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pennsyltuckyheathen · 6 months

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Scalise - leader of the corrupt Republicans in the House of Representatives - whose only allegiance is to Trump - refused to say that Election 2020 was not stolen. This is what our democratic republic is up against - an organized group of seditionists who continue to peddle the biggest political fraud in modern American history.

VOTE BLUE VOTE BLUE VOTE BLUE VOTE BLUE VOTE BLUE VOTE BLUE

#white house #2020 election #steve scalise #george stephanopoulos #CorruptRepublicans #BigLie #TrumpCrimeSpree #GOPTraitors

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dontmeantobepoliticalbut · 11 months

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I think we knew that a federal indictment of former president Donald Trump would elicit a collective primal scream from the right-wing fever swamp — and they have not disappointed.

In true Trump-era fashion, the response from most elected Republicans has been a collective whine about "unfairness" and the "weaponization" of the "deep state." Some have even gone so far as to at least hint around that it's a nice little country we have here, be a shame if anything happened to it. I would expect nothing less. This is how they roll.

There are, notably, a few dissenters from that party line.

Utah Sen. Mitt Romney put out a statement saying that Trump "brought this on himself" and it's "consistent with his other actions offensive to the national interest," which is true. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a 2024 GOP hopeful, said "these facts are devastating," which is also true. But they, and a handful of others, are outliers among GOP elected officials.

One very significant former GOP official has come out swinging, however:

There are a number of Trump defenses out there. But the main talking point, which we can assume was coordinated, is that this is a political prosecution engineered by President Biden to take out his most threatening political rival. And their main proof of this is that the Department of Justice (DOJ) declined to prosecute Hillary Clinton. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina probably articulated this the best, including the deployment of some very emotional righteous indignation:

He's not saying it's ok, he's just saying that Hillary Clinton got off so that cancels out Trump's crimes. Or something.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wi. says that Trump refused to prosecute Clinton but Joe Biden sent in a SWAT Team to torment Trump:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sounded the same theme:

“Is there a different standard for a Democrat secretary of state versus a former Republican president? I think there needs to be one standard of justice in this country. Let's enforce it on everybody and make sure we all know the rules.”

It wasn't a perfect defense of Trump but as long as he makes sure to condemn Hillary Clinton is probably good enough for the moment.

As much as I loathe the idea of re-litigating "but her emails," I'm sorry to say that it's necessary. There was almost no pushback to this talking point from the media, probably because they didn't get the Clinton story right in the first place. A few have since stepped up to point out that Clinton didn't refuse to cooperate with the government, as Trump did, although Trump and his accomplices will no doubt cry inanely about her "bleaching the emails" and "smashing the phones" and that will be enough to sustain the argument. Trump may even say "Russia, if you're listening" again. But those allegations are just plain silly and always have been. And the fact that she didn't obstruct the investigation is only part of the story.

As it happened, Clinton copied all work emails to the State Department system so they had them. The Justice Department inspector general issued a report in 2018 about the FBI Investigation and determined that the people tasked with marking documents as classified had not done so clearly. Moreover, only three email chains "contained any classification markings of any kind," and they were low-priority "call sheets" marked with the lowest priority of classification, which had info and details for Clinton to refer to when talking to a foreign leader. There were no nuclear secrets or war plans among them, needless to say.

The State Department under Rex Tillerson and Mike Pompeo did two separate investigations and found in 2019 that there was "there was no persuasive evidence of systemic, deliberate mishandling of classified information" and that Clinton bore no "individual culpability."

And let's dispense with the "magnanimous" Trump defense. Trump tried desperately to get the DOJ to investigate Clinton (and many others he considered his political enemies.) His White House counsel told him that the DOJ operated independently and if he ordered it there would be tremendous unrest from career officials and massive political blowback. That didn't stop him. He conspired with Matthew Whittaker, then an assistant to then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions to get Sessions to assign a Special Counsel to investigate Clinton. In the end, they succeeded in getting Sessions to assign John Huber, a US Attorney in Utah to look into all the allegations against Clinton, including the bogus "Uranium One" scandal which had also already been dismissed. That investigation didn't turn up anything either.

Notably, when Bill Barr became Attorney General he looked into all of it and also came up with nothing. If anyone thinks that Barr wouldn't have prosecuted Clinton if he could have doesn't recall just how much he hates her guts. The evidence just wasn't there. So, the FBI, the DOJ Inspector General, two State Department probes, a Clinton-hating attorney general and a U.S. Attorney assigned to review all the evidence found that Clinton committed no crimes. (I'm not even counting the 10 Benghazi investigations which were the genesis of the email scandal —- and also came up empty.)

I know your eyes have glazed over by this point and you wonder why in the world anyone should care about this. And frankly, we shouldn't have to. It's long settled ancient history. But the right's "whatboutism" and the media's continued unwillingness to acknowledge that, once the FBI determined there was no crime, there was no crime, I fear that a lot of people who aren't already down the right wing rabbit hole will be persuaded that this is a partisan prosecution simply because of the words "classified documents."

