Trump supporters and conspiracy theory - Part 2

[Rick Plant]

John Kelly: I feel 'disbelief' at Trump's praise of Putin as a 'genius'



On CNN Thursday, John Kelly, the retired Marine General who served as former President Donald Trump's Secretary of Homeland Security and White House chief of staff, reacted with shock to his former boss' lavish praise for Vladimir Putin for his violent invasion of Ukraine.

"We've heard a lot of prominent Republicans, both in politics and in conservative media, praising Vladimir Putin, even calling him a 'genius,'" said anchor Jake Tapper. "What's your response when you hear that?"

"Disbelief," said Kelly. "He's a tyrant. He's a murderer. He has attacked an innocent country whose only crime is that they want to be free and democratic and they're working in that direction and have been working in that direction. They have been a cooperative country. They gave up, on our word, the nuclear weapons that the old Soviet Union left behind. They participated with other U.S./NATO allies. They participated in operations — peacekeeping operations in Africa and Afghanistan, places like that. They were part of the partnership for peace, although not members of NATO, they worked alongside NATO in these various good operations.

"You know, is Putin smart?" he added. "Yes. Tyrants are smart. They know what they're doing. But that's — I can't imagine why someone would look at what's happening there and see it anything other than a criminal act. I don't get it, Jake."

Watch below:

[Rick Plant]

The Republican Cult are anti American traitors who love Putin.

Trump is Putin's 'most valuable useful idiot' — and the GOP will soon 'fall into line'



Former president Donald Trump is Russian President Vladimir Putin's "most valuable useful idiot," according to MSNBC analyst Charlie Sykes.

During a discussion on Thursday night about American conservatives who've praised Putin recently, host Joy Reid played a clip from one of Fox News host Tucker Carlson's rants.

"I don't think Russia is inducing them to do it," Sykes said. "I think they are talking themselves into being useful idiots for the Russians. And that's what Tucker Carlson is. He used to be described as a useful idiot. The most valuable useful idiot, of course, is Donald Trump."

Sykes added that while some Republicans have spoken out against Putin's invasion of Ukraine, the "id" of the GOP is represented by Carlson.

"The entertainment wing of the Republican Party is going in a very different direction than the elected officials in the Republican Party, and again, what the important point is, is that the entertainment wing of the Republic Party is dominant, and they have sided with Donald Trump," Sykes said. "So I think this is actually worth watching. I don't think people should be under any illusions that somehow there's going to be a break in the Republican Party, that there's going to be a moment of sanity. Look, if Jan. 6 did not break Donald Trump's hold on the Republican Party, then his fawning, slavish praise of Vladimir Putin while he is raping Ukraine is certainly not going to do it."

Sykes noted that the clip of Carlson was played on Russian state TV — saying the Fox News host has become "a propaganda mouthpiece of the Kremlin."

"This is an extraordinary moment to watch this, but also to understand how deep this is," Sykes said. "In part this fascination is, they like the strong men, they like the authoritarian. It goes deep, Donald Trump's long history with Vladimir Putin, so this is not a one-off, and my guess is the Republican Party will fall into line behind the entertainment wing of the party sooner or later."

Watch below.

[Rick Plant]

[Rick Plant]

Trump took documents too highly classified to describe back home with him to Mar-A-Lago: report
https://www.rawstory.com/trump-2656793264/

[Rick Plant]

NY Attorney General Letitia James continues civil probe, deposition of Trump family ‘without fear or favor’

NEW YORK — New York Attorney General Letitia James on Friday said she was ready for a monthslong standoff with former President Donald Trump and his adult kids — who are attempting to dodge sitting for a court-ordered deposition on appeal.

“Donald J. Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump were ordered by the court to comply with our lawful investigation into Mr. Trump and the Trump Organization’s financial dealings. While they have the right to seek a delay, they cannot deter us from following the facts and the law wherever they may lead,” James said in a statement.

“Make no mistake: My office will continue to pursue this case without fear or favor because no one is above the law.”

