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Nunes: Court-authorized surveillance of foreign agents picked up Trump talk.

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B

Beer Monkey

Member
Autoignition said:
They might have smoking guns on Manafort or someone like him, but that doesn't directly implicate Trump. Without an actual recorded call of Donald Trump himself saying to someone in the Kremlin, "Yes, we're happy to work with you in order to win the election," the guns aren't as smoky as the IC may like.
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We don't really need Trump collaborating with foreign actors, we just need proof that he knew his staff was.
 
E

Effect

Member
I imagine that something would have to leak out of the FBI or an outlet would have to report something directly about him that causes all of the media to shift all attention to him. That might be the only thing that gets Ryan to ask him to step down. It has to be a lot directly about him.
 
B

BlastProcessing

Member
Steve Youngblood said:
I really don't get the sense that Nunes was ready for prime time here. And I mean that in two contexts:

1.) I don't think he has the credibility to run an impartial investigation of this much importance.

2.) It doesn't seem like he's the most well-versed person to cover up any subterfuge at play here to undermine a legitimate investigation.

No matter which angle you attack it from, it seems that he is floundering here.
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His hometown paper just dunked on him. The Fresno Bee: Russia-Trump probe is in chaos, and Rep. Devin Nunes is to blame

SacBee said:
By our yardstick, Rep. Devin Nunes had a terrible week fulfilling his duties as chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

In fact, the performance of the Tulare Republican was so inept and bewildering that a fellow Republican, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, told MSNBC's Greta Van Susteren on Wednesday that a bipartisan special select committee should investigate Russia's meddling into the 2016 presidential campaign.
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SacBee said:
Nothing he did last week served the nation's best interests.
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guek said:
With Ryan backing him today, I'm not aware of any avenue that would get him removed against his will.
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If his hometown paper keeps dunking on him, he will retreat. It's hard to imagine Nunes being able to hold a townhall at this point without it being a complete shitshow. He is less than 2 years away from an election. At some point he needs to get things back to normal.
 
S

Silas Lang

Member
Chumley said:
It would blow my mind if the FBI and intel community doesn't have a smoking gun. Trump and his campaign are all fucking morons, there is just no way there isn't something directly linking them to this absolutely suffocating amount of smoke.

I think they have something but are waiting to build an untouchable case.
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I have to wonder how much public perception comes into play as well. Even if they had all the evidence and the "smoking gun" from the begining, it would have seemed more partisan and unbelievable right after the election. I think a part of the whole investigation process is to allow the public to slowly digest the information. Public opinion is slowly shifting and more people are begining to question and speak out.
 
K

~Kinggi~

Banned
Silas Lang said:
I have to wonder how much public perception comes into play as well. Even if they had all the evidence and the "smoking gun" from the begining, it would have seemed more partisan and unbelievable right after the election. I think a part of the whole investigation process is to allow the public to slowly digest the information. Public opinion is slowly shifting and more people are begining to question and speak out.
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hey look bingo someone gets it!
 
G

guek

Banned
Silas Lang said:
I have to wonder how much public perception comes into play as well. Even if they had all the evidence and the "smoking gun" from the begining, it would have seemed more partisan and unbelievable right after the election. I think a part of the whole investigation process is to allow the public to slowly digest the information. Public opinion is slowly shifting and more people are begining to question and speak out.
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While I think that's a smart move and probably necessary, Rome is burning around us
 
C

Chumley

Banned
Silas Lang said:
I have to wonder how much public perception comes into play as well. Even if they had all the evidence and the "smoking gun" from the begining, it would have seemed more partisan and unbelievable right after the election. I think a part of the whole investigation process is to allow the public to slowly digest the information. Public opinion is slowly shifting and more people are begining to question and speak out.
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Yeah, this is probably right. I just wonder how much further his numbers have to go down before they drop the hammer, assuming they have everything they need now or in the near future. If they've been investigating him since July of last year there's a pretty good chance they've had all of the big pieces for a while.

guek said:
While I think that's a smart move and probably necessary, Rome is burning around us
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This too. It can't go on like this, the country can't take it. I pray to god Comey realizes it, I'm still not convinced he isn't a partisan stooge just trying to appear like he's not by announcing the investigation. Can easily imagine him coming out again over the summer and saying he doesn't recommend charges.
 
J

jstripes

Banned
Silas Lang said:
I have to wonder how much public perception comes into play as well. Even if they had all the evidence and the "smoking gun" from the begining, it would have seemed more partisan and unbelievable right after the election. I think a part of the whole investigation process is to allow the public to slowly digest the information. Public opinion is slowly shifting and more people are begining to question and speak out.
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That's exactly what's happening.

At the same time, with 30 years of conditioning from right wing talk radio and Fox News, a good 30% of the population will still believe it's a left wing conspiracy even if presented with absolute, undeniable proof.
 
C

Chaos2Frozen

Member
On the flip side, because we don't see immediate action after all these evidences and suspicious activities, it would feed into the narrative that "nothing would happen".

I'm not even talking about going straight for Trump, but it's taken way too long for something to happen to Nunes after all the crap he pulledz.
 
J

jelly

Member
What happens when the rolling investigation ball finally hits people in the face?

Do the FBI turn up and arrest people then go to court or something else?
 
S

Shadow Puppetry

Member
Autoignition

Autoignition

Member
jstripes said:
Does anyone know who they can and can't arrest?
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As far as I know, there's no law that says the FBI can't just barge into the White House and arrest the president. The fact is that they probably wouldn't, though, out of respect for the institution. They would probably push congress to start the impeachment process, and were it found that he needed to be removed, arrest him then.
 
