They both can't be Fredo, can they? Junior and Eric

[GrumpyGran]

12 hours ago, onekidanddone said:

I don't hold out much hope for this.  Softball questions for the Ru-thug-licans and TT Jr will stonewall Feinstein.  

Dumpy did piss them off yesterday. Maybe they'll decide to take it out on Junior. But I do wonder, if they keep trying to shut down their own investigations and pretend they don't hear anything supporting collusion, how will they explain it if Mueller comes out with something explosive?

Just say they're really bad at their jobs?

[Ali]

9 minutes ago, GrumpyGran said:

Dumpy did piss them off yesterday. Maybe they'll decide to take it out on Junior. But I do wonder, if they keep trying to shut down their own investigations and pretend they don't hear anything supporting collusion, how will they explain it if Mueller comes out with something explosive?

Just say they're really bad at their jobs?

It will be Hillary's fault or Obama's fault or both.

[GreyhoundFan]

Suuuuuuuuuure: "Trump Jr. says nothing came of 2016 meeting with Russians"

Spoiler

Donald Trump Jr. told Senate investigators Thursday that nothing came of the 2016 meeting he set up with a Russian lawyer who offered damaging information about Hillary Clinton.

“The meeting provided no meaningful information and turned out not to be about what had been represented,” Trump Jr. said, according to a copy of his prepared testimony.

Trump made the comments while being interviewed behind closed doors Thursday by members and staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

He told the panel that he would have consulted with lawyers if any useful information had been provided about Clinton by the visiting Russian.

The testimony, first reported by the New York Times, offered some new insights into the June 2016 meetings with Natalia Veselnitskaya, a Moscow lawyer, who has some ties to the Kremlin.

Trump Jr. told congressional investigators he was skeptical of the meeting before attending but “to the extent they had information concerning the fitness, character, or qualifications of the presidential candidate I believed I should at least hear them out.”

The June 9, 2016, meeting came to light earlier this year when lawyers for Jared Kushner went through documents prepared for congressional investigators and discovered the previously undisclosed meeting with the Russians. The embarrassment was compounded by one email in which Trump responded to the prospect of negative information from Russia on Clinton with the words: “I love it.”

The meeting was attended by Kushner, former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, and Rob Goldstone, a music promoter. He represented a Trump business associate, Russian pop music star Emin Agalarov, the son of a prominent Russian real estate developer whose family had negotiated with Trump to bring the Miss Universe pageant to Moscow in 2013.

In his statement Thursday, Trump Jr. acknowledged for the first time that phone records show three short phone calls he had with Agalarov before the June 9 meeting, which he said he did not recall. Observers had long questioned whether the two spoke by phone because the candidate’s son had discussed setting up a phone call with the Russian pop star in the emails with Goldstone. “Let me track him down in Moscow,” Goldstone wrote on June 6, 2016, three days before the meeting. “What number could he call?”

But when Trump Jr. was asked in an interview by Fox News host Sean Hannity in July whether he was told by phone what kind of damaging information he would receive about Clinton, he replied: “No. As I recall, it was all basically this email coordination. Let’s try to set up a meeting and see what happens, and that it was going to be interesting information.”

A lawyer for the Agalarovs has denied that developer Aras Agalarov ever claimed to have damaging information about Clinton, as Goldstone had written to Trump Jr. It is unclear what Emin Agalarov told Trump Jr. directly about the purpose for the meeting when they spoke. In his statement, Trump Jr. told Congress that it is “possible that we left each other voice messages. I simply do not remember.”

Trump Jr. also said in his prepared testimony that he had no recollection of any documents left behind by the Russian visitors. One of the participants in the meeting had said that a document was left behind by the Russians.

Trump’s testimony emphasized again the innocence of the meeting, set up on a chaotic day in the heat of the campaign.

“I did not collude with any foreign government and do not know of anyone who did,” he said. “I am grateful for the opportunity to help resolve any lingering concern s that may exist.”

Some senators attended the closed door session Thursday but they asked no questions — those were left to the staff alone. Instead, senators are expecting to question Trump Jr. themselves at a second, public hearing — though no such hearing has been scheduled

“He’s supposed to come back for a hearing. He will testify, under oath at a public hearing — that is my expectation,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), exiting the meeting to attend a vote. He told reporters he expected the interview with Trump, Jr. would continue into the afternoon.

