Pierce: The Republicans Just Scored a Spectacular Own Goal

[babylonsister]

The Republicans Just Scored a Spectacular Own Goal
Trey Gowdy and co. aren't helping themselves—or President Trump.

By Charles P. Pierce
May 23, 2017


John Brennan, the former director of the CIA, stopped by the House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday. He was there to talk about Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election. The Republicans on the committee responded by chalking up a bushel of own goals. Brennan set the stage in his opening statement.

"I encountered and am aware of information and intelligence that revealed contacts and interactions between Russian officials and U.S. persons involved in the Trump campaign that I was concerned about because of known Russian efforts to suborn such individuals. It raised questions in my mind about whether Russia was able to gain the cooperation of those individuals."

Brennan also testified that he personally contacted Alexander Bortnikov, the head of the FSB, about the Russian meddling as long ago as the beginning of last August.

But it was under the questioning of the committee members, particularly under the questions of the committee's majority members, that Brennan discreetly released several kitties from the burlap. For example, Trey Gowdy, the lopheaded Javert of the endless Benghazi investigations, asked Brennan whether he had seen evidence of "collusion" between the Trump campaign and the Russians. This allowed Brennan to say that he saw evidence that "in my mind raised questions of whether it was collusion" and that he'd seen enough to encourage the FBI to keep "pulling threads" on that particular issue.

GOOOAAAALLLLLL!

Gowdy tried to come back later—he put on his big-boy prosecutor's voice—and he got some help from other members of the committee who kept yielding their time over to him so he could fish for whatever material the Russians might have had on Hillary Rodham Clinton. But he'd screwed up, and the bell couldn't be unrung.

Later, Congressman Tom Rooney, Republican of Florida, opened a door wide enough for Brennan to sail the Nimitz through.

Can you tell us that it's looking like the intelligence shows that Moscow was actually for Donald Trump and rooting against Hillary Clinton?

Anchors aweigh!

They believed that Secretary Clinton was going to win the election and so their efforts were to diminish her efforts and I believe they had a more favorable view of Mr. Trump and trying to increase his prospects and they probably felt that they were going to increase his prospects…They felt that Mr. Trump, being a bit of an outsider, that they had in the past good relationships with businessmen who happened to elevate into positions of governmental authority…I believe they tried to damage and bloody her before but I believe that, had she been elected, their efforts to denigrate her and hurt her would have continued during her presidency. If they did collect more information that they did not release, I think they were probably husbanding it for another day.

Please, Republicans, stop helping the president*. Keep this up and he's going to end his grand tour of Europe in the dock at the Hague.

http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a55225/john-brennan-russia-republican-own-goal/

[Amaryllis]

1. I liked the part where he told why they would prefer T over Clinton.

[mhw]

2. Gowdy was also complicit, as was Chaffetz.

They had a given role in providing sustained damage to Clinton, that would set the tone of the campaign as the Primary barely began.

They knew their role & they complied. Their directions came from somewhere. Did Gowdy collude to damage HRC?
Gowdy should be concerned as to whether his own name might appear in the material Brennan has seen.
I bet he'd like to know if he's also been exposed & tied to the bogus hearings against Sec Clinton.

[SticksnStones]

3. I think that's why gowdy looked so sweaty nt

[mhw]

5. LOL..sweaty and stupid

I think we just found another SNL role for Alec Baldwin.

#ScweddyGowdy

[titaniumsalute]

6. He's a fucking cartoon character

Someone who got picked on A LOT in middle school...probably shoved into his locker too often. Maybe some serious asscrack burning wedgies.

[Maine-i-acs]

9. I call him Trey "Tintin" Gowdy. Good hair match.

Speaking of cartoon characters.

[yankeepants]

16. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I love Tintin!

[mountain grammy]

8. Sweaty and stupid!

He sure is.. love it!

[Metro135]

10. He reminds me of Martin Short's Ed Grimley character

[mhw]

13. Yes. He's sure got a shine about him

Grimley is eerily close to Gaudy

[gohuskies]

30. Gowdy is a hybrid Ed Grimley and Nathan Thurm rolled into one body

This guy is as complicit in the character assassination of Secy Clinton and enabling the rist of the single most incompetent person ever to ascend the U.S. Presidency. Worse than Buchanan, Pierce, Harding, Nixon and GWB. And it was aided by the complicit MSM. Dark days for our democracy as we have moved into fascism and blantant racism.

[trusty elf]

12. What's with that hair?

[img][/img]

[pangaia]

14. He a CONE HEAD !!!!!

[Canoe52]

25. Hey! No insulting Cone Heads here!!

Besides they were from France.

[pangaia]

32. OOpps sorry.

There is a 'cone head' who sells beer, pretzels, etc at Rochester Redwings games. works his ass off. Some times he'll do a Redwings game in the afternoon, then drive to Buffalo and do a Bisons game the same night. WHEW !!

I always thought his head must really sweat in that thing....I mean his REAL head.... you know... in that rubber cone head he wears...



Wait.... jeeze....maybe.................

