BREAKING: Rep. Schiff just accused the White House of knowing and getting caught

[berni_mccoy]

Said they knew and allowed the lie about Flynn's discussions with Russia about sanctions, that investigations are coming whether or not the Speaker will allow them and ALL WH members involved will be uncovered. Rep. Elijah Cummings speaking now at House Democratic presser.

[tazkcmo]

1. Yay!

I love the smell of Democratic activism in the morning! Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhh.....now THAT'S refreshing!

[wordpix]

37. WOOT! Now yer talking, Dems

Malcolm Nance said Flynn was caught b/c US monitors Russia and that's how security agencies know Flynn DID talk about Russian sanctions. Possibly they caught Trump speaking to his darling Pooty, too.

[manicraven]

2. Time to actually "clean the swamp."

[snort]

58. Yeah right?

Drain the swamp and you end up with a lot of unsightly, muddy garbage that stinks.

[Drahthaardogs]

3. This is how it ends.

Trump = impeached

Pence = impeached

Paul Ryan = President

[Cracklin Charlie]

4. He will preside over his party's self-immolation.

Sucks to be him.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

6. No. Purge Pence first. Ryan wants 2020/24. Doesn't want to be a short term Ford (74-76).

Ryan sees himself as Reagan (1980).

[world wide wally]

9. I don't mind seeing them go down one at a time... It cripples them and makes getting anything done

almost impossible.
Finish off Trump
Start on Pence
Move to Ryan... etc.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

11. If you impeach tRump first it makes impeachment of Pence almost impossible. Pence first.

Purge Pence first because he can be forced to resign without impeachment.

Save impeachment for tRump and only when it is a sure bet. You only get one go at impeaching the top per 4 years because impeachment makes the whole country sick regardless of what side a person is on.

[Big_K]

19. Give Pence a cushy deal and job somewhere, and he'll leave

Then you can go after Cheetolini.

[Blue_true]

34. I like the drip, drip, drip strategy better.

If Trump and Pence get taken out in short order that is not necessarily good for the country, but certainly can be bad for Democrats in 2018 and 2020. I want Trump, Pence, Ryan, Chaffertz to damage the republican brand grievously so there is no coming back. I want a shifty, lying Ryan and cowardly, lying Chaffertz as the face of the Republican Party in 2018, along with a toxic Trump and/or toxic Pence.

[boston bean]

36. So trump appoints a new VP. How does that help?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

39. Similar to Ford being much more reasonable than Agnew.

The Republicons know they are in trouble for 2018 and 2020. They know there is an orange cancer growing on their Party. Hence key R Senators calling for "exhaustive" investigations of Flynn.

They will want to appoint a mild VP so they have a chance in 2020. Even so, Ford went down in 1976.

Vice presidency (1973–74)

On October 10, 1973, Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned and then pleaded no contest to criminal charges of tax evasion and money laundering, part of a negotiated resolution to a scheme in which he accepted $29,500 in bribes while governor of Maryland. According to The New York Times, Nixon "sought advice from senior Congressional leaders about a replacement. The advice was unanimous. 'We gave Nixon no choice but Ford,' House Speaker Carl Albert recalled later".[30]

Ford was nominated to take Agnew's position on October 12, the first time the vice-presidential vacancy provision of the 25th Amendment had been implemented. The United States Senate voted 92 to 3 to confirm Ford on November 27. Only three Senators, all Democrats, voted against Ford's confirmation: Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, Thomas Eagleton of Missouri and William Hathaway of Maine. On December 6, 1973, the House confirmed Ford by a vote of 387 to 35. One hour after the confirmation vote in the House, Ford took the oath of office as Vice President of the United States. -- Wikipedia

[boston bean]

42. I am not comfortable with that. You are thinking trump would do something reasonable. uh, no.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

48. We already know that Pence is an UNreasonable person to be President. . . . nt

[Mr. Evil]

53. Fuck impeachment!

Arrest them! That solves that little succession problem. One of them will sing. Give that one an 'offer he can't refuse' deal. Try, convict and imprison the rest of them.

