Trump 43: King of Chaos

[GreyhoundFan]

"Judge orders Trump to pay $2M for charity foundation misuse"

Spoiler

NEW YORK — A New York judge on Thursday ordered President Donald Trump to pay $2 million to an array of charities to resolve a lawsuit alleging he misused his own charitable foundation to further his political and business interests.

Judge Saliann Scarpulla said Trump breached his fiduciary duty to the Trump Foundation by allowing his campaign staff to plan a fundraiser for veterans’ charities in the run-up to the 2016 Iowa caucuses.

The event, which passed money through Trump’s non-profit, was designed “to further Mr. Trump’s political campaign,” Scarpulla said.

The judge also signed off on agreements reached last month between Trump’s lawyers and the New York attorney general’s office to close the Trump Foundation and distribute about $1.7 million in remaining funds to other nonprofits.

In the agreements, Trump admitted to personally misusing Trump Foundation funds and agreed to pay back $11,525 in the organization’s funds he spent on sports memorabilia and champagne at a charity gala. He also agreed to restrictions on his involvement in other charitable organizations.

New York Attorney General Letitia James heralded the resolution of the case as a “major victory in our efforts to protect charitable assets and hold accountable those who would abuse charities for personal gain.”

“No one is above the law — not a businessman, not a candidate for office, and not even the President of the United States,” said James, a Democrat.

 

[fraurosena]

3 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

"Judge orders Trump to pay $2M for charity foundation misuse"

  Reveal hidden contents

NEW YORK — A New York judge on Thursday ordered President Donald Trump to pay $2 million to an array of charities to resolve a lawsuit alleging he misused his own charitable foundation to further his political and business interests.

Judge Saliann Scarpulla said Trump breached his fiduciary duty to the Trump Foundation by allowing his campaign staff to plan a fundraiser for veterans’ charities in the run-up to the 2016 Iowa caucuses.

The event, which passed money through Trump’s non-profit, was designed “to further Mr. Trump’s political campaign,” Scarpulla said.

The judge also signed off on agreements reached last month between Trump’s lawyers and the New York attorney general’s office to close the Trump Foundation and distribute about $1.7 million in remaining funds to other nonprofits.

In the agreements, Trump admitted to personally misusing Trump Foundation funds and agreed to pay back $11,525 in the organization’s funds he spent on sports memorabilia and champagne at a charity gala. He also agreed to restrictions on his involvement in other charitable organizations.

New York Attorney General Letitia James heralded the resolution of the case as a “major victory in our efforts to protect charitable assets and hold accountable those who would abuse charities for personal gain.”

“No one is above the law — not a businessman, not a candidate for office, and not even the President of the United States,” said James, a Democrat.

 

Trump is so upset about this that he’s issued an official presidential statement. 

It’s full of whining self pity, bombastic self aggrandizement and petty name-calling, contains contradictions, and blatant falsehoods. Of course.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

"Book by ‘Anonymous’ describes Trump as cruel, inept and a danger to the nation"

Spoiler

Senior Trump administration officials considered resigning en masse last year in a “midnight self-massacre” to sound a public alarm about President Trump’s conduct, but rejected the idea because they believed it would further destabilize an already teetering government, according to a new book by an unnamed author.

In “A Warning” by Anonymous, obtained by The Washington Post ahead of its release, a writer described only as “a senior official in the Trump administration” paints a chilling portrait of the president as cruel, inept and a danger to the nation he was elected to lead.

The author — who first captured attention in 2018 as the unidentified author of a New York Times opinion column — describes Trump careening from one self-inflicted crisis to the next, “like a twelve-year-old in an air traffic control tower, pushing the buttons of government indiscriminately, indifferent to the planes skidding across the runway and the flights frantically diverting away from the airport.”

The book is an unsparing character study of Trump, from his morality to his intellectual depth, which the author writes is based on his or her observations and experiences. The author claims many other current and former administration officials share his or her views.