[Canoe52]

34. Yep, definitely an alien!

Ssssh, don't tell ice! They'll send him back to Remulak!!

[pangaia]

35. LOL This guy would beat the shit out of any ICE thugs...,

[luvMIdog]

20. his head looks like an oiled suppository with that hair cut

[SunSeeker]

21. Well it should, since it's been up his ass.

[yuiyoshida]

23. I keep expecting him (A la Men in Black) to reach up

pull his forehead back and reveal himself as a Space Alien.

[3catwoman3]

37. He looks like that...

...very pale alien form Star Trek TOS episode, The Corbomite Maneuver.

Aliens living amongst us, as posited by the MIB movies, made a whole lot of sense to me when I first saw it, and still does some days. How else to explain some of the very puzzling folks in existence?

[obamanut2012]

36. Oh no, Kate McKinnon!

[2naSalit]

41. Gowdy Doody...nt

[world wide wally]

11. Do you remember when Hillary testified in front of Gowdy's committee and after 11 hours,

she looked as fresh as a daisy and he looked like he had been through the ringer.
Fucking wimp.

[SticksnStones]

18. Good times!

Aw, now I'm getting all nostalgic

[cyclonefence]

26. Gowdy has had massive "work" done since he was elected

Check out How Vain Is Trey Gowdy-- And Don't Call It Plastic Surgery at https://tinyurl.com/km43wex. The man is apparently midstream in his journey to Michael Jacksonville.

[SticksnStones]

27. Got a 404 error on that link.

Perhaps he's having the info trail cleaned up...?

[cyclonefence]

29. Maybe the problem is the tinyurl

Here's the full link (it's totally worth looking at):

http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/how-vain-is-trey-gowdy-and-dont-call-it_21.html

[pangaia]

33. Couldn't resist this----

Just for fun, I'll post the first paragraph, if I may...

How Vain Is Trey Gowdy-- And Don't Call It Plastic Surgery


"The congressman who represents the two most backward counties in South Carolina, Greenville and Spartanburg, is 51 year old fashion-plate Trey Gowdy. Gowdy first came to Congress as a page sponsored by vicious racist Strom Thurmond. It's not clear if he's one of the pages who laid with Mark Foley or not, but Gowdy had fun as a page and decided he wanted to grow up to be a real congressman. He got his chance in 2010 when mainstream conservative Bob Inglis hinted that Climate Change might be real. One of the stupidest people ever elected to Congress, Gowdy painted Inglis as a tree-hugging communist and defeated the 6-term congressman 71-29% in the GOP runoff primary. No one has ever accused Gowdy of being mainstream-- or even having a functioning brain. But, less known, is his addiction to cosmetic dermatology. Look at the picture up top. That's what he looked like before all the injections of filler, Botox, laser resurfacing, etc. The work he's had done is pretty good except for the translucent facial skin and the overdone forehead which doesn't move and prevents him from making expressions, probably because he harassed his doctor for more Botox than he needed."

[cyclonefence]

38. Hysterical

I really think we Democrats ought to make this a Thing. It's mean to make fun of someone's appearance, but don't we get a pass when the damage is self-inflicted and motivated by vainglorious pride?

[3catwoman3]

39. He looks different, but...

...not better. Eewwwwwwwww.

[cyclonefence]

40. Not for lack of trying...

He has gone through more looks than JonBenet before a pageant.

(I know that doesn't make sense, but I can't help it.)

[Achilleaze]

4. k & r

[titaniumsalute]

7. Thanks Trey

Great questioning and THANK YOU for proving what every liberal democrat has known for months. We truly appreciate your question and time allowed for Mr. Brennan to answer your question.

[Ligyron]

15. You could tell when Brennan started answering

that pointy-head Trey-trey wished he's never opened his little mouth. Ooooops...

[titaniumsalute]

17. I happened to have the live stream up when he asked the question

So I put the video up over what I was working on and the look on Gowdy's face was fucking priceless. It looked like he had just witnessed his parent's screwing or something.

[3catwoman3]

42. Don"t we wish they had...

...skipped the time that conceived him!

[SticksnStones]

28. Isn't the first rule of trial law never ask a question you dont already know the answer to?

Isn't he a former prosecutor?

Epic fail there, Trey...epic.

[Hekate]

19. A thing of beauty, Babsis. I so appreciate those who have the stomach to watch the whole thing.nt

[SunSeeker]

22. "Trey Gowdy, the lopheaded Javert of the endless Benghazi investigations"

[Botany]

24. "Trey Gowdy, the lopheaded Javert of the endless Benghazi investigations .... "

Javert (French pronunciation: ​[ʒavɛʁ]) is a fictional character, the primary antagonist of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel Les Misérables. He was presumably born in 1780[1] and died on June 7, 1832.[2] He is a police inspector who becomes, over the course of the novel, obsessed with the pursuit and punishment of the escaped convict Jean Valjean. wiki

[bigbrother05]

31. As incompetently evil as Draco Malfoy

Every time he steps up to duel, he is smacked down by his own hubris. Another example of family connections paving the way.