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Donald Trump 2019


Francisco 2.0

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https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/bank-ceo-stephen-m-calk-charged-corruptly-soliciting-presidential-administration

 

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STEPHEN M. CALK is the chairman and chief executive officer of the “Bank,” a federal savings association headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, with an office in New York, New York.  The Bank is owned in its entirety by the “Holding Company,” a Chicago-based bank holding company, and CALK is the chairman, chief executive officer, and owner of approximately 67% of the Holding Company.

 

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Between in or about July 2016 and January 2017, CALK engaged in a corrupt scheme to exploit his position as the head of the Bank and the Holding Company in an effort to secure a valuable personal benefit for himself, namely, the Borrower’s assistance in obtaining for CALK a senior position in the presidential administration.  During this time period, the Borrower sought millions of dollars in loans from the Bank.  CALK understood that the Borrower urgently needed these loans in order to terminate or avoid foreclosure proceedings on multiple properties owned by the Borrower and the Borrower’s family.  Further, CALK believed that the Borrower could use his influence with the Presidential Transition Team to assist CALK in obtaining a senior administration position.

 

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CALK thus sought to leverage his control over the Bank and the loans sought by the Borrower to his personal advantage.  Specifically, CALK offered to, and did, cause the Bank and Holding Company to extend $16 million in loans to the Borrower in exchange for the Borrower’s requested assistance in obtaining a high-level position in the presidential administration.  For example, and while the Borrower’s loans were pending approval, CALK provided the Borrower with a ranked list of the governmental positions he desired, which started with Secretary of the Treasury, and was followed by Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Commerce, and Secretary of Defense, as well as 19 ambassadorships similarly ranked and starting with the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Italy.

 

Edited by Francisco 2.0
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1 hour ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

Rex Tillerson is among the few of Trump’s hires I couldn’t catch in a lie.  That’s why Trump hates him, because he’s not a lying slime-ball. 

Agreed. Rex and Gary Cohen were the only two competent picks Trump made, and Trump now hates both of them. He only likes you if you are dumb and fall in line. Rick Perry was born for his cabinet. 

 

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2 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

I don't think this is necessarily true.

No, but the Dems stalling on impeachment to fuck the Republicans over makes sense.  I know everyone says they would never convict in the Senate but I can’t think of a scenario where Trump is acquitted and gets re-elected as an impeached but not convicted incumbent.  

And as much as McConnell acts tough, he wants nothing to do with an impeachment trial in the senate.  If Trump is impeached in the House, McConnell and the Senate will have insane leverage over Trump.  I don’t know what Trump has left to offer McConnell that Pence couldn’t provide.  Point is, it’s a difficult calculation for McConnell.  He has four options:

 1. Hold off the trial and let the voters decide “aka the Merrick Garland”

2.  Force Trump to resign and run Pence or someone else in 2020

3. Convict and remove Trump

4. Acquittal of Trump 

The timing on this is critical for democrats and could influence McConnell’s decision making.  

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1 hour ago, texas08 said:

Can we build a new White House after Dotard?

America will never be the same anyways.

What a pathetic display of leadership. The guy is a 7th grade middle schooler.

Interesting you should say that. Looking at the release above with the picture of the White House, I wondered just how much damage Trump is doing to the symbols of the office. Other men have left the building in shame, but they were not farcical villains who included all the presidential branding in their downfall. None of these men were an actual joke.

Our position as leader of the free world will never be restored to its former certainty. A message with the image of the White House will never have the gravity it once did. Allies and enemies will have to examine future presidents to see if they actually have any idea about the issues they talk about.

Maybe listening to us tell ourselves that we're the greatest country in the world and the "good guys" will persuade foreigners that we really are super duper great.

 

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6 minutes ago, HenryJames said:

Our calm President will remain calm.

 

Do you believe Trump faked a disability?

"Well at least that disability".

 

"If he had been a conscientious objector, I would have admired that."

"I'm old enough to remember when conservatives talked about character in a president".

 

Awesome.
 

 

 

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Trump is not gonna be able to resist making fun of Pete's last name in the upcoming tweeter shitstorm.  He already exaggerates the pronunciation, but I have a feeling we're gonna get into written "butt" jokes, and if we're lucky, thinly veiled references to Pete's sexuality.

Come on DOTUS.  DO SOMETHING!

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22 minutes ago, High Plains Drifter said:

 

Do you believe Trump faked a disability?

"Well at least that disability".

 

"If he had been a conscientious objector, I would have admired that."

"I'm old enough to remember when conservatives talked about character in a president".

 

Awesome.
 

