Trump investigations playlist

These songs were selected primarily for their titles. Sometimes the chorus applies too. The verses rarely do.

“I Fought the Law” – The Bobby Fuller Four or the Clash

“A Legal Matter” – The Who

“In the Jailhouse Now” – Jimmie Rodgers or Steve Earle

“Life in Prison” – Merle Haggard or the Byrds

“Stormy” – Classics IV

Is Trump criticizing the Fed because of the impact of rate increases on his own finances?

Trump should not be criticizing Jerome Powell, who he appointed to lead the Federal Reserve. One issue is how much of his criticism is motivated by the impact on his own finances.

Every time the Fed raises rates, Trump’s payments on some $340 million in variable-rate loans go up https://t.co/j8pHHlADCB

— Bloomberg Politics (@bpolitics) December 22, 2018

Trump is obstructing justice again

Trump is angry at Whitaker for not controlling prosecutors investigating his businesses. This is an even more obvious case of obstruction of justice than when Trump wanted Comey to stop the Flynn investigation. At least, Trump and Whitaker haven’t ordered the investigation to stop. That would really be bad. I hope Trump gets indicted if he is guilty (which I think he clearly is).

Exactly right, @renato_mariotti. The bright red lines Trump crossed in telling Whitaker he needs to be more loyal to POTUS in the SDNY vis-a-vis Michael Cohen make the impropriety of Clinton’s silly chat with Lynch turn pale pink by comparison @JRubinBlogger https://t.co/5E4eabG8NQ

— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) December 23, 2018

This is Trump yelling at the acting Attorney General for not doing enough to obstruct justice https://t.co/gV4QEdlTxw

— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) December 22, 2018

Does anybody really believe that President Trump wasn’t trying to influence an ongoing criminal investigation when he vented his frustration to acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker? pic.twitter.com/oGD3e2RCvn

— Josh Campbell (@joshscampbell) December 22, 2018

On the one hand, it’s appalling that Trump is trying to influence the acting AG. On the other hand, it seems encouraging that despite this pressure, even a toady like Whitaker hasn’t hampered investigations into the president. https://t.co/5PLY5Gqrm7

— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) December 22, 2018

Remember when the #GOP went berserk because Hillary's spouse had a casual conversation with AG Lynch at the airport?

Waiting for GOP to go berserk again because @POTUS is now having direct conversations to influence acting AG Whitaker on investigations that implicate him …. https://t.co/q6WD9dZ4Lo

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) December 22, 2018

When @realDonaldTrump reportedly discussed the Cohen investigation with the acting Attorney General and pushed him to control New York prosecutors, was he trying to “work out a deal?” Is the system “totally rigged & corrupt?” pic.twitter.com/PL8zWhCppG

— Josh Campbell (@joshscampbell) December 22, 2018

This is crossing the red line again, worse than his conversations with Comey: “Trump pressed Whitaker on why more wasn't being done to control prosecutors in New York who brought the charges in the first place.” https://t.co/8KKOT3gVTN

— Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) December 22, 2018

Folks concerned about Bill Clinton talking to Loretta Lynch on the tarmac during HRC probe may want to look at this https://t.co/W6Igz1nZha

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) December 22, 2018

Whitaker disregarded a recommendation to recuse himself from the Russia investigation

Whitaker’s team wrongly claims no AG has ever recused to avoid an appearance of conflict. It’s actually happened at least 3 times:

1. Ashcroft in Valerie Plame leak investigation (h/t @nycsouthpaw)

2. Holder in John Edwards investigation.

3. Holder in AP leak investigation. https://t.co/4LwTSIwBBH

— Eric Columbus (@EricColumbus) December 20, 2018

Typical of Trumglodytes: ask a question of the relevant experts and follow their advice — unless you don’t like it. Remember when Trump said he’d abide by the 2016 election results — unless they said he lost. Heads I win, tails you lose. I fear for 2020.https://t.co/ZRB8L0V32C

— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) December 20, 2018

Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker will go against an ethics official's advice and will not be recusing himself from the Russia investigation. He will have final say over any of the inquiry's major developments. https://t.co/wagKEF8uAZ

— The New York Times (@nytimes) December 20, 2018

New information on Whitaker/ethics review:
– he never sought a formal recommendation on whether to recuse from Mueller, he did get guidance on the applicable rules
– ethics thought it was a close call on the *appearance* of a conflict, but found no actual legal conflict

— Laura Jarrett (@LauraAJarrett) December 20, 2018

This ethics opinion must be shared with Congress. Now.

