{"id":180095,"date":"2017-07-20T20:49:00","date_gmt":"2017-07-21T01:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/2017\/07\/20\/msnbc-gets-to-know-c-megalodon\/"},"modified":"2017-07-20T20:49:00","modified_gmt":"2017-07-21T01:49:00","slug":"msnbc-gets-to-know-c-megalodon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/2017\/07\/20\/msnbc-gets-to-know-c-megalodon\/","title":{"rendered":"MSNBC Gets to Know C. Megalodon*"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have noted the self-immolation of the journalistic credibility by Rachel Maddow<\/a> in the past, and while I do not generally watch Maddow, or MSNBC any more, I was bored and flipping channels, and came across Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell having a rather breathless discussion about how Donald Trump is asking for legal opinions about whether he can pardon family members and himself.<\/p>\n

They are referring to a Washington Post<\/i> story in which there is a more general discussion of legal tactics considered by the Trump administration<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pardons came up, but is appears to be a part of discussion of a myriad of potential legal options to thwart Mueller’s investigation, so, not only did MSNBC bury the lede, but in so doing they missed the real story, which that the entire f%$#ing Trump administration is planning to subvert a federal investigation by constructing a  pretense for his dismissal:<\/p>\n

Some of President Trump\u2019s lawyers are exploring ways to limit or undercut special counsel Robert S. Mueller III\u2019s Russia investigation, building a case against what they allege are his conflicts of interest and discussing the president\u2019s authority to grant pardons, according to people familiar with the effort. <\/p>\n

Trump has asked his advisers about his power to pardon aides, family members and even himself in connection with the probe, according to one of those people. A second person said Trump\u2019s lawyers have been discussing the president\u2019s pardoning powers among themselves.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s legal team declined to comment on the issue. But one adviser said the president has simply expressed a curiosity in understanding the reach of his pardoning authority, as well as the limits of Mueller\u2019s investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not in the context of, \u2018I can\u2019t wait to pardon myself<\/span><\/b> ,\u2019\u2009\u201d a close adviser said.<\/p>\n

With the Russia investigation continuing to widen, Trump\u2019s lawyers are working to corral the probe and question the propriety of the special counsel\u2019s work. They are actively compiling a list of Mueller\u2019s alleged potential conflicts of interest, which they say could serve as a way to stymie his work, according to several of Trump\u2019s legal advisers.<\/p>\n

\u2026\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n

Jay Sekulow, one of the president\u2019s private lawyers, said in an interview Thursday that the president and his legal team are intent on making sure Mueller stays within the boundaries of his assignment as special counsel. He said they will complain directly to Mueller if necessary. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact is that the president is concerned about conflicts that exist within the special counsel\u2019s office and any changes in the scope of the investigation,\u201d Sekulow said. \u201cThe scope is going to have to stay within his mandate. If there\u2019s drifting, we\u2019re going to object.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sekulow cited Bloomberg News reports that Mueller is scrutinizing some of Trump\u2019s business dealings, including with a Russian oligarch who purchased a Palm Beach mansion from Trump for $95 million in 2008. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re talking about real estate transactions in Palm Beach several years ago,\u201d Sekulow said. \u201cIn our view, this is far outside the scope of a legitimate investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2026\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n

The president\u2019s legal representatives have also identified what they allege are several conflicts of interest facing Mueller, such as donations to Democrats by some of his prosecutors.<\/p>\n

Another potential conflict claim is an allegation that Mueller and Trump National Golf Club in Northern Virginia had a dispute over membership fees when Mueller resigned as a member in 2011<\/span><\/b>, two White House advisers said. A spokesman for Mueller said there was no dispute when Mueller, who was FBI director at the time, left the club.<\/p>\n

\u2026\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n

Some Republicans in frequent touch with the White House said they viewed the president\u2019s decision to publicly air his disappointment with Sessions as a warning sign that the attorney general\u2019s days were numbered. Several senior aides were described as \u201cstunned\u201d when Sessions announced Thursday morning he would stay on at the Justice Department.<\/p>\n

Another Republican in touch with the administration described the public steps as part of a broader effort aimed at \u201claying the groundwork to fire\u201d Mueller.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho attacks their entire Justice Department?\u201d this person said. \u201cIt\u2019s insane.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s a big story, but MSNBC is so far into its, “A noun, a verb, and Vladimir Putin,” that it’s missing the actual story:  Obstruction of Justice, the thing that they got Nixon for.<\/p>\n

Lame.<\/p>\n

*<\/sup>The largest shark, and likely largest predator fish ever<\/a>. It died out some 1.5 million years ago. The Genus is still in dispute, between either Carcharodon (Great White) or Carcharocles (broad toothed Mako). But in either case, you are jumping C. Megalodon, you have jumped the biggest shark ever.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have noted the self-immolation of the journalistic credibility by Rachel Maddow in the past, and while I do not generally watch Maddow, or MSNBC any more, I was bored and flipping channels, and came across Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell having a rather breathless discussion about how Donald Trump is asking for legal opinions about …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[368,573,490],"class_list":["post-180095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-corruption","tag-donald-trump","tag-hack-journalism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180095"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180095"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180095\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}