The 259-page book — which was published by Twelve, an imprint of Grand Central Publishing/Hachette Book Group, and goes on sale Nov. 19 — does not re-create many specific episodes in vivid detail, which the author writes was intentional to protect his or her identity.

At a moment when a stream of political appointees and career public servants have testified before Congress about Trump’s conduct as part of the House impeachment inquiry, the book’s author defends his or her decision to remain anonymous.

“I have decided to publish this anonymously because this debate is not about me,” the author writes. “It is about us. It is about how we want the presidency to reflect our country, and that is where the discussion should center. Some will call this ‘cowardice.’ My feelings are not hurt by the accusation. Nor am I unprepared to attach my name to criticism of President Trump. I may do so, in due course.”

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham derided the book as a “work of fiction” and its anonymous author as a “coward.”

“The coward who wrote this book didn’t put their name on it because it is nothing but lies,” Grisham wrote in an email. “Real authors reach out to their subjects to get things fact checked — but this person is in hiding, making that very basic part of being a real writer impossible. Reporters who choose to write about this farce should have the journalistic integrity to cover the book as what it is — a work of fiction.”

Earlier this week, the Justice Department warned Hachette and the author’s agents, Matt Latimer and Keith Urbahn of Javelin, that the anonymous official may be violating a nondisclosure agreement. Javelin responded by accusing the administration of seeking to unmask the author.

The author’s Sept. 5, 2018, ­op-ed in the Times, headlined “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration,” depicted some senior officials as a bulwark protecting the country from the president’s reckless impulses. Trump denounced it at the time as treasonous.

In the book, the author repudiates the central thesis of the column: “I was wrong about the ‘quiet resistance’ inside the Trump administration. Unelected bureaucrats and cabinet appointees were never going to steer Donald Trump the right direction in the long run, or refine his malignant management style. He is who he is.”

The author describes senior officials waking up in the morning “in a full-blown panic” over the wild pronouncements the president had made on Twitter.

“It’s like showing up at the nursing home at daybreak to find your elderly uncle running pantsless across the courtyard and cursing loudly about the cafeteria food, as worried attendants tried to catch him,” the author writes. “You’re stunned, amused, and embarrassed all at the same time. Only your uncle probably wouldn’t do it every single day, his words aren’t broadcast to the public, and he doesn’t have to lead the US government once he puts his pants on.”

The book depicts Trump as making misogynistic and racist comments behind the scenes.

“I’ve sat and listened in uncomfortable silence as he talks about a woman’s appearance or performance,” the author writes. “He comments on makeup. He makes jokes about weight. He critiques clothing. He questions the toughness of women in and around his orbit. He uses words like ‘sweetie’ and ‘honey’ to address accomplished professionals. This is precisely the way a boss shouldn’t act in the work environment.”

The author alleges that Trump attempted a Hispanic accent during an Oval Office meeting to complain about migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

“We get these women coming in with like seven children,” Trump said, according to the book. “They are saying, ‘Oh, please help! My husband left me!’ They are useless. They don’t do anything for our country. At least if they came in with a husband we could put him in the fields to pick corn or something.”

The author argues that Trump is incapable of leading the United States through a monumental international crisis, describing how he tunes out intelligence and national security briefings and theorizing that foreign adversaries see him as “a simplistic pushover” who is susceptible to flattery and easily manipulated.

After the 2018 killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents, the author writes, Trump vented to advisers and said he would be foolish to stand up to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

“Do you know how stupid it would be to pick this fight?” Trump said, according to the book. “Oil would go up to one hundred fifty dollars a barrel. Jesus. How [expletive] stupid would I be?”

The book contains a handful of startling assertions that are not backed up with evidence, such as a claim that if a majority of the Cabinet were prepared to remove Trump from office under the 25th Amendment, Vice President Pence would have been supportive.

Pence denied this on Thursday, calling the book “appalling” and telling reporters, “I never heard anything in my time as vice president about the 25th Amendment. And why would I?”

One theme laced throughout the book is Trump’s indifference to the boundaries of the law. The author writes that Trump considered presidential pardons as “unlimited ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ cards on a Monopoly board,” referring to news reports that he had offered pardons to aides.

