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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSeth Abramson: THE TRUMP-KENNEDY PACT. No one is telling the full story of the Trump-Kennedy Pact...
Do we Dems not need to be emailing/calling/barraging our DEM Senators' offices with demands that they DO the second-to-last item in this thread to stop Mr. American Taliban from ascending to the bench -- or at the very least to EXPOSE to Americans under what circumstances he is being PUTSCHED there? (ie: "Under the circumstances, Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats are entitled to call both Kennedy and his son to testify; to demand any documents related to the secret Trump-Kennedy negotiations; and to question Kavanaugh under oath about his knowledge of the pact." /endORIGINAL Twitter thread:
Link to tweet
UNROLLED: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1016825672277397504.html
(THREAD) THE TRUMP-KENNEDY PACT. No one is telling the full story of the Trump-Kennedy pact yet, so I'm going to do so now. You can't understand why Kavanaugh's nomination must be defeated until you understand the dirty deal that got us where we are. I hope you'll read and share.
1/ Trump's acceptance of a Federalist Society list of acceptable SCOTUS nomineesa list (remember this) with *20 names* on itis what won him the presidency. Don't take my word for it; that's what *everyone* says about how Trump built a winning coalition.
The list won Trump the White House. Now Democrats are using it against him.
Trumps highly publicized list of potential Supreme Court nominees has given liberals plenty of time to craft a campaign against his pick.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/02/donald-trump-supreme-court-list-690628
2/ What no one discussed in the presidential campaignand what neither Trump nor Kennedy ever spoke of, despite the fact that Kennedy was the most likely Justice to retire, so his intention and willingness to retire was nationally significantwas that the two men knew each other.
3/ Strange, isn't it? That Trump made SCOTUS a major campaign issue, but never mentioned how and to what extent he knew the Justice most likely to retire? Especially given that Justices tend to choose the timing of their retirement on the basis of their view of the sitting POTUS?
4/ Well, we now know *why* Trump wouldn't have wanted to mention anythingor Kennedy. And incredibly, the answer is: Russia. Kennedy's son worked for Deutsche Bank, which during the presidential campaign was being investigated for laundering Russian money.
Deutsche Bank fined for $10 billion Russian money-laundering scheme
The giant German lender has been hit about $630 million in penalties over a money-laundering scheme involving its Moscow, New York and London branches.
https://money.cnn.com/2017/01/31/investing/deutsche-bank-us-fine-russia-money-laundering/index.html
5/ The other problem: Kennedy's son was Trump's *banker*. He worked at Deutsche Bank, loaning Trump lots of money beforepossibly asDeutsche Bank began to be investigated for laundering Russian money and Russia stood accused of interfering in the US election (from June 2016 on).
6/ So *any* reference madeby Kennedy *or* Trumpto the fact they knew each other ran the risk of raising the DB connection at a time Trump was hiding his tax returns (through the fraudulent claim an audit precluded releasing them) and the DB-Russia scandal was political cyanide.
7/ So Trump, who has *no* filter in public speeches or debates, forewent speaking much about upcoming retirements, despite him knowing *personally* the man most likely to retire (and Trump *loves* talking about who he knows and how who he knows helps him).
8/ But now we know the *truth*Kennedy's son wasn't just Trump's banker, he actually oversaw Trump getting ONE BILLION in loans at a time American banks wouldn't loan to Trump and his overall net worth may well have been *south* of that one-billion figure.
Trump's business career is more connected to Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy than we ever knew
President Donald Trump and Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy had an unusually close relationship that The New York Times detailed in a Thursday report.
http://www.businessinsider.com/anthony-kennedy-son-loaned-president-trump-over-a-billion-dollars-2018-6
9/ So process this: Trump's 20-person SCOTUS list was critical to his victory; he knew personally the man that list would be used to replace; he couldn't discuss how he knew that man, as it'd lead to pre-election stories involving questionable loans, Russia, and money laundering.
10/ It was in this context thatwithin his first months as presidentTrump began to engage in unprecedented secret negotiations with his banker's dad about what it would take to get him (Kennedy) to retire. Again, Trumpwho'll boast of anything and everythingkept this a secret.
11/ Trump likely kept it secret for two reasons: (1) he was under more heat than ever over Russia, making news stories about questionable loans to him from a Russian-money-laundering bank incredibly dangerous; (2) he knewas did Kennedythat negotiations of this sort were wrong.
12/ It's common for SCOTUS Justices to decideprivately and personally, in consultation with family and (sometimes) close friendswhen they'll retire on the basis of who occupies the White House. But clandestine negotiations between a Justice and sitting president are different.