When former FBI Director James Comey held that first notorious press conference in the summer of 2016, in which he larded with inappropriate personal judgments about Clinton, he laid out the criteria the Justice Department uses when it decides whether to prosecute classified documents cases. He said:

“In looking back at our investigations into mishandling or removal of classified information, we cannot find a case that would support bringing criminal charges on these facts. All the cases prosecuted involved some combination of: clearly intentional and willful mishandling of classified information; or vast quantities of materials exposed in such a way as to support an inference of intentional misconduct; or indications of disloyalty to the United States; or efforts to obstruct justice. We do not see those things here.”

Assuming they have proof of the charges in the Trump indictment, there can be little doubt that they met three of those four criteria, (the fourth being disloyalty to the United States which I believe to be true as well.) So when you see these Republicans emitting their epic whines about how unfair all this is because Hillary didn't get indicted, keep in mind that it wasn't for lack of Trump trying to get it done. It was because, unlike him, she didn't break the law. And even Jeff Sessions, Rex Tillerson, Mike Pompeo and Bill Barr couldn't find a way to make it so.

In case you were wondering, yes the House Republicans are considering a new investigation into —- you guessed it —- her emails. Because of course they are.

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brandysamantha · 11 months

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George even had a “13” written on his hand lol

#george stephanopoulos #the eras tour

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justinspoliticalcorner · 15 days

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Ben Blanchet at HuffPost:

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, who was recently a staunch critic of Donald Trump, changed his tune on the former president as he backed his 2024 campaign in an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Sunday. “No other president in American history has contributed to an insurrection so please explain, given the fact that you believe he contributed to an insurrection, how you can say we should have him back in the Oval Office,” Stephanopoulos asked on ABC News’ “This Week.” “Because for me it’s not about him as much as it is having a Republican administration,” said Sununu, who predicted that Trump wouldn’t be the 2024 GOP presidential nominee but didn’t rule out voting for him. The GOP governor, who described himself as a “Trump guy through and through” in 2019, has repeatedly bashed the former president following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack. He’s referred to Trump as “crazy,” “not a real Republican,” “worried about jail time,” called on GOP candidates to break free from Trump’s “drama” and described his indictment over his handling of classified documents as “self-inflicted.” “You said in the past that he should drop out if he’s convicted in the classified documents case. Do you still believe that?” asked Stephanopoulos after Sununu attempted to dodge his question.

“Drop out after being the nominee? Of course not. That’s not to be expected at all,” Sununu answered. Stephanopoulos later offered a summary of Sununu’s takes. “You support him for president even if he’s convicted for classified documents. You support him for president even though you believe he contributed to an insurrection. You support him for president even though you believe he’s lying about the last election. You support him for president even if he’s convicted in the Manhattan case. I just want to say the answer to that is, ‘Yes, correct,’” he asked. “Yeah, me and 51% of America,” answered Sununu despite recent general election poll numbers that say otherwise.

Appearing on ABC's This Week Sunday, host George Stephanopoulos shredded New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R)'s turn from Trump critic to Trump supporter.

From the 04.15.2024 edition of ABC's This Week:

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#George Stephanopoulos #Chris Sununu #Flip Flopping #Donald Trump #ABC News #ABC #This Week #2024 Presidential Election #2024 Elections

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lavoixhumaine · 2 months

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a post from Angela Bassett’s PR Professional Gilda Squire after one very long day doing press for 911, Damsel and Queens in New York

📸 gnsquire

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bennettmarko · 2 days

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No American president had ever faced a criminal indictment for retaining and concealing classified documents. No American president had ever faced a federal indictment or a state indictment for trying to overturn an election, or been named an unindicted co-conspirator in two other states for the same crime. No American president has faced hundreds of millions of dollars in fines for business fraud, defamation, and sexual abuse.

Until now, no American presidential race had been more defined by what’s happening in courtrooms than by what’s happening on the campaign trail. The scale of the abnormality is so staggering, that it can actually become numbing. It’s all too easy to fall into reflexive habits, to treat this as a normal campaign, where both sides embrace the rule of law, where both sides are dedicated to a debate based on facts and the peaceful transfer of power. But, that is not what’s happening this election year. Those bedrock tenants of democracy are being tested in a way we haven’t seen since the Civil War. It’s a test for the candidates, for those of us in the media, and for all of us as citizens.

- George Stephanopoulos, This Week, ABC News

#quotes #politics #democracy #george stephanopoulos #america #usa

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tomorrowusa · 6 months

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GOP House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA-01) was asked eight times by ABC's George Stephanopoulos on Sunday whether the 2020 election was "stolen". Scalise dodged the question every single time.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) refused to answer whether the 2020 election was stolen when pressed eight separate times in a Sunday interview with ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos. Asked about conservative Rep. Ken Buck’s (R-Colo.) decision to leave Congress and his departing remark that “too many Republican leaders are lying to America, claiming that the 2020 election was stolen,” Scalise avoided responding directly in the interview on ABC News’s “This Week.” “Well, Ken, I’ve worked with on a number of issues, including getting spending under control, getting our economy back on track. He’s talked about that 2020 election as well. You and I have, I think, have talked about that too,” Scalise said. “At the end of the day, getting our country back on track is our focus. And that’s what we’re focused on right now.” “Can you say unequivocally the 2020 election was not stolen?” Stephanopoulos asked Scalise, after the congressman detailed several other legislative priorities for the party. Scalise dodged the question.

