Seth Abramson: Pappadopoulos-Sessions was a co-conspirator with Trump

[triron]

Link to tweet

Link: https://twitter.com/SethAbramson?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

[dameatball]

1. Rut-Roh!!! Warden to guard:

Please ready one large, bigly cell and one tiny, elfy cell.

[Wellstone ruled]

2. This story

has legs,and Mueller is listening. People of interest will resign their positions and go their merry way in order to avoid Prosecution. Kind of the way of life in D.C..

[spanone]

3. trump is a mean sonofabitch

[triron]

4. More here:

Seth Abramson
?Verified account @SethAbramson

2/ If George Papadopoulos is correct (and he certainly has every reason not to lie, now that he's under a plea deal) Mueller has Sessions on several counts of perjury and the AG is in fact, as I've been saying for some time now, one of the top targets in Mueller's investigation.
3:32 PM - 13 Mar 2018


3/ If Sessions agreed with Trump on a secret Trump-Putin meeting on March 31, 2016, he not only lied about his reaction at that meeting but also had the requisite knowledge of his actions, state of mind, and intent to commit perjury *multiple times* in testimony before Congress.

4/ Let's face it: Trump can get the media to cover whatever story he wants; they apparently have no ability to independently gauge the importance of individual stories and triage them prior to reporting them out to the American people. And that's why Trump won in the first place.


5/ Tillerson was always going to be fired—as he was never going to let himself to be a Trump lackey (he's smarter and more confident than Trump). The "Space Force" idea is just a brain fart. Trump and Cohen ignoring Daniels' offer and what Papadopoulos said to Mueller *matters*.
73 replies 660 retweets 2,635 likes

End of conversation

[Hermit-The-Prog]

14. point #4 is significant

I wish people would realize this and vote with eyes and clickers:

4/ Let's face it: Trump can get the media to cover whatever story he wants; they apparently have no ability to independently gauge the importance of individual stories and triage them prior to reporting them out to the American people. And that's why Trump won in the first place.

(Last sentence in that is a bit oversimplified, but the rest is dead on.)

[barbtries]

5. anyone surprised to learn this.

they're all in it up to their treasonous ears.

[OnDoutside]

6. Where did Papadopoulos say this ?

[poboy2]

7. more-

BREAKING: Trump, through Sessions, is trying to exact punishment against a 21-year FBI veteran he knows will be a witness against him in a criminal case by trying to have him fired days before his pension vests—a decision that may cost McCabe untold hundreds of thousands or more.Seth Abramson added,
Natasha Bertrand
Verified account

@NatashaBertrand
Sessions is reviewing a recommendation to fire the former F.B.I. deputy director, Andrew McCabe, just days before he is scheduled to retire on Sunday https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/14/us/politics/andrew-mccabe-fbi-firing-recommendation-justice-department.html?smid=pl-share …
10:50 AM - 14 Mar 2018
1,984 Retweets 2,425 Likes IT Currentskristin skahanLauri AbetyaKelly Bernardcarolyn frances andrJoy CheptooDee RobTherese Newtonkay exline
321 replies 1,984 retweets 2,425 likes
Reply 321 Retweet 2.0K Like 2.4K
New conversation

Seth Abramson
?
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@SethAbramson
56m56 minutes ago
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2/ More than that, this is Obstruction or Witness Tampering—as if McCabe is fired at Trump's direction (via Sessions) he's substantially weakened as a corroborating witness for Comey and against Trump at any future impeachment trial for Obstruction of Justice. And Trump knows it.
23 replies 262 retweets 788 likes
Reply 23 Retweet 262 Like 788

Seth Abramson
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@SethAbramson
54m54 minutes ago
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3/ More than *that*, Sessions has no authority to make this decision, as he's recused from any decision relating to investigations of the 2016 election. Firing McCabe—a witness against Trump in a probe arising from the election—is just the sort of decision Sessions *cannot* make.
14 replies 242 retweets 767 likes
Reply 14 Retweet 242 Like 767

Seth Abramson
?
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@SethAbramson
52m52 minutes ago
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4/ If Attorney General Sessions fires McCabe, expect Mueller to open up *another* front in his investigation, this time of Trump *and* Sessions for Obstruction. I've said it before and will say it again: Sessions is already a Mueller target, so he's doing himself no favors here.
28 replies 251 retweets 877 likes
Reply 28 Retweet 251 Like 877

Seth Abramson
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@SethAbramson
48m48 minutes ago
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5/ The IG report triggered a disciplinary process that recommended firing, but given there's no AG or Acting AG with the authority to execute the firing—Sessions *and* Rosenstein are conflicted as to this—and the recommendation isn't time-sensitive, a firing would be Obstruction.
10 replies 96 retweets 394 likes
Reply 10 Retweet 96 Like 394

Seth Abramson
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@SethAbramson
46m46 minutes ago
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6/ Some of you may ask how I see Trump's prints on this, given the IG report triggered this situation.

