A Complete Breakdown Of Donald Trump’s 80th Unpresidented Week As POTUS

President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Florida State Fairgrounds Expo Hall, Tuesday, July 31, 2018, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

A Complete Breakdown Of Donald Trump’s 80th Unpresidented Week As POTUS

Confessions, conspiracy, obstruction, and Donald's reality distortion field.
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by: Ahmed Baba on August 5, 2018

This week began with President Trump and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani falsely proclaiming “collusion is not a crime.”

It ended with Trump himself admitting a form of collusion, or in other words, conspiracy.

What we are seeing is a coordinated strategy on the part of President Trump, his administration, and conservative media to try and sure up political support among his supporters ahead of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s reports on a potential conspiracy with the Russian government and obstruction of justice.

The approach President Trump has had towards the investigation has always been a PR strategy, not a legal one. First, Trump claimed his campaign had no contacts with Russians. Then, they lied about the nature of those contacts once they were revealed. Now, the strategy is to claim that no matter what conduct Donald Trump engaged in during the campaign and as President, whether it’s illegally soliciting help from or coordinating with the Russians during the campaign or obstructing the investigation while in office, that none of it is criminal. Their stance went from “the President is above the law” to “well, if he committed crimes, the crimes aren’t illegal.” Furthermore, they appear to be leaking bits of information every week in an effort to soften the blow of Mueller’s findings.

This is not a legally sound strategy. It’s an argument for the base so that in the event of impeachment from a post-2018 Democratic House, GOP Senators won’t vote to remove him from office. And although Trump is shrinking the Republican Party, this strategy is working on his most die-hard supporters. Trump is fully aware of the power he has over his base, and he uses it to distort their reality.

President Trump has told over 4,000 lies, but his base believes he’s honest.

President Trump triggers retaliatory tariffs that target his base while aiming to give even more tax cuts to the rich, but his base believes he’s looking out for them.

President Trump has admitted his campaign sought dirt on Hillary Clinton from the Russian government, but his base screams “no collusion.”

President Trump publicly told Attorney General Jeff Sessions to end the Russia investigation, but his base screams “no obstruction.”

President Trump dangerously calls the media the enemy of the American people, and his base screams “CNN sucks!”

If Special Counsel Robert Mueller produces a report that shows hard evidence of crimes committed by Donald Trump and his associates, we’ll see whether or not his base stands with dear leader or their country.

Unfortunately, we might already know the answer.

Day 557: Monday, July 30

A License To Hate
President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions stand for the national anthem during the 37th annual National Peace Officers Memorial Service on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, May 15, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions stand for the national anthem during the 37th annual National Peace Officers Memorial Service on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, May 15, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Attorney General Jeffs Sessions continued to chip away at the separation of church and state. Rantt’s Managing Editor Remy Carreiro reported:

Monday morning, Attorney General Jeff Sessions held a “Religious Liberty Summit” at the Department of Justice Headquarters. At the summit, which was backed by members from Alliance Defending Freedom (a Southern Poverty Law Center-designated hate group), Sessions announced the creation of a “Religious Liberty Task Force,” designed to implement guidelines announced by Sessions last October.

The guidelines referenced in this speech were introduced by the Attorney General last fall, as a sweeping memorandum on how to interpret religious liberty protections. Many civil rights activists and critics of the memo were concerned that the broad interpretation it provided would give people of faith loopholes to work around federal bans on certain types of discrimination. The memo covered protections for both individuals and organizations, and came on the heels of legal challenges which had brought the concept of “religious liberty” to the forefront of national discourse.

The task force announced by Sessions Monday morning would be used to help implement these guidelines in response to a negative “cultural climate.” According to his announcement, this force will “ensure all Justice Department components are upholding that guidance in the cases they bring and defend, the arguments they make in court, the policies and regulations they adopt, and how we conduct our operations.”

