Posted on 07/20/2017 12:57:15 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Technically Trump’s warning was aimed only at business dealings that don’t have to do with Russia. Mueller needs to stay in his lane, he told the Times:
SCHMIDT: Last thing, if Mueller was looking at your finances and your family finances, unrelated to Russia — is that a red line?…
TRUMP: I would say yeah. I would say yes. By the way, I would say, I don’t — I don’t — I mean, it’s possible there’s a condo or something, so, you know, I sell a lot of condo units, and somebody from Russia buys a condo, who knows? I don’t make money from Russia. In fact, I put out a letter saying that I don’t make — from one of the most highly respected law firms, accounting firms. I don’t have buildings in Russia. They said I own buildings in Russia. I don’t. They said I made money from Russia. I don’t. It’s not my thing. I don’t, I don’t do that. Over the years, I’ve looked at maybe doing a deal in Russia, but I never did one. Other than I held the Miss Universe pageant there eight, nine years [crosstalk]…
SCHMIDT: But if he was outside that lane, would that mean he’d have to go?…
TRUMP: No, I think that’s a violation. Look, this is about Russia.
Around 15 hours later, Bloomberg has confirmation from someone close to the special counsel’s office that his probe is in fact now looking at Trump’s business dealings — albeit, so far, only with Russian interests. It’s hard to tell if that leak’s designed to be reassuring or defiant to the White House. It’s reassuring in that it confirms that Mueller is staying his lane for now, but it must be unnerving to Trump to know that Russiagate now involves scrutiny of his businesses. If Mueller stumbles on something criminal but unrelated to the Russia investigation, what does he do? Ignore it? What did Ken Starr, charged with investigating Whitewater, do when the Lewinsky scandal landed on his doorstep?
A president who resents the special counsel to begin with and is sufficiently anxious about people knowing what his businesses are up to that he won’t release his tax returns isn’t going to tolerate this comfortably, assuming he tolerates it at all. Is it time to start the pool on Trump firing Mueller? This constitutional crisis will be the best constitutional crisis, believe me:
The U.S. special counsel investigating possible ties between the Donald Trump campaign and Russia in last year’s election is examining a broad range of transactions involving Trump’s businesses as well as those of his associates, according to a person familiar with the probe…
FBI investigators and others are looking at Russian purchases of apartments in Trump buildings, Trump’s involvement in a controversial SoHo development with Russian associates, the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow and Trump’s sale of a Florida mansion to a Russian oligarch in 2008, the person said…
Mueller’s team is looking at the Trump SoHo hotel condominium development, which was a licensing deal with Bayrock Capital LLC. In 2010, the former finance director of Bayrock filed a lawsuit claiming the firm structured transactions in fraudulent ways to evade taxes. Bayrock was a key source of capital for Trump development projects, including Trump SoHo.
An interesting wrinkle to the deals named in Bloomberg’s article is that they all happened years before Trump became a candidate, raising the question of what nexus Mueller might be exploring between Trump’s business operations and the campaign hackings by Moscow last year. Is he looking for overlap in personnel, i.e. Russians who transacted with Trump previously whose names have surprisingly reappeared in the hacking probe? Or is he looking at something more elaborate, like Russian interests paying above market for Trump properties in the past in the expectation that there’d be a quid pro quo later? If so, how could they have known that Trump would eventually turn to politics? What sort of private-sector quid pro quo would they have been expecting instead? A provocative line from the Bloomberg story: “The roots of Mueller’s follow-the-money investigation lie in a wide-ranging money laundering probe launched by then-Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara last year.” Hmmmm.
This leak comes on the same day, by the way, that the Times is out with a splashy piece on Paul Manafort having owed many millions of dollars to pro-Russian interests before becoming Trump’s campaign manager last year. Someone with that sort of debt, and especially those sorts of creditors, wouldn’t stand a chance of getting a security clearance at a government agency, yet for awhile he was running the Republican presidential campaign. He’s been “invited” to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee next week. Stay tuned. Exit question: When does Trump finally drop the axe on Mueller? Before or after Labor Day?
Trump is asking for this as he does not go after any of the real criminals in the democrat party.
If this is True Sessions should fire him, but Sessions is a weak-kneed church mouse, so he will do nothing.
DARE
Oh look - another analpundit post.
Trumps business activities have zero to do with the investigation into Russian involvement in the election and just proved that Mueller can’t find anything and is now on a full on fishing expedition - including getting Trumps IRS’ files and handing them off to the Dems.
It’s even more infuriating that this was NEVER done to Obama who knowingly broke far more laws.
I’ll say it again - the DNC must be dissolved as traitorous to the United
States of America.
The witch hunt keeps going deeper and deeper and will not stop until a pound of flesh is extracted. Though I know of no legal requirement to have done so, would Trump and his family been better served by placing their business interests into a blind trust during the campaign and presidency?
Have a PI investigate Mueller and publicize the data. Everyone’s got skeletons in their closets, especially swamp creatures.....
If Trump fired Mueller, how in the world would that be a constitutional crisis?
Mueller is a DOJ employee, in other words an executive branch employee, and it would be entirely within President Trump's constitutional powers if he fired Mueller.
What is a real constitutional crisis?
For example, Obama issuing new laws in the form of an executive order issuing work and residence permits to aliens who are not permitted to be in the country under laws passed by Congress, thus usurping Congress's constitutional powers.
For example, a Federal judge substituting his own policies on whether and how to admit refugees from dangerous areas, usurping both the President's and Congress's constitutional powers.
Justifiable reason for Sessions to fire Mueller and his entire Demonicrat Deep State staff.
If it wasn’t already obvious, this is definitely now a fishing expedition.
Some of the profit from that hotel makes its way back to Trump since he owns the hotel.
Therefore... Trump accepted money from Russians... and since he funded his own campaign, he therefore used Russian money to help fund his campaign... the horror!!!
And Mueller never did a thing about that.
'Cuz Bammy kept him fed. Nice doggy. Growl at someone else.
The corruption probes should focus on Comey and Mueller and their blackmail shtick trying to keep their Big Jobs.
A total yes. Hotair putting out hot air. When and if it ["constitutional crises"] happens, seeing CNN and the other Morons trying to make it so ...LoL.
With everything we know about the Hildabeast and her minions which cries out for further investigation, why is the new Trump administration under the seemingly never-ending investigation???? It boggles the mind.
So true, all he has to do is find the right buttons to push.
What really bugs me is that Hillary is loving every minute of this whole Russia,Russia Russia mess. It no doubt gives her a measure of satisfaction to see Pres. Trump constantly under attack.
Amateurs vs Pros.
I’m a Trump supporter from day one. But why doesn’t he use the full power he has ... set up an investigation of mueller, cut off his funds, fire him, fire all who are still there from before the inauguration, tell the Republicans to either get behind him, or the sh1t is going to hit the fan on who they are and why they are.. we voters are being shafted by all the attacks .. the mess out there is preventing our President from carrying on with jobs, taxes, healthcare... it’s all being stymied..
Everything they do is illegal... laws are being broken right and left.. Trump has to get in the mud to rescue the pig... do what you have to do to get this crap over with .. Yes it can be gotten over with... but not by daily bringing it all up every day all day...
It’s been hell so far as to enjoying our victory.. so just hit it and get it over with quickly.. fire, demand, cut off funds, tell them this is how it is.. and DO IT! Be dictator for the day... and rule the day... just once! it’s gonna take that to fix this mess.. they are not going to stop by Trump being nice about it... they are carrying on the destruction bama did and hillary did.. God help us to be the smart ones at this point.. and get this duff off our backs!!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.