13/ But here's the thing: Justice Kennedy's clandestine negotiation with Trump wasn't just politically charged collusion across two branches of government, as the arrangement the two men made, as reported today by NBC, was something quite differentit was a secret *quid pro quo*.
14/ Kennedy gave Trump a list of 5 names*none of whom were on the list Trump promised voters he'd select Justices from*and apparently said he'd only retire if Trump nominated someone on the list. As Trump's original list was political, Kennedy's demands were likewise political.
15/ What Justice Kennedy was doing was inserting himself directly into a hot-button political issue that had been at the center of Trump's presidential campaignand he was doing so as part of a negotiation both he and the White House were keeping a secret from American voters.
16/ By the time Trump had been in office nine months, he was ready to *violate his campaign promise* of picking from the Federalist Society listthough again, he had to hide from the media and voters what he was going to do and why. So he went to Fox News.
Trump adds names to list of potential Supreme Court nominees
With addition of Amy Barrett, Britt Grant, Brett Kavanaugh, Kevin Newsom and Patrick Wyrick, the president's list now totals 25 names.
https://video.foxnews.com/v/5650490687001/
17/ Fox News got the exclusive via the White House, and dutifully reported the *false story* that "no one" in or outside the White House knew when Kennedy would retire but it was "widely" expected he would, perhaps as soon as Thanksgivingan overstatement *very* helpful to Trump.
18/ It's important to note that all Trump told even FNC was that he was expanding the Federalist Society list*not* that he was now obligated by a pact with Kennedy to *only* select from the additions, none of had been originally selected (pre-election) by the Federalist Society.
19/ This is why one detail in the FNC story is key: Trump sent White House Counsel Don McGahn to the Federalist Society to talk to them. What was said at that meeting? What was said or done to ensure the Federalist Society would *keep quiet* about Trump's broken campaign promise?
20/ We don't know what the Federalist Society knew about the unethical Trump-Kennedy pact. But here's the more important point: we don't know what former Kennedy clerk Brett Kavanaugh knew about the existence of Kennedy's secret list. Did he know what Kennedy and Trump had done?
21/ What's clear is that*though Kennedy told Trump he had to name one of the 5 names on the list to get Kennedy to retire*Trump *rejected* 4 of the 5 names. NBC reported today that Trump rejected the four because they weren't conservative enoughbut there's a problem with that.
22/ Keep in mindbefore I point out the blindingly obvious problem with today's NBC reportthat Trump knew what he was doing was extraordinary, unethical, had to remain secret, and could define his presidency. So rejecting 4 of the 5 names Kennedy gave him was *very* headstrong.
23/ But even more bizarre than Trump rejecting 4 of the 5 names early onand thus risking Kennedy's irewas that his administration would *lie to the American people yet again* by saying that the four names rejected weren't conservative enough. Because that lie's *easily* caught.
24/ One of the names Kennedy gave Trumpin addition to Kavanaugh'swas apparently Amy Coney Barrett, who is so clearly more conservative than Kavanaugh that only *every single conservative commentator* has said so, as well as every GOP pol willing to speak on the record about it.
25/ So why would the Trump administration put out the story that it considered Barrett not conservative enoughwhen that's clearly untrue? The answer to that question is the answer to this entire mystery, but before I get there I need to make a note about Senator Mitch McConnell.
26/ Trump's pact with Kennedy was *so* secretive he even kept it from the Senate Majority Leaderunderscoring how wrong Trump (and we can be suregiven his superior moral standingKennedy) knew it was. We know McConnell was in the dark due to something he recently said to Trump.
27/ Just before Trump announced Kavanaugh, McConnell said to him that he couldn't guarantee there were enough votes in the Senate to confirm Kavanaughthough he believed there were enough to confirm Kethledge or Hardiman. McConnell's statement is now *historically* extraordinary.
28/ McConnella deal-maker who can get anything done, but who oversees a 50-49 Congress where 50 votes are needed to confirm a SCOTUS nomineewas telling Trump that he couldn't hold his caucus together to get Kavanaugh confirmed. And Trump *ignored him*. It may be unprecedented.
29/ So Trump lies about Barrett; ignores McConnell; lies to America by saying he's going through a vetting process when he's actually not; and keeps his clandestine negotiations with Kennedy a secret from everyone exceptperhapshigher-ups at the Federalist Society and Kavanaugh.