Blumenthal is one of the senators who is also angling for the committee to release a public transcript of Trump Jr.’s Thursday interview — but no decision has been made about whether one will be created. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) told a town hall audience during August that he would consider releasing a transcript of the last marathon interview the Judiciary Committee conducted in this probe, with Fusion GPS chief executive Glenn Simpson.

After three hours, Blumenthal described the atmosphere of the meeting as “cordial,” and said committee staffers “covered a good deal of ground” with Trump Jr.

“There certainly are a lot of areas that have been opened for future witnesses and questioning, and a lot of areas of interest to be pursued,” Blumenthal said.

Committee members Sens. Christopher A. Coons (D-Del.), Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) were also seen entering or exiting the meeting.

Dumbfuck Junior doesn't seem to "get" that it doesn't matter whether or not they got dirt on Hillary, the fact that they met with a representative of a foreign government seeking dirt is wrong.

[GreyhoundFan]

"Donald Trump Jr. Makes Offensive Tweet During Irma Emergency Announcement"

Spoiler

Hurricane Harvey has devastated Houston. Hurricane Irma has flattened whole islands in the Caribbean, blasted the American territories of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and could be just the third Category Five hurricane in history to strike the American mainland.

Florida Governor Rick Scott is making it clear that evacuation orders are not to be ignored.

...

Important stuff, passionately delivered. Yes, the interpreter is a little distracting, possibly because the camera was closer to him than it was to the Governor. 

Here's a reasonable dialogue about exactly that:

...

Is anyone surprised that Donald Trump Jr. tweeted something insensitive?

... < stupid tweet from stupid junior >

Twitter took over from there:

...

Junior got slammed in the rich guy equivalent of a junior high school locker and never came out. Here's Hilary Duff's 2004 hit 'Haters' (written about Lindsay Lohan, OBVS) for a quick study on just how disconnected Donny is from the present situation.

...

Some of the tweets are great.

[candygirl200413]

I can't lie my mom said something similar but I shut it down very quickly after explaining how ASL interpretations are expressive to create a voice. Honestly surprised this didn't come from his father though.

[fraurosena]

Is Donald Trump Jr. Trying to Con Congress on the Russia Scandal?

Spoiler

On Thursday morning, the Senate Judiciary Committee had a big get: Donald Trump Jr. entered the Capitol under cover and sat down with committee investigators probing the Trump-Russia scandal. The main focus of the gumshoes was the June 2016 meeting that Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort held with a Russian emissary who they were told would be dishing dirt on Hillary Clinton as part of a Kremlin effort to help Donald Trump win the presidency. When the story of the get-together broke this July, Trump Jr. gave conflicting—and false—accounts of the meeting, before he eventually disclosed emails revealing its true purpose, just as the New York Times was about to post an article on the emails. Now it seems Trump Jr. is still trying to spin his way out of a jam that shows the Trump campaign did seek to collude with Vladimir Putin’s regime.

As Trump Jr. was being questioned by congressional investigators, the New York Times published a story quoting from his prepared opening statement. And several of Trump Jr.’s assertions in that statement conflict with the emails related to the meeting.

Trump insisted in the statement that he was initially conflicted when he heard that the Russians might have derogatory information about a Clinton lawyer and that he intended to consult with his own lawyers about the propriety of using any such material. But the emails show that after Trump Jr. was first contacted by Rob Goldstone, the manager for Azerbaijani pop singer Emin Agalarov (whose father, the billionaire developer Aras Agalarov, partnered with Donald Trump to host Miss Universe in Moscow in 2013), and told that the Russian government wanted to help Trump secretly by sharing dirt it had on Clinton, the younger Trump enthusiastically replied, “I love it.” 

Without knowing what the material was, Trump Jr. signaled to Goldstone he was eager to use such opposition research “later in the summer,” when the presidential campaign was further along. There was not a hint that he possessed reservations and would need to consult with attorneys before deploying this oppo. 

“To the extent [the Russians] had information concerning the fitness, character or qualifications of a presidential candidate, I believed that I should at least hear them out,” Trump Jr. said in his statement. But he was already thinking about the ideal time to release the damaging information. 

