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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
She/her
#275651: Mar 25th 2019 at 1:43:35 PM

[up][up] He’s a vulture. Getting his claws into some of R. Kelly’s victims gets him no credit, and he didn’t help take down R. Kelly.

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#275652: Mar 25th 2019 at 2:07:47 PM

R.Kelly was brought down by a large number of hard working people, his victims first and foremost.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#275653: Mar 25th 2019 at 2:33:33 PM

In the real world, it is possible to do both good deeds and bad deeds, because real people aren't caricatures of moral values. Doing good things doesn't get you off the hook for the bad ones, and doing bad things doesn't erase the good ones.

This.

Being against people who are bad does not make you good. In order to be good, you have to be for things that are good.

That's why AOC doesn't just spend her every waking moment trolling Mitch and Trump. She also pushes serious policy ideas for ways to improve life for Americans. She's here to help people, not just stick it to the people she doesn't like.

Always be wary of anyone who's like, "Vote me for 'cause that dude and/or those people suck." Like Trump.

Edited by TobiasDrake on Mar 25th 2019 at 3:34:34 AM

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
Soban Since: Aug, 2009 Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
#275654: Mar 25th 2019 at 2:59:25 PM

>Always be wary of anyone who's like, "Vote me for 'cause that dude and/or those people suck." Like Trump.

So pretty much everyone. (especially during 2016, my vote for Johnson was a vote for Johnson, much as I might say that I voted against Trump)

AzurePaladin She/Her Pronouns from Forest of Magic Since: Apr, 2018 Relationship Status: Mu
She/Her Pronouns
#275655: Mar 25th 2019 at 3:06:33 PM

[up] ...Nope. I ran all out of patience last night to argue, and I'd rather not get involved in a derail again. I'll just say "Clinton actually stood for things other than being not-Trump" and move on.

Edited by AzurePaladin on Mar 25th 2019 at 6:07:02 AM

The awful things he says and does are burned into our cultural consciousness like a CRT display left on the same picture too long. -Fighteer
wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#275657: Mar 25th 2019 at 3:55:16 PM

Third signature. I think that means it goes on the ballot.

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#275658: Mar 25th 2019 at 4:22:06 PM

Fourthed.

Heh, how appropriate.

Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Mar 25th 2019 at 4:22:21 AM

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
NativeJovian Jupiterian Local from Orlando, FL Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Maxing my social links
Jupiterian Local
#275659: Mar 25th 2019 at 4:23:27 PM

Regarding the Mueller report, it's important to remember that we haven't seen it yet. We've seen a summary of a summary of the report, as written by a pro-Trump partisan that was criticizing the Mueller investigation since basically the moment he was appointed.

The Mueller investigation gathered as much evidence on the specific subject it was created to investigate as it could. It delivered a report that summarized the investigation, particularly on its decisionmaking process regarding who to charge and who not to charge. Barr then summarized this summary; this is the letter sent to Congress that's the only official word we have on the Mueller investigation so far.

Prosecutors (like Mueller) generally don't recommend charges unless they're confident that they can secure a conviction, which means meeting the standard of "beyond a reasonable doubt". This is, roughly, something like 90-95% confidence that the accused is guilty. If the Mueller investigation reached an 85% level of confidence that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia, then Mueller would likely decline to prosecute for lack of evidence. His summary that he delivered to Barr would say as much (without necessarily mentioning the mountain of evidence that brought him to the 85% point). Barr's summary of the summary can then restate "declined to prosecute because the evidence didn't reach the threshold of beyond a reasonable doubt" as "declined to prosecute because there was no evidence"

So it's important to remember that we're at three degrees of separation here. There's the Mueller investigation, the Mueller report (a very narrow, specific summary of the investigation's findings, as required by law), the Barr summary of the Mueller report (which we can expect to be blatantly partisan because Barr has already proven himself to be such), and then on top of that we have the media reporting on the Barr summary of the Mueller report summarizing the Mueller investigation (which adds another layer of confusion because, even if they're not actively and deliberately spinning things like Fox News et al, most political reporters are not lawyers and so don't necessarily understand the whole affair from a legal perspective).

This is why it's important to push not just for the release of the Mueller report, but to open the books of the entire Mueller investigation. This is literally the only way that the public will get to know what Mueller found that didn't hit the "beyond a reasonable doubt" threshold. And he public certainly deserves to know if Mueller concluded that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia with "only" 85% confidence.

It's also important to remember that it's early days yet. Barr's summary of a summary was released yesterday. This is not a case of "Mueller's report said no collusion, oh well time to move on". It's time to dig in and get Mueller's report released to the public, then get Mueller's entire investigation released, then continue the other investigations that are still ongoing that were outside the scope Mueller was legally allowed to look into under his mandate as special council.

tldr: Buckle up, friends. Shit is just getting started and it's going to be a wild ride.

Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.
LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#275660: Mar 25th 2019 at 4:30:03 PM

Apparently Mitch is trying to deny requests to see the full report.

Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#275661: Mar 25th 2019 at 4:40:27 PM

They're going to start denying it existence next

"What's a Muller report?I don't know anything about a report about Muller.."

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#275662: Mar 25th 2019 at 4:46:50 PM

Can McConnell do anything to affect the House's seeing it?

RainingMetal (Handed A Sword) Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#275663: Mar 25th 2019 at 5:04:28 PM

So is this report all an anticlimax? That's what I'm getting from the Wikipedia jot note.

ASAB: All Sponsors Are Bad.
wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
She/her
#275664: Mar 25th 2019 at 5:07:21 PM

We don’t know. Barr doesn’t even quote a full sentence. But burying it is a bigger red flag than that Chinese flag being held by 80 people.

MrAHR Ahr river from ಠ_ಠ Since: Oct, 2010 Relationship Status: A cockroach, nothing can kill it.
Ahr river
#275665: Mar 25th 2019 at 5:22:18 PM

It will always be an anticlimax. That's not doomsaying or anything, just that the real world tends to never be as explosively dramatic as we'd like.

It's quite possible it will say a lot of underwhelming things that might not mean much to us now, but then have long term repercussions down the road.

Read my stories!
MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#275667: Mar 25th 2019 at 5:53:27 PM

Google keeps seeing it's related to name Andy

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
nombretomado (Season 1) Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
#275668: Mar 25th 2019 at 5:58:02 PM

Southern District of New York.

Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#275669: Mar 25th 2019 at 5:58:49 PM

I suspect that it’s a reference to the S(outhern) D(district) (of) N(ew)Y(ork) where a letter got moved.

The Southern District of New York is a section of the justice department that covers southern New York and had been working closely with Muller and seems to have taken up a number of cases that he felt fell outside his prevue.

It’s seperate from the New York A Gs office, with is a state based justice department that’s charging Manafort with several crimes.

Edited by Silasw on Mar 25th 2019 at 12:59:29 PM

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#275670: Mar 25th 2019 at 5:59:43 PM

https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2019/03/25/day-795/

    Day 795: No conclusion 
1/ Attorney General William Barr concluded that Robert Mueller's investigation found no evidence that the Trump campaign "conspired or coordinated" with Russia during the 2016 election. Barr submitted a four-page summary of Mueller's key findings to Congress for review, noting that Mueller didn't find conspiracy "despite multiple offers from Russia-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump campaign." While Mueller's team drew no conclusions about whether Trump obstructed justice, Barr and Rod Rosenstein independently concluded that the evidence was "not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense." Democrats are calling for full report to be made public and are questioning Barr's conclusions. (New York Times / Washington Post / Politico / The Guardian / CNBC / NPR / Reuters / Bloomberg / Associated Press)

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-barr/mueller-does-not-find-trump-campaign-knowingly-conspired-with-russia-idUSKCN1R50RG

📖 READ: Attorney General William Barr's summary of the Mueller report. (Document Cloud / New York Times / CNN)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/24/politics/read-mueller-key-findings-doj/index.html

🔍 ANALYSIS: The question unanswered by Mueller's report: Why did Putin risk interfering in the 2016 election as he did. (The Atlantic)

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/03/mueller-report-leaves-one-key-question-unanswered/585625/

🔍 ANALYSIS: The six unanswered questions from Barr's summary of the Mueller report. The attorney general offered his "principal conclusions," but left some questions abut the special counsel's investigation unresolved. (Vox)

https://www.vox.com/2019/3/24/18279886/mueller-report-summary-trump-william-barr-questions

🔍 ANALYSIS: 4 key takeaways from the Mueller report summary. (Washington Post)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/03/24/takeaways-mueller-reports-principal-conclusions/

🔍 ANALYSIS: What to make of Bill Barr's letter: Mueller did not find that Trump obstructed his investigation, but he also made a point of not reaching the conclusion that Trump didn't obstruct the investigation. (Lawfare)

https://www.lawfareblog.com/what-make-bill-barrs-letter

🔍 ANALYSIS: Legal experts question Barr's rationale for exonerating Trump. Barr noted that Mueller didn't conclude that Trump committed obstruction of justice but that Mueller also said that he wasn't exonerating Trump either. (Washington Post)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/03/25/problems-with-william-barrs-conclusion-that-trump-didnt-obstruct-justice/

