Treason's Greetings

A catalogue of rogues.

And a tantalizing pile of clues.

The rogues’ gallery exposed in Robert Mueller’s court filings last week make the Watergate burglars look like school children.

Even veteran lawyers involved in the investigations of Richard Nixon say they’ve never seen this level of misconduct.

Most importantly, last week’s events showed that Special Counsel Mueller is getting closer to exposing the scope and depth of Trump's Treason. His most recent filings make clear that a preponderance of the evidence touches Trump himself.

The disclosures from Michael Cohen, the former Trump fixer who is now a cooperating witness, pounded another nail in the President's coffin. Cohen revealed, and Trump confirmed, that the Trump Organization was pursuing a luxury skyscraper deal in Moscow while Donald Trump, identified as “Individual 1” in the latest court filings, was sewing up the Republican party presidential nomination.

As a candidate, Trump repeatedly reassured voters that he had no business dealings in Russia. But as he uttered those lies, Cohen was selling Russian oligarchs $25m units in Trump Tower Moscow by luring Putin into the project with a free $50m penthouse. This was unfolding as emails from the DNC, hacked by the Russians, upset the Democratic convention and the Republican party was making a party platform much kinder to Russia.

Trump tried to dismiss this Moscow real estate deal, saying it was fine for him to pursue his business affairs while running for president, because if he lost, he expected to return to the Trump Organization.

Cohen had previously connected Trump to payoffs made to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, in violation of election law. But the additional guilty plea last week goes to the heart of Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling and links to Donald Trump.

In a draft court filing related to a collapsed plea deal with Corsi, 72, Mueller also revealed that in email exchanges, Stone told Corsi to get hold of hacked emails from WikiLeaks. Stone and Corsi have ties to Alex Jones’s ultra-right conspiracy site, Infowars, and Corsi was the man behind the false birther campaign against Barack Obama and Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a rightwing group that undermined John Kerry’s military record in his 2004 bid to become president. Stone has a Nixon tattoo on his back. Stone and Corsi have both denied contacts with WikiLeaks.

These men hold some keys to Mueller’s investigation. And we have yet to hear from Michael Flynn, the Trump foreign policy adviser and short-lived national security adviser, who has also pleaded guilty in the Mueller investigation and whose role is soon to be revealed in court.

A picture says a thousand words...

Trump joined living ex-U.S. presidents today to commemorate the life of former President George H. W. Bush.

Warmth between the current occupant and former occupants of the White House was absent.

Trump, the one-time New York "businessman," and his third wife Melania, joined the group that included former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn.

The president did not attend a service for Republican Senator John McCain, who died earlier this year, and had to be talked into keeping the American flag at half-staff over the White House.

For Bush, Trump declared a day of mourning.

Bad feeling between Trump and his predecessors appeared hard to set aside.

Trump’s behavior contrasted with that of his presidential counterparts.

The Clintons chatted amiably with the Obamas before the current president arrived.

George W. Bush shook hands with the full front row of presidents and their spouses.

The 43rd president, in his eulogy, hailed his father’s friendship with Bill Clinton, who vanquished the elder Bush in the 1992 election.

That kind of friendship is unlikely to materialize with Trump.

"American Values"

Trump’s tweet early Tuesday morning criticized special Mueller and his investigation, calling Mueller "conflicted" and a "damage to our criminal justice system."

10 times, since the recent midterms. the president has used Twitter to complain about the investigation.

The "witch hunt" narrative has become so thread-bare that Trump is moving past that ploy by attacking Mueller’s character and career, a move based on Trump's personal prejudices.

Everyone familiar with Mueller's career knows he is a man of integrity and honor who has earned the public’s trust.

Tuesday's tweets were not the first time the president accused the special counsel of being conflicted, but Trump has yet to provide any evidence for this claim.

Trump does not understand this reflects on him rather than the Justice Department.

But the proof is in the pudding. Mueller's results make it clear that his investigation is anything but a partisan ploy. His investigation has indicted or yielded guilty pleas from 32 people and three companies, including two dozen Russians.

Most recently, former Trump campaign Chairman Paul Manafort reneged on his agreement to cooperate with investigators by, Mueller alleges, feeding them false information.



Other Trump associates have pleaded guilty to lying including Rick Gates, Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos and Alex van der Zwaan. Who is the one who comes out looking untrustworthy?

According to a new poll from Law Works and Hart Research, 82 percent of voters, including 66 percent of Republicans, believe that "Mueller should be allowed to finish his investigation, because everyone must abide by the rule of law, even the president."

Mueller embodies the core values of the American justice system: prudence, honor and integrity. Mueller is a decorated veteran who has dedicated his life to defending the country from all manner of threats, from foreign armies to terrorists to organized crime.

Trump? Hardly.

Various Impressions

Anne, in touch with middle America
“I looked for the competencies of the man.