According to the Times, Trump Jr. described his decision to hold this meeting as a byproduct of the chaotic, seat-of-the-pants Trump campaign, dismissing the notion this was an attempt to collude with Russia. He noted in the statement, “I had never worked on a campaign before and it was an exhausting, all-encompassing, life-changing experience. Every single day I fielded dozens, if not hundreds, of emails and phone calls.”

The emails belie this characterization. Goldstone clearly reported what was at hand. The subject heading of the emails on the subject was plain: “Russia – Clinton – private and confidential.” Goldstone spelled out that this matter involved “very high level and sensitive information” that was “part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.” It seems improbable that Trump Jr. missed what was truly going on because of all the campaign hurly-burly. 

Trump also made it seem that he stumbled into the meeting practically by accident: “Since I had no additional information to validate what Rob [Goldstone] was saying, I did not quite know what to make of his email. I had no way to gauge the reliability, credibility or accuracy of any of the things he was saying.”

But according to the emails, Trump Jr. did take steps to evaluate what Goldstone had told him. There were a series of exchanges in which Trump Jr. told Goldstone he wanted to talk with Emin Agalarov to discuss this plot. The Trumps knew the younger Agalarov well. In addition to being a pop star, he was an executive in his father’s real estate firm, and following the Miss Universe contest, the Trumps and Agalarovs had pursued a project to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. (The venture ended up fizzling.) So it made sense for Trump Jr. to want to hear directly from Emin about this Russian scheme to help his dad in the election. 

The emails show Trump Jr. trying to connect with Emin, and they suggest the two did speak. The message chain does not directly convey what was said during that exchange. But a day after Trump Jr. reached out to Emin, Goldstone emailed Trump Jr. and wrote, “Emin asked that I schedule a meeting with you and the Russian government attorney who is flying over from Moscow for this Thursday.”

A reasonable reading of the emails is that Trump Jr., after receiving the initial Goldstone email offering Russian government information on Clinton, checked with Emin Agalarov and then proceeded to schedule a meeting, to which he invited Kushner and Manafort. Including these two Trump campaign heavyweights in the session was another sign that Trump Jr. believed this was a serious endeavor. This undermines his claim the meeting came about due to chaos and inexperience. 

Trump Jr.’s statement is an indication he is not playing it straight. That’s not a shocker. He and the Trump crew denied for a year there was any collusion with Russia before this meeting became public. And whether or not the session yielded any ammo to use against Clinton, the emails about the meeting—which were shared with Kushner and Manafort—show that Trump’s top advisers were informed the Kremlin was aiming to help Trump covertly. Yet in the months following the meeting—after the Russian hacking of Democratic targets was revealed—Trump and his campaign advisers stridently denied Moscow was meddling in the election. This was only one of several untruths Trump and his lieutenants have repeatedly told about the Russia scandal. 

Presumably, the congressional investigators will be able to spot the self-serving misrepresentations in Trump Jr.’s story. At the very least, they should know that by this point, nothing a Trump says about Russia should be accepted at face value. 

Yes, presumably, the congressional investigators will be able to spot the self-serving misrepresentations in Fredo's story. The question is, will they actually do something about it, or will they let it slide?

Edited September 11, 2017 by fraurosena
deleting merged post that needs to be in the Russian thread

[GreyhoundFan]

"Donald Trump Jr. wants to give up Secret Service protection"

Spoiler

Donald Trump Jr. has asked to be removed from Secret Service protection, telling friends he wants more privacy, according to two people briefed on the decision.

It’s a rare move for a member of the president’s family to forgo a security detail, in part because adult children are counseled by the Secret Service that they are quickly seen as targets for those railing against their famous parents.

One close friend of the president’s son said Trump Jr. has been talking for weeks about waiving the 24-hour protection that Secret Service agents provide him, his wife and their five children. But it was unclear Monday night whether he had requested his wife and children be dropped from protection. Secret Service spokeswoman Catherine Milhoan declined to comment on whether Trump Jr. and his family were no longer receiving protection.

“To ensure the safety and security of our protectees and their families, we will not confirm who is currently receiving Secret Service protection,” Milhoan said.

Trump Jr.’s wish to quit Secret Service protection was first reported by the New York Times on Monday night.

Several former Secret Service officials strongly recommended that the president’s son reconsider his choice, saying it could put him in jeopardy.

