Indictment-O-Rama Megathread: Mueller indicts 13 Russians

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

We're starting to see something like a line in the GOP, with the cultists on one side and those who would rather not be hanged, drawn, and quartered by future historians (or anyone else) on the other. Their are some surprising members of both camps.

Gowdy jumping ship has been hilarious to me- the guy who spent the most energy trying to rename Hillary to Benjamin Ghazi has finally had enough.

I've resigned myself to not seeing indictments until after the midterms. handing them over to a republican congress is a death nell to any prosecution on the federal level.

An article I posted a couple of weeks ago was saying that Mueller will try to finish his investigation well before the midterms so than nobody can accuse him of interfering with the election.

I say we start seeing real bombs drop sometime between May and August.

[Virginiá]

An article I posted a couple of weeks ago was saying that Mueller will try to finish his investigation well before the midterms so than nobody can accuse him of interfering with the election.

I wonder if that is even possible. That only leaves them 5 or 6 months to wrap everything up, depending on when exactly you perceive the midterm season to heat up. I think any bombshells / indictments from September onwards could influence the election, although if the last of it drops in early September, it's debatable that America would still be influenced heavily by it in November, that is, unless it's something huge like Trump being recommended for impeachment or being named an unindicted co-conspirator. I guess it is possible Mueller could wait until after the election if he wants to recommend impeachment, or has a big indictment to drop that cuts it close to the election.

It's also worth pointing out that what constitutes a "bombshell" (as in, becomes a media frenzy for a long period of time) has changed a lot since Mueller was appointed. America has grown a tolerance for the investigation and its leaks.

[LimoLiberal]

An article I posted a couple of weeks ago was saying that Mueller will try to finish his investigation well before the midterms so than nobody can accuse him of interfering with the election.

I wonder if that is even possible. That only leaves them 5 or 6 months to wrap everything up, depending on when exactly you perceive the midterm season to heat up. I think any bombshells / indictments from September onwards could influence the election, although if the last of it drops in early September, it's debatable that America would still be influenced heavily by it in November, that is, unless it's something huge like Trump being recommended for impeachment or being named an unindicted co-conspirator. I guess it is possible Mueller could wait until after the election if he wants to recommend impeachment, or has a big indictment to drop that cuts it close to the election.

It's also worth pointing out that what constitutes a "bombshell" (as in, becomes a media frenzy for a long period of time) has changed a lot since Mueller was appointed. America has grown a tolerance for the investigation and its leaks.

There has literally been 500 stories this past year that would have been massive, catastrophic scandals in the Obama administration. Trump? Approval ratings have risen 8 points in the last few months. We are completely reactionless to everything... outrageous comments, school shootings, terrorist attacks.

[Virginiá]

^ Good point. I guess things unfold relative to where the whole situation started out.

Although I wonder about two things:

1. It's possible some of the things we thought would hurt a presidency actually wouldn't hurt them that much - at least not long-term. It's just that we've never had such a spectacular test case like Donald Trump.

2. It's possible some of these 500 things have hurt Trump as much as it might another president (give or take), but that his approval rating doesn't show it because he's already hit bottom (technically right now he could go lower since he's having a small rebound) and it's very difficult to go past that.

I'd bet it is a combination of those and other factors. Obviously people have a lot less expectations of Trump, so he benefits from that when drama/scandals break.

[Virginiá]

Actually, hold on. After thinking about it some more, I have a different take on Trump's teflon.

Yes, he has set very low expectations based on who he is and how he has acted up to this point, but is it fair to say he's "gotten away with it"? I'd say absolutely not. He started his presidency with just a 45% approval, which would essentially be the highest he'll likely ever go. He then sunk like a rock to mid-high 30s and has stayed there, aside from a brief new year bump.

Meanwhile, upon winning election, he immediately inspired the biggest surge of activism on the left in generations, spurred a massive amount of recruitment and fundraising, and has lit a fire under the Democratic Party's butt that is not only threatening the GOP's control of the House and possibly the Senate, but also their unified control of oodles of states across the country. Even more, it might even be fair to say that 2020 is Democrats' election to lose, provided they nominate a good candidate. There is a decent chance Republicans find themselves washed out into the wilderness by 2021, just in time for Democrats to have an even hand in redistricting, setting up a competitive (or worse) House for the 2020s.

