The Worst Thing That Happened to Donald Trump this Week

[SunSeeker]

It was not Comey's testimony (although that was indeed bad for Trump--and Sessions). It was what Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller did::

Robert Mueller hired Michael Dreeben. Dreeben is, according to Lawfare, one of the top criminal appellate attorneys in the country. He has argued more than 100 cases before the Supreme Court. He will also be extremely powerful in advocating for the right to information from Trump and his associates, should Trump and/or his associates go to court to try to block subpoenas, depositions, or other actions by Mueller. The man writes extremely effective briefs--which is how cases are won. Mueller is assembling an All-Star team of legal experts. That also includes Andrew Weissmann:

"Weissmann was director of Justice's Enron Task Force, where he oversaw the prosecutions of Jeffrey Skilling, Ken Lay, and Andrew Fastow. While at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan, Weissmann helped prosecute high-ranking members of the Genovese, Colombo and Gambino crime families, and fought the infiltration of organized crime on Wall Street. Mueller is amassing the talent arsenal you'd build to bring criminal charges."
https://lawfareblog.com/worst-thing-happened-donald-trump-week?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosam&stream=top-stories

These are not the actions of a man who is looking at the investigation and seeing nothing. To argue the case for treason of high level officials, you only want the best. The best don't sign on to lose. When this unfolds it will be historic.

[underpants]

1. :-)

[SunSeeker]

3. LOL

[ismnotwasm]

6. Hahahaha!

[calimary]

26. OMG!

Where is this???

This is FABULOUS!!!

[sharedvalues]

2. "The best don't sign on to lose"

[SunSeeker]

8. Good lawyers don't take shitty cases. nt

[Bernardo de La Paz]

15. Not unless it is pro bono, and often not then either. This is not pro bono. . . . nt

[SunSeeker]

27. Good lawyers don't take shitty pro bono cases.

The whole reason high level attorneys take a case pro bono is to donate their time for the public interest. They in particular like to take high profile public interest cases with cutting edge, novel legal arguments that establish an important public right, such as marriage equality. But it must be a solid case, even if it will be difficult to argue. They will not bring a case with weak evidence, noncredible witnesses, etc. and risk a loss that could result in a bad published decision denying that public right, thus subverting the public interest. Lawyers know bad facts made bad law.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

28. Yes. And your OP is important for clearly stating what I was sort-of aware of.

[Buckeyeblue]

4. And the sign on to be part of history

This has the potential to be historic. I suspect they will all be fired at some point. If you were jn 45's position and you could fire the special counsel, why wouldn't you? You have nothing to lose. You let them get started and you pull out the rug. It will create chaos. But chaos is what he wants.

[SunSeeker]

5. I do think they signed on to be part of history and to serve their country.

They certainly didn't do it for the money. They want to win.

Rosenstein can change the wording of his appointment of Mueller to make him truly independent, i.e. not firable by Rosenstein/Trump. That is what Senator Kamala Harris was trying to get Rosenstein to agree to do when he testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee this week--when she was hushed by Chairman Burr:

[Kleveland]

16. I also suspect that they will all be fired by the Liar in Chief.

My faith is unwaverable, as is my belief that our Democracy is in serious peril.

The depth of corruption, and potential damage to our civil liberties is far beyond what we are aware of.

[furtheradu]

7. K & R..& thanks!

[SunSeeker]

9. Happy to report good news.

[BigBearJohn]

10. He will earn a special place in history.

And in my heart

[SunSeeker]

11. +1

[Dopers_Greed]

12. Based on the all the people joining Mueller

...I'm convinced that the Trump Cabal is beyond fucked.

Most of them would not be put on this unless it was massive.

[smirkymonkey]

13. Good to hear!

And that idiot thinks he's vindicated.

[Stuart G]

14. Great Post..thanks for the information...Kinda lifted my day..Trump will go down

some of the very best criminal legal minds around are on our side...

again great post..and a great job for Mr Mueller.....

[Bernardo de La Paz]

17. I think tRump is expecting to win by his civil litigation tactics vs NYC contractors $100 K a time.

Republican stupid minority President Trump is out of his league in so many ways.

[BumRushDaShow]

18. "his associates go to court to try to block subpoenas, depositions, or other actions by Mueller."

I may be wrong but I expect before Drumpf is dragged in front of a Congressional hearing to do his greatest, best bigly reality show performance, he will be subpoenaed for a deposition - and possibly as part of any Grand Jury related to Flynn.

