump. While the media has made errors in the Trump era, those mistakes have been addressed and there have been consequences for them. Trump has said more than 2,000 things that are misleading or false and hasn't once apologized for doing so or stopped saying the thing that isn't true.

11. "No longer can we compound attacks on truth with our silent acquiescence. No longer can we turn a blind eye or a deaf ear to these assaults on our institutions."

While much of Flake's speech is meant for Trump, this line is clearly targeted at Flake's Senate colleagues -- many of whom throw up their hands and say nothing every time Trump lies or commits some new outrage. That reaction isn't enough in the face of such an existential threat, according to Flake.

12. "An American president who cannot take criticism -- who must constantly deflect and distort and distract -- who must find someone else to blame -- is charting a very dangerous path."

Trump's thin-skinnedness is somewhat remarkable given that he has spent almost his entire adult life in the public eye.

13. "2018 must be the year in which the truth takes a stand against power that would weaken it."

Flake is actively calling for a revolt against Trump by his own party -- in an election year no less!

14. "Together, united in the purpose to do our jobs under the Constitution, without regard to party or party loyalty, let us resolve to be allies of the truth -- and not partners in its destruction."

I am going to make a prediction here: The Senate won't be throwing aside party loyalty any time soon.

15. "To be very clear, to call the Russia matter a 'hoax' -- as the President has many times -- is a falsehood."

Already in 2018, Trump has sent out three separate tweets deriding the Russia investigation as a "hoax."

16. "Every word that a president utters projects American values around the world."

This is both a) objectively true and something that Trump appears to either not grasp or not care to grasp.

17. "Between the mighty and the modest, truth is the great leveler."

My favorite line of the speech -- by far.

18. "Not only has the past year seen an American president borrow despotic language to refer to the free press, but it seems he has in turn inspired dictators and authoritarians with his own language."

We tend to focus on the impact Trump's words have on American society and our politics. But, as Flake catalogs in his speech, it's quite clear that Trump's norm-busting is being watched by authoritarians the world over as they seek to diminish the idea of objective truth and put their own political goals into the vacuum created.

19. "In our own country, from the trivial to the truly dangerous, it is the range and regularity of the untruths we see that should be cause for profound alarm, and spur to action."

This is spot-on. What has amazed me in the first year of Trump's presidency is not his willingness to fib about big things but the little white lies he tells about stuff that's laughably easy to check -- and in so doing prove him wrong.

20. "If we compromise the truth for the sake of our politics, we are lost."

Partisanship and politics has become not only the over-arching concern for lots of politicians but the only concern. The reaction by the White House to Trump's "shithole" comments -- this will play well with our base! -- was the epitome of this politics-over-everything view.

http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/17/politics/jeff-flake-trump-press-speech-analysis/index.html

 

[AdamSmith]

Steve Bannon, former White House chief strategist, agrees to tell Russia investigators what he knows

https://www.yahoo.com/news/steve-bannon-former-white-house-161028038.htm