As he ranted about federal courts ruling against some of his policies, including the 2017 travel ban, the author writes, Trump once asked White House lawyers to draft a bill to send to Congress reducing the number of federal judges.

“Can we just get rid of the judges? Let’s get rid of the [expletive] judges,” the president said, according to the book. “There shouldn’t be any at all, really.”

The author portrays Trump as fearful of coups against him and suspicious of note-takers on his staff. According to the book, the president shouted at an aide who was scribbling in a notebook during a meeting, “What the [expletive] are you doing?” He added, “Are you [expletive] taking notes?” The aide apologized and closed the notebook.

The author also ruminates about Trump’s fitness for office, describing him as reckless and without full control of his faculties.

“I am not qualified to diagnose the president’s mental acuity,” the author writes. “All I can tell you is that normal people who spend any time with Donald Trump are uncomfortable by what they witness. He stumbles, slurs, gets confused, is easily irritated, and has trouble synthesizing information, not occasionally but with regularity. Those who would claim otherwise are lying to themselves or to the country.”

 

[fraurosena]

If the author isn’t Kellyanne I’m going to be very disappointed.

[Dandruff]

2 hours ago, fraurosena said:

It’s full of whining self pity, bombastic self aggrandizement and petty name-calling, contains contradictions, and blatant falsehoods. Of course.

Once again, he's a victim.  What's he doing about abused children, air quality standards, and the rainforests?

[fraurosena]

7 hours ago, Dandruff said:

What's he doing about abused children, air quality standards, and the rainforests?

He's locking them up, lowering them, and burning them down.

[fraurosena]

Not so much to enjoy now, is there?

 

[Howl]

10 hours ago, fraurosena said:

If the author isn’t Kellyanne I’m going to be very disappointed.

Yup.  The writing is rudimentary; it isn't elegant. I wonder if that is deliberate to retain the anonymity of the author?  Or maybe it's like the Whistle Blower -- someone has aggregated the complaints and concerns of many of the WH staff.  Maybe it's a palace coup after all. 

@fraurosena, I really like Col. Morris Davis on twitter.  He's just retired from the Navy (he was a judge) and moved to Asheville, North Carolina.  I have the impression he's in the process of getting involved with local politics and I wouldn't be surprised to see  him run at the local or state level. 

Edited November 8, 2019 by Howl

[CTRLZero]

Whenever I am unfortunate enough to encounter Trumpsters* who mention the stock market, I tend to respond like Col. Morris Davis.  I've been planning to incorporate the budget deficit into my next protest march sign.  So, thank you, Colonel!

*I rub elbows with a lot of financial planners and investor types.  Without starting fights, since I have to live near these people, I do innocently drop terms like "budget deficit" and "money laundering" into my conversations.  One person actually looked shocked when they were talking about a wealth management deal and I said, "Oh, isn't that like money laundering?  I learned about that on Ozark..." 

[fraurosena]

 

[Audrey2]

1 hour ago, fraurosena said:

 

In other words, "We can tell our true believers that it is a Democrat inspired witch hunt. Oh crap, it's open now and our corruption will be in the open, as witnesses will have the same story- we can't have public hearings."

[GreyhoundFan]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

We've lived the hell of "Apprentice: White House" for three years. We don't need more.

[AnywhereButHere]

Yes, actually! Maybe he'll be so jazzed about a new tv show that he'll exit early from the presidency!

[fraurosena]

12 minutes ago, AnywhereButHere said:

Yes, actually! Maybe he'll be so jazzed about a new tv show that he'll exit early from the presidency!

That would be great!

You could have law enforcement officers waiting outside the gate to arrest him as the door hits his ample orang butt.

[AnywhereButHere]

The Apprentice - Prison Edition!

[thoughtful]

4 minutes ago, AnywhereButHere said:

The Apprentice - Prison Edition!

