US was always going to choose Turkey, but two things. Firstly Trump hasn’t really chosen Turkey here. I don’t think the sanctions will be crippling or anything, but just the public rebukes and bad publicity is going to really piss off Erdogan. Secondly the deal between Assad, Russia and the SDF, which would satisfy Erdogan, was always there to be done. No violence necessary.
So in other words, it’s that he just wanted to genocide the Kurds, or at least get as many as he could while he had a get out of jail free card?
I’d love it if the law fairy waived the magic law fairy wand and put Rudy in jail the day the subpoena was due. Unfortunately, remedies are not self-executing. They’ll file a motion to compel the documents or testimony this week and he’ll have to respond, and then the court will order him to hand over documents and appear. He may try to appeal, but he’ll lose, and they may not stay enforcement pending appeal. It’s BS, and there should be a way to ensure expedited process, but I can’t think of a way to rewrite the Rules of Civil Procedure.
In any event, the headline is “Rudy Refuses to Comply with Congressional Subpoena”, which is kind of what you want to happen to the extent impeachment is a political process, because it looks really bad to people who don’t follow this stuff, which is basically 90% of people.
What if he just tells Congress to fuck off?
https://mobile.twitter.com/AFP/status/1184148589389500417
https://mobile.twitter.com/AFP/status/1184182150578360320
https://mobile.twitter.com/AFP/status/1184157000931905537
https://mobile.twitter.com/carlquintanilla/status/1184135211250081794
I didn’t watch it. I can’t listen to Lou.
Then the US Marshals come and put him in jail for contempt. They are agents of the judiciary, not the executive branch.
But, and here’s the real thing, I think this is a document subpoena. They also want him to appear personally. Even if he is ordered to do so, he’ll probably take the 5th. So then you have the president’s personal lawyer taking the 5th in front of Congress, whcih doesn’t look good.
Lawbros keep insisting there are eventual consequences for wiping your ass with a congressional subpoena, but fuck if I can figure out what they are.
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With a court order putting his ass in the clink is pretty easy, assuming he is dumb enough to ignore it. The hard part is getting the court order. It can take a long damn time if the original order is stayed pending appeal.
Read the article I linked. What should they be? How would you restructure American law and government to be different? What would you do differently in general? Would you start an impeachment inquiry into the president and maybe present obstruction as an article of impeachment? Oh, we’re already doing that, and we’re winning.
I’m sure you’re actually more optimistic about democracy and self-government than I am, which is why you’re complaining, but I’m not sure what you’re implicitly proposing with your criticisms. Should we just give up and go live in caves?
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In the good ole days the 2016 coup against Erdogan would have succeeded and the U.S. would have brokered whatever deal they wished. Oh well.
That’s a topic I wish I knew more about - how involved (if at all) was the US in the coup attempt - cause if we were and it failed, seems like our spooks ain’t what they used to be.
MM MD
It’s as though we didn’t just watch Lewandowski tell Congress to fuck itself and nothing happened to him.
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So does Tommy Lee Jones get his man or not? Because it sounds like you’re saying in theory that happens, but in practice it doesn’t and the real winning outcome here is the OPTICS.
Just from memory, Turkey had something of a tradition going with coups, I don’t know what role the US has played although it’s hard to believe we’ve been disinterested onlookers.
Hey I’ll take Taibbi, Greenwald, Chomsky, Hedges, and Blyth over Larry and Rachel any day.
Rudy is saying FU because he knows no Dem is going to hold him accountable. And he is right. Until people start getting arrested and put in a jail cell, they are going to hide behind Trump.
Now some people like Hill and possibly Sondman have come to terms with Trump fucking them over. Which is why they are honoring the subpoenas.
He was not ever an employee of the administration. He’s just an outsider who was used in part of Trump’s attempts at crimes (essentially a material witness who could very easily be considered hostile). He’s a well known scumbag, and he was shredded by the Congressional committee lawyer basically proving that he lied about his role (either on TV or Congress). Nothing Lewandowski said in that hearing was going to move the needle on impeachment, but you can’t ignore him as a witness.
You won’t get that level of confrontation from any current administration employee or cabinet official who actually shows up. Different rules there. They’ll just delay and Mnuchin it at the very worst if they’re still in the tank by then.