I've been laughing my a** off here. I can just see the people from the transition

[shraby]

team going in to be questioned by Mueller and lying their socks off until it dawns on them that he has their emails concerning what they are being questioned about.

Then Mueller says, do you want to retract that and tell the truth or be charged with lying to the FBI. That's when they understand they've been had. Now they're pissed because they were so stupid, and having screaming fits about being caught.


TO MUELLER.......

[Leghorn21]

1. You betcha, shraby! I sent this email to my brother an hour ago:

Oh damn, what a moment this would have been


Trump White House aides who might have been interviewed...damn...leaving out Kush and Donnie jr. and Hicks, I should imagine Mr. Mueller asked some of the "little people" some questions and just scared the living goddamn fuck out of em. Damn.

Myself, I would turn bright red, barf on my shoes, and immediately ask to be wired to help the investigators because...damn

I'm referring to this excerpt from thread I just sent:

Replying to @renato_mariotti

10/ It appears that obtaining the documents from GSA also allowed Mueller to surprise witnesses who were not prepared to talk about emails that they didn’t think he had.

just...damn....

Whatta night, shraby!!

[Scarsdale]

64. Great Christmas gift for us,

not so good for the tRump aides and enablers!! Thank you, Mr. Mueller and all the team.

[riverwalker]

2. Exactly

They’ve had the emails all summer, Trump team just realized it this week.

[CincyDem]

3. There's nothing like the look on a deposition witness' face...

When the opposition attorney says for the first time "I refer you to your email of..." and it dawns on them.

Saw it a couple times with former employees who thought they had deleted the stuff off the corporate server. We're a f'ing regulated business with an archiver. How f'ing stupid.

[shraby]

56. That's called a "deer in the headlights" look.

[Alwaysna]

63. I wish I had been there

To sell them boxes of depends adult diapers!

[lunatica]

65. You mean the look we all can get when

we feel our faces drain of blood at exactly the same time we feel our faces flooded with the blood of embarrassment? It all kind of pools like a hard rock in our midsection. It's kind of a whole body spasm that leaves your mouth bereft of both saliva and words. You mean like that?

[wishstar]

4. Ridiculous for them to claim a criminal and counterintelligence investigation shouldn't have access

to whatever communications they were sending and receiving on government email system. But the Trumpers thought it wa perfectly okay for all of those FBI agents' private communications to be released to public in attempt to claim bias in the probe.

[SeaDoo77]

26. Some FBI Dudes Thought Trump Was A Lying Pile Of Human Feces

Golly.

I call them good at their jobs....

[Kablooie]

38. No it's perfectly reasonable.

They are saying the investigation should not have access to evidence of their crimes.

I'd probably say the same thing in their place.

[SayItLoud]

44. Gov Server

Right to see by Mueller and anyone with a FOI request, unless classified.

[forgotmylogin]

69. It's exactly the reason why HRC

would not have been permitted to use a private server, because it enables government communication to be "off the grid". They screamed and screamed about her "private" emails. The FBI searched them and found nothing. Hillary was all "oops, my bad" and fixed the problem. They screamed and screamed some more. The FBI assured them there was no actual crime committed despite the inadvertent breach of security rules. It was essentially a "D'oh! Whoops!" by Clinton's staff. The private server wasn't intentionally set up to maliciously hide CROOKED HILLARY'S SEKRIT EMAIL CRIMES!!!111

They screamed for so long and so loud that Hillary hid stuff, so they have NO basis to scream that they're allowed to hide stuff.

The irony of this is so delicious.

[LonePirate]

5. It's funny because these emails are from a government mail server.

Why would those idiots communicate anything illegal via them and/or lie about communicating it?

I don't know if I have ever seen a criminal conspiracy this incompetent outside of an animated kids series.

[SeaDoo77]

27. Imagine People As Stupid At Trump And His Gang Not Knowing How Things Work

I think they were all born yesterday.