 

 

Manages to be direct without seeming to attack. He's unafraid to speak honestly seemingly because he has faith in his ability to articulate and in the audience to get it. 

Impressive guy.

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1 minute ago, jimmyjazz said:

Trump is not gonna be able to resist making fun of Pete's last name in the upcoming tweeter shitstorm.  He already exaggerates the pronunciation, but I have a feeling we're gonna get into written "butt" jokes, and if we're lucky, thinly veiled references to Pete's sexuality.

Come on DOTUS.  DO SOMETHING!

I think if he called Pete a "faggot" on stage during a debate, his approval rating would go up by 2-4 points.

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2 minutes ago, Foosters said:

I think if he called Pete a "faggot" on stage during a debate, his approval rating would go up by 2-4 points.

When.  WHEN he calls Pet a "faggot"* on stage, his rating will go up 2-4 points.

 

* He MIGHT say pansy or nancy instead of faggot.  But there WILL be a slur.  Believe me.

Edited by Brisketexan
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2 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

When.  WHEN he calls Pet a "faggot"* on stage, his rating will go up 2-4 points.

 

* He MIGHT say pansy or nancy instead of faggot.  But there WILL be a slur.  Believe me.

No way Trump would stoop that low. Come on guys. 

160323-trump-heidi-cruz-embed_aqsni9.jpg

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3 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

When.  WHEN he calls Pet a "faggot"* on stage, his rating will go up 2-4 points.

 

* He MIGHT say pansy or nancy instead of faggot.  But there WILL be a slur.  Believe me.

He'll call Pete out for not disclosing his 'condition' to the military, because..."You know, back in a certain time, a better time, people with certain conditions weren't ALLOWED in our military. Now, they just promote you straight to officer. That's, that's not very good if you ask me"

[Thunderous applause from cut-off jean shorts wearing crowd in Pocatello, ID community center]

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1 minute ago, Pancho Negro said:

Pretty clear this is what’s happening 

 

I think this seems obvious. House votes to impeach. Senate clears right before election. OJ Trump claims victory. Stupid people in America think Trump has a point and re-elect him. 

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1 minute ago, Lagunamadre said:

I think this seems obvious. House votes to impeach. Senate clears right before election. OJ Trump claims victory. Stupid people in America think Trump has a point and re-elect him. 

I absolutely think that's the play.

So, the only thing that makes sense is to let him keep digging the hole, then begin impeachment proceedings next year, so they will be ongoing (or the House votes right before) at the time of the election.

These are the choices:

1) let DOTUS continue to do incredible harm to the country, waiting for the opportune time to bring totally justified impeachment proceedings so that he is broken at the time of the 2020 election, and leaves office one way or the other.

2) move now on impeachment, and no matter what the House does, no matter what the evidence says, the Senate chooses not to impeach -- a vote he will trumpet as "I WAS DECLARED INNOCENT BY THE US SENATE!" and ride that to victory on the backs of moron voters who will believe that's what it means.  Meaning we get another 4 years of Trump.

Our choice is another 1.5 years of Trump, or another 5.5 years of Trump.  There is no choice of "get him out of here now" -- see the GOP senate, which wouldn't convict Trump if he shot a man in the face in the middle of 5th avenue.  Once you realize what the choices actually are, the path forward becomes clearer.

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i think he wants to get impeached because he'll get cleared by the senate.

i think he thinks this will help him.  it won't.

he will get crushed in 2020 regardless of whether the dems move on impeachment.  it's over.

 

the next several weeks will likely mean more unfavorable rulings against him on his financials and if those come out, he'll go full meltdown.  and the pushback on the subpoenas are a horrible look.  he will become more and more unhinged (was he ever really hinged?).  give him enough rope, he'll spend the next few months hanging himself.

right now, he has told the world he will not govern until the dems drop their investigations.  so there's no chance they'll drop their investigations.  he'll have to wear this stoppage of governing just like he wore the shutdown - both are horribly bad looks.  he could've maybe played the victim if this was a year from now.  but it's too far from election day to pull this shit.

meanwhile, every day, he's fixated on cable news and twitter, wondering what nancy is waiting for.  it's not the impeachment, it's the waiting, that may ultimately drive him insane.

i love political theater.

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15 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

2) move now on impeachment, and no matter what the House does, no matter what the evidence says, the Senate chooses not to impeach -- a vote he will trumpet as "I WAS DECLARED INNOCENT BY THE US SENATE!" and ride that to victory on the backs of moron voters who will believe that's what it means.  Meaning we get another 4 years of Trump

He is going to declare exoneration regardless of what happens.  No president wants to get impeached.  The counter narrative of him being impeached is also powerful because most people don’t understand how it works. 