What saddens me the most is that people don’t practice what they preach.

Thomas, Technician
My first impression was years before he became famous on the Apprentice. I picked up “The Art of the Deal” (his ghostwritten book) at the library on a whim. The first few chapters were OK but it got repetitive. I loved the Apprentice and I wish he had stayed there. He had some talent in that role.

Michael, First I listen, then I decide for myself.
I’ve never been impressed, even before his was president. And I blame the media for creating him. They gave him a lot of attention and never condemned him while encouraging his odd behaviors.
Still to be on point as long as I have been aware of him I was not impressed.

Marie, Author
Frankly, I never paid much attention to him. I understood he liked attention and thought rather highly of himself. He never struck me as particularly intelligent.

I knew he was behind the birther nonsense and figured him for a racist and an idiot, screaming for the spotlight. Why would anyone believe his bullcrap? Oh, yeah…

I’m hard-pressed to think of a wise or compassionate decision the old blowhard has made during his presidency. But one thing is certain: regardless of what he says or to whom, his presidency has served only to benefit Trump. I can only hope the next president is an adult and the next administration is capable one and will work to undo the harm this bastard is busy inflicting.

Gordon, Attorney
My first impression of him was in the ‘80’s. He was on “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous”. I concluded then that he was a show off, a braggart, and a bullshit artist. I called him”Don the Con” back then and he’s done nothing to rehabilitate himself in the intervening decades.

I, for one, am LESS impressed with the trumpster in the dumpster than any or all of the above.

Hypo-Trump (hypocracy in the dumpster admin.)

Emails and information security
Trump said: “Hillary Clinton’s attacks on you display the same sense of arrogance and entitlement that led her to violate federal law as secretary of state, hide and delete her emails ... ”
"We can’t hand over our government to someone whose deepest, darkest secrets may be in the hands of our enemies.”

What Trump has done: Before Ivanka Trump, it was Kushner who used private email in an apparent violation of federal records laws. Beyond that, President Trump is continuing to use his personal cellphone. He has done this even as he has been told that China and Russia are monitoring the phone — exactly what he worried about when it came to such countries potentially hacking Clinton’s server.

Foreign governments allegedly buying access
What Trump said: “Hillary Clinton ran the State Department like a personal hedge fund. It’s hard to tell where the Clinton Foundation ends and where the State Department begins.
What Trump has done: Another of Trump’s favorite knocks on Clinton was the idea that foreign governments were buying access to and favors from the Clintons. But since he has become president, foreign dignitaries and would-be influencers have frequented Trump’s hotel in Washington — apparently in hopes of currying favor. The foreign clientele is at the center of an emoluments lawsuit that has proceeded.

Intelligence briefings
What Trump said: “Fact — Obama does not read his intelligence briefings nor does he get briefed in person by the CIA or DOD. Too busy I guess!”
“Obama has missed 58% of his intelligence briefings. But our president does make 100% of his fundraisers.”

What Trump has done: Trump’s criticism was always overcooked. Obama didn’t always get an in-person briefing, but Obama often read his daily briefing instead. Trump does neither. He has taken the briefing once a week or less. He reportedly doesn’t read it. “I get it when I need it,” Trump said. “I’m, like, a smart person…”

Divulging classified information

What Trump said: “We can’t have someone in the Oval Office who doesn’t understand the meaning of the word ‘confidential’ or ‘classified.’"

“Like the Cold War, we also need to fight this battle by collecting intelligence and then protecting our classified secrets. Hillary Clinton has taught us all how much of a problem we have with cybersecurity.”

What Trump has done: In an Oval Office meeting last year with officials from our Cold War opponent, Russia, Trump divulged highly classified information about a valuable stream of intelligence in the Middle East. As president, Trump is able to declassify anything he wants, but the intelligence community fretted that the information would tip the Russians off to what the program entailed and who was involved, which was a closely guarded secret.

Executive orders to change the law
What Trump said: “Repubs must not allow Pres Obama to subvert the Constitution of the US for his own benefit & because he is unable to negotiate w/ Congress.”
“My contract calls for the appointment of judges who will uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States. Hillary wants to go even further than Obama on illegal executive action. I will terminate every single illegal Obama executive order and will restore the constitutional rule of law.”

What Trump has done: Trump has used executive orders to institute, among other things, a ban on travel from majority-Muslim countries and attempts to ban those arriving at the Southern border from receiving asylum. He has often had those orders halted by the courts. And this month, Trump even floated the idea of getting rid of birthright citizenship via executive action, which most experts regard as illegally trying to change the Constitution with the stroke of a pen.

Golf
What Trump said: I’ll let this tweet sum it up.
Here are his previous tweets about presidents and golf: pic.twitter.com/66361Bgk3b

What Trump has done: Trump has golfed far more and far more often than Obama ever did.