[Doitnow]

41. Stupid people don't know they're stupid.

[TheBlackAdder]

61. Spot on. The smarter you are the more you realize how much you don't know.

.


The dumber the person is, the smarter they think they are.

The trashier a person is, the more they refer to themselves as classy.

.

[Eyeball_Kid]

53. Hubris.

Supreme arrogance. Trumpy conveys the attitude that power rules over the law. He conveys that perspective to his subordinates. So his cabinet members thought it just dandy to use taxpayers' dollars to indulge lavish expenses. They could do it because no one would stop them. After all, Trumpy is in the White House and he's in favor of ripping off the government, so we can do it too. The bubble has a thick membrane.

[MFM008]

59. X 1000

.....

[JawJaw]

57. Team Trump Tech Geniuses.

But...but.... if you delete those emails after you read them, the FBI can't see them at a later date, right?

Right?

Same thing applies to private Facebook messages, right?

Right?

Heheheh - we got this, Mr President. Those dumb liberals have NO idea who they're up against!

[Hoyt]

6. The emails were well after election. Unless they find some that say, "thanks comrade for hacking

the vote totals or stealing info, the payment is in the mail," I don't see where it does us any good.

Supposedly, some of the emails say unflattering things about some people, even GOPers, but that would be embarrassing at best, not impeachable.

[shraby]

7. If so, why would they sift through them and only turn over part of them? What were they culling out,

or thought they were culling out?

If they had nothing to hide, they would have sent them ALL to Mueller when requested to do so.

[Hoyt]

10. For the same reason Clinton went through her emails to cull out sensitive ones. Don't blame her,

it was the right thing to do.

I don't think transition emails -- meaning after the election -- are going to prove a darn thing needed to bring Trump down. Now, their emails during the election might. I think some of the emails might prove embarrassing to them, like calling Trutle a washed up old man or something. But like I said -- unless they say "thanks Ruskies for working with us to throw the election," I think this is not going to bring Trump down.

[Sophia4]

36. I can see how e-mails after the election and at the beginning of the Trump

administration could be very incriminating.

They could, potentially refer to agreements entered into or favors made prior to the election. There are many possibilities. They could refer to establishing "back channels" whatever that means.

I have no special information. I'm just guessing. But I can think of lots of scenarios in which e-mails that were withheld as privileged could contain incriminating information -- information about internal discussions or even discussions with Russians. There are lots of possibilities.

Again, I'm just guessing. I have no knowledge related to the actual investigation.

[Maraya1969]

71. Like

[lagomorph777]

47. That's exactly the kind of shit these fucking morons DO put in emails.

So yeah, I think there is a ton of seriously incriminating evidence in there. Oops.

"I love it!"

[Hoyt]

48. Well, hell, since you apparently have one, please send it to Mueller.

Save him and us some time.

[lagomorph777]

49. Based on how Team Turd figured it out, and how they are reacting,

I don't think Mr. Mueller needs my help. They're in full grab-the-passport panic.

[Hoyt]

52. Oh, so you havent seen one, you just think there might be some. OK.

I happen to think transition emails are not where the evidence to nail Trump lies. Again, I hope I’m wrong.

We might find the transition team called Obama an ugly name, planned deplorable policies and schemes, Trump is messing with Hope Hicks (or she’s his illegitimate daughter), etc. But don’t think the evidence to impeach him is there.

[Maraya1969]

72. How do you know that Trump didn't send emails about his conversations with Putin and how he was

going to lift the sanctions since Putin actually did get me this job as President of the United States!

Even if they are speaking of something that happened in the past it still could be used in evidence.

[Hoyt]

75. I don't know, and neither do you. I'd be willing to place a bet he didn't though.

Not saying he didn't have a deal like that with Putin. Just don't think he or his goons wrote an email like that. We'll know soon enough.