Hey, if going to prison didn't stop Bialystock and Bloom from their bad habits, why should it stop Donny?

 their o

[GreyhoundFan]

I guess he has to go get his performance review in person: "Putin invited Trump to Russia’s Victory Day parade. Trump says he’s thinking about it."

Spoiler

President Trump said Friday he is considering attending Russia’s Victory Day festivities, an annual May 9 military parade on Moscow’s Red Square that commemorates the Soviet Union’s World War II triumph over Nazi Germany.

Russian President Vladimir Putin invited Trump at the Group of 20 summit in June.

Trump, who has yet to visit Russia as president, has openly questioned U.S. intelligence conclusions that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election.

“I am thinking about it,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “It is right in the middle of political season, so I’ll see if I can do it, but I would love to go if I could.”

Two U.S. presidents have attended Russia’s Victory Day parade: Bill Clinton in 1995 and George W. Bush in 2005.

The 2020 events will mark the 75th anniversary of the 1945 Allied victory over Nazi Germany and are likely to have more pomp than in recent years. Russia uses the day to show off its military might — featuring 13,000 troops, 130 military vehicles and 74 aircraft in the 2019 parade.

Several Western leaders, including President Barack Obama, declined to attend the 70th anniversary in 2015 because of Russia’s annexation of Crimea the year before.

Putin aide Yuri Ushakov told Russian reporters in June that invitations were also extended to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

If Trump did attend, it would be a significant public-relations coup for the Kremlin.

U.S. relations with Russia are at a low after the U.S. intelligence community accused Moscow of the election interference and raised alarms it could happen again in the 2020 presidential race.

After Trump and Putin’s meeting at the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Trump “responded very positively” to the offer to attend the Victory Day parade.

“It’s a very big deal celebrating the end of the war,” Trump said Friday.

Trump traveled to France in June to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day. In August, Trump canceled a trip to Poland for events marking the 80th anniversary of the beginning of World War II. Vice President Pence represented the White House.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

"The 40 wildest lines from Donald Trump's impromptu Friday press conference"

Spoiler

(CNN)Donald Trump has had a week!

Transcripts of closed-door testimony from a series of witnesses in front of the House Intelligence Committee seem to affirm the idea that a quid pro quo was in place between the US and Ukraine. He was ordered by a judge in New York to pay $2 million as restitution for using his Trump Foundation charity as a slush fund for his political interests. Elections in Kentucky and Virginia suggested Democratic momentum in 2018 hasn't worn off. He lost an appeal to keep his taxes from being released. And on and on it goes.

And so it was a very frustrated President who greeted reporters Friday morning before jetting off to Atlanta. I went through the transcript of Trump's remarks -- they stretched for almost a half hour -- and took note of some of his more outlandish lines. They're below.

1. "I just told them I've got to come over and see the fake news. Let's go."

I feel like this suggests Trump reads my recaps of his press conferences and speeches. Speaking of which: And away we go!

2. "I'm not concerned about anything."

Same.

3. "I mean, for the most part, I never even heard of these people. I have no idea who they are."

This is, of course, an outlandish statement. Trump "has never even heard" of the former US ambassador to Ukraine? Give me a break.

4. "They're some very fine people. You have some never-Trumpers. It seems that nobody has any firsthand knowledge. There is no firsthand knowledge."

Ok, two things here. First, there is ZERO evidence that any of the people who testified in the House impeachment hearings are "Never Trumpers." Second, National Security Council Ukraine expert Alexander Vindman, whose testimony was released Friday, was on the July 25 call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. And he immediately reported the call as inappropriate to his superior.

5. "And all that matters is one thing: the transcript. And the transcript is perfect."

(Narrator voice) It isn't.

6. "Well, they shouldn't be having public hearings. This is a hoax. This is just like the Russian witch hunt. This is just a continuation."

Trump never elaborates on why he believes the House shouldn't have public hearings on impeachment. (Those hearings are slated to start next week.) But, if he truly believes they are a "hoax" and a "witch hunt" wouldn't he want that to be exposed by public hearings?

7. "I saw he said very nice things about me last night. But we'll have to see. I'll have to see."