In other news…

Day 558: Tuesday, July 31

“Collusion Is Not A Crime”
Artwork By Rantt Media Production Designer Madison Anderson

Artwork By Rantt Media Production Designer Madison Anderson

On Monday morning, President Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani hit the press circuit and took on a new strategy: Rather than arguing that his client didn’t commit any crimes, Giuliani appears to be claiming that conspiring with a foreign government to interfere in America’s 2016 election isn’t a crime. President Trump repeated this claim on Tuesday.

“Collusion is not a crime” is a talking point that many conservatives have stated over the last several months. Legal experts have noted that although the word “collusion” itself isn’t a crime, “conspiracy” is indeed a crime. As former U.S. Attorney Renato Mariotti notes, “A conspiracy is just a legal term for an agreement to commit a crime. You aid and abet a crime if you know about criminal activity and actively try to make it succeed.” If someone colluded with the Russian Government in furtherance of their crimes would make them a co-conspirator, according to legal experts and the Justice Department.

When it comes to the word collusion, it appears Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein does indeed perceive it as a crime when it’s in furtherance of other crimes such as conspiracy to defraud the United States or conspiracy to engage in illegal computer hacking. As CNN’s Senior Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin pointed out, Rosenstein’s August 2017 memo expanding the scope of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe specifically references collusion as a crime when pointing out what Mueller is permitted to investigate:

Allegations that Paul Manafort:

Committed a crime or crimes by colluding with Russian government officials with respect to the Russian government’s efforts to interfere with the 2016 election for President of the United States, in violation of United States law…

Another indication of how the Justice Department sees collusion and criminal conspiracy comes in Mueller’s indictments. As we know, Mueller has indicted 25 Russians (13 Russian entities were indicted earlier this year for their propaganda campaign, and 12 Russian intelligence officers (GRU) were indicted for hacking the DNC, DCCC, and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign during the 2016 election and leaking through DCLeaks and Guccifer 2.0).

Mueller’s indictment of the 13 Russian entities for their propaganda (troll farm) operation gives us more insight:

Defendants, together with others known and unknown to the Grand Jury, knowingly and intentionally conspired to defraud the United States by impairing, obstructing, and defeating the lawful functions of the Federal Election Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the U.S. Department of State in administering federal requirements for disclosure of foreign involvement in certain domestic activities.

Mueller considers defrauding the United States as including “impairing, obstructing, and defeating the lawful functions of the Federal Election Commission.” That is broad and brings us to potential election law violations. As many legal experts have noted, federal law Section 30121 of Title 52, states that it is a crime for a foreign national to contribute money or other items of value to an American election, as well as making it illegal for an American to solicit such a contribution. Legal experts have argued that the allegedly Trump-approved June 2016 Trump Tower meeting (where Donald Trump Jr., then-Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort, and Jared Kushner sought dirt from Russian operatives), would qualify as violating federal election law.

When it comes to the hacking indictment, legal experts have argued if there was collusion in furtherance of the hacks, it could qualify as conspiracy to engage in illegal computer hacking. Mueller’s indictment outlines that on July 27, 2016, Russians began spearphishing campaigns targeting Clinton’s personal office emails for the first time and also targeted Clinton’s campaign. This was the same day Donald Trump publicly stated:  “Russia if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing.”

When it comes to the dissemination of hacked materials, Mueller’s indictment includes co-conspirators who disseminated that hacked data, including an unnamed “entity” that appears to be Wikileaks. If Americans aided in disseminating this hacked data, then they could be roped in as co-conspirators. Mueller’s indictment also includes multiple excerpts that appear to depict Trump’s campaign advisor Roger Stone, who spoke to Guccifer 2.0 during the campaign. “The conspirators, posing as Guccifer 2.0, wrote to a person who was in regular contact with senior members of the presidential campaign of Donald J. Trump.”