[MaryMagdaline]

80. Remember the lies in the federal forms

The emails will show that probably more people than kurshner lied about foreign contacts. There also could be wide open discussions about lifting sanctions or worse ... not enforcing sanctions ... how to skirt the law to favor the Russians. We now know there are readond other than treason to lift sanctions ... the nuclear deals in the Mideast etc The emails may miss collusion and end up with just dirty deals. I do not believe that a single person connected with Trump can do anything the straight way. Every deal is crooked; every decision is what's good for me and not the country ... lots to worry about in the emails.

[Hoyt]

54. Maybe same things Clinton didnt turn over for very legitimate reasons.

[pnwmom]

12. So? Obama was still President. And I fully expect that there is evidence

of conspiracy and other illegal activities in those emails. That's why they're so alarmed.

It was Trump's lawyer who provided the description of what was supposedly in the emails. Don't be spinned.

[Hoyt]

14. Like what? I guarantee Obama's transition people contacted Russia, China, Iran, etc., while bush

was still Prez. That's what the incoming admin does to assure foreign governments.

Maybe they were stupid enough to say "thanks for hacking the election," or they would work to transfer favors to Russia for private payments to Trump family accounts. But, I bet that's not what the emails say.

[pnwmom]

17. Whatever was in the emails, it contradicted something that DT people said to the FBI.

So they were alarmed when they found out that the FBI had the emails and that's why they're making the fuss. But users of the .gov accounts have no expectation of privacy. This fuss is all just for show.

[Hoyt]

18. Lawyers make a fuss over nothing. I do agree, if a government official uses govern accounts their

emails should be open to review, but that doesn't mean there is anything in them that will get someone convicted. In fact, I think a government official's email, wherever they reside, should be available for review by authorized people.

If you remember, Clinton made a big deal about releasing her emails too. That is not surprising because I am sure she wouldn't want an email written to Israel that might tick off Iran, or one to China about Russia, public knowledge.

I am just going to be surprised if something after the election brings down Trump, with the possible exception of obstruction of justice, but that too is a long-shot, although everyone knows Trump did that.

[pnwmom]

24. Those emails, for example, could support a case against whoever told Flynn

to meet with the Russians in December, 2016, and supply more info about the motive -- and about what promises they might have made to the Russians.

Have you read the Steele dossier yet? Since most of it has now been acknowledged to be true, it might be worthwhile for you to read or re-read.

[Hoyt]

28. I've read and hope it's true. Would love to see where it is acknowledged to be true

by any creditable person, other than folks like us who want Trump impeached. Maybe you have a link.

[pnwmom]

32. The man who wrote it used to the the head of the Russia division in the British

equivalent of the CIA. So he has some credibility himself.

And Rachel Maddow recently went through the dossier, to look back on the many claims that turned out to be true.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/many-themes-of-trump-dossier-have-borne-out-over-time-1112908867985

[Hoyt]

34. Love Rachel, but she isn't who I had in mind.

[Hoyt]

37. Something on par with this is what I was hoping for.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/mobile.nytimes.com/2017/10/25/us/politics/steele-dossier-trump-expained.amp.html

Doesn't sound "acknowledged" to me. I'm hopeful, but hope got us nowhere in Fitzmas either.

[pnwmom]

40. That is a poor summary of what is known and not known.

No serious person thinks the salacious allegations matter. And it is very odd that the NYTimes reported the lawyer's claim that his passport shows the dossier was wrong, without pointing out that a passport proves nothing. You can enter the European Union anywhere and not get your passport stamped when you pass from one EU country to another. So all Cohen would have had to do is enter the EU from a neighboring country and then driven to Prague. Also, it is common for world travelers to have multiple passports, for various reasons. (Manafort had 3.)

For instance, Mr. Trump’s longtime personal lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, produced his passport to rebut the dossier’s claim that he had secret meetings in Prague with a Russian official last year.