Manhattan Judge Arthur Engoron ruled last week that Trump and his adult kids had to sit for the depositions in the investigation by March 10. James’ posturing follows an indication by Trump’s lawyers to Insider that he would appeal the decision to the Appellate Division, First Department. The process typically takes months.

The judge said he didn’t buy Trump’s argument that James opened the probe due to bias or discrimination against Trump but rather because of Michael Cohen’s comments to Congress in 2018 that the company was “cooking the books.”

Among other leads, the state attorney general is examining whether the Trump Organization manipulated the value of at least 10 of its properties to the IRS, lenders and insurers — from the size of Trump’s luxury Manhattan penthouse to the value of his golf clubs in Los Angeles and Scotland — to enrich itself.

Engoron’s ruling came three days after Trump’s longtime accounting firm Mazars USA cut ties and remarkably announced that a decade’s worth of his company’s financial statements could “no longer be relied upon.”

James’ investigation runs parallel to a three-year criminal probe by the Manhattan district attorney, in which at least two of her investigators have been embedded. The DA has charged the Trump Organization and its long-serving Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg with skirting more than $1.7 million in income tax during a 15-year “audacious” tax fraud scheme.

The company and Weisselberg asked a judge to dismiss the felony charges against them in filings Wednesday. In part, arguing that the evidence against them was fabricated by a “vendetta”-wielding Cohen, who has spent more than 300 hours cooperating in the probe.

Whatever testimony James ultimately procures during her civil probe can be used by the DA. But the abrupt Wednesday departures of veteran investigators Mark Pomerantz and Carey Dunne questioned the likelihood that District Attorney Alvin Bragg will make history by bringing criminal charges against the former president.

A source on Wednesday pushed back at the suggestion Trump’s alleged criminality was not a priority for the new DA.

“He (Bragg) is just following the facts,” said the source, noting that Pomerantz and Dunne’s withdrawal from the case did not signal that it would disappear. “There’s a whole team of lawyers.”

Trump has decried all of the allegations as a politically motivated “witch hunt.” James and Bragg are Democrats — as was former Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance, who first launched the criminal probe.

Lawyers for Trump and the Trump Organization did not respond to requests for comment.

© New York Daily News

[Rick Plant]

Donnie is Putin's puppet so of course he will continue to praise his master.

Trump's former military advisers break with him on Putin

This week, Donald Trump praised Russian President Vladmir Putin for waging a full-scale invasion into Ukraine on Thursday, calling the Russian leader's incursion, which has already resulted in hundreds of casualties, "genius." But few of Trump's former advisers appear to share that same perspective, with many of them claiming that Putin should not be looked upon favorably at all.

On Thursday, former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly told CNN he was in "disbelief" over the Republican support for Putin.

"[Putin] is a tyrant. He's a murderer," Kelly said in an interview. "He has attacked an innocent country whose only crime is that they want to be free and democratic and they're working in that direction and have been working in that direction."

"Is Putin smart?" the former adviser added. "Yes. I mean, tyrants are smart. They know what they're doing. But … I can't imagine why someone would look at what's happening there and see it [as] anything other than a criminal act."

H.R. McMaster, Trump's former national security adviser, echoed a very similar stance, telling CNN that Putin is "certainly not someone to be praised."

Putin, he added, is a "man who has enabled serial episodes of mass homicide" and has "subverted Europe by weaponizing migrants."

"This is one campaign in his larger effort to drag everybody else down," McMaster concluded.

Former White House Chief of Staff Marc Short also joined the chorus of condemnation on Thursday, arguing that "no one in the GOP should be praising Vladimir Putin."

"He's a former KGB officer and a dictator and a thug," Short told The Washington Post. "We should be clear about that."

https://www.salon.com/2022/02/22/trump-former-secretary-of-state-mike-pompeo-praise-putin-while-bashing-biden

[Rick Plant]

AS RUSSIA ATTACKED UKRAINE, FOX NEWS DECIDED IT WAS A GREAT TIME TO HEAR FROM DONALD TRUMP, WHO SPENT ALL WEEK PRAISING PUTIN
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/02/russia-ukraine-fox-news-donald-trump