When this week started, I genuinely thought that I’d be writing about Madonna’s surreal VMA appearance or perhaps Cher’s continuing Abba honours. Alas, that was not to be. It turned out to be a week in which all manner of big-hearted political events happened all over the President of the United States.( And abroad, as well; Australia has a brand-new Prime Minister! Spain is going to exhume the remaining Francisco Franco! We’re just going to focus on the U.S ., is all .) So, without giving further ado, let’s dive into the five is-this-really-happening online exchanges that the nation’s is-this-really-still-happening President was looming over this week.
Guilty Seems To Be The Hardest Word, Vol. I
What Happened: In the first move of the President’s no-good, very-bad week, Michael Cohen told national courts( and the press) a few things that may not have been surprising, but also weren’t expected.
Where It Blew Up: Chatter, media reports
What Really Happened: As correspondents and political scholars alike waited impatiently for a possible decision in the Paul Manafort trial–don’t worry, we’ll get at that–news likewise started filtering out that the President’s fixer and personal solicitor was going to appear in court later that day, potentially to plead guilty to prices. And then, all of a sudden…
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The items subject so much, in fact, that no one was immediately sure what the plea would symbolize for special lawyer Robert Mueller’s larger investigation into President Trump. But that riddle didn’t last long TAGEND
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Of course, there was all kinds of coverage and analysis of what Cohen was saying with the plea. But then, circumstances came surprisingly real TAGEND
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In case you missed the deduction, Lanny Davis — Cohen’s attorney — took to Twitter to spell it out to everyone TAGEND
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And, just like that, the president became an unindicted co-conspirator in serious campaign finance violations.
This might not have the impact it deserves, both because it’s uncertain whether a setting President can actually be indicted and because the President is relying on the “It’s not a crime” protection. No is important that the eventual aftermath, however, Lanny wasn’t done more, as it turned out.
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Yes, there’s a GoFundMe page to support Cohen’s law rewards, because of course there is.
The Takeaway: Beyond announced today that he surely hadn’t targeted anyone to perpetrate international crimes, what else did the leader of the free macrocosm have to say about his personal lawyer alleging guilty to, and involving him in, two felonies?
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Guilty Seems To Be The Hardest Word, Vol. II
What Happened: In another courtroom, another of President Trump’s onetime friends was waiting to hear about his own legal future. In numerous highways, he’s still waiting…
Where It Blew Up: Call, media reports
What Really Happened: Back to Paul Manafort. As the onetime Trump campaign chair’s contest leader into the work of its fourth era of jury exchange on Tuesday, those paying attention outside the courtroom were getting impatient for justice. Such frustration paid off when, two minutes after Michael Cohen penetrated his guilty request, the jury returned a Manafort verdict.
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Of course, there was much coverage of the verdict, even though it is countless were hung up on the fact that 10 of the 18 counts went to a mistrial. Fascinatingly, one of the jurors went on Fox News, of all places, to reveal that Manafort would’ve been was guilty on all 18 weighs if it wasn’t for one annoyed juror.
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So, what next for Paul Manafort? The ask is, unhappily for him, more courtroom drama.
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Well, acquiring it gets that far…
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But would the President pardon Manafort? Here’s what the President said about the judgment on Tuesday night…
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…and then, there were Wednesday’s tweets TAGEND
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This definitely looks fine and above board and not questionable in the slightest, everyone thinks so…
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For what it’s worth, the White House Press Secretary said there had been no powwow of a pardon, even though Trump was subsequently revealed to have discussed it with a Fox News reporter and likewise with his fucking lawyer. There’s simply one question for Manafort: Even if Trump did reprieve him, he’d still likely end up in prison because the law is an amazing and arcane thing.
The Takeaway: You can never tell what comes people interested in a particular tale. For some, the most exciting happening about the part verdict wasn’t the facts of the case that the former chairman of the Trump campaign was found guilty of eight felonies, but watching reporters rush out of the courtroom to pass on the news.
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Flippin’ Peck!
What Happened: As if thoughts couldn’t get worse for the president, it turned out that even more onetime friends were rowing up to turn tail.