Here is a response to the NYTimes from the December issue of New York Magazine.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/12/the-steele-dossier-on-trump-is-looking-more-and-more-real.html

And here is an article from the Guardian.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/oct/07/trump-russia-steele-dossier-moscow

[Hoyt]

50. Well, New York Magazinedoes say

“Unverified private reporting should not be taken as gospel truth, and no doubt some of the tips Steele picked up are false. But we should probably be giving far more weight to the possibility that the darkest interpretation of Trump’s relations with Russia is actually true.”

I don’t doubt Trump was/is involved with Russia, but I don’t think there’s evidence of that in transition emails, my original point.

[Gabi Hayes]

29. Hoyt?

?

Hoyt Wilhelm?

[KelleyKramer]

58. Ha ha! Oh my ...

Well, he IS throwing a lot of curve balls

So there's that

[Gabi Hayes]

62. Ha even ha-er!

He was a knuckle baller

[eggplant]

13. Because lying about their content is a crime.

It doesn't matter whether the thing they lie about is itself relevant. Little fish bring bigger fish all the way up to the biggest fish.

[Hoyt]

15. Do you have an example of the content you think they lied about? Besides, so what if they catch

Flynn or Kushner lying about something, it still doesn't bring Trump down which is really what I care about. I might have to settle for Kushner and an idiot son or daughter going through a criminal trial, hoping that they can find 12 jurors who will convict them.

[marylandblue]

23. We don't know what's in the emails, but here is my guess

They make direct reference to Trump knowing about or directing illegal activities during the campaign and/or during the transition. Mueller then asked White House staff if Trump knew about these activities, and they lied to protect him and themselves. Now they are all caught on perjury, plus whatever the underlying crime is, plus have an evidence trail leading to Trump.

[Hoyt]

33. I'll hope you are right. But hope, conjecture, supposition, won't bring Trump down.

I will be surprised if anything in transition emails get him. It's more likely to be actions before the election. His transition team contacting Russia after election is probably no different than every in-coming Admin since WWII.

But, yeah, maybe they find an email from Trump that says, "Did you remember to send a check to Putin for one million for each of those 70,000 hacked votes we won by, " or something as damning.

[forgotmylogin]

70. That's how they got Bill Clinton.

Again...irony, so tasty.

[Hoyt]

25. Not hardly, newcomer. I want Trump booted out of office, not another Fitzmas.

Don't think these emails, after the fact, will nail Trump for election crimes. Need something else, not more excitement that is ultimately a dead-end. Emails might embarrass him, but that won't get him booted.

But thanks for asking.

[marylandblue]

21. I wouldn't be surprised if they did say "thanks comrade..."

We already have K. T. McFarland saying the Russians threw the election to Trump and Trump himself admitting to obstruction of justice in a tweet. Nothing is too dumb for these people. That includes calling attention to emails that supposedly contain no incriminating information.

[Hoyt]

39. I have no doubt Russian meddling had something to do with Trump winning.

We've meddled in their elections too.

But we need evidence Trump was involved to remove him from office.

[marylandblue]

42. The odd thing about Trump is that he admits his conspiracies in public

If some of his tweets and campaign rallies were instead caught on a wiretap, they'd be considered smoking guns. I'm sure what he says in private is even worse.

[dchill]

51. Then why are they so upset about it?

[George II]

8. Notice this didn't come out until AFTER Cobb said that all interviews of White House staff are over!

Bravo, Robert!

[Honeycombe8]

9. I don't understand. Why do you think others are going to lie?

Now that Flynn's been indicted for lying, I don't see anyone else trying it. Except those that have a lot of clout (Trump Jr, Kushner).

[shraby]

11. I can see them trying it if they didn't know Mueller had the goods. Don't they know a good lawyer

only asks a question he already knows the answer to?

As usual, they don't think before they do.

[avebury]

43. Except they have been interviewing people for months and

they had the emails since summer. Who know how many people fell for the email trap and lied before Flynn was indicted.

[janx]

73. I was just wondering when Mueller obtained them.

I guessed it wasn't recent but didn't know.

