Trump Asserts Executive Privilege Over Full Mueller Report

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Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
38,409
8,702
136
Pelosi might sign on because as has been pointed out we really don't know what's in her mind.
Pelosi is in a good position. In fact, it's interesting that women have power in the D party, and all but none in the R party. Pelosi, Warren, AOC, Harris, they stand out more for me than any other Democrats, including Biden. But then, I don't have subscription TV, so I'm missing Biden's gestalt.

The power brokers in the GOP are all male chauvinist pigs, to use a term from the 60's, but I think it still applies perfectly.
 
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Viper1j

Diamond Member
Jul 31, 2018
4,264
3,840
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Trump has decided on a confrontation at the SCOTUS. Whether he understands that or anything about it is in question, but he's asking for something that precedent suggests he does not want as happened with Nixon.

The question is if Trump would recognize the SCOTUS decision as binding or if he'll dump them into the bin as he is doing with Congress.

At that point, even Senate Republicans, at least enough to matter, have to vote to remove him from office. They love to screw with the Left and Dems but attacking the SCOTUS to the point that it might as well not exist? That's a whole other thing entirely. Trump may not comply but the SCOTUS will screw those who back him to no end.

Going to borrow this for my thread.
 

fskimospy

Elite Member
Mar 10, 2006
85,644
50,879
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As others have pointed out the Congress expressly gave themselves the power to obtain any tax return whatsoever and I'm the one opposing that on privacy grounds. Trump's obvious problems with the Emmoluments clause don't invalidate the larger point. Admittedly the Trump case WRT tax returns is the extreme end of the spectrum along the lines of the "would you torture a terrorist to prevent an attack even though the law and our moral code say torture is wrong" sorta deal but that's why the principle needs to be very carefully defended except in the very most emergency situations. ACORN's tax returns and probably everyone else in the country's should never typically qualify.

One important thing to note is that Congress did not give itself the power to view anyone’s tax returns. If anything it did the opposite.

The default situation is that anyone in government who wanted to could view everyone’s tax returns because they were simply unprotected government documents. Congress decided to change that to protect them except in situations where Congress needed to see them.

We should always remember that they are only private because Congress decided to make them so, not because there is some inherent privacy to them that Congress is taking away. They could make all tax returns public information tomorrow if they wanted to.
 

VRAMdemon

Diamond Member
Aug 16, 2012
7,017
8,546
136
Let me see if I have this right. The Mueller investigation was entirely a product of the Executive Branch, conducted and overseen by people ultimately responsible to President Trump, and is therefore subject to a privilege claim by the chief executive. And a witch hunt.

The executive privilege claim will inevitably head to the highest court. Shame on us if the court turns out to be so partisan as to grant this kind of claim that was essentially rejected by the court in the Nixon era.
 

dank69

Lifer
Oct 6, 2009
36,129
30,523
136
Let me see if I have this right. The Mueller investigation was entirely a product of the Executive Branch, conducted and overseen by people ultimately responsible to President Trump, and is therefore subject to a privilege claim by the chief executive. And a witch hunt.

The executive privilege claim will inevitably head to the highest court. Shame on us if the court turns out to be so partisan as to grant this kind of claim that was essentially rejected by the court in the Nixon era.
Trump really playing 10D chess investigating himself and then not letting everyone see the result. "If I was corrupt, why would I investigate myself in the first place?" Checkmate angry Democrats.
 

cytg111

Lifer
Mar 17, 2008
23,993
13,519
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"If I was corrupt, why would I investigate myself in the first place?"

That is about the depth of the argument right there. If he knew the was being framed he wasnt comitting obstruction when he was obstructing the investigation <- and that is out of Barrs mouth.
You cant make this shit up... actually you can, just do the opposite of reasoning meaning and logic and youll get there...
 

interchange

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 1999
8,022
2,872
136
That is about the depth of the argument right there. If he knew the was being framed he wasnt comitting obstruction when he was obstructing the investigation <- and that is out of Barrs mouth.
You cant make this shit up... actually you can, just do the opposite of reasoning meaning and logic and youll get there...

It's ridiculous on its face to say that it's not obstruction if you know the investigation is bogus, but even more so in this case because he knew the investigation was going to find a lot of things damaging to Trump and even worthy for consideration of removal from office. But even funnier is that, in acting to keep the full report from Congress, Trump is proving he has motive to obstruct the investigation based on the underlying evidence itself.
 

blankslate

Diamond Member
Jun 16, 2008
8,705
507
126
I'm still very curious as to what Mueller might say about his report while testifying in Congress as I am sure most of us have been since the summary by Barr was released.


__________
 

cytg111

Lifer
Mar 17, 2008
23,993
13,519
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It's ridiculous on its face to say that it's not obstruction if you know the investigation is bogus, but even more so in this case because he knew the investigation was going to find a lot of things damaging to Trump and even worthy for consideration of removal from office. But even funnier is that, in acting to keep the full report from Congress, Trump is proving he has motive to obstruct the investigation based on the underlying evidence itself.
Trumps logic here is something along these lines : Keep obstructing the obstruction investigation, then obstruct the investigation into that, repeat. Keep obstructing and theyll never catch up to me.
 

BUTCH1

Lifer
Jul 15, 2000
20,433
1,769
126
I'm still very curious as to what Mueller might say about his report while testifying in Congress as I am sure most of us have been since the summary by Barr was released.