Jonathan Wackrow, a former member of President Barack Obama’s detail and now an executive of a risk-management company in New York, called the decision “shocking.”

“In today’s global risk environment, waiving this detail poses great danger to him and to his family,” Wackrow said. “What he is becoming potentially is a target of opportunity.

“People who want to lash out at the president are going to seek that path of least resistance,” he added. “This decision is negligent.”

Trump Jr.’s push to eliminate his 24-hour protection comes at a time when the extended Trump family has faced steady criticism for straining the resources of the Secret Service. The agency’s workload for security personnel has demonstrably grown under Trump, who has five children and nine grandchildren. The Secret Service now protects 42 people around the clock, 11 more than it did under Obama. The Secret Service’s list of people to protect under Trump includes 18 members of the president’s family. The Secret Service acknowledged it is strained to pay its agents overtime based on the demands of multiple round-the-clock details.

Wackrow said he is sympathetic to the hassles of security. Trump Jr. and his wife have struggled with the logistical headache of helping coordinate the five separate details of their children. Rich Staropoli, a former member of the Trump administration and former Secret Service agent, said one frustration has been that the Secret Service has been sending a rotating set of temporary agents to staff the details of Trump Jr.’s young children.

“Every few weeks they get new people,” Staropoli said. “There are all these new people coming and going. The kids don’t like that. They can’t get comfortable with someone they don’t know.”

Trump Jr. also privately fumed about an incident involving his son Donald III’s detail agents in March. The president’s grandson was being chauffeured by agents in an SUV. He awoke to find two agents had been taking pictures of themselves with him while he had been sleeping.

Protection for adult children is automatically provided, but they can legally turn it down. Ron Reagan declined Secret Service protection during his father’s second term as president.

As a taxpayer, I say hooray, but I think it's foolish of him.

[candygirl200413]

Did we discuss about whether or not SS can be called as witnesses? Because something is bound to be up again.

 

[GrumpyGran]

55 minutes ago, candygirl200413 said:

Did we discuss about whether or not SS can be called as witnesses? Because something is bound to be up again.

 

I am glad he won't be sucking up much needed S.S. protection, I mean, come on, can't he afford to pay for his own security? But I agree, @candygirl200413, something's up here. He wants more privacy? From people who are sworn to protect him? And have protected adulterers, criminals, etc. without revealing anything for decades? What does he want to do that he needs to hide from the S.S.?

[formergothardite]

My first thought was that he is trying to hide his movements and he is worried that the S.S. might see too much and be called to testify against him. I really doubt he is doing this to save tax payer money. 

[apple1]

22 hours ago, formergothardite said:

My first thought was that he is trying to hide his movements and he is worried that the S.S. might see too much and be called to testify against him. I really doubt he is doing this to save tax payer money. 

THAT.

[47of74]

Fuckface von Clownstick Jr. had some "words of wisdom" about college and facism

Quote

Donald Trump Jr. ripped America's universities and colleges during a speech Thursday in Alabama, blaming college professors for teaching students "how to become an actual fascist." 

Speaking at a benefit dinner for Faulkner University, President Trump's eldest son said that statements such as "we need borders" or "our founders were great people" had become hate speech on some college campuses.

"We'll teach you how to pretend to be an anti-fascist and how to become an actual fascist," Trump Jr. said Thursday.

Trump Jr. also attacked "spineless" college administrators and faculty for what he described as a refusal to stand up to demands from student groups.

Fuck you, junior.  Fascism is what your father is trying to impose. 

Edited October 7, 2017 by 47of74

[GrumpyGran]

2 hours ago, 47of74 said:

Fuckface von Clownstick Jr. had some "words of wisdom" about college and facism

Fuck you, junior.  Fascism is what your father is trying to impose. 

Somebody please put him in prison so I don't have to see or hear him anymore.

[candygirl200413]

Is he bitter because Penn refuses to entertain anything fuckface and co?

[GrumpyGran]

Ugh, this morning I saw Ivana talking on TV. It's a wonder those kids didn't end up being ax murders. Two arrogant narcissists for parents.

She wants you to know that she raised the children so they're wonderful because of her. Uh, okay. And she encourages Dumpy to tweet when she talks to him once a week. She won't say Marla's name because she's a slut, she somehow tricked wonderful Donnie into an affair, it wasn't his fault.

