Trump Family and Administration: Tower of Liars, Den of Thieves, and Corrupt Swamp

It all emanates from the top-down 100 percent

Trump, Cohen, and the paradox of believing proven liars.

While asking liars to tell the truth carries self-evident risks, in the matter of Robert Mueller’s investigation of the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia, it would seem to be the only option. Mind you, for a skilled prosecutor, the truth is out there, and in this case it involves talking to a whole lot of liars to find it.

Remember that Trump said: “I will have only the “best, most-loyal, and dedicated people, ever to work for America, believe me” (sic) at numerous times in various interviews, so let’s review part of his “best list” shall we?

(1) Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign manager: He has been convicted of eight felonies, including multiple counts of tax and bank fraud. S/C Robert Mueller also has laid out his case that Manafort breached his cooperation deal by lying about his interactions with Konstantin Kilimnik, a Ukrainian-Russian political consultant.

(2) Rick Gates, Manafort’s Deputy: He admitted that an associate was a former officer with Russian military intelligence (GRU), who matches the Russian manager of Konstantin Kilimnik and is contact, too.

(3) Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser: He pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

(4) George Papadopoulos, a former Trump campaign adviser: He pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about researching for Russian “dirt” on Hillary Clinton that could aid Trump.

(5) Roger Stone, a longtime Trump adviser: He has been indicted by Mueller’s office on one count of obstruction, one count of witness tampering, and five counts of making false statements.

That Trump has surrounded himself with this cast of characters may help explain why the president spends so much time decrying “fake news.”

If no one can be trusted to tell the truth, after all, then why bother worrying about the coverage of Cohen’s testimony, the Mueller investigation, or did Trump (legally) intervene on behalf of his son-in-law Jared Kushner to obtain a TOP SECRET security clearance?

Recall that throughout Michael Cohen’s testimony before the House Oversight Committee, Republicans repeated what would seem to be a simple rule of human nature: Never trust a person who has been proven to be a liar.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) “Freedom Party leader, the off-shoot of the now defunct TEA Party, laid the foundation for every GOPer to follow while roasting Cohen with his lead-in statement directly to Cohen: “I want everyone in this room to think about this, the first announced witness for the 116th Congress is a guy who is going to prison in two months for lying to Congress.”

Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) quickly followed saying to Cohen: “You’re a pathological liar. You don’t know truth from falsehood.”

(Note: Savvy and quick witted Cohen snapped back just as fast: “Sir, I’m sorry, are you referring to me or the president?” (Flashing a boyish grin).

Every Republican on that committee followed suit except maybe one two (e.g., Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) who was cordial, direct, professional, and not combative or aggressive.

Therein lies a paradox for the Republican Party. They distrust “The Trump Fixer who lied to protect the president,” but trust the president who himself has been shown to have difficulties telling the truth.

For example: The Washington Post counts, as of February 17, that Trump has made 8,718 “false (lies) or misleading claims” since being in office.

One of the more glaring untruths (lies) was revealed by the New York Times (pictured above), showing that Trump apparently misled the paper when asked directly whether he had intervened in any way to secure a top-level security clearance for his son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner saying: “I was never involved in the security.”

However, that claim was laid bare after the Times learned about two contemporaneous memos written last May. One written by Trump’s former chief of staff, retired Gen. John Kelly, and the other by former White House counsel Don McGahn, and more details are here on how Trump personally ordered that Kushner be granted the security clearance despite objections by the CIA and others in government.

Note Trump's promise: “I wouldn't do that.”

Is Trump is changing his explanation for the infamous June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort, and Don Jr., who met with Russian lawyer (Natalia Veselnitskaya, who has her own legal problems), and others about “getting dirt on Hillary Clinton.”  

Or Trump’s insistence to reporters on Air Force One that he never knew that Cohen had paid hush money to “Stormy Daniels” (checks presented this week by his former lawyer for the repayment of a debt undercut that notion), the president’s own claims would seem to merit more than mere skepticism.

But trust, it turns out, is a partisan sport. And the Democrats were caught in their own truth dilemma this week by choosing to believe that Cohen, who begins a three-year prison term in May, in part for lying to Congress, was finally coming clean when speaking ill of Trump.

DEM Committee Chairman Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) told reporters at the conclusion of Cohen’s marathon grilling: “I believe he told the truth.”

While asking liars to tell the truth carries self-evident risks like investigating Trump campaign’s ties to Russian is one option. But, for a skilled prosecutor, the truth is out there, and in this case it involves talking to a whole lot of liars to find it.

My 2 cents: Not much to add to this coverage and it’s not as if the vast majority of the public does already know how awful, despicable, and just bad person is Donald J. Trump.

The facts speak for themselves except for Trump loyalists and the scared Republicans in Congress who keep failing in their oath of office to serve the public and NOT Trump – that is painfully clear and seen now almost daily. 

How they stick with Trump through all this is astonishingly pitiful, and hopefully they will not survive another round for reelection – at least in my view.

Thanks for stopping by.