🔍 ANALYSIS: Why Trump isn't being charged with obstruction of justice. Mueller laid out the facts of Trump's actions with regard to the investigation and Barr and Rosenstein used those facts to draw a conclusion about whether Trump would meet the requirements to be charged with obstruction. (Vox)

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/3/24/18279851/mueller-trump-obstruction-justice-exoneration

🔍 ANALYSIS: Impeachment just became less likely. (NPR)

https://www.npr.org/2019/03/25/706432776/impeachment-just-got-less-likely-and-6-other-takeaways-from-the-barr-letter

🔍 ANALYSIS: The key findings of the Mueller report. (The Guardian)

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/25/the-mueller-report-key-findings

📌 Day 700: Trump's pick for attorney general criticized Mueller's obstruction of justice investigation in an unsolicited memo he sent to the Justice Department in June. William Barr said "Mueller's obstruction theory is fatally misconceived," claiming that Trump's interactions with James Comey would not constitute obstruction of justice, because Trump was using his "complete authority to start or stop a law enforcement proceeding." If confirmed as attorney general, Barr would oversee Mueller's work. (Wall Street Journal / New York Times / CNN / The Guardian / Washington Post)

https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/19/politics/bill-barr-comey-obstruction/index.html

2/ Trump declared that Mueller's report was "a complete and total exoneration" despite Mueller saying the investigation "does not exonerate him." Mueller's report states that "The investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities" and it "does not conclude that the President committed a crime." Trump complained that "It's a shame that our country has had to go through this […] that your president has had to go through this." Trump added that Mueller's investigation was "an illegal takedown that failed" and "hopefully somebody's going to look at the other side," implying that the appointment of the special counsel investigation may now be subject to scrutiny. (Politico / CNN / New York Times / Washington Post / Reuters / Associated Press)

https://www.reuters.com/video/2019/03/24/trump-claims-complete-and-total-exonerat?videoId=529714002&videoChannel=1&channelName=Top%5C+News

3/ Mueller told the Justice Department three weeks ago that he wouldn't reach a conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice. In Barr's summary to Congress, he concluded that the Justice Department couldn't make a prosecutable case against Trump for obstruction. Mueller's report, however, "did not draw a conclusion – one way or another – as to whether the examined conduct constituted obstruction." The conclusion was reportedly "unexpected" and not what Barr had anticipated. (CNN)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/25/politics/mueller-obstruction-conclusion/index.html

Mueller's office deliberated with Justice Department officials about issuing a subpoena for Trump to be interviewed, but ultimately decided that a subpoena could not be pursued based on the evidence and merits of the issues. Current department policy also dictates that a sitting president cannot be indicted. (CNN)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/24/politics/mueller-doj-subpoena-trump/index.html

The White House rejected a request from Congressional Democrats for documents related to Trump's phone calls and meetings with Putin. Investigators argue that Trump has attempted to "conceal the details of his communications with President Putin," which are a threat to national security and present concerns because Trump may have been manipulated by Russia. (ABC News)

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/white-house-rejects-house-democrats-request-trump-putin/story?id=61843655

4/ House Democrats want to see the full Mueller report and are calling on Barr to appear before the House Judiciary Committee to answer questions. "It is unacceptable," said Chairman Jerry Nadler," that after Special Counsel Mueller spent 22 months meticulously uncovering this evidence, Attorney General Barr made a decision not to charge the President in under 48 hours." Nadler called on Barr to "release the report and the underlying evidence in full," and to appear before the committee "without delay." Nadler has contacted the Department of Justice to set a date for Barr to testify and fill in the blanks he left in his summary of the Mueller report. (CNBC / NBC News / CBS News)

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/24/fight-over-mueller-report-and-trump-russia-investigation-isnt-over.html

5/ Trump said it "wouldn't bother me at all" for Mueller's report to be released in full, but left it "up to the attorney general." Trump added that Mueller had acted honorably despite previously describing the special counsel as "conflicted," "disgraced" and a "liar." Trump later blamed "treasonous" people, who are guilty of "evil things" for the Russia investigation. He did not name his critics, but said he's "been looking at them for a long time," adding: "you know who they are." (ABC News / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / New York Times / Politico)

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/democrats-demand-mueller-report-trump-attorney-general/story?id=61922470

6/ Trump's attorney doesn't want Trump's "confidential" written answers to Mueller to be released, citing executive privilege. Jay Sekulow called such a move "very inappropriate," adding that "as a lawyer, you don't waive privileges and you don't waive investigative detail absent either a court order or an agreement between the parties." Nadler, meanwhile, warned Trump against attempting to assert executive privilege to block the release of portions of the Mueller report. "As we learned from the Nixon tapes case, executive privilege cannot be used to hide wrongdoing." (CNN / NBC News)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/25/politics/jay-sekulow-trump-mueller-written-answers/index.html