Start the impeachment inquiry and build the strongest case for removal.  Impeach him in early 2020.  McConnell probably won’t even bring it to a trial/vote close to an election... The senate will not want to vote on it if the case is strong. 

Edited by Hugo Stiglitz
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11 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

I absolutely think that's the play.

So, the only thing that makes sense is to let him keep digging the hole, then begin impeachment proceedings next year, so they will be ongoing (or the House votes right before) at the time of the election.

These are the choices:

1) let DOTUS continue to do incredible harm to the country, waiting for the opportune time to bring totally justified impeachment proceedings so that he is broken at the time of the 2020 election, and leaves office one way or the other.

2) move now on impeachment, and no matter what the House does, no matter what the evidence says, the Senate chooses not to impeach -- a vote he will trumpet as "I WAS DECLARED INNOCENT BY THE US SENATE!" and ride that to victory on the backs of moron voters who will believe that's what it means.  Meaning we get another 4 years of Trump.

Our choice is another 1.5 years of Trump, or another 5.5 years of Trump.  There is no choice of "get him out of here now" -- see the GOP senate, which wouldn't convict Trump if he shot a man in the face in the middle of 5th avenue.  Once you realize what the choices actually are, the path forward becomes clearer.

This the most accurate take.

Nancy is currently swinging the biggest dick in DC.

She has been running circles around Trump.

I have no reason to think she is not playing this right. I am sure she understands that the most important thing for his country is to get the travesty out of the White House as fast as possible, which won’t be until Trump loses reelection.

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24 minutes ago, TornACL said:

He'll call Pete out for not disclosing his 'condition' to the military, because..."You know, back in a certain time, a better time, people with certain conditions weren't ALLOWED in our military. Now, they just promote you straight to officer. That's, that's not very good if you ask me"

[Thunderous applause from cut-off jean shorts wearing crowd in Pocatello, ID community center]

Not that it would matter to Trump's base, but Pete B didn't come out of the closet until 2015, and at the time he enlisted in the Navy in 2009 the "don't ask, don't tell" policy was still in effect.  

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3 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

He is going to declare exoneration regardless of what happens.  No president wants to get impeached.  The counter narrative of him being impeached is also powerful because most people don’t understand how it works. 

Start the impeachment inquiry and build the strongest case for removal.  Impeach him in early 2020.  McConnell probably won’t even bring it to a trial/vote close to an election... The senate will not want to vote on it if the case is strong. 

I think I'm right.  BUT...this take raises the idea of another path -- and that's an "all-in" strategy to take both the WH AND the Senate.

Make the GOP Senate vote to acquit in the face of really damning evidence.  Use that to hang some GOP senators running for re-election.  It's a bold and risky strategy.

I don't like it.  Operation Market Garden failed.  A methodical march to Berlin succeeded.

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I like how Mr. Trump proclaims he doesn't do cover ups, while standing in front of a podium which holds a ABC news graphic that literally covers up half of the graphic. (of course. the part of the graphic he wouldn't want to remind anyone of)

 

PHOTO: Mueller Probe

 

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8 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

I absolutely think that's the play.

So, the only thing that makes sense is to let him keep digging the hole, then begin impeachment proceedings next year, so they will be ongoing (or the House votes right before) at the time of the election.

These are the choices:

1) let DOTUS continue to do incredible harm to the country, waiting for the opportune time to bring totally justified impeachment proceedings so that he is broken at the time of the 2020 election, and leaves office one way or the other.

2) move now on impeachment, and no matter what the House does, no matter what the evidence says, the Senate chooses not to impeach -- a vote he will trumpet as "I WAS DECLARED INNOCENT BY THE US SENATE!" and ride that to victory on the backs of moron voters who will believe that's what it means.  Meaning we get another 4 years of Trump.

Our choice is another 1.5 years of Trump, or another 5.5 years of Trump.  There is no choice of "get him out of here now" -- see the GOP senate, which wouldn't convict Trump if he shot a man in the face in the middle of 5th avenue.  Once you realize what the choices actually are, the path forward becomes clearer.

I don't often disagree with you but I strongly disagree with this assessment. Trump is going to yell "NO COLLUSION YOU'RE DOING THE CRIMES AND TREASONS!" at the top of his lungs no matter what the Dems do. Trump and the GOP's best shot at winning in 2020 is to win by a narrow margin by depressing turnout and splitting the opposition, much as they did in 2016. That requires selling undecided voters on the "they're all the same" idea.

