After this's all over, I hope the U.S. gov't bills Trump for the damage he's done to our reputation

[jrfox92]

Why would the FBI give a shit that Donnie screwed a porn actress a decade ago, though?

[Chankgeez]

They don't? The got some info from a certain Mr. Robert S. Mueller III though.

[dubkitty]

because paying Stormy to be quiet in order to help Trump's campaign counts as an in-kind campaign contribution which @ $130k is over the campaign finance law limit. <Michael Jackson voice> hee hee </voice>

[Bassist_Diver]

[dubkitty]

you know, the idea of Trump going to prison gives a whole new meaning to "Orange Is The New Black."

[Kacey Y]

Why would the FBI give a shit that Donnie screwed a porn actress a decade ago, though?

Money, primarily where it came from and how it was transferred, I believe. The special counsel seems to be focusing on financial ties and they've run across something that is shady, financially. The source of funds isn't clear, the explanation by Trump's lawyer doesn't make sense, Trump has claimed it's not his money and he knows nothing about it, but is suing her for not upholding the agreement and demanding personal repayment (not to his lawyer). The source of the transfer was a generically named private LLC that was created weeks before. The private LLC is based in Delaware, which has really strict privacy laws and is used by A LOT of concerns that don't want the source of their funds public (particularly political groups, Super PACs, etc.). Probably not tied to Russia in any way or even illegal, unless campaign funds were used. Which is probably why they're looking at it, since presumably some of the other things they're investigating involve the source and use of campaign funds, since Manafort was involved. It might not be anything from a legal standpoint, honestly. It doesn't look good from a PR/personal reputation standpoint, but that's a meaningless concept as it relates to Trump's political viability. I would hazard a guess that it would ruin any other politician on principle, even if completely legal, but I can't think of a single thing the guy could do on live television that would make evangelicals and hardline right wingers turn on him at this point.

[dubkitty]

Probably not tied to Russia in any way or even illegal, unless campaign funds were used. Which is probably why they're looking at it, since presumably some of the other things they're investigating involve the source and use of campaign funds, since Manafort was involved.

unless the campaign funds actually came from Russia and were money-laundered through Cohen. campaign contributions from foreign nationals are expressly illegal; from the relevant section of the US Criminal Code:

"(D) Any person who knowingly and willfully commits a violation of section 30122 of this title involving an amount aggregating more than $10,000 during a calendar year shall be-

(i) imprisoned for not more than 2 years if the amount is less than $25,000 (and subject to imprisonment under subparagraph (A) if the amount is $25,000 or more);

(ii) fined not less than 300 percent of the amount involved in the violation and not more than the greater of-

(I) $50,000; or

(II) 1,000 percent of the amount involved in the violation; or

(iii) both imprisoned under clause (i) and fined under clause (ii)."

if Russia gave Cohen/Trump the $130,000 that's a clear violation of 52 USC 30109.

[Bassist_Diver]

Speaking of greedy, corrupt assholes, it's party time on Capitol Hill today:

http://www.businessinsider.com/what-con ... erg-2018-4

[Kacey Y]

Yeah, I think that's why they're investigating it. Although I've read a few things saying they might be investigating Cohen for bank fraud. It also might be nothing criminal, but just a lot of lying and evasion about it being a legal payoff to keep a scandal quiet. I'm personally not really enthusiastic about the whole "we've got to find something to nail Trump on!" attitude. Just because everything amounts to "a ha!" gotcha moments and not a lot of daily effort to keeping him accountable to do a responsible, ethical job on normal, boring government things he's just not doing or delegating at all. So many departments and councils with just no one appointed, nobody doing their job, cabinet members just showing up, personally spending a shit ton of tax payer money and letting lobbyists (usually that they know from their old jobs) do them shady favors, while they do nothing productive related to the actual job and implode the departments from within in the name of "small government". There's a lot of big shocking stuff that splatters all over the news every day, but almost no one is effectively or functionally holding the administration accountable for just not competently running the parts of the government that we normally don't even think about. It's like catching a mechanic fucking your car's tailpipe, but it turns out not only did he not fix your car, but it only goes 10 mph now and gets 1 mpg, while the horn continually honks and the seatbelts are missing. Everyone is talking about the tailpipe fucking, but meanwhile the car is barely working.

It's the thing I really dislike about opposition politics. I didn't like it when Obama was president and I didn't like it when George W Bush was president and I didn't like it when Clinton was president. You have a government that spends all its time trying to make the opposition look bad, meanwhile nobody is actually working on their JOB. The opposition might be credibly bad, but I wish someone was working on getting the government halfway working, so we're not all fucked for the decade after Trump eventually leaves office.

[dubkitty]

Seth Morabito
‏@Twylo

Wait wait wait wait wait wait WAIT.

So Trump's personal lawyer was working out of the Squire, Patton & Boggs law offices, who just HAPPEN to be lawyers for Cambridge Analytica, AND are main lobbyists for Russia's Gazprom oil company? WOW.

[Chankgeez]

LOL.

[Dandolin]

[Bassist_Diver]

Paul Ryan, possibly jilted that Trump never returned his "Do you like me? Circle Yes or No" notes, will not be seeking re-election this November

https://www.npr.org/2018/04/11/60144919 ... reelection

[Dandolin]

Paul Ryan, possibly jilted that Trump never returned his "Do you like me? Circle Yes or No" notes, will not be seeking re-election this November

another one bites the dust

[Bassist_Diver]

While my post may have been "lol meme," I wouldn't be surprised if this were the beginning of Republicans challenging Trump in 2020.