Trump Is Having a Bad Day

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And it’s not even noon:

This morning a federal appeals court has agreed with a federal district court that Congress must have access to Trump’s financial records, including his tax returns. I believe there’s no where else for Trump to go except to SCOTUS. And I’d be willing to bet money that SCOTUS won’t touch this.

Former Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch showed up this morning to testify to the House, in spite of attempts by the State Department, which still employes her, to block her. She is testifying behind closed doors, but she’s testifying. One suspects she is pissed.

Gordon Sondland, the Trump donor and ambassador to the EU who is up to his eyebrows in the Ukraine scandal, also has agreed to testify next week in spite of being ordered not to. One suspects he is cutting his losses.

Trump has yet to tweet about these developments, but he did tweet about the Kurds again. He must be getting hell from a lot of people.

The choice, moron, was not to greenlight a Turkish invasion of Kurdish territory. And what excuses will you have when all those ISIS fighters are set free? Neocon Max Boot is so put out with Trump that he’s defending Barack Obama.

Two scholars of the Middle East, Michael Doran and Michael A. Reynolds, suggested in the Wall Street Journal that the fault was really President Barack Obama’s for aligning with the Kurds in 2016 — despite the success of that strategy and the lack of any realistic alternatives.

See also New revelations about Trump test Pelosi’s narrow impeachment strategy.

In the past 24 hours alone, The Washington Post reported that Trump sought to enlist then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in the fall of 2017 to work with Rudolph W. Giuliani to help stop the prosecution of a Turkish Iranian gold trader represented by the former New York mayor and current Trump lawyer, according to people with knowledge of the request.

The Financial Times reported that Michael Pillsbury, one of Trump’s China advisers, said he had received information on Hunter Biden during a visit to Beijing shortly after Trump called on China to investigate the former vice president’s son. Pillsbury later offered a conflicting account.

And then there were the two Guiliani associates who were arrested trying to leave the country. They’ve been indicted for violating campaign finance laws and also appear to be mixed up in the Ukraine mess.

In solely focusing on Ukraine, Democrats could miss the opportunity to build a stronger case against the president — one that has the potential to sway Senate Republicans who will decide whether to convict Trump if the House votes to impeach.

“We’re basically getting like three new impeachable offenses a day, so it suggests that we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg on what’s happening,” said Daniel Pfeiffer, a former Obama strategist who hosts “Pod Save America” and has been pushing Democrats to expand their probes.

It seems to me that a many things are suddenly unraveling very fast.

17 thoughts on “Trump Is Having a Bad Day”

  1. Rachel Maddow, whatever you think of her, had a good show on these two clowns and the very big mess they appear to be enmeshed in yesterday.

  2. At this point we can probably start watching for a majority of Republicans to find supporting Trump or even remaining silent untenable.

    Unfortunately, the Kurds have often been victims of Western realpolitik since the end of WWI. A (very) quick summary:

    https://thekurdishproject.org/kurdistan-news/us-kurdish-relations/

    https://thekurdishproject.org/history-and-culture/kurdish-history/sykes-picot-agreement/

    Did Trump act only in his own financial interest by green lighting Erdogan's invasion? That might be tough to prove, but there's good reason to be suspicious.

  3. Sondland saw  SDNY  go after the Rudy show and knew that his goose was already on record some where and cooperation would be his best alternative. 

    The fact that trump tried to interfere for rudy's gold trader client makes me think there is $$$ involved for both rudy and trump. Why else would he fall down in front of erdogan everytime. And it is more than just a building in Istanbul.  

    What is funny was the "I don't know them" yesterday  and the Republicans who had to say they were giving the $$$ back etc. 

    Can we put to rest that Rudy is Trump's lawyer and therefore all under immunity.  He is more the partner in crime and paid by who?

  4. I'm wondering if the money man ( alleged Russian) who was funding Lev and Igor's foray into American politics turns out to be  Oleg Deripaska. That would kinda put Mitch McConnell in a bind from a public relations stand point come 2020.

  6. Firtash is the oligarch. 

    I just saw 3000 more troops  to Saudi Arabia.  It is a shame the kurds don't have more money. 

    Again the foreign policy follows the money.

      •  Doug, The name Firtash was mentioned by Rachel Maddow on her show last night. The reason she mentioned him is because Lev and Igor's ultimate destination was to Vienna. She also said that Giuliani had plans to go to Vienna. The only person who would fit the puzzle of why all three stooges would be drawn to Vienna would be Firtash. He is currently under house arrest in Vienna so he's not free to travel. And he also has a history of underhandedness in creating false narratives and political shit storms. 

        Although Rachel didn't name him as the money guy it was implied because he is a billionaire and a shit stirrer. The fact that he's under house arrest makes me believe his ability to operate unencumbered is somewhat restricted, at least in freedom to move money. 

        I'm not a conspiracy theorist,but I know that these Russian oligarchs are not all operating independently in the Ukraine to serve Putin's agenda, so where the money comes from really doesn't matter.  I just suspect Deripaska because he seems to be the boldest in tossing around money to achieve Putin's objectives.

        1

  7. From CNN this afternoon…

    "

    Earlier today, Trump wouldn’t say whether Giuliani was still his personal attorney.

    “Well I don’t know. I haven’t spoken to Rudy. I spoke to him yesterday briefly. He’s a very good attorney and he has been my attorney, yeah, sure,” he told CNN."

    Look up Rudy if you want to see what the underside of a bus looks like.

     

  8. Pompeo needs to go to jail along with William Barr.  Don't bother impeaching them.  Indict them and put them in jail.

    • Pompeo needs to hone his avoidance of answering a question skills. He looks like a deer in the headlight when he gets pinned down with a question he has to avoid in order not to be caught in a lie. 

  9. Now trump can't remember who fired that ambassador. And he is unsure if Rudy is his lawyer. Forgetful ain't he.

  10. Trump has already annoyed the diplomatic and intelligence services. Now with the Turks firing on American soldiers he's doing the same to the military. How far behind could the general public be?

     

  11. Thinking out loud – based on Cohen's discovery that client-attorney privilege isn't absolute – if Rudy's clients broke the law (multiple occurrences) and Rudy participated, the feds can impound everything! A judge will review what isn't covered and release the rest to the FBI. 

    Where Rudy broke the law (Logan Act) in cooperation with Trump, that stuff goes to the FBI. Cohen turned on Trump when he discovered the underside of the bus. Rudy might become less impressed with Trump as Trump becomes forgetful of whether he knows Rudy.  

    Using the criminal prosecution of Rudy as the basis of the impeachment is a problem. It will go slowly. Can the House get the evidence to use in the impeachment even before Rudy is tried?

  12. You can just about tell what communication is going on behind the scenes. How Rudygot the word to Trump is uncertain. A phone call wouldn't have been a good idea but Trump, who wasn't sure if he could remember Rudy yesterday is talking about what a shame it is that they are going after the famous crime buster and the most famous mayor of NYC. 

    Methinks Mayor Bug-eyes reminded Trump that he could decide to be a witness to Congress. 

  13. For now, Trump is sticking with Giuliani, or “My Rudy,” as Giuliani said the president sometimes calls him

    Why just this morning I got my Rudy pinched in my zipper! Small world, huh?

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