Easy: (a) Trump is discussing the Russia case with Sessions directly, indirectly, and via social media, and has made clear his views on McCabe and what he wants from Sessions;
4 replies 82 retweets 357 likes
Reply 4 Retweet 82 Like 357

Seth Abramson
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@SethAbramson
45m45 minutes ago
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7/ (b) Trump has made clear what his opinion of Sessions' recusal is, pushing him at all points to undo that recusal or to simply selectively ignore it. Were Sessions not under this pressure, his inability to fire McCabe—given his recusal—would be absolutely clear and inarguable.
4 replies 75 retweets 325 likes
Reply 4 Retweet 75 Like 325

Seth Abramson
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@SethAbramson
43m43 minutes ago
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8/ Trump has—by word and action—created a situation in which his AG feels pressure to ignore a required recusal and do so specifically to punish McCabe and other FBI officials. Had this not happened, the lack of anyone able to fire McCabe pre-retirement would *settle* this issue.
2 replies 77 retweets 305 likes
Reply 2 Retweet 77 Like 305

Seth Abramson
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@SethAbramson
42m42 minutes ago
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9/ The whole time Trump was pressuring Sessions directly, indirectly and by social media, I noted Trump knew Sessions was a Mueller witness and that therefore those actions were illegal. Mueller agrees, and is investigating them. We now see what that illegal pressure has wrought.
8 replies 79 retweets 324 likes
Reply 8 Retweet 79 Like 324

Seth Abramson
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@SethAbramson
39m39 minutes ago
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10/ So while I'm certain Trump *did* talk to Sessions about firing McCabe *in response to this recommendation*—having also discussed it pre-recommendation—even had that conversation not occurred, a firing of McCabe pre-retirement would legally be a consequence of Trump's actions.
9 replies 70 retweets 305 likes
Reply 9 Retweet 70 Like 305

Seth Abramson
?
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@SethAbramson
37m37 minutes ago
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NOTE/ The reason Obstruction statutes talk not just about threats but "influence" is that lawmakers know that this is how obstruction efforts work—Trump "influences" Sessions to take certain actions that will materially affect the quality of the criminal prosecution Trump faces.
19 replies 97 retweets 354 likes

[RandomAccess]

9. Next time use ThreadReader -- makes is so much easier

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/973687651743293441.html

[triron]

12. Does one need a smart phone? I don't have one.

Just a laptop.

[Sophia4]

10. Stories on Papadopoulos and Sessions

Nov. 15, 2017
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/sessions-says-he-now-recalls-meeting-trump-aide-n820676

. . . .

As campaign finance law expert Paul S. Ryan points out, campaigns cannot coordinate with foreign nationals on any expenditure that seeks to influence a U.S. election. Coordination includes cooperation, consultation, or acting in concert with, or at the request or suggestion of the candidate or his team. A key word is “or”—each of those actions could independently suffice to establish a violation.

The emails to set up the now infamous June 9, 2016, Trump Tower meeting contain a particularly incriminating piece of evidence on this score. While significant focus has been given to Donald Trump Jr.’s enthusiastic response to the offer of damaging information on Clinton as “part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump,” equal attention should be paid to the rest of his response, in which he says that such information would be helpful “especially later in the summer.” In this statement, Trump Jr. was not only communicating a willingness to collude with Russia; he was also telling them when the campaign thought the release of such information would be most politically useful. What’s more, as Bob Bauer has noted, when Trump Jr. told the Russian lawyer the information that she presented on Clinton-related donors was not valuable, he “aided the Russians by providing access to its judgments about attacks that would be ineffective.” That too was a form of consultation and assistance.

. . . .

Moreover, despite widespread reporting that the Trump campaign was disorganized and unfocused, it proved surprisingly effective at weaponizing the Clinton-linked emails released by WikiLeaks. Trump mentioned the website 164 times—an average of more than five times per day—in the final month of the campaign, including during all three presidential debates. In one notable instance, the Trump campaign and its supporters were very quick to find and highlight a supposedly anti-Catholic email from 2011 among the many pages of Podesta’s emails that were released by WikiLeaks. The email was used to attribute bias to Clinton in an effort to drive down her numbers among Catholics, a particularly important voting demographic in the Rust Belt states that Trump was targeting.

Goodman notes that the Trump team would also face legal liability for participating in the Russian conspiracy to defraud the United States, for which Special Counsel Robert Mueller indicted 13 Russian nationals and three Russian companies, if they provided tacit assent or support for their activities. Trump Jr.’s affirmative response to the offer of help from the Russian government is an important data point, as is Trump’s repeated use of the leaked emails on the campaign trail. We now know that Trump Jr. was also exchanging private messages with Wikileaks both during and after the campaign. In one instance, Trump tweeted about the hacked emails just 15 minutes after WikiLeaks messaged Trump Jr. suggesting his father promote them. Trump Jr. wasn’t the only person talking with Wikileaks; both Roger Stone and the head of Cambridge Analytica, a firm the Trump campaign employed to help with data analytics, were also reportedly in contact with them.

March 12, 2018
https://www.justsecurity.org/53641/muellers-choice-criminal-charges-trump-team-worried/

March 13, 2018
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/george-papadopoulos-said-trump-found-idea-of-pre-election-putin-meeting-interesting-book

[triron]

11. Thanks so much for these corraborative stories.

[ffr]

13. It boggles the mind to think conservatives everywhere are okay with this subversion.

You'd think that even the lowest of scummy conservative would have some backbone to know right from wrong, but as we're seeing day after day, they do not.

[triron]

15. knr