Minor Politics & News

[Phantom Roxas]

So… I'm genuinely curious, does Trump actually add anything? None of what I see from him seems like improvements. It's either removing past agreements or legislations, or imposing bans that discriminate against religions. And now he's pulling the United States out of the Paris Agreement because he refuses to accept that climate change is real. He runs away, takes away, and pushes away. It's not giving the country anything it can use to thrive.

[Dad]

I'll be kind and admit to this accurate statement on the President's behalf:

 

He just lived up to his campaign promise by withdrawing from the Paris Climate Deal.

[Phantom Roxas]

Apologies if this is not the appropriate thread, but given that Michael Flynn has come up before, I thought this would be the best place to put it.

 

Robert Mueller has reached a plea deal with Michael Flynn, who is being charged with lying to the FBI for his contracts with Russia.

 

(Auto-play warning) http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/michael-flynn-charged-making-false-statements-fbi-documents/story?id=50849354

 

Robert Mueller's been doing a good job of holding people accountable for becoming Russian puppets. Looking forward to how this investigation will continue.

[Ryusei the Morning Star]

"According the FBI statement, Flynn communicated with Kislyak after being asked by a senior Trump transition official to find out how foreign governments stood on the coming UN Security Council resolution about Israel." 

 

Please make this the standard for Treason, seeing Obama carted off to jail using this precedent will be soooo sweet

[Phantom Roxas]

As Nancy Pelosi has pointed out, Michael Flynn is the fourth Trump official charged for contact with Russia. https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/936651614089302017

 

(For reference, the other three were George Papadopoulos, Paul Manafort, and Richard Gates) https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/12/01/four-people-charged-so-far-russia-investigation/906920001/

Additionally, Trump has been very adamant in trying to stop this investigation, yet his intent seems to very much border on obstruction of justice.

http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a13997610/trump-obstruction-of-justice-republican-senators/
http://www.newsweek.com/trump-has-now-urged-seven-officials-help-end-russia-probes-728072

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks." See also, the Streisand Effect. Trump's obsession actually seems to lend more credence to the notion that his campaign colluded with Russia. Trump has also cited the Russia investigation as a motive for dismissing Comey, and Mueller has since picked up where Comey left off. So depending if, or how Trump responds to Mueller, this could add further fuel to the fire.

[Ryusei the Morning Star]

I'm fine with that. Please show me any criminal statue where it's illegal 

 

Logan act hasn't prosecuted anyone ever, so let me just kill that one for you

[Phantom Roxas]

Moving the goalpost, and then preemptively shutting down an answer to the new goalpost, is intellectually dishonest and shows that your primary concern is in shutting down a discussion rather than allowing it to progress.
 
As Politico reveals, "Nathaniel Persily at Stanford University Law School said one relevant statute is the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002." http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2017/may/31/gregg-jarrett/fox-news-hosts-wrong-no-law-forbids-russia-trump-c/

 

They also cite how the U.S. code defines fraud and coercion, as Trump officials talking with Russians - and then lying about it - could also be held against them. Keep in mind that Michael Flynn's specific charge is for lying to the FBI.

[Ryusei the Morning Star]

Moving the goalpost, and then preemptively shutting down an answer to the new goalpost, is intellectually dishonest and shows that your primary concern is in shutting down a discussion rather than allowing it to progress.

 

As Politico reveals, "Nathaniel Persily at Stanford University Law School said one relevant statute is the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002." http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2017/may/31/gregg-jarrett/fox-news-hosts-wrong-no-law-forbids-russia-trump-c/

 

They also cite how the U.S. code defines fraud and coercion, as Trump officials talking with Russians - and then lying about it - could also be held against them. Keep in mind that Michael Flynn's specific charge is for lying to the FBI.

Not unless I greatly misunderstood the goalpost? Do you no longer have to commit a crime to be charged? I missed that memo. I'm just stating that actual traitors haven't been prosecuted under the logan act, but you're free to try to go for that angle

 

What we do know is a former senior intelligence officer with knowledge of Trump transition activities has said that then-President-Elect Trump directed Michael Flynn to contact the Russians, but said he also directed the national security team to contact 12 other countries as well

 

https://twitter.com/brookefoxnews/status/936646399093026816

 

And A report from ABC News indicates that Flynn "is prepared to testify that Donald Trump directed him to make contact with the Russians, initially as a way to work together to fight ISIS in Syria." Neither of which would conflict with the law you found.

[Dad]

Minor News Clarity Changes

 

What's New?

 

• Political short-posts.*
• Restrictions lessened.

Henceforth, this thread can be used for political short-posts.  What does that mean?  Perhaps you've seen an interesting or questionable tweet by a senator, mayor, or congressman.  Feel free to share it and talk about it.  Got some new statistics that you wanna share and there isn't a thread for it in Debates?  Share it here.  If it sparks discussion, feel free to create a thread for it.   In addition, this thread has been moved from Debates to General to keep things light.