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WaPo: Trump admin sought to block Sally Yates from testifying to Congress on Russia

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Maxim726X

Member
Keep swinging, Schiff.

See, elections matter everybody.

Because realistically, he can't do shit. And even if Nunes was removed, he would be replaced by someone arguably worse.

Same in the Senate. If that committee wanted to fuck around, there is nothing the Dems can do to stop them.

Comey is our last hope.
 

smokeymicpot

Beat EviLore at pool.
C8A7BHKXUAQGqSa.jpg


White House Statement.
 

thefro

Member
Legally I don't think Trump could stop it since Yates doesn't work for him anymore.

The worst that could happen to Yates is she'd get disbarred and her testimony on informing the senior official might not be admissible in a court trial of one of Trump's cronies. I think it'd still be fair game in an impeachment hearing since Congress pretty much does whatever it wants in that scenario.
 

Damaniel

Banned
It just never stops. Is there anyone left who still believes there is no "there" there when it comes to Trump and Russia?

Even the Republicans think that there's a "there" there - it's just that saying so would mean putting country over party, and they're not capable of that.
 

theWB27

Member
The public should demand that there needs to be an agency that ONLY deals with overseeing what's going on.

No way politicians should hold the final say in investigating themselves.
 
lol what the fuck

smokescreens, chaos, misinformation?

this shit is bananas. our government has become a mountain of unprofessionalism
It is fucking NUTS

sorry there is no other way to classify this nonsense

They're hiding behind presidential immunity in that blocking of Yates testimony in the letters but now saying "nope, never happened. fake news!!"

I want off this planet.
 

3rdman

Member
Its amazing to me that Republicans aren't taking this opportunity to throw this treasonous fuckhead out on his ass. I mean colluding with Russia I would have thought is over the line for them. Pence would be a more establishment guy too.

Because the blowback would be far reaching for all Republican members...They are already likely to lose the house and senate and they really haven't yet done anything they want. I believe they'd be more than happy to be rid of Trump but I also think that (for now) he is their "useful idiot".

Once they actual pull the plug on the orange turd, they will be completely impotent to do anything until after the next election. In my opinion, of course...
 

Thaedolus

Member
Because the blowback would be far reaching for all Republican members...They are already likely to lose the house and senate and they really haven't yet done anything they want. I believe they'd be more than happy to be rid of Trump but I also think that (for now) he is their "useful idiot".

Once they actual pull the plug on the orange turd, they will be completely impotent to do anything until after the next election. In my opinion, of course...

They probably have the senate locked until 2020 unless there's a yuuuuge wave. Dems are mostly on defense in 2018.
 
Someone(Stinkles maybe) once said Trump was playing 1D tic tac toe and kept writing L in all the spaces. It's never been more apparent that that is what's happening. Scooby-Doo villains cover their tracks better than these idiots.
 

KoopaTheCasual

Junior Member
It is fucking NUTS

sorry there is no other way to classify this nonsense

They're hiding behind presidential immunity in that blocking of Yates testimony in the letters but now saying "nope, never happened. fake news!!"

I want off this planet.
Yea, this is blowing my mind. We HAVE the evidence. And their response is "nuh uh!"

This is something I'd read about in the papers in some hyper-oppressed country and feel sorry for them. I didn't see this happening in the goddamn USA.
 

Slacker

Member
So I'm confused....is the whitehouse statement that the WaPo letter is fake?

You're thinking about it more than they did. At the White House I guaran-damn-tee the big orange baby shouted to whoever was nearby - "THAT'S FAKE NEWS! RELEASE A STATEMENT!" What you see above is the best they could think of.
 

KoopaTheCasual

Junior Member
So I'm confused....is the whitehouse statement that the WaPo letter is fake?
Like most things in this administration, I feel like the response was hastily written, without checking to see if the letters were leaked. If we don't see a revised statement soon, then holy shit they are actually going for the "those letters are fake!" angle, which is mind-blowing.
 
Like most things in this administration, I feel like the response was hastily written, without checking to see if the letters were leaked. If we don't see a revised statement soon, then holy shit they are actually going for the "those letters are fake!" angle, which is mind-blowing.

It really does look like the WH can't keep track of what's what anymore.
 
lolwut? WaPo has the letter from Dept of Justice! They explicitly say she was barred from testimony because the topics are covered under executive privilege.

Edit: here are WaPo's letters: http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/do...from-testifying-on-russia/2390/?tid=a_inl-amp

Where in those letters is the White House telling Yates not to testify? It seems we're missing the WH response to this? Yates' letter basically says "the justice department said I need to ask you; if we don't hear back by Monday, we'll assume you're waiving executive privilege."
 
They read the headline and not the story I'd bet.

Seriously though, they couldn't act more like they are in cover up mode if they tried.

Do I believe that it is reasonable to think this administration's ego is such that they didn't do anything wrong but think they shouldn't ever be questioned? Yeah.

Or to put it another way, either this is a cover up, or they are so stupid as to repeatedly act like they are covering something up, when they aren't.

Both are completely plausible.

Neither are good.
 