DOJ officials must avoid not only actual impropriety but the appearance of impropriety.

Given Whitaker’s prejudicial comments about Mueller, the public can have no confidence in him. We will scrutinize his every action. https://t.co/0Jxbn1eJSP

— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) December 20, 2018

This is turning into an enormous scandal. Ethics officials told Whitaker they would recommend recusal, so he set up a different group of officials (probably political appointees, but unclear) to make a different recommendation. What in the hell is going on at DOJ? https://t.co/gYBeY3RoGP

— Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) December 20, 2018

It gets better. DOJ won't even disclose the identify of the team they assembled to countermand the ethics recommendation that Whitaker recuse: "The senior official who described the Whitaker discussions refused to identify the particular Justice Department employees involved." https://t.co/6wPqm0s6Ha

— Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) December 20, 2018

The unwinding of the initial backward spin on this story is (finally) making it clear what happened.

WaPo headline here is long, but gets it:

"Ethics officials said Whitaker should recuse from the Mueller probe, but his advisers told him not to"https://t.co/2Vk4gKT8fA

— Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) December 20, 2018

If it’s a “close call,” in these circumstances, Whitaker should recuse. https://t.co/CLoL70LTf5

— Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) December 20, 2018

Trump at war with Justice. Crony refuses to follow Ethics decision that he should recuse himself. https://t.co/QnjASMYbGt

— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) December 20, 2018

This is about as outrageous as it gets. I cannot imagine any AG I have worked for or known disregarding ethics advice in this way. https://t.co/WbXE7wEUfx

— Ronald Klain (@RonaldKlain) December 20, 2018

Trump/Russia Clue board game

Two great tweets:

I want credit (and a share of the profits). pic.twitter.com/SAk01MjZD1

— Middle Kid (@MiddlKid) December 20, 2018

hellooooo…. pic.twitter.com/KrwIVdvRH2

— matt grow (@MattMtbtms) December 20, 2018

Mueller investigation has recovered more money than it has cost

Trump keeps whining and lying about the cost of the Mueller investigation. It has made money for the government through recovery of unpaid taxes.

The Mueller investigation has cost $12.3 million so far. (If you add additional DOJ spending that is related but would have happened anyway, the figure rises to $25 million.) Still, it’s not close to the $40 million price tag that Trump appears to have invented out of thin air.

— Marshall Cohen (@MarshallCohen) December 15, 2018

President Trump has often complained about the cost of the Mueller investigation, saying its costs have exceeded $40 million.

According to a new report, that is not the case.https://t.co/IuAmaCpf70

— Axios (@axios) December 15, 2018

6/ Mueller’s team spent $12.3M on the Russia probe since last May. They’ve used another $13M worth of federal assets for the investigation. That’s far less than Trump claimed. This also doesn’t count forfeiture collection, which will add up to several mil+ https://t.co/RJp2dAnZC0

— Katelyn Polantz (@kpolantz) December 15, 2018

The Mueller investigation has cost $25 million so far, but it has lead to monetary estimated gains of up to $48 million for the government through the tax evasion the investigation has revealed.https://t.co/plp4pwIdM7

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 16, 2018

More on Trump calling Cohen a “Rat”

I’ve never heard a public official call someone cooperating with law enforcement a “rat” until Trump did. That is a term criminals use. https://t.co/JgfEDpXUXW

— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) December 16, 2018

When a Republican president floats breaking into the DNC w no apparent irony https://t.co/0PQgDlOLHj

— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) December 16, 2018

Media should remember not to normalize the President of the United States calling someone who cooperates with law enforcement “a rat.” Language of organized crime debases the office.