She's clearly still on the dole and she's promoting(cause that's what she does)a book because...well, I guess because her first husband is the president now. Oh and yes, he offered her the ambassadorship to the Czech republic but why would she give up winter in Palm Beach, summer in St. Tropez and spring and fall in NY?

I wanted to reach through the TV and slap her.

[Cartmann99]

7 hours ago, GrumpyGran said:

She won't say Marla's name because she's a slut, she somehow tricked wonderful Donnie into an affair, it wasn't his fault.

Okay, then why didn't Ivana and Trump reconcile after his divorce from Marla? Surely he had come to his senses by then, and realized that he had made a huge mistake?

*slaps head*  

Oh, that's right,  Trump started seeing Melania before he got his divorce from Marla, silly me. 

 

[GrumpyGran]

2 minutes ago, Cartmann99 said:

Okay, then why didn't Ivana and Trump reconcile after his divorce from Marla? Surely he had come to his senses by then, and realized that he had made a huge mistake?

*slaps head*  

Oh, that's right,  Trump started seeing Melania before he got his divorce from Marla, silly me. 

 

And while he may talk to Ivana once a week, she is waaaaaaay too old for him now.

[Childless]

19 hours ago, GrumpyGran said:

She wants you to know that she raised the children so they're wonderful because of her. 

Is she talking about the same kids we are?  The one who was almost indicted for fraud, the one in trouble for colluding with a foreign government to sway an election, and the one who thinks over 50% of the population shouldn't be considered people because the belong to a particular political party (a party he belonged to mind you until they put a black man in office).  Are those the "wonderful" people she's referring to?  

[GrumpyGran]

45 minutes ago, Childless said:

Is she talking about the same kids we are?  The one who was almost indicted for fraud, the one in trouble for colluding with a foreign government to sway an election, and the one who thinks over 50% of the population shouldn't be considered people because the belong to a particular political party (a party he belonged to mind you until they put a black man in office).  Are those the "wonderful" people she's referring to?  

Yeah, but believe me, compared to her, they are practically saints. She's wearing jewel-encrusted, 24-carat blinders. And she's an arrogant, oblivious zlatokop.

[GrumpyGran]

Just saw an interview on HLN with a guy who has written a book on Trump and apparently Ivana was not quite as impressed with her ex a few years ago. But now, Ka-ching!

As much as I revile these three little brats, it is easy to understand how they came by their attitudes of entitlement. No one around them to make them aware that the true work was done by their grandfather, probably at great expense to others. So gigantic attitudes of self-importance and accomplishment. They probably finished every meal by standing and chanting Trump! Trump! Trump!

[Cartmann99]

8 hours ago, GrumpyGran said:

zlatokop

Okay, talk to me like I'm five. Google says that's a village in Serbia. 

[GrumpyGran]

19 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

Okay, talk to me like I'm five. Google says that's a village in Serbia. 

See, what the hell, Google told me that was Czech for gold-digger! Damn Google. Do they mine gold in Zlatokop?

[Cartmann99]

39 minutes ago, GrumpyGran said:

See, what the hell, Google told me that was Czech for gold-digger! Damn Google. Do they mine gold in Zlatokop?

Oops, I'm actually using Bing. All I'm seeing about Zlatokop in English is that 795 people lived there in 2002. Sorry!

[fraurosena]

Well, that's weird...

Curious about what you were all talking about, I googled Zlatokop too. And the first answer is that  it is a little village in Vranje, Serbia. However, the images you get in the exact same search is cartoons of golddiggers... 

Here's my screenshot under the spoiler to prove it:

Spoiler

So it seems that both @Cartmann99 and @GrumpyGran are correct. 

[GrumpyGran]

50 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

Well, that's weird...

Curious about what you were all talking about, I googled Zlatokop too. And the first answer is that  it is a little village in Vranje, Serbia. However, the images you get in the exact same search is cartoons of golddiggers... 

Here's my screenshot under the spoiler to prove it:

  Hide contents

So it seems that both @Cartmann99 and @GrumpyGran are correct. 

That truly is strange. You see, that's why I'm glad I speak English. It's such a simple language. 

So I'll go with a devka. And yes, I'm too lazy to use the proper 'e' here.

Edited October 12, 2017 by GrumpyGran
not leaving it alone, I don't like the bitch.