Trump, asked about Jeff Sessions' just-announced Senate bid, proves -- yet again -- that all he does is watch cable TV news.

8. "I had a very good call with the President of Ukraine. I assume that's what you're talking about. The call was perfect."

I know I have been over this ground before but ... what, exactly, constitutes a "perfect" phone call? Is it about the contents of the call? The execution? The connection clarity?

9. And all you have to do is take a look at Biden and you will see tremendous corruption because what he did is quid pro quo times 10."

There is zero evidence of any wrongdoing by Joe Biden vis a vis the removal of a Ukrainian prosecutor. Biden, in his service as vice president, was the face of a broad coalition effort to have the prosecutor dismissed due to concerns about his unwillingness to investigate corruption. Those are the facts.

10. "Be quiet. Quiet. Quiet. Quiet."

Just the President of the United States telling a reporter to stop asking a question. Very normal stuff! Nothing to see here, folks!

11. "Alabama is a place where my approval numbers are very good. I think I won by 42 points."

(Narrator voice) It was 28 points.

12. "We'll see what happens. I mean, we'll see what happens."

This is Trump on whether there will be a China trade deal. Also, he says "we'll see what happens" when he has no idea what to say.

13. "Well, now, you've really shaped my behavior, because from the day I came in here, I've had problems with phony stuff, like a phony dossier that turned out to be false, like false investigations that I've beaten. So a lot of my behavior was shaped by the fake news and by the other side. That was a lot of my behavior."

This is demonstrably false. Even a cursory look at Trump's life before politics shows the same pattern of behavior he's shown in office: Bullying, vindictive and always, always spinning things in his favor.

14. "I caught the swamp. I caught 'em all."

(Stifles laughter)

15. "I caught all of this corruption that was going on, and nobody else could have done it."

(Snorts)

16. "My charity was great. I gave a lot of money away."

Former New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood said that her investigation of the Trump Foundation produced "a shocking pattern of illegality involving the Trump Foundation — including unlawful coordination with the Trump presidential campaign, repeated and willful self-dealing, and much more." So, yeah -- "great."

17. "New York is a corrupt state. It's a corrupt state, it's a shame."

Wait, wait. Isn't Trump President of all 50 states? Including New York?

18. "I gave $19 million away. And what happened is, instead of saying, 'Thank you, great,' they hit me with a lawsuit and it was started by a man who had to get out because he beat up women."

The man in question here is former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Schneiderman resigned his post in May 2018 amid allegations by several women that he assaulted them. Worth noting here that Trump faced a slew of allegations of sexual harassment from more than a dozen women in the run-up to the 2016 election.

19. "I had a call. I'm sure it was fine. I mean, you know, I have to -- I make a lot of calls."

Honestly, same.

20. "I'm very transparent. Nobody is more transparent than I am."

Donald Trump was the first major party candidate in modern memory to refuse to release any of his past tax returns. He is also the first president post-Watergate to refuse to do so. So, yeah.

21. "And if I wasn't and if I didn't release it, it would have been a problem, because the fake whistleblower said something about the call, many things that were wrong."

Nothing that has come out publicly disputes the original eight-page complaint by the whistleblower. In fact, everything we have learned since has bolstered the initial complaint.

22. "Let -- let me just tell you, I -- I hardly know the gentleman."

Ha, ha, ha...oh wait, he isn't joking. Trump is talking here about Gordon Sondland. Yes, the same Sondland who donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural committee and was rewarded with an posting as the US ambassador to the European Union. Never heard of him!

23. "Everybody that's testified, even the ones that are Trump haters, they've all been fine. They don't have anything."

So many ways to go with this but I'll head down this path: There is NO evidence that any of the people have testified are "Trump haters" or have feelings either way about the President. He is just making stuff up.

24. "And if I asked Bill Barr to have a press conference I think he'd do it, But I never asked him to have a press conference. Why should I?"

