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Sean Illing
In the book, you recall a moment in which intelligence officials went to [House] Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell before the election and asked them to sign a statement condemning foreign interference in our election. You write: "They didn't care who their nominee was, how he got elected, or what effects having a foreign power influence our election would have on the nation." How did they justify that decision to you?

James Clapper
It was about the almighty agenda. There was an anti-Obama agenda that they supported above all else, and they weren't going to jeopardize that. We tried to come up with a bipartisan statement against the Russians, and the Republicans wanted no part of it.

I recall intelligence officials going to Congress at one point to brief them on what the Russians were doing, and we were warned to not allow ourselves to be used as pawns by the Obama administration. We were doing our jobs, which is bringing truth to power, but when power chooses to ignore the truth, we're in a very dangerous place.

Sean Illing
That's fairly shocking: You have the party in power ignoring, for the sake of political expedience, evidence that a hostile foreign state meddled in our election.

James Clapper
It is shocking. The whole episode was shocking. I've spent more than 50 years in the intelligence world, and I've seen a lot of bad stuff, but nothing affected me as much as our apathetic reaction to Russia's interference in our presidential election. It's very disturbing to me, and it's why I thought I had to do what I can to educate the public.

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sonofabear51 said:

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giuliani has been an aahhole since 911. And now coming out with the comment that trump could shoot Comey and not be prosecuted but could be impeached. Really! Ya think they are that much above the law?! Wow! Comments please.

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As has been stated by numerous legal scholars, I have the absolute right to PARDON myself, but why would I do that when I have done nothing wrong? In the meantime, the never ending Witch Hunt, led by 13 very Angry and Conflicted Democrats (& others) continues into the mid-terms

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Unit2Sucks said:

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I actually agree that you shouldn't be able to indict a sitting president regardless of the crime. Congress' job is to impeach in the event of a serious enough crime and that decision shouldn't be left to a grand jury of ordinary citizens which could seriously impede the functioning of our government. Of course, this assumes we have a real president who actually does his job and not a moron who watches TV all day and has no functional command of his duties.

I don't think this means that a president is above the law or that he can pardon himself or refuse a subpoena or anything like that.

Grand jury indictments are too low of a bar for the sitting president so having congress run the process makes a lot more sense. Of course, when the framers created the system they may not have anticipated how tribal politics would become and the fact that congress would largely abdicate its duties in favor of self gain. Unfortunately they didn't realize we would have professional politicians who care more about special interests then the country or their constituents they are supposed to serve.

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Another Bear said:

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Dotard Donnie says he can pardon himself.

Quote:

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As has been stated by numerous legal scholars, I have the absolute right to PARDON myself, but why would I do that when I have done nothing wrong? In the meantime, the never ending Witch Hunt, led by 13 very Angry and Conflicted Democrats (& others) continues into the mid-terms

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A special master reviewing a trove of documents and electronic files seized in April from Michael D. Cohen, President Trump's longtime lawyer and fixer, said on Monday that, at least so far, only a tiny fraction of the materials are protected by the attorney-client privilege, meaning that most can be used by the federal prosecutors who are conducting a wide-ranging criminal investigation into Mr. Cohen.

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blungld said:

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We need Trump in jail. If he simply resigns, he will still have his base and be dangerous on the sidelines. Him arrested will be warning for others and a first step to healing, justice, sanity, and remembering who we are.

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bearister said:

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I repeat: Republicans will never impeach him and any jury in a criminal prosecution will be end up hung. Death during term, refusal to run for re-election , resignation or losing the election are the only scenarios that end the tRump Regime.

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blungld said:

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We need Trump in jail. If he simply resigns, he will still have his base and be dangerous on the sidelines. Him arrested will be warning for others and a first step to healing, justice, sanity, and remembering who we are.

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concordtom said:

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blungld said:

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We need Trump in jail. If he simply resigns, he will still have his base and be dangerous on the sidelines. Him arrested will be warning for others and a first step to healing, justice, sanity, and remembering who we are.

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As if all Americans would be convinced he did something dastardly....
They will more than likely think the charges are BS and that doesn't do any good for the nation's healing.

That why I say heart attack.
And then let the incriminating evidence come out after and people will be more apt to accept it, as it's effectively inconsequential at that point.

There will be some good films about this era no matter what.
Who could play trump effectively, and the characterizations of him will be funny.

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concordtom said:

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I hear ya.
It's actually a first for me!
And I was surprised to come to that conclusion.

Let me ask you this. If you could pull the trigger on Hitler would you?
If your wife was being tortured and rapped, would you?

Trump is no hitler, and I couldn't pull that trigger, but a heart attack would be divine intervention for us. That would be gods will.

For the record, I'm a pacifist, have never punched anyone out of anger, even though twice been socked in the face. I turned to reason and asked with my hands behind my back, "why did you do that?"

I imagine there are a few on this board who would like a free shot at me.

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concordtom said:

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Right. It would be a moral obligation.
Jesus said to turn the other cheek, to give the shirt off your back, but he never addressed The Trolley Dilemma:

http://www.iflscience.com/editors-blog/trolley-dilemma-would-you-kill-one-person-save-five/

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blungld said:

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The money changers are thinking, "Get this long-haired, out-of town immigrant Liberal socialist out of here, we're priming the economy to create wealth that will trickle down to the lepers and making the Temple great again!"

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bearister said:

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blungld said:

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The money changers are thinking, "Get this long-haired, out-of town immigrant Liberal socialist out of here, we're priming the economy to create wealth that will trickle down to the lepers and making the Temple great again!"

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And as we speak an Evangelical fanantic is working on an essay reconciling the teachings of Christ with the life and politics of tRump.

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okaydo said:

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Kellyanne Conway's hubby weighs in:

https://lawfareblog.com/terrible-arguments-against-constitutionality-mueller-investigation

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okaydo said:

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Kellyanne Conway's hubby weighs in:

https://lawfareblog.com/terrible-arguments-against-constitutionality-mueller-investigation

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Another Bear said:

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Looks like Mueller cranked the rake on Manafort a few notches. He's likely going to the klink of Friday. There he'll either be raped, or the Russian mob will pay him a visit. And he won't have $8k suits or protection.

Good luck Paulie!

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