IKR? That's just like too weird man!Originally Posted by LittleLebowski
IKR? That's just like too weird man!
Borderland:
I hope you will excuse me for saying so, but your education is part of the issue. The Democratic Congressinal strategy is relying on ignorance of the processes involved. For example, most people believe impeachment means removal from office. It does not. As far as Trump's tax returns, the claim is "we have oversight of the Executive Branch. We want to see his finances to see if there is anything we need to look at". That is very far from a specific allegation to investigate. I don't anticipate the Supreme Court allowing congressional access to those papers without specific probable cause. Due to the Fourth Amendment rights that the President still has. This is all smoke and mirrors with the apparent attempt to keep "Trump is hiding something" in the news cycle for as long as possible. Do you really think that Pelosi and the leadership would be soft shoeing impeachment if they thought there was any chance of success? Do you suppose they know something about this we don't? They claim "cover up" but aren't saying what is being covered up. They merely hint. The impeachment of Clinton, for an actual, specific crime, perjury, cost the Republicans the house in the next election.
The other guys have hit the foreign influence side of it, so I will only say that the allegation is what is meant to damage. Look up ABSCAM and look at the lengths the FBI went to to prove foreign influence beyond a reasonable doubt. Times, places, agreements, quid pro quo all had to be documented. Tax returns and accounting paperwork will not detail any of that. Anybody who gets audited as much and is so high profile as a billionaire has a lot of incentive to at least show that they are within the letter of the law. He will have the best tax help money can buy to make sure potentially sketchy dodges are technically legal, if questionable. The IRS has had decades to go after the Trump organizations if there was a whiff of a problem; that is how they finally got Capone, and Snipes, and others.
I found the article I mentioned earlier;
https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciar...ew-mccarthyism
Again Dershowitz is no fan of Trump, and his fairness is evident in his last book and this article. Due process still must be observed.
Sorry, I typed more than I wanted to. It has been a long day, and I am going to bed.
pat
Last edited by UNM1136; 05-27-2019 at 02:00 AM.
It's hilarious because Congress is putting the courts into a position of either slapping them down for overreach or essentially ruling there is absolutely no such thing as privacy rights in regards to information collected by the government for the purposes of carrying out the function of taxation. I'm going to guess that the Supremes are not going to rule that Congress has a blank check to raid the file cabinets of every federal agency that collects any sort of data because they don't like someone.
If people are cheerleading Congress getting their hands on Trump's financial and tax records I sincerely hope they'll keep cheering when Trump as the Executive who oversees the function of the IRS, most law enforcement activity, and lots of financial activity uses his powers as the executive to start digging into all the records the government has on, say, Nancy Pelosi or any of her family members or business associates or banks and financial institutions that deal with her.
Of course, they wouldn't be.
Whatever one wishes to do TO Donald Trump or his family using government authority they'd better be real comfortable having done BY Donald Trump to others.
Be fucking careful what you wish for.
Last edited by TCinVA; 05-27-2019 at 07:25 PM.
3/15/2016
I’d say the Courts are in a far more dire position of being marginalized. If we follow the Democratic logic, Congress will now conduct extra-judicial investigations that are unencumbered by the rules of evidence and due process on suspected criminal activity that occurred BEFORE the subject took office. Hell, in the case of Trump’s family, they want to investigate private citizens. Who needs Courts or Department of Justice when you have Congress?
I like my rifles like my women - short, light, fast, brown, and suppressed.
Clinton was not elected President. I seem to remember her charity funds were the matter of some concern.
Its already the law, put in place due to a previous scandal.
The concern was bribery by foreign governments among others. There was enough evidence to warrant an investigation.
With liberty and justice for all...must be 18, void where prohibited, some restrictions may apply, not available in all states.
The FBI investigated the Clinton Foundation and nothing became of it. They also investigated Trump and nothing became of that either. So I would have to say that FBI investigations don't mean much. Charitable non profit 501's have become a way to make millions legally. IRS rules. Of course you can run afoul of the IRS or the state if you don't do it correctly.
Clintons foundation still exists. Trump's got shut down and sued for 8 million by NY AG. No word yet on the court case.
Chelsea Clinton is the main benefactor of the Clinton foundation. The foundation is pretty transparent as far as financial reporting and salaries. Has to be to remain a charitable foundation. Not that I give a shit how much Chelsea Clinton makes or how she does it. She has never ran for president.
Last edited by Borderland; 05-28-2019 at 08:30 PM.
There is a law...which has not been really tested in court, as best I know...that allows Congress to get specific returns from citizens under very controlled circumstances where the contents are not revealed to the public.
There is no law that allows for what Elijah Cummings is trying to do...get banking records for Donald Trump as a private citizen as well as bank records of his children.
The Supremes are not going to let that stand because if they endorse it, then it means there is no such thing as any right to privacy in the information government collects from citizens. The way the democrats in congress have approached this leaves absolutely no doubt about their intentions and the Supremes aren't going to endorse that.
3/15/2016
The real interesting aspect of the Clinton Foundation is the run up in value while the Lizard Queen was SecState followed by a collapse in value when she lost the election.
I like my rifles like my women - short, light, fast, brown, and suppressed.
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