— Gabriel Sherman (@gabrielsherman) December 16, 2018

Sir, in mobster lingo, a ‘rat’ is a witness who tells prosecutors real incriminating info. Perhaps a different word? Searches of lawyer’s offices common enough that DOJ has a procedure for them. Here it yielded evidence of crimes you said he should be jailed for. You should stop. https://t.co/EV1txBYrhz

— Andy McCarthy (@AndrewCMcCarthy) December 16, 2018

The tenor and fever-pitch of these tweets are markedly different than they were even a few weeks ago https://t.co/i6DTwj7fxz

— Glenn Thrush (@GlennThrush) December 16, 2018

Executing a legally obtained search warrant is precisely the opposite of breaking into an office. And it’s increasingly clear that the President of the United States committed a series of serious crimes. https://t.co/VUT55hqmgF

— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) December 16, 2018

Mob boss Trump calls Cohen a “Rat”

Trump speaks like a gangster instead of a president. That’s because he is a mob boss.

This is from the President of our country, lying about the lawful execution of a search warrant issued by a federal judge. Shame on Republicans who don’t speak up at this moment — for the FBI, the rule of law, and the truth. pic.twitter.com/c5dhQBnmyi

— James Comey (@Comey) December 16, 2018

They didn’t break into his office. They had search warrants authorized by a federal judge – who would need to find probable cause – for his office, home and hotel he was staying at https://t.co/dL0L3ynQkl

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) December 16, 2018

I know it’s hard when you try and hide behind a lawyer & attorney client privilege & it doesn’t work because two different Judges said very little was privileged because he wasn’t really your lawyer but your fixer. Saw it all the time in Mafia cases, so I get that it’s scary. https://t.co/br4kLZdXWn

— Mimi Rocah (@Mimirocah1) December 16, 2018

FACT-CHECK: Rank & file FBI agents were executing a lawful court order.

Now would be a good time for rule of law Republicans & DOJ leadership to slam this alarming shot at FBI agents and government cooperators. Your deafening silence permits this corrosive narrative to continue. https://t.co/dv2wZwgLZu

— Josh Campbell (@joshscampbell) December 16, 2018

To recap, the President of the United States is calling someone a rat for cooperating with *the Justice Department he oversees*

When Trumpers harrumph about "show me the attacks on the rule of law," this is a prime example.

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) December 16, 2018

Wow. Andy is a strong conservative former Federal prosecutor who Trump himself invoked and retweeted earlier to try to bolster his defense. https://t.co/ri4xEaQ6en

— Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) December 16, 2018

Wrote back in August, this president uses lexicon of a gangster. Whatever one thinks of M. Cohen — for @POTUS to call him a “rat” — utterly disgraceful & unconscionable.

And, DOJ doesn’t “break into” attorney offices w/o cause, warrant approved by judge. https://t.co/wahhQ3WDx1

— James A. Gagliano (@JamesAGagliano) December 16, 2018

My former colleague Andy McCarthy, one of the President's most steady and articulate defenders, is starting to take the measure of the man he has so vigorously defended. POTUS's language reflects the mentality of an at risk mob boss, not of a President.There is a reason for that. https://t.co/FXTVqt1Rdf

— Michael R. Bromwich (@mrbromwich) December 16, 2018

Fact check

1. This is obvious but the FBI didn’t “break into” anything. They executed court-approved search warrants.

2. The Mueller investigation was not “illegally started.” Four separate federal judges have upheld Mueller’s appointment and authorities. https://t.co/zLDUe1lWmk

— Marshall Cohen (@MarshallCohen) December 16, 2018

I worked mafia cases for years in SDNY, mainly Gambino and Genovese. I usually hesitate to make this comparison but here it is completely warranted. This – calling somebody who provides information to law enforcement a “rat” – is straight up mob boss language. https://t.co/K8w46rVMP5

— Elie Honig (@eliehonig) December 16, 2018