30/ What explains this *bizarre* behavior? These risky lies? Violating a core campaign promise? Exposing Kennedy to accusations of unethical conduct? It's simple: Brett Kavanaugh had written in 2009 that a president should be exempt from *civil suits and criminal investigations*.
31/ We know from major-media reports that Team Trump was focused on Kavanaugh's 2009 article in the Minnesota Law Review. And we know from his personal and political history that Trump actually doesn't care about abortionshe cares about not being impeached or indicted in office.
32/ Donald Trump is 72 years old and in poor healthhowever he got the White House doctor to spin it. If he can evade criminal investigation for the entirety of his presidency, he has a chance to be "safe" until January 20, 2025. He'll be pushing 79 by thenand that fact matters.
33/ Any prosecution of a former president will take years, during which we could assume Trumpgiven his money and inability to melt into a populace at home or abroadwould be free. So if he can forestall a criminal probe until his post-presidency, he's certain to die a free man.
34/ To some of you, that last tweet sounds bizarre. And I'm no more comfortable than you are trying to imagineand it's harda former president on *bail*, even if that's what would've happened to Nixon had Ford not pardoned him. But it's simple math, and Trump is doing that math.
35/ So there's every reason to believeas the Senate Minority Leader said todaythe Kavanaugh nomination is the culmination of a months-long process whose destination has been wholly governed by Trump's desire to evade responsibility for things over half of America thinks he did.
36/ Under normal circumstances, everything I've discussed here would be the subject of a massive Congressional investigation. But we all know that won't happen due to the "law-and-order" Republican Party becoming suddenly lawless once they seized all three branches of government.
37/ But there's *one thread* of the Trump-Kennedy pact that *can* be pulled onhard. It's a loose enda loose threadthat Kennedy was surely hoping would never be discovered, but that was produced *by Trump* because he is, at base, to speak plainly, a stupid-ass career criminal.
38/ Per usual, Kavanaugh's speech at the time of his nomination had to be vetted by the White Housethough the assumption is that the words were his. In trying to determine whether Kavanaugh knew about all the lies Trump told to achieve his nomination, his speech is key evidence.
39/ No person in America with a shred of objectivityor, for that matter, any dignitycould say that they believe the words Kavanaugh utters in the clip below were written by him. And we now know for certain that those words were *false*. See for yourself:
Axios
✔
@axios
Brett Kavanaugh: "No president has ever consulted more widely or talked to more people from more backgrounds to seek input for a Supreme Court nomination."
40/ If Kavanaugh knew he was on Kennedy's listand chances are good he didhe knows his nomination process was rigged *so hard* even the Senate Majority Leader didn't know about it and couldn't stop it. But he said the words anyway. If he knew them false, he colluded in the pact.
CONCLUSION/ Under the circumstances, Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats are entitled to call both Kennedy and his son to testify; to demand any documents related to the secret Trump-Kennedy negotiations; and to question Kavanaugh under oath about his knowledge of the pact. /end
PS/ Best-case scenario: Trump broke a campaign promise; used domestic disinformation; struck a highly unethical pact; and lied to America repeatedly to avoid getting caught for crimes he committed during/after the campaign. Worst-caseKavanaugh knew of the whole thing and hid it.
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Seth Abramson: THE TRUMP-KENNEDY PACT. No one is telling the full story of the Trump-Kennedy Pact... (Original Post)
CousinIT
Jul 2018
OP
Now we see why the establishment tolerated a Trump presidency. And we see why the fix was in...
rwsanders
Jul 2018
#5
Roland99
(53,342 posts)1. Ho-ly Crap!
appalachiablue
(41,103 posts)2. PACT is the word!
JDC
(10,114 posts)3. Our government is as corrupt as any in the world
And gets worse by the day.
triron
(21,984 posts)4. If even half of what Seth says is accurate, we are in deep doodoo.
Our democracy is not likely to last through this administration.
BigmanPigman
(51,567 posts)7. We are in deep doodoo!
Correction: We have been in deep doodoo and the doodoo level is rising by the second.
rwsanders
(2,594 posts)5. Now we see why the establishment tolerated a Trump presidency. And we see why the fix was in...
against Garland.
Even pigeons know the right word for that:
CousinIT
(9,218 posts)6. If you're on Twitter and/or know the members, please encourage Senate Judiciary Dems to investigate
as Mr. Abramson suggests they have every right to do under the circumstances.
@JudiciaryDems
FakeNoose
(32,579 posts)8. Kick for Seth Abramson
NoMoreRepugs
(9,371 posts)9. The Mueller team has so many threads to
pull that we may have to wait till next summer to see some wrapping up activity.