The Chosen One

The Chosen One

Member
Looks like the media is our last resort to shame Nunes into submission. There's a reason why Trump has been nice to Paul Ryan despite the healthcare debacle. He knows Paul Ryan is in charge of assigning chairmen to the House committees. Trump has to keep Paul Ryan on his side. It's why Trump has been going hard on the Freedom Caucus instead.

This fiasco definitely shows the flaw in our form of government. If one party controls the executive branch and the House and Senate, then it's too easy for the party in power to hide corruption.

We just have to hope things rebalance in 2018. I just worry that our attention spans are so short nowadays that Nunes antics will be long forgotten by the time anything can be done about it.
 
S

Shadow Puppetry

Member
NYA NYA NYA NYAAA NOT TELLING
Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) said Tuesday that he’ll never reveal who leaked information to him that members of Donald Trump’s team had been identified through incidental surveillance by U.S. intelligence agencies.

“We will never reveal sources and methods,” Nunes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said to ABC News’ Mary Bruce on Tuesday.

Even other members of the committee, which is investigating Russian interference in the presidential campaign, will not learn how Nunes obtained information indicating that key figures close to Trump were monitored by U.S. intelligence, Nunes said.
 
M

Mr. X

Member
More Repubs need to get fed up and turn on him for Ryan to turn on him. Ryan is disgraced, he'll rollover when pushed.
 
T

Tranqueris

Banned
BlastProcessing said:
If his hometown paper keeps dunking on him, he will retreat. It's hard to imagine Nunes being able to hold a townhall at this point without it being a complete shitshow. He is less than 2 years away from an election. At some point he needs to get things back to normal.
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Nunes is acting more like a man who wants to avoid prison at all costs than someone who is thinking about reelection at this point. The fact that he keeps winning reelection in his district without trying doesn't help either.

sazzy said:
Just wait for more leaks to sink Nunes.

Someone's probably talking to a reporter right now.
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Considering how the White House is basically a fuck each other over factory at this point, yeah probably. "I saw the person who I wanna screw over to gain more political power, leading Nunes in!"
 
D

DonShula

Member
Autoignition said:
As far as I know, there's no law that says the FBI can't just barge into the White House and arrest the president. The fact is that they probably wouldn't, though, out of respect for the institution. They would probably push congress to start the impeachment process, and were it found that he needed to be removed, arrest him then.
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I'd think they also care about what happens to someone after the arrest - i.e. having enough dirt to successfully prosecute. You only get one shot so it better be a good one (omar.gif and all that).
 
D

Dubbedinenglish

Banned
RustyNails said:
Man, I don't think FBI is equipped to handle such a Spectre type, multifaceted criminal case. We need Interpol, maybe? International Criminal Court?
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They got the FIFA case down pretty good. I think they can handle it fine. Whether the political cogs will allow them to work is another question.
 
mckmas8808

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Tranqueris said:
Nunes is acting more like a man who wants to avoid prison at all costs than someone who is thinking about reelection at this point. The fact that he keeps winning reelection in his district without trying doesn't help either.
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Agree
 
C

Creamium

shut uuuuuuuuuuuuuuup
iirc people here have already brought up the possibility, but is this (around 10:20) likely, what Jeremy Bash says? That Nunes was ordered to act a fool and basically run everything into the ground so that the investigation lost all credibility? Because of the degree of idiocy involved here it'd be strange if any kind of strategy was involved, but it could be the case.

Also, the opening monologue talks about Paul Ryan being the often ignored link here, which is kind of interesting. He's probably involved in all this, but doesn't want to be mentioned or associated with it.
 
O

Ogodei

Member
RustyNails said:
Man, I don't think FBI is equipped to handle such a Spectre type, multifaceted criminal case. We need Interpol, maybe? International Criminal Court?
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Interpol is simply when organizations like the FBI agree to act in concert with the law enforcement of another nation or international body to tackle an international crime. There is no elite force of globetrotting supercops (as awesome as that would be).
 
I

ivajz

Member
KernelPanic said:
I seem to recall this story coming out before. Obama wanted a bipartisan response so it wouldn't look like he was interfering with the election but the GOP wouldn't play along. So they decided to stay quiet.
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Yeah, McConnell didn't want to. He said he would make a big stink about it, if they (dems) came out with the statement.
 
M

Mikef2000

Member
Shadow Puppetry said:
Apparently, Obama barred Comey into coming forward with the Russia hacking last year.

Uhh, so why let it happened with Hillary?
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As hard as it is to swallow. Obama did the right thing. If you read the article, Comey only wanted to do an OP-ED, it wasn't a formal announcement to congress. Besides, you can bet for sure, the party before country republicans would have screamed murder that Obama was interfering with the elections. Obama quite possibly had the toughest job ever for any president through his entire term in office. The bar for him was absurdly high, and that he managed to meet it is nothing short of a miracle.

In contrast, the bar for Trump is absurdly low, and yet he has missed it every time so far.
 
S

Surfinn

Member
CNN just showed a clip where Nunes says "I'm not answering anymore questions about this" and that he's "answered all of your questions clearly" to one of their reporters.

Nunes couldn't look more guilty if he were wearing a shirt that said "I'm a partisan asshole"
 
Z

Zolo

Member
Wanda/Wander said:
Obama bringing the hammer down on Trump would have only helped Trump.

Trump seems to thrive when he gets to play the victim.
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Yep. It's why it's smart for Obama and Hillary to stay silent as of now. Let Trump, his administration, and the Republicans make their own mess while trying to blame people nowhere near them.
 
G

guek

Banned
I don't know if he made the right call. Honestly, it's hard to say because the actual outcome was so shitty in the end. I can't begrudge him for withholding that information but I'm not confident that it was the right thing to do.
 
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