Where It Blew Up: Chirp, media reports
What Really Happened: Returning to the Michael Cohen narrative, his pleading guilty to expedition busines abuses in the Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal instantly made many people think of American Media Inc.–the publisher of the National Enquirer and, according to Cohen, the company “hes working with” to compensate McDougal off. Not simply was Cohen involving Trump in his guilty plea, he was also implicating American Media Inc. and its CEO, David Pecker–a longtime friend of the President. What, parties wondered, would Pecker do next? On Thursday, an unexpected answer came.
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Yes, Pecker was granted immunity by prosecutors, apparently before Cohen’s plea–suggesting that he would, if he hadn’t previously, fling on the President.
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This doesn’t look too good for the President, but at the least it’s not as if there’s a special safe or something filled with different forms of perplexing informati–wait, what?
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Apparently, there was a literal safe filled with secrets, which nearly sounds like a joke. Thankfully, Twitter knows jokes.
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It’s worth remembering in the midst of all of this: Pecker is also available best known for the “catch and kill” practice of paid under, then immersing, mortifying storeys about Trump during the 2016 election, but he did more than that to assist the effect TAGEND
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Immunity is a good thing for Pecker, but it also raises the issue: How much clay does he actually have on the President, and is he certainly willing to share it to save his own bark?
The Takeaway: For everyone who has been stifling chortles during this whole thing–you’re not alone.
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Stop Hitting Yourself
What Happened: When you feel beset, it sees sense that you’d lash out. But most of us wouldn’t lash out on national television against one of the people who could be most useful at that highly moment.
Where It Blew Up: Quaver, media reports
What Really Happened: In the midst of all the above-mentioned activities, the president decided that the best expend of his time was devoting an interview to Fox News, because it’s not like he ever says anything perplexing or potentially incriminating, even when faced with softball questioning.
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Even dismissing the point that Sessions is a loyal Trumper who had pursued some of Trump’s favored programmes, it’s still a surprise to see the President attack his own serviceman so openly on television rather than on his beloved Twitter. As it turned out, Attorney General Jeff Sessions is a Fox News onlooker. Who could’ve is evident that coming? Perhaps more surprising, though, was what happened next.
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Sessions’ pushback was headline–grabbing stuff. Regrettably, Conferences might not have the support he thought he did TAGEND
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Mind you, perhaps things aren’t all that bad for Hearings with the Senate just yet…
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Let’s take a moment to note that Jeff Sessions was the third Republican politician to endorse Trump as a presidential applicant during the campaign. And then let’s remember that the first was Rep. Chris Collins, currently indicted for insider trading, and the second largest was Rep. Duncan Hunter, now facing indicts in California over improper use of campaign monies. The moral of this story? Apparently, go back in time to stop yourself from endorsing Trump, because the karmic feedback for that is intense.
The Takeaway: If Sessions is burnt, who would serve in the interim while a brand-new permanent Attorney General was obtained?
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Never Ever Believe Tucker Carlson
What Happened: Even with everything else gone on, there’s ever is now time to make ill-informed, racist notes that cause international incidents.
Where It Blew Up: Gab, media reports
What Really Happened: It’s not all been self-made law anxieties for the President this week. There’s also been the intolerance. Oh, you forgot that the President was a prejudiced …?
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As the tweet intimates, this specific talking target came from Tucker Carlson on Fox News.( See likewise “Mexico has been interfering in US elections by parcelling our electorate, ” “People upset about immigrant house break-ups care more about natives than about their own parties, ” and so much more .) But here’s the really obvious thing: Carlson’s report was deeply flawed, and, basically entirely untrue.
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Many condemned the tweet, in particular the Anti-Defamation League–
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–but the most damning response came from the South African government itself TAGEND
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But surely the president has said neat events about Africa in the past, right?
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Even as Carlson started squandering the President’s tweet and the backfire it prompted to create significantly commentary for his prove, at least person or persons was willing to come out as being in favor of the President’s observations on Twitter.
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Yes, that David Duke.
The Takeaway: Saying it all really says it all.
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