They should have done it a month ago, but if the Dems begin impeachment hearings on Tuesday, they can sell many more undecideds on the idea that they're doing it out of their sworn duty to uphold the Constitution rather than naked political calculus. They can focus the entire public on the entire scope of Trump's corrupt, criminal, and inappropriate behavior in a manner that the ongoing committee investigations can't. Committee investigations simply don't get the same degree of news coverage as impeachment proceedings. They can make the case against Trump to every single American who is even remotely interested in politics, and it's an extremely easy case to make. And then, after they've argued their best case to the most Americans that will ever listen to it, when the GOP Senate refuses to remove him, they can make the case that the entire GOP is complicit in Trump's criminality and corruption because they're just that fucking dedicated to take peoples' healthcare away to give the wealthy even more tax breaks. These ads write themselves. The point isn't to get Trump out of office. The point is to convince enough of the American people that there actually is a difference between the parties, and that the entire GOP is complicit with Trump's criminality and corruption and must be removed from power at every level down to fucking dogcatcher.

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21 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Not that it would matter to Trump's base, but Pete B didn't come out of the closet until 2015, and at the time he enlisted in the Navy in 2009 the "don't ask, don't tell" policy was still in effect.  

Can't speak for Torn ACL, but I believe that was his point.

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9 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

I think I'm right.  BUT...this take raises the idea of another path -- and that's an "all-in" strategy to take both the WH AND the Senate.

Make the GOP Senate vote to acquit in the face of really damning evidence.  Use that to hang some GOP senators running for re-election.  It's a bold and risky strategy.

I don't like it.  Operation Market Garden failed.  A methodical march to Berlin succeeded.

The Dems have the facts, evidence, and testimony on their side.  I don’t think they’re going to get a better opportunity for an all in strategy.   Imagine having the opportunity to all out win AND do the right thing.  If you want to kill the cancer that is Trumpism, you’re going to need the most aggressive treatment.  

The greater the risk, the greater the reward and the Republicans have been taking the most insane risks I have ever seen without any liability.  

The roadblock with Pelosi is this idea that impeachment would be divisive.  Yes, fighting against an outlaw regime with your constitutional powers isn’t going to bring the country together but FFS, read the goddamn room. 

Fighting back also galvanizes the Democratic base, even in a somewhat losing effort (if the Senate fails to convict).  There’s nothing more uninspiring than politicians that roll over and die in the face of challenges. 

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1 minute ago, Native Horn said:

Can't speak for Torn ACL, but I believe that was his point.

Not that it really matters, but when Pete enlisted (out of the closet) gays weren't allowed in the military, either.

I realize Trump is gonna say whatever toxic crap comes to mind, and it would be just one more bit of misdirection, but at least one could easily push back with the truth.

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7 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

Fighting back also galvanizes the Democratic base, even in a somewhat losing effort (if the Senate fails to convict).  There’s nothing more uninspiring than politicians that roll over and die in the face of challenges. 

Agree w Hugo and wildcat. Letting this drone on without any action could very well depress the Ds and the undecideds making it to the polls. He is going to scream No Collusion, No Obstruction for the next year and a half. Is Pelosi committed to getting in front of a camera every day for the next ~500 days to get down in the mud with Cheeto?

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Imagine voting for impeachment in the house and it doesn’t pass. At least the Dems could say we tried to do the right thing. 

If it does pass the house, we can all watch it fail in the senate. That would be super I guess.

Another option: continue to disclose and investigate until a majority want impeachment. The house is just now getting his financials. Where does that lead us?

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40 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Not that it would matter to Trump's base, but Pete B didn't come out of the closet until 2015, and at the time he enlisted in the Navy in 2009 the "don't ask, don't tell" policy was still in effect.  

I considered this, and considered that Trump wouldn't give a fuck or would be wrong about the facts, like he is 99.9% of the time.

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i think the timing is important.  it's easy to see everyone on the left looking very impotent when they impeach and the senate just says 'nope' without a second thought.   you are setting yourself up to look like a non-entity.  time that wrong during an election year and you'd really be impacting how inspired people are to get out and vote for you.

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5 minutes ago, GW Hayduke said:

Imagine voting for impeachment in the house and it doesn’t pass. At least the Dems could say we tried to do the right thing. 

If it does pass the house, we can all watch it fail in the senate. That would be super I guess.

Another option: continue to disclose and investigate until a majority want impeachment. The house is just now getting his financials. Where does that lead us?

Beginning an impeachment inquiry would open up a shitload of doors to evidence and testimony that would otherwise be unobtainable.

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