[classykaren]

64. Sounds like a plan

[DK504]

15. Ryan as President?

Ha! That will never happen. The next presidential election will crush the swamp creatures.

This also makes '18 so vital to turn the Congress.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

17. If I were Ryan I'd be hoping a Ford gets creamed in 2020 and Ryan can take 2024.

But the question will be asked and later investigated and the truth will come out: What did Ryan know about Russia in 2016?

The Democrats swept the Congress in 1976 but Reagan won in 1980.

[Drahthaardogs]

21. If Trump and Pence are both impeached

Ryan is the 46th

[GeoWilliam750]

45. It will be almost impossible to take back the House in 2018

Gerrymandering

From the article linked below:

"In the 2016 elections for the House of Representatives, the average electoral margin of victory was 37.1 percent. That’s a figure you’d expect from North Korea, Russia or Zimbabwe – not the United States. But the shocking reality is that the typical race ended with a Democrat or a Republican winning nearly 70 percent of the vote, while their challenger won just 30 percent."

"Last year, only 17 seats out of 435 races were decided by a margin of 5 percent or less. Just 33 seats in total were decided by a margin of 10 percent or less."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/democracy-post/wp/2017/02/10/gerrymandering-is-the-biggest-obstacle-to-genuine-democracy-in-the-united-states-so-why-is-no-one-protesting/?utm_term=.cf56a66967d4

I do not know the total number of House votes cast, but it was probably similar to the number for President, so probably about 120 million, of which Democrats would have had just probably about 61 million (please fact check me), but the Republicans have 239 seats to 192 for the Democrats, and 4 vacant. Thus, Democrats would need to take 22 Republican seats and the 4 vacant seats to achieve a razor thin majority. We do not even run candidates in so many districts that it is truly shameful.

Of the 33 seats above decided by less than 10% of the vote, only 15 were won by Republicans.

Thus, with a roughly 10% national shift in the popular vote, the Democrats could go to nearly 67 million popular votes versus about 53 million popular votes for the Republicans, and still have not have a majority in the House. To get a House majority would require a shift of about yet another 2% from Republican to Democrat, meaning that Democrats would need nearly 70 million votes versus 50 million for Republicans to wrest even the thinnest and most tenuous hold on the House.

The Democrats have failed for the last 30 years in state and local elections, where districts are drawn, and many of the real battles won. We have abdicated our responsibility, and it is time to change. We have three and a half years until the next redistricting, and if we do not work our butts off NOW at every level, high and low, it will become yet worse.

[McKim]

61. This is Why I am Giving a Fundraiser

This is why I am giving a fundraiser this summer for the Eric Holder led organization that is helping democratic candidates take back our state legislatures. I suggest that others do the same. We must win big at the state legislatures to get back our rightful political power.

[GeoWilliam750]

62. Thank you

The country would really benefit from more rational districting, which would help keep fringe elements from mainstreaming.

[world wide wally]

66. This is why Democrats have to change their tactics for the next election and run a campaign

that pulls no punches and takes no prisoners.
Label Republicans as traitors and make it stick with evidence. Even rural rednecks don't want to be taken over by Russia (well, at least most of them).
Be aggressive. Be ruthless, and be honest.
Fuck polite.

[displacedtexan]

27. I agree. Pence needs to be Agnew-ed. Then, Trump has no more scapegoats left.

Speaking of which, why isn't Flynn's "scapegoat" tweet a bigger story today?

[TrekLuver]

46. T'was a fake tweet....

[simguy225]

47. Because the president is GOP

Were HRC in office, the impeachment would have started long ago.

[MontanaMama]

32. I absolutely agree with losing Pence FIRST.

45 comes next. If we're stuck with Ryan, that'll suck for a while but he's shown himself to be weak on many occasions despite his delusions of grandeur. All the chaos will make it difficult for these evil clowns to accomplish anything of real consequence. These guys know we are watching them closely. Further, any MSM doing real journalism ought to be seeing a surge in ratings as a result.

