I was waiting for Daddy to say it (turned out he already had). I only had to wait 24 hours:you just took tons of photos with him https://t.co/TywhdLBqjI pic.twitter.com/1q9xsZXWf2— Helen Kennedy (@HelenKennedy) January 16, 2020
Trump to reporters in Oval Office on Lev Parnas: “I don’t believe I’ve ever spoken to him.” Says Parnas is part of a “big hoax” and that he doesn’t know him “at all” other than taking pictures together, per @MichaelCBender.— Rebecca Ballhaus (@rebeccaballhaus) January 16, 2020
Trump to reporters in Oval Office on Lev Parnas: “I don’t believe I’ve ever spoken to him.” Says Parnas is part of a “big hoax” and that he doesn’t know him “at all” other than taking pictures together, per @MichaelCBender.— Rebecca Ballhaus (@rebeccaballhaus) January 16, 2020
Twitter, of course, always imagines it has the unanswerable response:
And the follow up question to Trump should have been: "But Mr Trump you approved a lawyer for Parnas via Jay Sekulow who sought your consent....it's in black and white Mr Trump....how do you explain that?"— Stephen Elpop (@ElpopGolf) January 16, 2020
Except the answer to that is obvious: "FAKE NEWS!" Do you doubt it?
I JUST GOT IMPEACHED FOR MAKING A PERFECT PHONE CALL!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2020
Trump's most recent tweet. He doesn't understand anything except how blameless he is for whatever he does.
And really, it doesn't distract from this:
"Oh! I thought you said 'Perv Lanas!'""President Trump knew exactly what was going on. He was aware of all my movements. I wouldn't do anything without the consent of Rudy Giuliani or the president." -- Lev Parnas pic.twitter.com/V3jiFpJ4XJ— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 16, 2020
And why that matters:So now Devin Nunes is admitting he talked to Lev Parnas... He claims when he was asked a few months back, he didn’t recognize the name Parnas pic.twitter.com/3dgoGfsKFd— Acyn Torabi (@Acyn) January 16, 2020
Phone records show at least 4 calls between Parnas and Nunes, including an 8-minute call on Apr 12, 2019.— Polly Sigh (@dcpoll) December 4, 2019
Within an hour of the Apr 12 Parnas-Nunes call, Parnas called Giuliani, who then called Trump attorney Jay Sekulow and a "White House phone number."https://t.co/MrPJb9wsDd
has no
idea who
this guy
is.
Other than some rando who showed up at the White House one day, apparently. Really gotta tighten security at that place.
Trump claims he doesn't know who Lev Parnas is and says he takes lots of pictures with people and has never spoken to Parnas. Trump once claimed he didn't have anything to do with the payoff to porn star Stormy Daniels.— Oliver Willis (@owillis) January 16, 2020
Pressed on the issue Trump demands the reporter be "quiet." pic.twitter.com/PASdE2tEtg
Would he lie to you?
I'm guessing Trump doesn't know this guy, either:
This is all normal and "usual process," which Zelensky won't know, not being a career politician or diplomat, but trust Rudy, things like this get done all the time. However, as Jonathan Chait so eloquently explains:
Trump’s defense has hinged upon the fact that, in his conversation with Zelensky, Trump said “do us a favor,” which he claims must mean the United States, not his private interests. “With the word ‘us’ I am referring to the United States, our Country,” he tweeted last month. “I said do us a favor, not me, and our country, not a campaign,” he wrote in his diatribe to Nancy Pelosi.
Giuliani’s letter to Zelensky could not have refuted this defense any more effectively. He states in writing he represents Trump “as a private citizen, not as President of the United States.” And he proceeds to note that he is doing so “with his knowledge and consent.”
The Giuliani letter is a written confession of the president abusing his power.
Asked directly if he authorized Giuliani to send President Zelensky a letter seeking a meeting, Trump says "I don't know anything about the letter" & then slathers praise on Giuliani.— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 16, 2020
"He's a very legitimate guy... if he wrote a letter it wouldn't have been a big deal," he adds pic.twitter.com/05hG27lfkG
How long will that last?
Meanwhile, back at the GAO:
Want to highlight something @kateashaw1 noticed in GAO opinion. It doesn’t just conclude White House broke law w Ukraine aid (mirroring Article 1). Also says was obstruction of the investigation (Article 2)&raises profound constitutional worries. That obstruction still continuing pic.twitter.com/008da4KeUv— Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) January 16, 2020
Yeah, but the GAO didn't go to court to enforce compliance, so it's a non-issue (I've actually heard that's a GOP defense of the obstruction article against Trump).
There is no Hercules to cleanse our Augean stables. We the people have to be our own heroes.
No comments:
Post a Comment