So yes, Trump does sort of get away with things that would hurt another presidency a lot, but he and the GOP have paid for it dearly. There is a very good chance that 10 years from now, the last thing people say about Republicans/Trump is that "he got a free pass on his outrageous behavior."

[Person Man]

Actually, hold on. After thinking about it some more, I have a different take on Trump's teflon.

Yes, he has set very low expectations based on who he is and how he has acted up to this point, but is it fair to say he's "gotten away with it"? I'd say absolutely not. He started his presidency with just a 45% approval, which would essentially be the highest he'll likely ever go. He then sunk like a rock to mid-high 30s and has stayed there, aside from a brief new year bump.

Meanwhile, upon winning election, he immediately inspired the biggest surge of activism on the left in generations, spurred a massive amount of recruitment and fundraising, and has lit a fire under the Democratic Party's butt that is not only threatening the GOP's control of the House and possibly the Senate, but also their unified control of oodles of states across the country. Even more, it might even be fair to say that 2020 is Democrats' election to lose, provided they nominate a good candidate. There is a decent chance Republicans find themselves washed out into the wilderness by 2021, just in time for Democrats to have an even hand in redistricting, setting up a competitive (or worse) House for the 2020s.

So yes, Trump does sort of get away with things that would hurt another presidency a lot, but he and the GOP have paid for it dearly. There is a very good chance that 10 years from now, the last thing people say about Republicans/Trump is that "he got a free pass on his outrageous behavior."

People are saying that now and I think that he will until a substantial portion of the population is directly affected by the consequences of voting for him. Maybe by the end of the year when you cannot get milk, bread, and eggs for under 10 dollars, that will be enough. Until then, he and his "employees" in Congress and state governments will be "resourceful" enough to always come up with just enough votes. We saw this in the Bush years.

[Gass3268]

Putting this here, it might not be applicable, but you never know:

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[Gass3268]

This is pretty big!

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[Landslide Lyndon]

I'm sure Trump and Sessions will pressure Putin relentlessly to extradite them to the US.

[Hindsight was 2020]

Putting this here, it might not be applicable, but you never know:

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It is Mueller's team is announcing indictments of 13 Russian nationalist for illegal electoral interference

[GeorgiaModerate]

This is pretty big!

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https://www.justice.gov/file/1035477/download

[GeorgiaModerate]

So I guess Trump won't be saying anymore that there's no evidence of Russian interference in the election, right?


(HAHAHAHAHA)

[Landslide Lyndon]

So I guess Trump won't be saying anymore that there's no evidence of Russian interference in the election, right?


(HAHAHAHAHA)

"Fake News manufactured by the Deep State who is out there to get me"

[Gass3268]

Are any of these folks in the United States and can actually be arrested?

[Gass3268]

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[Yank2133]

Bob Mueller with that Friday news dump.

[Person Man]

So I guess Trump won't be saying anymore that there's no evidence of Russian interference in the election, right?


(HAHAHAHAHA)

"Fake News manufactured by the Deep State who is out there to get me"

Then someone better go and defend them in court! If there were actual convictions... I guess that still wouldn't be enough.

[Gass3268]

There were efforts to suppress minority turnout:

[Hindsight was 2020]

"Putin's chef" is one of the indicted

[Landslide Lyndon]

Russian trolls also helped Sanders's campaign.
No wonder why jfern and the rest of the bros are so staunch Putin apologists.

[Cold War Liberal]

Oh wow, who knew? (Hint: everyone)

[Gass3268]

Says they also attacked Cruz and Rubio's campaign during the primary and also against Trump after he was elected.

[Rookie Yinzer]

There were efforts to suppress minority turnout:

I remember Trump thanking black people for staying home during one of his victory rallies. He is knee deep in this sh-t.

[Gass3268]

Funny how the witch hunt keeps finding witches.

[Landslide Lyndon]

k.