Truly amazing stuff here. Trump didn't ask the attorney general to hold a press conference to clear him of any wrongdoing in the Ukraine matter -- as the Washington Post has reported he did. But, if he had asked, Barr would have done it. Sure!

25. "They lost an election and they lost it big."

(narrator voice) Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by almost 3 million.

26. "And, interestingly, if you look at the polls that just came out, my polls are up."

This is, again, simply false.

27. "And I'll tell you, the whistleblower, I call him the fake whistleblower. He gave a fake report of my phone call."

I am going to record myself saying: "Nothing the whistleblower alleged has been proven incorrect or inaccurate in any way." And then just hit "PLAY" over and over and over again.

28. "My phone call was perfect. He made it sound bad. That's why I had to release."

The transcript just doesn't say what Trump thinks it says.

29. "So the whistleblower is a disgrace to our country. A disgrace. And the whistleblower, because of that, should be revealed."

This is truly stunning stuff. The whistleblower followed procedures put in place for just this thing. And (hits PLAY) "Nothing the whistleblower alleged has been proven incorrect or inaccurate in any way." And yet Trump is saying the person is a "disgrace" and urging his or her identity be revealed. Chilling stuff.

30. "And his lawyer, who said the worst things possible two years ago, he should be sued. And maybe for treason. Maybe for treason."

The whistleblower's lawyer should be charged with treason?!?! For what, exactly? Oh, Trump doesn't explain.

31. "(Schiff) made up a speech and he put my voice in it. He made up a speech, had nothing to do with what I said."

Trump has latched onto this argument, which is so dumb and so easily proven false. Please read this about that. I beg you.

32. "They've gone out and they've gone out of their way to find the people that hate Donald Trump, President Trump, the most."

No. Evidence. Any. Witnesses. Hate. Trump.

33. "We are winning so big. My polls are the highest they've ever been, I'm leading in all of the states, every swing state."

(Head explodes)

34. "Nancy Pelosi should go back to her district, which is horrible. It's filthy. It's drug-infested. The stuff's being flown out to the ocean -- it's being wiped out to the ocean through their drainage systems."

Reminder: Donald Trump is President of the people in Nancy Pelosi's district too!

35. "We're doing very well with African Americans."

In a CNN national poll in September, 9% of African Americans approved of the job Trump was doing as compared to 86% who disapproved.

36. "I know Michael. He became just a nothing. He was really a nothing. He's not going to do well, but I think he's going to hurt Biden, actually. But he doesn't have the magic to do well."

Michael Bloomberg: he just doesn't have the magic.

37. "Little Michael will fail. He'll spend a lot of money. He's got some really big issues. He's got some personal problems and he's got a lot of other problems."

Modern day presidential.

38. "There is nobody I'd rather run against than Little Michael."

Trump, for what it's worth, has said this same thing about Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren and virtually the entirety of the Democratic field.

39. "Just so you know, we have the highest poll numbers. We have the most energy."

Uh huh.

40. "I have to do what the lawyers say, to a certain extent; not always, but, you know, to a certain extent."

Oh yeah. I get it -- to a certain extent. This feels like a good place to end.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

"The United States is being run by a toddler"

Spoiler

Most Americans don’t care what Lutsenko said to Giuliani about Yovanovitch. And we rarely take interest in Kiev if it isn’t preceded by “chicken.”

But if you take away the names and the Ukraine intrigue, what you’re left with from the thousands of pages of deposition transcripts released this week by impeachment investigators is a striking consensus — among Trump administration officials, Democrats and even, to some extent, Republicans — that the United States is currently being run by a toddler.

He has tantrums. He rips up paper. He disregards facts. He believes crazy conspiracies. He’s erratic and ill-informed. Those around him walk on eggshells, trying to prevent him from doing the geopolitical equivalent of sticking his finger in an electrical socket.

U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, a Trump donor and political appointee, described Trump’s style: “President Trump changes his mind on what he wants on a daily basis. I have no idea what he wanted on the day I called him.” Sondland also spoke about Trump’s “completely inconsistent” behavior: “The funny part is that he was railing about the problems with Ukraine in our meeting, but I think shortly after that he sent essentially an unconditional invitation to President Zelensky to come visit him.”