There have been reports of Donald Trump Jr. directly communicated with Wikileaks via Twitter direct message. And there’s arguably no one who cited Wikileaks more than then-Candidate Donald Trump himself.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller has established the underlying crimes on the part of the Russians. What’s next appears to be any of the American co-conspirators who are currently unnamed. And after that, obstruction of justice.

Listen to our podcast on the topic!

In other news…

Day 559: Wednesday, August 1

Nixonian
President Donald Trump sits with Attorney General Jeff Sessions during the FBI National Academy graduation ceremony in Quantico, Va. Dec. 15, 2017 (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

President Donald Trump sits with Attorney General Jeff Sessions during the FBI National Academy graduation ceremony in Quantico, Va. Dec. 15, 2017 (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

On Wednesday morning, President Donald Trump has given what appears to be the closest thing to a public order to end Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference, obstruction of justice, and potential collusion on the part of the Trump campaign.

This tweet reportedly came after Trump was updated on the Russia investigation.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from overseeing the Russia investigation due to his role on the Trump campaign. President Trump has reportedly asked Sessions to un-recuse on multiple occasions. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who President Trump has long considered firing, would have to be the one to shut down the Russia investigation.

After the tape was released revealing President Richard Nixon tried to order the FBI to end their investigation into the Watergate break-in, he lost all support from the Republican Party and was forced to resign. President Trump just did something very similar publicly.

Read this full timeline of President Trump’s endeavor to obstruct justice, including his firing of former FBI Director James Comey and his attempts to fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

President Donald Trump is a subject of the Russia investigation.

In other news…

Day 560: Thursday, August 2

Hollow Words
Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats speaking at a joint press conference calling out election hacking. (CNN)

Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats speaking at a joint press conference calling out election hacking. (CNN)

The coverage of Thursday’s conference is from Rantt’s CEO Zak Ali:

On Thursday, National Security Advisor John Bolton, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, and FBI Director Christopher Wray gave a joint press conference speaking out on election hacking ahead of midterms. In the press conference, each member of the Trump Admin affirmed their commitment to the issue of election hacking by foreign adversaries.

Here are the main takeaways from each:

National Security Advisor, John Bolton:

“Since January 2017, the President has taken decisive action to defend our election systems from meddling and interference.”

Director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats:

“In regards to Russian involvement in the midterm elections, we continue to see a pervasive messaging campaign by Russia to try to weaken and divide the United States.”

Secretary of Homeland Security, Kirstjen Nielsen:

“Our democracy itself is in the crosshairs. Free and fair elections are the cornerstone of our democracy and it has become clear that they are the target of our adversaries.”

FBI Director, Christopher Wray:

“As I have said consistently, Russia attempted to interfere with the last election and continues to engage in malign influence operations to this day. This is a threat we need to take extremely seriously & tackle & respond to with fierce determination & focus. But it’s important to understand this is not just an election cycle threat. Our adversaries are trying to undermine our country on a persistent and regular basis, whether it’s election season or not.”

However, it would be negligent to not note that all of these comments are a much stronger display of force than that of our own President, who, on the world stage, denied Russian interference at the Helsinki press conference with Vladimir Putin. He later walked back that statement in Russian hacking, claiming that what he meant to say was: “The sentence should have been, ‘I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be Russia'” with emphasis on “wouldn’t.”

President Trump then called Russian interference a hoax days later on Twitter.

In other news…

Day 561, 562, 563: Friday – The Weekend (August 3-5)

Confessions
Donald Trump and his son Donald Trump, Jr. at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Wednesday, July 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Donald Trump and his son Donald Trump, Jr. at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Wednesday, July 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

On Sunday morning, President Trump tweeted out an admission that contradicts over years worth of statements his team has made about the nature of the June 9, 2016 Trump Tower meeting.

The June 2016 Trump Tower meeting was held between Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, then-Campaign Manager Paul Manafort, Natalia Veselnitskaya (a Russian lawyer and self-described informant), and Russian operatives. Donald Trump Jr.’s own emails and congressional testimony revealed that he was very eager about the prospect of receiving dirt on Hillary Clinton, but his initial story about the meeting was very different.

