Is it too soon to write the obituary for Donald Trump's illegitimate presidency? How might Donald Trump's last 100 days in office appear? For one thing, it will be a Constitutional crisis of monumental proportion. However, as I have written in anticipation many times, the rule of law will prevail. First, follow the evidence that includes following the money.
A trail of smoke followed the Trump train on the way to The White House. When the train stopped, smoke thickened in and around the historical place. Helicopters and jets came and went from Washington to Florida with turbulent vapor trails ever present.
Republicans in the House where impeachment must be initiated have shored up to defend their President from investigations and transparency. Actions by Speaker Ryan can be appealed to the court as being obstruction of justice and conflicts of interest that include attempting to shield themselves from prosecution by passing laws with protection clauses.
Part of the last 100 days in office will be consumed by legal appeals to force the House to initiate impeachment resulting from a preponderance of the evidence.
The evidence is widely distributed among the FBI, Treasury, and National Security Agencies where former President Obama took action to preserve it in anticipation that hostile entities might seek to destroy it. Part of the evidentiary thread includes the trails to Russians and the links to Donald Trump's campaign associates, businesses, and friends.
All the while, the weakest link in the pursuit of justice is Donald Trump. His ever blabbing and classic misdirection bubbles with actionable information among all of the noise intended to distract.
Donald Trump's blaming others and inventing enemies is the act of directing people to the wrong place or in the wrong direction. That includes trying to change the subject.
The fact is that the Speaker of the House and Senate Majority Leader have been incorporated into the President's sinister attempt to protect himself from prosecution. That makes it necessary for a series of recusals to happen.
One of the first recusals is that of Jeff Sessions, the newly appointed Attorney General.
The fights by elected officials to sustain their positions in the protocol chain as prescribed by the US Constitution may be fierce. The battles may be quickened to a conclusion by 1) well prepared prosecuting attornies and by 2) a Court that is willing to achieve justice in the matter to preserve national integrity.
"Jeff Sessions Joins Four Others In Donald Trump Cabinet Caught Lying To Senate
Donald Trump was enjoying the glory of pundits giving him a pat on the back for, basically, not yelling during his lie-riddled address to Congress. And that enjoyment lasted not quite 24 hours before the next bombshell story hit. Attorney General Jeff Sessions had been in contact with Russia multiple times during the campaign while being an advisor to Trump, then lied about having any communications with Russian officials during his confirmation hearing. Incredibly, Sessions is now the fifth cabinet member known to have lied to the Senate during his confirmation, joining Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
Last night, the Washington Post broke the story that Jeff Sessions had two contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the campaign. Kislyak is the same Russian official former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn had contacts with that eventually led to his disgraceful removal. When Sessions was asked by Senator Al Franken about Trump campaign contacts with Russian officials, he stated “I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians”.
Sessions denied he discussed the campaign with Russian officials in a statement last night.
EPA head Scott Pruitt was asked during his hearing whether he had ever conducted any official business as Oklahoma Attorney General using personal email accounts. He replied, “I use only my official OAG [Office of the Attorney General] email address and government issued phone to conduct official business”. The Oklahoma AG’s office later confirmed Pruitt had, in fact, used his personal email to conduct state business. Pruitt was confirmed a week before the revelations.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin was asked whether his company OneWest had ‘robo-signed’ – i.e. signed without properly reviewing – documents relating to foreclosures and evictions. He stated “OneWest Bank did not ‘robo-sign’ documents, and as the only bank to successfully complete the Independent Foreclosure Review required by federal banking regulators to investigate allegations of ‘robo-signing,’ I am proud of our institution’s extremely low error rate”. Court documents and testimonies by former employees confirmed his company had engaged in the act.
Along with questions about his stock purchases, HHS Secretary Tom Price was caught lying during his confirmation about a sweetheart stock deal he received related to Innate Immunotherapeutics Ltd. Price stated the discounted shares “were available to every single individual that was an investor at the time”. It was later revealed fewer than 20 U.S. investors were offered the deal and the opportunity came about “from an invitation from a company director and fellow congressmen”.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was asked if she sat on the board of her mother’s foundation while it was donating millions to anti-LGBT groups. She responded “I do not” sit on the board while pointing out she was not a part of the decision-making process of the foundation. Intercept reporter Jeremy Scahill posted tax documents showing DeVos was listed as a Vice President for the foundation. He also pointed out the excuse DeVos gave was completely preposterous.
http://reverbpress.com/politics/least-5-trump-cabinet-secretaries-lied-congress/