Let the games begin.

[cbdo2007]

44. Ryan wants a legacy more than the rest of them, so he won't be trying to piss everybody off

like Trump and Pence. I would greatly prefer Ryan for the remainder of Trump's term than either Trump or Pence....then the Repubes will be so hurt by this we should get an easy 2020 win, as long as we run someone fairly mainstream and reasonable.

[Orrex]

7. Look at the bright side!

They might also impeach Ryan, Hatch, Tillerson, Mnuchin, Mattis and Haugrud, leaving Michael Scuse (D) a clear path to the Whitehouse.


From US Presidential Line of Succession

[Bernardo de La Paz]

14. Purge Pence, appoint a mild Fordian VP, then impeach tRump. Ryan wants 2020/24 & won't go VP. nt

[Orrex]

24. Ryan looks like a deranged Rankin-Bass cartoon character.

vs

[SammyWinstonJack]

29. Smarmy little weasel.

[kcr]

59. It's uncanny

And now I will never un-see it.

[Orrex]

60. Call it my gift to you

[gratuitous]

38. If Trump is removed, Pence moves up

But Pence gets to choose his own vice president (assuming he lasts in office long enough to name one). Ryan moves into the White House only if Pence resigns or is removed before he can name a VP. The new Veep then becomes the heir apparent.

[Drahthaardogs]

43. They will get impeached together

Like Agnew

[PJMcK]

65. An important point

Vice President Spiro Agnew was not impeached. He was forced to resign. From Wikipedia:

In 1973, Agnew was investigated by the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland on charges of extortion, tax fraud, bribery, and conspiracy. He was charged with having accepted bribes totaling more than $100,000 while holding office as Baltimore County Executive, Governor of Maryland, and Vice President. On October 10 that same year, Agnew was allowed to plead no contest to a single charge that he had failed to report $29,500 of income received in 1967, with the condition that he resign the office of Vice President. Nixon later replaced Agnew by appointing House Minority Leader Gerald Ford as Vice President. The following year, when Nixon resigned from the White House due to the Watergate scandal, Ford ascended to the presidency.

President Nixon nominated Congressman Gerald Ford to replace Mr. Agnew. When President Nixon resigned rather than face impeachment, Mr. Ford ascended to the presidency. He is the only US president who wasn't elected to the office. (I know, George W. Bush wasn't elected either.)

[world wide wally]

67. Pence would probably pick a Dominionist like Cruz as his VP

We are so fucked

[Tatiana]

41. I agree. Which might not be so bad.

All things considered....

He will be hamstrung to do anything after such scandal. He will face a hostile deep government. And, we get him out of the Speaker position.

[politicat]

55. Making Ryan a seat warmer, and getting his butt out of the House.

Ryan takes the Gerald Ford booby prize -- gets to be Prez, doesn't get re-elected, career over.

Ryan and Cantor were the unifying force behind the Young Gunz/Tea Party wing. Otherwise, they don't have a lot of house leadership. Those left behind will fight each other, because there's a lot of nasty subsurface factionalism. Scott Walker appoints a recess seat warmer, but since Ryan's young, that seat becomes a winnable contest for a relatively moderate Dem candidate, since the WI party doesn't have a deep bench ready for that district.

Orrin Hatch is out of the Senate, as Veep. Utah probably appoints a replacement rather than special election, since Hatch is up for re-election in 2018. Which potentially gives Utah a chance at a moderate D or I or R from the Huntsman-McMullin wing. But it kills Hatch's 40 year streak in the Senate and his career. And Utah is *pissed*. McMullin, with no money and little name recognition, still pulled almost a third of the vote, very little from Utah's few Democrats. The Utah congressional seats may be gerrymandered into uselessness, but senate seats aren't.

If we can get through this, there are a lot of potential upsides.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

5. NYT reports tRump was informed weeks ago. Therefore he covered up Flynn's criminal deal-making.

Pence knew too, at least by late January, if he wasn't involved in the deal-making from before. Purge Pence first.

tRump issued some kind of denial on the plane (yesterday?) that appears to be blatant lying in light of this report.