7/ Mitch Mc Connell blocked a non-binding resolution to make Mueller's full report public. The resolution was passed unanimously in the House, but Mc Connel cited national security concerns for his decision to block the resolution in the Senate. (CNN / Axios)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/25/politics/schumer-mueller-report-mcconnell/index.html

8/ Russia says the Mueller report "has proved what we in Russia knew long ago: there was no conspiracy between Trump or any member of his team and the Kremlin." Konstantin Kosachev, the chair of the Federation Council's committee on foreign affairs, blamed U.S. media bias and anti-Russian sentiment for the investigation, adding that they expect the U.S. to increase pressure on Russia. Dmitri Peskov, Putin's spokesman, called Barr's summary "recognition that there wasn't any collusion." (The Guardian / New York Times)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/25/russia-reaction-mueller-report-proved-what-already-knew

    Notables 
Prosecutors suggest that Paul Manafort may be trying to get $1 million out of his $11 million forfeiture to the federal government. A shell company named formed as Mueller was investigating Manafort in August 2017 claimed that it deserves $1 million from Manafort's forfeiture. (CNN)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/23/politics/paul-manafort-million-dollars-forfeiture/index.html

The Supreme Court will not hear an appeal from an unidentified foreign government-owned company resisting a Mueller subpoena. The justices left intact a federal appeals court ruling that said the company had to comply with the subpoena. The company faces fines that have increased by $50,000 a day and may have grown to well more than $2 million. (Bloomberg / Washington Post / CNN)

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-25/mystery-company-in-mueller-subpoena-fight-loses-at-supreme-court

Michael Avenatti was arrested on charges of trying to extort up to $25 million from Nike by threatening to reveal negative publicity. The former lawyer for Stormy Daniels was also charged in a separate federal case of embezzling a client's money "in order to pay his own expense and debts," and of "defrauding a bank in Mississippi." (CNBC / Politico / The Guardian / CNN)

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/25/michael-avenatti-to-be-charged-with-wire-and-bank-fraud.html

Trump signed a proclamation formally recognizing Israel's authority over the long-disputed Golan Heights. Earlier in the day, Hamas, the armed group that rules Gaza, fired a rocket that destroyed a house in a village north of Tel Aviv. (New York Times / Reuters)

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-palestinians-violence-idUSKCN1R60M3

The State and Treasury departments sanctioned 14 individuals and 17 entities linked to Iran's organization for defense, innovation and research. Senior administration officials suggested that SPND could provide cover for them to continue missile-related activity. (CNN)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/22/politics/state-treasury-iran-sanctions/index.html

Mitch Mc Connell will put the Green New Deal to a vote, forcing Democrats on the record to paint them as socialists who are out of touch with American values. (New York Times)

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/25/us/politics/green-new-deal-vote.html

RainingMetal (Handed A Sword) Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#275671: Mar 25th 2019 at 6:59:44 PM

So essentially they've managed to hide the good stuff?

ASAB: All Sponsors Are Bad.
speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#275672: Mar 25th 2019 at 7:00:23 PM

@ Native Jovian: Tell that to the right wing media. Only a day after Barr's summation and they're badgering Democratic guests to admit they were wrong about Trump and Russia, despite that nobody but Barr has seen it. It's pretty annoying.

Edited by speedyboris on Mar 25th 2019 at 9:02:21 AM

Wildcard Since: Jun, 2012
#275673: Mar 25th 2019 at 7:04:30 PM

Sad news is they'll probably win because of Barr's last minute failing-grade opinion paper and with how goddamn stupid a huge chunk of this nations voting base is. Looks like we'll have to keep fighting the good fight, donating or volunteering at Planned Parenthood, giving to LGBT groups, pointing our racist laws and protesting against police brutality even moreso because vast swaths of this nation will continue to worship Trump as their god.

PhysicalStamina i'm tired, my friend (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
i'm tired, my friend
#275674: Mar 25th 2019 at 7:07:06 PM

[up][up]The right-wing media will distort facts and make up other ones no matter how much of the official report ends up getting released to the public. It's what they do.

Edited by PhysicalStamina on Mar 25th 2019 at 10:07:26 AM

i'm tired, my friend
HailMuffins Since: May, 2016 Relationship Status: Shipping fictional characters
#275675: Mar 25th 2019 at 7:29:29 PM

Pretty sure Fox News and its ilk would just say that Mueller was obviouly bribed/biased/brainwashed and Trump is innocent and whoever says otherwise is a dirty commie terrorist out to destroy the US if the report said Trump did collude with Russia.

It's hard to make someone see the facts when they got their heads shoved up their own arses like that, after all.


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