February 17, 2019: Team Trump - Lies and Liars, and Lots of Them

 

2/17/19: The president has the whole day to relax at Mar-a-Lago and contemplate his next moves. 

If he has nothing better to do, he could pick up the latest copy of National Geographic. In a new story, scientists warn that by 2080 the city you live in will have a climate similar to what a city 500 miles to the south has today. Baltimore will be like Jacksonville, Florida. Montreal will be like Charlottesville, Virginia. Louisville, Kentucky will feel like Pensacola, only without the cool beaches.

 

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AND IF 2080 sounds like a long way away, let’s shrink our time frame for discussion to 19-24 years. 

That’s the term of imprisonment prosecutors recommended for Paul Manafort, to run till at least 2038 and possibly 2043. Since Manafort is already 69, it’s essentially a life sentence.

 

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At least ten members of the Trump campaign knew Hope Hicks was lying, just two days after the election.

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Why such a harsh sentence for a man who specialized in Russian-friendly, white collar crime? Special Counsel Mueller clearly believes Manafort has evidence that goes to the heart of the investigation. If he can shake it loose, Trump is likely doomed. Should Manafort break, the road to a successful impeachment is clear. And I don’t mean if he breaks because prosecutors are using Gestapo tactics. 

I mean: Manafort simply spills the beans he threw in the pot. 

Manafort knows if Candidate Trump knew about and conspired to hide the outreach to Russians that we know occurred. 

Consider a few of the key facts that have been pried loose in the last two years, either by the free press or investigators doing their jobs. They don’t hang the president yet. But the metaphorical rope is over the branch. 

Then consider the scores of denials. On July 24, 2016, George Stephanopoulos asked Manafort, “Are there any ties between Mr. Trump, you or your campaign and Putin and his regime?” 

“No, there are not,” he replied. “That’s absurd.”

 

By that time, the secret June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower had been held and Manafort had attended. 

Eight days after giving his answer to Stephanopoulos, as we have learned, Manafort headed straight to a Manhattan cigar bar to talk with a Russian friend again. 

On November 10, 2016, just days after Trump’s surprise election win, spokeswoman Hope Hicks told reporters, “There was no communication between the campaign and any foreign entity during the campaign.” 

The short list of those who knew at that absolute instant that this was a bald-faced lie would include, but not be limited to: 

Michael Caputo

Michael Cohen

General Michael T. Flynn

Rick Gates

Jared Kushner

Paul Manafort

George Papadopoulos

Roger Stone

Donald Trump Jr.

 

And, if not yet proven, almost assuredly the President-Elect himself. (The only way he doesn’t know is that everyone else on the list, above, has been lying to him, including his own son.)

 

At a press conference on January 11, 2017, nine days before taking office, Trump assured reporters that he had had no business dealings with Russia during the campaign. He made it clear, he could easily have done business in Russia if he wanted, but knew it would have been a conflict. He said that himself. 

The president made similar denials on February 7, 2017, and May 11, 2017. 

 

Cohen knew that was a lie. Trump knew Cohen was lying. 

Today we know Trump’s business dealings with the Russians continued until at least June 2016. We know because last November, prosecutors nailed his former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, on several felony counts. Cohen had been lying to investigators for two years. He had insisted that all business dealings with Trump and the Russians ended in January 2016. That would have been before the Iowa caucuses, before Trump was the presumptive GOP nominee. 

For two years, Trump understood that Cohen was lying. Why wouldn’t he correct him, publicly, or admit the truth himself, back on January 11, 2017? 

Four days later, Chris Wallace of Fox News asked the future VP if there were any contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia. “Of course not,” Mike Pence replied. “Why would there be?” 

Good question.

 

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SO, HOW IS TRUMP HOLDING UP under the strain of the Russia investigation – and now the national emergency down on the border with Mexico? 

We can go to his tweets to “read” his mind. 

At 7:52 a.m., and again, four minutes later, in a pair of unhinged tweets we get fresh evidence that the current occupant of the White House/Mar-a-Lago would crush his critics and strangle the free press if he dared. Clearly a comic skit from the night before is under his skin:  

Nothing funny about tired Saturday Night Live on Fake News NBC! Question is, how do the Networks get away with these total Republican hit jobs without retribution [emphasis added]? Likewise for many other shows? Very unfair and should be looked into. This is the real Collusion!

 

Then this: 

THE RIGGED AND CORRUPT MEDIA IS THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE! 

 

Let us pause a moment to scratch our heads. Can anyone remember when reporters lied about contacts with Russians?