Vectorman

Banned
Where in those letters is the White House telling Yates not to testify? It seems we're missing the WH response to this? Yates' letter basically says "the justice department said I need to ask you; if we don't hear back by Monday, we'll assume you're waiving executive privilege."
It's page 6. It's basically saying that she might be allowed to go if she tells the WH what she is going to tell the Committee. Of course anything that makes the WH look bad is probably not be allowed to be said publicly, because Trump is President and those are his 'privileges'.
 
It's page 6. It's basically saying that she might be allowed to go if she tells the WH what she is going to tell the Committee. Of course anything that makes the WH look bad is would probably not be allowed to be said publicly, because Trump is President and those are his 'privileges.

*shrug* Page 6 read more to me like: "This is the White House turf, so go ask them, you don't need permission from us."

Seems like they're just following the letter of the law in this case? I just don't see the jump from "Justice Dept. asked Sally Yates to make sure Trump waives executive privilege" to "Trump WH stopped Yates from testifying."

That's like asking your mom if you can go somewhere, she says "ask your dad" and then you to to the school paper to say your dad wouldn't let you go. What am I missing?
 
Where in those letters is the White House telling Yates not to testify? It seems we're missing the WH response to this? Yates' letter basically says "the justice department said I need to ask you; if we don't hear back by Monday, we'll assume you're waiving executive privilege."

Where in the WaPo article does it say the White House told them to do this? The Justice Department are part of the executive branch and their leaders were picked by Trump. Is it wrong to consider them part of the Trump admin?

Genuine question.
 
Where in the WaPo article does it say the White House told them to do this? The Justice Department are part of the executive branch and their leaders were picked by Trump. Is it wrong to consider them part of the Trump admin?

Genuine question.

I guess you're right, but even then, that letter from the JD doesn't support that headline either... All they did was say "Ask the White House"
 

SaviourMK2

Member
If the White house said the story was false, then it must be a true story.

Rule of thumb with this administration, whatever they said happened, the opposite happened.
 

Creamium

shut uuuuuuuuuuuuuuup
It's not like blocking her from testifying is gonna remove her ability to speak up... Do they really think this is going to stay under wraps? It's going to come out either way (I hope). They're acting in full cover-up mode, this reeks of panic and desperation.
 

Cmagus

Member
Its amazing to me that Republicans aren't taking this opportunity to throw this treasonous fuckhead out on his ass. I mean colluding with Russia I would have thought is over the line for them. Pence would be a more establishment guy too.
They know he will eventually get caught for something and they honestly don't care at this point. They have the majority power and if anything Trump is a diversion while they sit back and pass their bills.
 

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
Where in the WaPo article does it say the White House told them to do this? The Justice Department are part of the executive branch and their leaders were picked by Trump. Is it wrong to consider them part of the Trump admin?

Genuine question.

Constitutionally it's a fairly meaningless distinction. Practically it's USUALLY a meaningless distinction - underlings, for example would deal with small potatoes - but Sally Yates, Russian Spies, Trump himself?

There's no distinction. But watch them use the small potatoes defense or a variation on it.
 

mnannola

Member
I believe this is the pertinent text from the DOJ letter to Yates:

In particular, your letter pertains to Ms. Yates?s potential disclosure to HPSCI of ?non-
classi?ed facts about the Department?s noti?cation to the White House of concerns about the
conduct of a senior official.? We appreciate your meeting at the Department on March 23, 2017,
to provide additional information about the details of these communications with the White
House that you believe may be responsive to Committee inquiries.

Ms. Yates seeks authorization to testify about communications she and a senior
Department official had with the Office of the Counsel to the President. Such communications
are likely covered by the presidential communications privilege and possibly the deliberative
process privilege. The President owns those privileges. Therefore, to the extent Ms. Yates needs
consent to disclose the details of those communications to HPSCI, she needs to consult with the
White House. She need not obtain separate consent from the Department.

Isn't this just saying that Yates needs to check with the White House, not the DOJ on these matters? How is that the same as blocking her from testifying? Did she request permission and was denied? If so that isn't shown in these letters.
 

Vectorman

Banned
They know he will eventually get caught for something and they honestly don't care at this point. They have the majority power and if anything Trump is a diversion while they sit back and pass their bills.
Yeah but if that was the actual case, then the healthcare bill would have passed then. They're starting to flounder themselves.
 

smokeymicpot

Beat EviLore at pool.
C8BD1dRWkAINS8e.jpg


: A 3/24 letter from DOJ to Sally Yates states she must get authorization from WH to testify about convos w/ WH, CBS News can confirm
 

Sephzilla

Member
They know he will eventually get caught for something and they honestly don't care at this point. They have the majority power and if anything Trump is a diversion while they sit back and pass their bills.

Yet the healthcare bill didn't even make it pass the house, something that should have been a given. I'm getting the feeling that Republicans are starting to turn on him
 
I believe this is the pertinent text from the DOJ letter to Yates:



Isn't this just saying that Yates needs to check with the White House, not the DOJ on these matters? How is that the same as blocking her from testifying? Did she request permission and was denied? If so that isn't shown in these letters.

That's what I'm saying. With all the real smoke coming out of the Russia story, I don't want people to overreact and overreach giving the Trump ppl more cover to yell fake news.
 
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