__________
IMO once the GOP read Mueller's later pointing out how Barr had been not conveying many of the report's findings he has become the "it" person in this whole mess. The public has a lot of trust in him and rightly so, Barr's problem is he's already on record with saying he has no problem with the SC testifying before congress.
 

cytg111

Lifer
Mar 17, 2008
23,993
13,519
136
IMO once the GOP read Mueller's later pointing out how Barr had been not conveying many of the report's findings he has become the "it" person in this whole mess. The public has a lot of trust in him and rightly so, Barr's problem is he's already on record with saying he has no problem with the SC testifying before congress.

The second Mueller has a date before the House is the day that a massive anti Mueller campaign launches @Fox and kin. Bet on it. Actually, it would be weird if they dont already have the programming ready... wonder if someone could get one of them to spill the beans...
 

Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
62,365
14,681
136
I'm still very curious as to what Mueller might say about his report while testifying in Congress as I am sure most of us have been since the summary by Barr was released.


__________

One of the great things about Trump is the presumptuousness-

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/09/...&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=Politics

I figure the only person who will decide if Bob Mueller testifies is Bob Mueller. His worst case scenario is being fired & I don't think he needs the job...
 

Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
62,365
14,681
136
The second Mueller has a date before the House is the day that a massive anti Mueller campaign launches @Fox and kin. Bet on it. Actually, it would be weird if they dont already have the programming ready... wonder if someone could get one of them to spill the beans...

The date is May 15, 2019.
 

blankslate

Diamond Member
Jun 16, 2008
8,705
507
126
The public has a lot of trust in him and rightly so, Barr's problem is he's already on record with saying he has no problem with the SC testifying before congress.

I guess we soon will find out how far Barr will go in twisting his role as AG to serve Trump and not the people.



_______________
 

Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
62,365
14,681
136
I guess we soon will find out how far Barr will go in twisting his role as AG to serve Trump and not the people.



_______________

Barr is one helluva confabulator, huh? I doubt his bullshit will hold up well once Mueller testifies. Not well at all.
 

dawp

Lifer
Jul 2, 2005
11,347
2,709
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so, if trump says it's barr's choice to have mueller testify and then order barr not to let mueller testify behind closed doors and there is plenty of evidence of this admin not keeping records per the records laws, how would we know that trump ordered barr to stop mueller from testifying?
 

cytg111

Lifer
Mar 17, 2008
23,993
13,519
136
so, if trump says it's barr's choice to have mueller testify and then order barr not to let mueller testify behind closed doors and there is plenty of evidence of this admin not keeping records per the records laws, how would we know that trump ordered barr to stop mueller from testifying?

Because Trump knows its a witch hunt and thus it cant be obstruction cause you cant obstruct that which is not real and therefor you actually dont need to know.
Its rather quite simple actually.

As it turns out, Alex Jones may be on to something cause there has to be something in those chemtrails that not only turn frogs gay but also dulls the male homo sapiens frontal lobes. Its full onset retard.
 
Mar 11, 2004
23,280
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I've been saying this for some time. People have been so focused on relatively small potatoes shit (Russia funneling e-mails they hacked from Hilary to Turmp's campaign, and social media campaigns, and dossiers on Turmp's personal shit). Russia wouldn't do stuff so blatantly obvious to an intelligence gathering apparatus they know is second to none, nor would they be so brazenly stupid (they've known how stupid the people they've been dealing with in the US are, that's why they sought them out specifically). Its because its an iceberg and they're wanting America to see it as some minor thing so they won't know what hit them til they're sunk.

One of the reasons I have been saying stuff like this is that from the moment he got into office Turmp set about dismantling the American diplomatic system, and replaced it basically with himself, Don Jr, Kushner, and a few others that are every bit as much if not more despicable. It will take decades to undo the damage that will be wrought over just that (if we ever can even). It will almost absolutely lead to wars (that only hurt us these days). I'm not even talking about stuff like Turmp nominating Bolton so that if they get the opportunity they can finally give him the war with Iran he's wanted for decades, or Venezuela and their. I'm talking wars that even rational Presidents won't be able to avoid, where we stand to lose a lot but gain probably nothing.

The intelligence community has to be almost in crisis right now, as this is pretty much worst case scenario for them, we have a President that is both actively sabotaging American diplomacy and relations all over the world and replaced it with his own personal relationships and his political party is doing everything it can to defend him. But its become so blatant that its lead him into a situation where he's going to end up desperate, which means he'll be prone to very poor decisions that could have catastrophic impact. We might actually witness a coup happen as I could see Turmp doing something like feeding the Russians a litany of top secret information in exchange for amnesty if it becomes obvious that he's going to face repercussions for his treachery, and the intelligence community could basically be forced to act to prevent such from happening.
 
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VRAMdemon

Diamond Member
Aug 16, 2012
7,017
8,546
136
Trump's opinion of the Mueller report has changed yet again, and it is now "the Bible."

Given how little of the Bible he knows, I feel safe in predicting he doesn't really know what's in the report either. This simply means that you read it occasionally (somewhere between once a week or once a year), quote the parts you agree with, and disregard the rest.

So, yes, indeed, just like the Bible.
 

Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
62,365
14,681
136
So, uhh, the ten instances of obstruction of justice is like the ten commandments, or what?
 

mikeymikec

Lifer
May 19, 2011
18,604
11,304
136
What's the current situation with the Mueller report? I've been busy with unusual family events lately. First Barr released a rose-tinted summary, then what happened?