I have no doubt you look forward to such a low point. But I would just as pleased if you had to wipe you ass on a row of barnacles.
WASHINGTON/HOUSTON (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp sued the U.S. government on Thursday, blasting as "unlawful" and "capricious" a $2 million fine levied against it for a three-year-old oil joint venture with Russia's Rosneft. The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday morning slapped the world's largest publicly traded oil producer with the fine for "reckless disregard" of U.S. sanctions in dealings with Russia in 2014 when Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was Exxon's chief executive. The lawsuit and the Treasury's unusually detailed statement on Exxon's conduct represented an extraordinary confrontation between a major American company and the U.S. government, made all the more striking because Exxon's former CEO is now in President Donald Trump's Cabinet. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-exxon-mobil-usa-ukraine-idUSKBN1A51UH
In “Trump’s Russian Laundromat,” veteran journalist Craig Unger details how the Russian mafia has used the president’s properties—including Trump Tower and the Trump Taj Majal—as a way to launder money and hide assets. “Whether Trump knew it or not,” writes Unger, “Russian mobsters and corrupt oligarchs used his properties not only to launder vast sums of money from extortion, drugs, gambling, and racketeering, but even as a base of operations for their criminal activities. In the process, they propped up Trump’s business and enabled him to reinvent his image. Without the Russian mafia, it is fair to say, Donald Trump would not be president of the United States.” Based entirely on the extensive public record, the piece offers the most comprehensive overview of the deep debt that the president owes the Russian mafia. “The extent of Trump’s ties to the Russian mafia—and the degree to which he relied on them for his entire business model—is striking,” says Eric Bates, editor of the New Republic. “After reading this story, it should come as no surprise to anyone that the president continues to exhibit a deep loyalty to the world of shady Russian operatives who have invested vast sums in his properties.” https://newrepublic.com/article/143842/new-republic-augustseptember-issue-trumps-russian-laundromat
From your own link: “Those transactions are in my view well beyond the mandate of the Special counsel; are unrelated to the election of 2016 or any alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia and most importantly, are well beyond any Statute of Limitation imposed by the United States Code,” he wrote in an email. I've said it a few times. Trump should shut up and do his job. On the other hand, the special investigator does look to be going well beyond his mandate (collusion) to business deals from too long ago to reasonably be of any influence to this election.
Another POV. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...es-business-transactions-despite-warning.html The morning after President Trump publicly warned Special Counsel Robert Mueller to stick to Russia and avoid probing his family finances outside that scope, a new report quoting a single, anonymous source has struck the White House like a bomb. The report, by Bloomberg News, says Mueller’s investigation has indeed expanded to examine a range of business transactions by the president and his associates. The transactions in question largely involve Russian interests, and it’s unclear from the report whether the investigation might eye non-Russian dealings – which Trump warned in an interview with The New York Times would be crossing a red line. Asked whether an examination of his family finances unrelated to Russia would be a breach, Trump said, “I would say yes.” But the Bloomberg report portrays an investigation that continues to expand and evolve, as the president openly voices frustration with its scope.
And here we had barfo whining about how awful a person Trump's lawyer is. Maybe Trump fired the guy to make barfo happy. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/corallo-kasowitz-depart-trump-legal-team/ There's been a shakeup in President Trump's legal team. Marc Kasowitz is out as Mr. Trump's personal attorney, CBS News chief White House correspondent Major Garrett reports. And Kasowitz's spokesman, Mark Corallo, has resigned, Garrett says. Kasowitz recently made headlines when he sent threatening emails to a retired public relations professional who had said Kasowitz should resign. In his first response, Kasowitz wrote "F*** you," according to ProPublica. Kasowitz wrote a number of emails after that, including one that said, "And you don't know me, but I will know you How dare you send me an email like that I'm on you now You are f****** with me now Let's see who you are Watch your back, b****."
You should have included a bit more information. John Dowd, one of Trump’s lawyers, said on Thursday that he was unaware of the inquiry into Trump’s businesses by the two-months-old investigation and considered it beyond the scope of what Special Counsel Robert Mueller should be examining. “Those transactions are in my view well beyond the mandate of the Special counsel; are unrelated to the election of 2016 or any alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia and most importantly, are well beyond any Statute of Limitation imposed by the United States Code,” he wrote in an email. Obviously one of Trump's lawyers would say that. I'm willing to bet that Mueller knows exactly what the statutes of limitation are what lines he can color in and out of.
Related news. But not widely reported. http://freebeacon.com/national-secu...ethics-probe-delay-investigation-obama-leaks/ Top Dems Slow Rolling Ethics Probe to Delay Investigation Into Obama Leaks Democratic congressional leaders on the House Ethics Committee are charged with intentionally dragging out an investigation into Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes in what multiple sources described as an attempt to influence the Intelligence Committee's sensitive Russia probe and promote their own political careers, according to multiple sources who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon. Nunes (R., Calif.), chair of the House Intelligence Committee, which is handling the Russia probe, was sidelined from his leadership role in the probe more than three months ago after the Ethics Committee began investigating allegations that he disclosed classified information in comments alleging Obama administration officials had accessed classified intelligence reports in order to gain information on Trump associates. Democrats are said to be blocking efforts to advance the Nunes case in an effort to discredit the top Republican and keep him sidelined from the sensitive Russia probe, which Democrats have increasingly used to score political points against Trump and boost their own political profiles. As the Ethics Committee investigation into Nunes drags on, Rep. Ted Deutch (D., Fla.), the top Democrat tasked with leading the ethics probe, appears to have prejudged the case in the media, prompting further accusations that the Nunes probe is being politicized in order to boost the unsubstantiated Democratic narrative about collusion between Trump and Russia, according to U.S. officials and other sources familiar with the matter.
From May: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-powers-and-limits-of-robert-muellers-new-job-as-special-counsel/ Q. What will Mueller do as special counsel? A. Mueller is supposed to carry on the investigation that former FBI Director James Comey told Congress about before he was fired by President Donald Trump. That includes any links between Trump campaign associates and Russia, as well as "any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation," according to the letter appointing him. It's hard to believe that any deals from 2008 arise directly from this investigation. The lawyers do have a legit point.
Let me try to wrap my head around this. Trump sells a condo to a Russian in 2008. As part of the deal, the Russian promises to hack the election 8 years later. Sorry, I didn't mean to cry wolf.
Why is that hard to believe? Establishing a timeline of when who met whom seems pretty normal in an investigation.
There was no clue in 2008 that Trump would even run or even would have a chance to win. This is just an outrageous stretch.