Donald Trump controls House Republicans the way Vladimir Putin controls Donald Trump.

“I just want an answer to the question, yes or no?” “We’ve asked — look, we’ve talked about this before. But, again, will you acknowledge that there were states that didn’t follow the actual state legislative enacted laws on their book, which the U.S. Constitution says they’re supposed to do?” Scalise said, again refusing to answer. “I know that every court that looked at whether the election was stolen said it wasn’t, rejected those claims. And I asked you a very, very simple question. Now I’ve asked it, I think, the fifth time that you can’t appear to answer. Can you say unequivocally that the 2020 election was not stolen?” The exchange continued without coming to any ultimate resolution.

This is a good question to put to all Republicans running for office. A YES will instantly identify them with Trump, a NO will cause them to antagonize Trump.

Keep in mind that Scalise was a candidate for House Speaker – for a few hours.

The quality of leadership in the House Republican caucus is close to nonexistent. House Republicans are basically Trump's flea circus.

#us house of representatives #house republicans #steve scalise #la-01 #2020 election #the big lie #george stephanopoulos #donald trump #trump's flea circus

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lastweeksshirttonight · 1 year

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I was looking at my blog queue briefly during Christmas and my dad asked me why I was looking at pictures of George Stephanopolous

I...

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#john oliver #george stephanopoulos #wut #come on dad

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filosofablogger · 15 days

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Governor Who-Knew Sununu?

Yesterday I saw a video clip of an interview with George Stephanopoulos interviewing New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu. Stephanopoulos did his level best to stick to the facts, to ask straightforward questions, but Sununu had one point and only one point that he wanted to make. Frankly, Governor Sununu came out looking like a complete braying arse by the end of the day. The reason I’m posting…

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#George Stephanopoulos #January 6th attempted coup #New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu #Youtube

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dontmeantobepoliticalbut · 2 years

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Days ago, Donald Trump said in a Sean Hannity interview that a President has special telepathic declassification abilities, and Republicans have been scrambling to justify the remarks ever since. That includes Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), who on Sunday had to be cornered into admitting a President can’t declassify documents with his mind.

“I want to ask you about the investigation into Donald Trump’s handling of classified information. Even though his lawyers have provided no evidence that he declassified the documents, Trump said this week that he could declassify documents by thinking about it. Do you agree with that?” ABC’s This Week host George Stephanopoulos asked Barrasso.

It’s a softball question. Of course a Senator who has been in office for more than 15 years knows that Trump was bullshitting. But Barrasso didn’t want to answer the question directly and chose instead to filibuster with a word salad of obfuscation, painting the Justice Department’s decision to search Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort as politically motivated.

“I’ve not heard that one before, George,” Barrasso responded. “I tell ya, in terms of national security documents, we have to always use extreme caution. I’m on the Foreign Relations Committee, we deal with classified information all the time and are always very careful. I don’t know anything about the rules for when a president declassifies documents and information. What I do know is what I’d like to see from a Senate standpoint. I’d like to see the Department of Justice come to us and show us in a classified setting what the information is, what they’ve done. I thought the raid of the former president’s home — never seen anything like that before — clearly it has become political.”

But Stephanopoulos didn’t let Barrasso get off the hook that easily. “Senator, that was a rhetorical question. You know the president can’t declassify documents by thinking about it. Why can’t you say so?” the host said.

“I don’t think a president can declassify documents by saying so, by thinking about it,” Barrasso admitted.

#us politics #news #rolling stone magazine #rolling stone #2022 #donald trump #fbi #fbi raid #department of justice #abc news #this week #Sen. John Barrasso #Republicans #conservatives #George Stephanopoulos #tweet #twitter #aaron rupar #mar a lago

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thenewdemocratus · 9 months

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ABC News: Senator Ted Cruz Discusses Opposition to President Obama's Newtown Gun Agenda

. Source:FRS FreeState Anytime you are real popular in your party even if you’ve only been office for a short period of time, like in U.S. Senator Ted Cruz’s case and you are a Governor or U.S. Senator, you have to at least consider running for President at that point. Because it might be the best shot that you get and you may never get another shot at it. And if you are a U.S. Senator or a…

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ur-mag · 5 months

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George Stephanopoulos and Ali Wentworth’s daughter Harper praises parents on special day despite ‘painful’ situation | In Trend Today

George Stephanopoulos and Ali Wentworth’s daughter Harper praises parents on special day despite ‘painful’ situation Read Full Text or Full Article on MAG NEWS