The Trump administration’s initial response to this, which was dictated on Air Force One by Trump himself with the help of former Communications Director Hope Hicks, was false. Trump Jr.’s first statement after the initial report asserted the meeting was only about adoption. As we now know, Trump Jr. later acknowledged that it clearly wasn’t just about adoption. He clearly states that he anticipated he was going to receive damaging information on his father’s political opponent Hillary Clinton. Even if it was strictly about “adoption,” it would’ve been problematic, given the fact Magnitsky Act was expanded in 2016 and now sanctions 44 people worldwide. If this story wasn’t about Jr. seeking dirt, it would’ve been about Trump campaign officials meeting with a Russian lawyer who is lobbying against US-imposed sanctions on Russia.

President Trump’s “fixer” Michael Cohen has reportedly claimed that then-candidate Trump approved the meeting ahead of time. This would make sense that Candidate Trump was aware, given the fact on June 7th, Candidate Trump said he was going to do a speech about Hillary Clinton’s wrongdoings (the speech never happened). Also, Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani confirmed that there was a preparation meeting that occurred between Trump’s campaign team on June 7th, the same day as the speech announcement. One person allegedly in attendance, former Deputy Campaign Chairman Rick Gates, is now a cooperating witness in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.

These are all significant developments in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into whether the Trump campaign conspired with the Russian government. If true, it would also mean that Donald Trump Jr. lied about his father’s knowledge of this to congressional investigators. And in spite of Trump Sr.’s assertions that the meeting was not illegal, but legal experts beg to differ.

Federal law, Section 30121 of Title 52, states that it is a crime for a foreign national to contribute money or other items of value to an American election, as well as making it illegal for an American to solicit such a contribution.

Also, if any Americans aided in disseminating the Russian hacked data, then they could be roped in as co-conspirators in Mueller’s indictment of 12 Russian intelligence officers (GRU) for hacking the DNC, DCCC, and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign during the 2016 election and leaking through DCLeaks and Guccifer 2.0.

The Full Meeting Breakdown

  • In attendance: Donald Trump Jr., Paul Manafort, Jared Kushner, the Kremlin-connected lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, Rob Goldstone, Russian-American lobbyist Rinat Akhmetshin, Russian interpreter and a representative for Aras Agalarov, Ike Kaveladze were at this June 9th meeting at Trump tower
  • Goldstone, publicist, and former British tabloid reporter, was the intermediary for setting up the meeting
  • Trump Jr. was promised dirt on Clinton before agreeing to attend
  • Veselnitskaya was lobbying against Russian sanctions, and has testified that during the meeting Trump Jr. asked for damning information Hillary Clinton
  • Trump Jr. was told it was part of Russia’s effort to support his father’s candidacy (with email confirmation via Trump Jr. himself)
  • Goldstone was told to set up the meeting by the son of Russian oligarch Aras Agalarov, Emin Agalarov
  • There seemed to have been a phone call between Emin Agalarov and Donald Trump Jr. on June 6th
  • Trump Jr. didn’t appear surprised by Goldstone’s declaration that the Russian government supports his father
  • Trump Sr. was one floor above the meeting at Trump Tower while the meeting took place

In other news…

Unpresidented // Donald Trump / Government / Journalism / News
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by: Ahmed Baba

Ahmed Baba is the Co-Founder and President of Rantt. Writer of Unpresidented, Ahmed documented and analyzed every day of the Trump presidency. He's also a columnist at The Independent and his work has been cited in The New York Times, The Washington Post, BBC, Rolling Stone, BuzzFeed, The New York Post, The Huffington Post, Yahoo News, Blavity, Newsweek, The Telegraph, and more. He can be reached at [email protected] or found on Twitter @AhmedBaba_.

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