[Irish_Dem]

77. They have all been arrogant and ignorant.

So they might have kept lying when a normal person would have known better.

[dchill]

16. K&R.

[orangecrush]

19. Kick and Rec

[Historic NY]

22. Mueller had the answers to all the questions, he knows who was naughty and who was nice.

[PragmaticDem]

30. Mueller is a pro at this.

And Trump's lawyers are idiots!

[azureblue]

31. a good lawyer

always knows the answers to the questions he or she will ask, before he or she asks them. And that is part of Nueller's game here - trap the criminals with their lies then squeeze more information out of them in return for some leniency.. Trump's lawyers are a bunch of lightweights who have no idea what they are doing, and they are up against an attorney who has been at this game for a long time... So T's lawyers are at the poo flinging stage of defense.. And they think it will work..

Watch - Mueller will catch one of them lying, too, and when he says the word "disbarment", they will turn tail and leave Trump swinging from a tree. No lawyer will risk his ass defending a losing case and a loser of a client.

[flamingdem]

35. Chickens

[L. Coyote]

46. Mueller is making the FBI great again.

[L. Coyote]

45. Mueller already questioned them, they already lied. That's why their panties are all wrinkled.

[dawg day]

55. They're all uninformed

That's what's coming clear. Trump and his minions really are stupid and ill-informed. You wonder-- do they even watch Law and Order? They seem to have no conception of the dangers of lying.

Of course, Trump reflexively lies and so do all of them. They haven't yet paid a price for it. Good. They're going to lie to the FBI or under oath, and they're going to find out there really is a penalty.

It might be jail, it might be $200K of legal bills that their worshipped "billionaire" boss won't pay. But they'll learn-- there's a cost to their lies.

[BigBearJohn]

60. Here's your 100th rec.

[shraby]

67. Thank you!

[DFW]

66. This will come to a head at some point, and probably soon

Someone is going to approach Trump and tell him "look, DT, they have me over a barrel. I can't lie because they already have the answers to the questions they are going to ask me tomorrow. Are you going to get rid of this guy Mueller tonight or do I hand them your ass in a sling tomorrow?"

[Nitram]

68. Yup, that's script. Mueller wrote it and all the players are following it closely.

He knows what they doing before they do.

[The Conductor]

74. A Minor Epiphany...

Something just occurred to me to go along with what we know now... As you said, Mueller & Co. had the whole stream of emails top-to-bottom when he questioned the Trump gang members. Then he requested later that they turn over emails, and they, of course, left out all of the incriminating ones. But Mueller already had the full set for comparison. And probably avoided mentioning anything only contained in those incriminating emails.

My epiphany: Mueller let the Trumpettes reveal which emails THEY thought were most damaging, those being the ones they "forgot" to turn over! So, the Trumpanzees supplied him with a helpful list of which emails to use to hang them.

I mean - Mueller played the gang like Itzhak Perlman plays the fiddle, and let them all incriminate themselves. If nothing else, they now clearly perjured themselves by omission for the emails they did not cough up. He could even convict those not in on the original scam for the coverup!

Not Bob Mueller's first time at the rodeo, eh?

[janx]

79. Mueller's a professional, no doubt.

And he certainly had information that the Trumpettes did not know about. But we don't know what he mentioned to them about it. He could have avoided mentioning what they did not know, or he could have laid the table with it. It may have varied with the individual. It will be interesting to find out, eventually!

[Motley13]

76. I'm afraid it will be his team

but the moron will escape. He has become an expert at dodging law suits,, there have been so many.

Guess, at least he pays the right lawyers

[Orange Free State]

78. Mueller now has....

....a lot more leverage. There are probably no G. Gordon Liddy types among the transition team, any one of them will sing like a canary rather than face Federal prison. The White House is likely very desperate to stop the investigation, but I can’t imagine how they could now, without obstruction. Look for more character assassination of Mueller, coming hard and heavy from Faux.