(Trump speaks to members of the media as John Bolton listens during a meeting with President of Romania in the Oval Office of the White House August 20, 2019 in Washington, DC. Photo by Alex Wong via Getty Images.)
On Saturday, White House lawyers made the argument, on behalf of Donald Trump, that there was no definitive proof that the President was withholding Ukrainian aid in order to coerce a Biden investigation. Newly released details from John Bolton’s manuscript now confirm that Trump told Bolton in August that he wanted to continue freezing $391 million in security assistance to Ukraine until officials there helped with investigations into Democrats including the Bidens. Bolton’s manuscript also implicates other Trump administration officials like Mulvaney and Pompeo. This means Trump’s best (and really only) defense is shot.
Did Trump’s counsel have access to this manuscript and know about what Bolton would say before they argued that there was no direct witness to Trump’s quid pro quo? Did they get caught in Trump’s lies by mistake? Any good lawyer would have all of the facts and know what existed that could burn their client. On the other hand, you might purposely avoid having personal knowledge of information so that you could still, in good faith, make the best arguments for your client. Is it time for Chief Justice Roberts to step in and find out?
I think the WH attorneys are going to need to explain why they should not be charged with lying to Congress and may not be practicing attorneys after having violated ethics and legal standards
According to the letter to the White House from Bolton's attorney on Dec 30, 2019 included when they hand carried the manuscript for review, I would say all the lawyers knew. In fact, I would bet my student loans on it.
The illegally placed compulsive liar president with multiple personality disorders got there using his strongest trait. The deceptive art of lying. The Liar in Chief, dangerous sociopath with desperate level of self protection, there is no doubt that these lawyers were manipulated (threatened) to lie with intentional false statements Their scripts were most likely reviewed, and even prepared by the master of lies and his co-conspirators. The narcissist in him had to force those people to perform for him because the pathetic liar is petrified that his own false sense of greatness will be revealed. This habitual liar, constantly lies and it is a game to him. Pseudologia fantastica, also known as mythomania or pathological lying, is a psychiatric phenomenon that this president displays every moment of his miserable life. The people who are being manipulated by this damaged human being are lacking moral compass of their own...they are under the control of their brutal king.
At least Nixon accepted his guilt. What we have now are pathological liars who are intent on obfuscation throughout DJT’s administration. Kickbacks in corrupt intention riddle this administration. The GOP clutches frantically at half truths, I am aghast at the Senators. Both GOP backed IA senators are marching lockstep in votes cast no matter how many voice messages I leave for them. A very awful set of circumstances coming from Iowa.
This is probably why Trump has personal attorneys and White House lawyers - he may have been keeping the WH lawyers in the dark on these details. That’s giving them the benefit of the doubt.
It’s not hard to come up with a myriad stories of what may have happened... fiction writers work on this all the time, refining and editing their narrative to grab the broadest appeal. We are living through a dystopian fiction of America that aspired to her ideals... a horror stub, if you will. We never know anything for sure shy a truth serum to unlock the mysterious interior brains of these zealous, dissolute, and aggrieved white men. This is not to dissolve their culpability for destroying the relatively short-lived American democratic experiment, but literary fellows may offer us more satisfaction in the mean time.
no idea really, but they should have, considering the WH has had the copy of the manuscript since dec. 30, re: bolton's attorney. he had to submit it to them for approval b4 publishing if i'm not mistaking, to make sure he wasn't giving away US secrets.
Hold them accountable, just as we hold Trump and his administration accountable. There are no free passes this time. We get them twice: we vote them out AND we hold them responsible for all of their actions during the past 3, and by then, 4 years. Lies. Complicity. Failure to tell the truth. Betrayal. Treason. We can argue how far we want to go, but in my opinion, we must go down the road of justice if this country is going to survive. Trump and Co. has been a sustained attack on EVERYTHING this country stands for. They must pay.
I think the WH attorneys are going to need to explain why they should not be charged with lying to Congress and may not be practicing attorneys after having violated ethics and legal standards
According to the letter to the White House from Bolton's attorney on Dec 30, 2019 included when they hand carried the manuscript for review, I would say all the lawyers knew. In fact, I would bet my student loans on it.
The illegally placed compulsive liar president with multiple personality disorders got there using his strongest trait. The deceptive art of lying. The Liar in Chief, dangerous sociopath with desperate level of self protection, there is no doubt that these lawyers were manipulated (threatened) to lie with intentional false statements Their scripts were most likely reviewed, and even prepared by the master of lies and his co-conspirators. The narcissist in him had to force those people to perform for him because the pathetic liar is petrified that his own false sense of greatness will be revealed. This habitual liar, constantly lies and it is a game to him. Pseudologia fantastica, also known as mythomania or pathological lying, is a psychiatric phenomenon that this president displays every moment of his miserable life. The people who are being manipulated by this damaged human being are lacking moral compass of their own...they are under the control of their brutal king.
At least Nixon accepted his guilt. What we have now are pathological liars who are intent on obfuscation throughout DJT’s administration. Kickbacks in corrupt intention riddle this administration. The GOP clutches frantically at half truths, I am aghast at the Senators. Both GOP backed IA senators are marching lockstep in votes cast no matter how many voice messages I leave for them. A very awful set of circumstances coming from Iowa.
"Any good lawyer" answers your question.
This is probably why Trump has personal attorneys and White House lawyers - he may have been keeping the WH lawyers in the dark on these details. That’s giving them the benefit of the doubt.
White lawyers also act as nsc legal staff nsc has first go at classification determination..
It was actually hand delivered to the Office of the WH, which would have forwarded it to OLC, WH legal counsel. They know.
It’s not hard to come up with a myriad stories of what may have happened... fiction writers work on this all the time, refining and editing their narrative to grab the broadest appeal. We are living through a dystopian fiction of America that aspired to her ideals... a horror stub, if you will. We never know anything for sure shy a truth serum to unlock the mysterious interior brains of these zealous, dissolute, and aggrieved white men. This is not to dissolve their culpability for destroying the relatively short-lived American democratic experiment, but literary fellows may offer us more satisfaction in the mean time.
no idea really, but they should have, considering the WH has had the copy of the manuscript since dec. 30, re: bolton's attorney. he had to submit it to them for approval b4 publishing if i'm not mistaking, to make sure he wasn't giving away US secrets.
mistaken
And did Trump order the Soleimani hit as a gesture to Bolton?
it would appear.... republicans blindsided by the fact that it didn't buy boltons' silence
So what do we do when the senate shrugs it off and aquits him?
Hold them accountable, just as we hold Trump and his administration accountable. There are no free passes this time. We get them twice: we vote them out AND we hold them responsible for all of their actions during the past 3, and by then, 4 years. Lies. Complicity. Failure to tell the truth. Betrayal. Treason. We can argue how far we want to go, but in my opinion, we must go down the road of justice if this country is going to survive. Trump and Co. has been a sustained attack on EVERYTHING this country stands for. They must pay.
Trump has turned his lawyers and everyone who is associated with him into liers.
This is the Kavanaugh playbook, and Republicans are even referencing it.