Sondland testified about Trump’s unreasonableness (“He sort of went on and on and on about how Ukraine is a disaster and they’re bad people”), limited attention (“He didn’t even want to deal with it anymore, and he basically waved and said, ‘Go talk to Rudy’”) and poor judgment (“Taking directions from the president, as I must, I spoke with Mr. Giuliani … Please know that I would have not recommended that”). Likewise, George Kent, the deputy secretary of state overseeing Ukraine, painted a picture of aides trying to soothe a childlike Trump. “Initially the president did not want to sign a congratulatory letter, and he actually ripped up the letter that had been written for him,” Kent testified. “But by the end of the meeting he’d been convinced.”

Republicans’ questions suggest they, too, accept that the president is not entirely rational; they urged witnesses to respond as “if you are in President Trump’s world,” whether Trump’s views are “reasonable or not” and “fair or not.”

For example: “If the president, for whatever reason, true or untrue, develops a feeling that he’s got an ambassador that isn’t loyal to him, he’s going to bring them home, correct?”

And: “If you try to get inside the president’s head, I mean, he may have been searching for the name ‘Burisma’ but couldn’t grasp it so he spits out ‘Biden’?”

The witness, Kurt Volker, Trump’s envoy for Ukraine negotiations, said Trump “would not know or even know how to pronounce or be familiar with the name of a company like that.”

Of course, you don’t need to read depositions to know this about Trump; you only need look at his recent public behavior. One moment he’s at a rally shouting “we are kicking their ass,” and the next he’s retweeting a message calling him a “bad motherf-----.” One moment he’s declaring that “this impeachment nonsense … is driving the Stock Market, and your 401K’s, down.” The next he’s announcing: “Stock Markets (all three) hit another ALL TIME & HISTORIC HIGH yesterday!” One moment he’s proposing a “fireside chat” reading of the infamous rough transcript. The next he’s threatening a government shutdown.

An anonymous administration official writes in a new book that Trump is “like a twelve-year-old in an air traffic control tower, pushing the buttons of government indiscriminately, indifferent to the planes skidding across the runway and the flights frantically diverting away from the airport.” Even loyalist Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) posits a dubious new defense of Trump’s Ukraine actions: “It was incoherent …They seem to be incapable of forming a quid pro quo.”

The depositions make clear Trump appointees and civil servants feel similarly. They describe “great confusion,” a “lack of clarity,” "the absence of “any coherent explanation” and a “vacuum.” The acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, “rarely responded to emails and almost never returned phone calls.”

They describe a president who is “confounding” and paranoid (he “kept repeating it … ’they tried to take me down, they tried to take me down’”) and volatile (“the president was really in a bad mood,” “it was almost like he hung up on me”). They testified about him being swayed by Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Hungarian strongman Viktor Orban, and about how they coached the Ukrainians on dealing with Trump. They spoke of keeping “dissonant information” from Trump. They talked of fearing tweets from Trump and his family attacking them. As a consequence, they reported feeling “discouraged,” "incredibly frustrated” and “pissed.”

Toddlers have a way of doing that to their caregivers.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Wouldn't it be nice to never see (or hear from) him again?

 

[smittykins]

Oh sweet Rufus on prancing velvet hooves, PLEASE let it be so...?

Edited November 9, 2019 by smittykins

[GreyhoundFan]

 

[GreyhoundFan]

 

[RosyDaisy]

Watching the Alabama LSU game on the local CBS station, and there was nothing about Trump mentioned other than he was there.  They didn't even show him.  He was given the luxury box reserved for VIPs.  So, that's all I know.  Back to the party.  ROLL TIDE!!!!!!

[RosyDaisy]

Commercial break update.  According to friends in Tuscaloosa, Trump did indeed get cheered on as his limo pulled up and he was escorted to the luxury.  There was a protest 3 blocks away.  Afterwards, the Baby Trump balloon got stabbed.