There is an orange cancer growing on the Republicon Party. Their best bet is to purge Pence first and then dump Trump. Ryan wants 2020 or 2024 so he won't become VP and thence a Fordian President (74-76).

[DK504]

18. What did he know and when did he know it?

That is only one part of this investigations, investigating the Orange Ass's involvement with Russian puppet masters and how deep he in with the blackmail.

These has to get to the very bottom of this disgusting sludge fest of the Swamp.

[tblue37]

54. He didn't cover up the deal making--he ordered it. And THAT is what he is

trying to cover up.

[KittyWampus]

8. cabinet members too. Jeff Sessions is in middle too

[nolabear]

10. Be still my heart!

If Sessions gets tangled up in this I might believe in a deity again.

[onetexan]

25. LOL

i am so tied up w/ work yet i keep sneaking in here for latest updates. This thing is unraveling by the minute

[Alittleliberal]

26. I think its likely Sessions is involved

Miller was a Sessions aide. Miller also has a connection to Richard Spencer who is married to a Russian propagandist. She happens to be a translator for Dugin. I think it's safe to assume the Sessions, Bannon, Miller wing is all wrapped up in the Russia bullshit.

[KittyWampus]

49. Miller and Carter Page. Sessions is the nexus between white supremacists and Putin

[bdamomma]

12. appropriate day

too Happy Valentine's Day it's the Valentine's Day Massacre!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Where the hell is Bannon in all this?????

[workinclasszero]

13. YES! Shine a light on the Russian cockroaches in the White House

and watch them scatter!

[JTFrog]

16. But her fucking emails!

Never gonna forgive or forget.

[Cognitive_Resonance]

20. They need to expose Pence. GOP is pulling out the stops to portray him as an innocent victim. nt

[berni_mccoy]

50. I believe their protection of Pence is intended

And that he is their backup since it seems they may be open to investigating Trump (at least in the Senate).

[bucolic_frolic]

22. July 27, 2016 In full public view

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2016/jul/27/donald-trump-russia-dnc-email-hack-video

[charliea]

23. Who leads the investigations?

Seriously, who?
It appears that all of the Republican chairmen of the relevant committees have denied any need to investigate. Especially the head of the Congressional Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence saying the worrying thing was that an American citizen's phone call was recorded! Didn't hear that about the massive warrantless wire-tapping program. The old "nothing to see here, move along". Senator Thune saying that "these things happen" ?!! A National Security adviser colluding with the "Evil Empire"? I'm sure that the aging Republican base will not like that too much. The senior staff using private email servers? I thought that was the height of insecurity. A flood of lies over any and all topics. Incompetence doesn't cover it.

Article III, Section 3

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court. The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the life of the Person attainted.


So which snakes in the pit are going to 'fess up? Doubt any will.

[wordpix]

40. Democrats should lead and sue in court if that's the only way

[JenniferJuniper]

28. Can we just pretend this never happened and

have a do-over?

[dchill]

30. K&R.

[pansypoo53219]

31. will the MEDIA play its PROPER ROLE tho?

Turnip is mr ratings.

[BadGimp]

33. WHat this needs is a lot more ..

[More_Cowbell]

63. We always need that!

Hence my name.

[OldRedneck]

35. I have an idea

Let's petition Jason Chaffetz to investigate Hillary's email server and, when that's done, he can dig into Benghazi!!

[triron]

51. knr

[grantcart]

52. right on berni

[berni_mccoy]

57. Thanks grantcart, been missing you! Glad to see you around!

[zentrum]

56. Of course they knew.

They are only enraged that the media is exposing it. But let's not underestimate them. They are ruthless. And FOX news will help them bigly by framing a "normalizing" narrative..

Actually I now think Pence wants him impeached. Then Pence himself can take over as the "honorable" savior of the Repugs. He now sees that four or 8 years under Rump will destroy his chances. And the glint in his ice cold eyes says how much he wants the job.

He'll be like a kind of competent Rump.

God help us.