[SunSeeker]

21. You are absolutely right. Mueller will want all the evidence on Trump before he deposes him.

Last edited Sun Jun 11, 2017, 07:30 PM - Edit history (1)

I am sure he expects Trump to lie at his depo. He wants to nail him on lie after lie on the record. Also, he wants to skillfully question him at depo to have him corroborate incriminating evidence on the record--and Trump won't even know he's corroborating it!

Good prosecutors always depose all the associates of a criminal organization first; they depose the principal last. I am sure Trump will not want to testify once he hears how all of his underlings' depos went.

[monmouth4]

19. RICO crimes would require the best of the best lawyers who know how to fight RICO..n/t

[onetexan]

20. Hate to say this but i'm thoroughly enjoying watching Agent Orange and Repugs squirm

I believe Mueller will ensure justice is properly applied and when he and his team are done, the caca will eventually hit the fan for this illegitimate president and his complicit comrades. But it sure is an awesome reality show watching it all unfold from day to day.

[Mr. Ected]

22. And taking first prize in the "Poetic Justice" category

Is the fact that Donald Trump's inability to tell the truth will ultimately become the noose that hangs him.

His testimony as a witness will be thoroughly discredited due to a LIFETIME of lies, distortions and perjury. A witness is only as good as his veracity. There's so much evidence on record of this witness's propensity for mendacity that he will be cut to ribbons by his accusers. If this becomes a battle between witnesses, that is, he said vs. he said, Trump couldn't win that showdown if his counterpart was Richard Nixon, or the 1919 Chicago White Sox, or Charles Ponzi.

Karma, baby. Karma.

[SunSeeker]

23. Yup. And Preet Bharara noted they even have him lying on the record in prior depos.

Trump lied his ass off under oath in depositions in other cases. They will show he has no respect for the oath to tell the truth and is a proven serial liar.

[TeamPooka]

24. Dream Team is so good Trump will have to fire all of them to save his ass. What do we do then?

[calimary]

25. WOW, SunSeeker. You're right.

"These are not the actions of a man who is looking at the investigation and seeing nothing. To argue the case for treason of high level officials, you only want the best. The best don't sign on to lose. When this unfolds it will be historic."

These are DEFINITELY ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY NOT the actions of a man who is looking at the investigation and seeing nothing.

[coeur_de_lion]

29. Very encouraging

Thanks for this.

[janx]

30. MORE - for those who missed it yesterday:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/10/politics/robert-mueller-russia-investigation-team/index.html

[SunSeeker]

31. Yep. Right off the bat he brought in James Quarles, who worked on the Watergate investigation.

[janx]

33. My god,

What do they know? What evidence do they have?

[Initech]

32. Trump V Mueller: The MAGA In The Jungle!!!

[rainbow4321]

34. And Trump's "team": real estate lawyer and a freedom of religion/speech lawyer.

Per the news today.

He can't even FIND a CRIMINAL LAWYER to defend his stale orange ass.

[SunSeeker]

35. Trump's lawyer, Kasowitz, is as much an embarrassment to lawyers as Trump is to the Presidency.

The dipshit thinks that just because Comey confirmed in his memos released the afternoon before testifying that he did indeed previously tell Trump he was "not personally under investigation," that means Trump is in the clear forever. He already unfurled his "Mission Accomplished" banner:

The evening before Comey's testimony, Marc Kasowitz was spotted buying a box of cigars, and sources overheard him saying, "We won. Trump's in the clear. ... It's clear Trump didn't do anything wrong."
http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/10/politics/robert-mueller-russia-investigation-team/index.html

It is no accident he hasn't gotten any top defense counsel to sign on to that shit show.

Here's just a couple of Kasowitz' stellar achievements:

•Kasowitz helped handle last year’s appeal of a fraud case brought by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman over Trump University. Trump lost the appeal and agreed after the 2016 presidential election to pay $25 million to settle lawsuits tied to the defunct program.
•In 2006, Kasowitz represented Trump in a $5 billion defamation suit against Timothy O’Brien, who wrote "TrumpNation: The Art of Being the Donald," claiming the author had misrepresented Trump’s net worth by placing it at an estimated $250 million rather than more than $5 billion. A judge threw the case out in 2009 in a decision that was later upheld on appeal.
https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-05-24/trump-s-go-to-lawyer-kasowitz-a-pit-bull-loyal-to-the-boss