Obstruction: Trump told Whitaker to reinstate recused SDNY on Cohen Case

The Grey Lady is at it again. Even as the extremist Thomas on the SC tries to make noise about repealing the case that guarantees the Freedom of Press, they’re doing their work. And surprise surprise, they uncovered even more roaches.

As federal prosecutors in Manhattan gathered evidence late last year about President Trump’s role in silencing women with hush payments during the 2016 campaign, Mr. Trump called Matthew G. Whitaker, his newly installed attorney general, with a question. He asked whether Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York and a Trump ally, could be put in charge of the widening investigation, according to several American officials with direct knowledge of the call.

Mr. Whitaker, who had privately told associates that part of his role at the Justice Department was to “jump on a grenade” for the president, knew he could not put Mr. Berman in charge, since Mr. Berman had already recused himself from the investigation. The president soon soured on Mr. Whitaker, as he often does with his aides, and complained about his inability to pull levers at the Justice Department that could make the president’s many legal problems go away.

This of course means Whitaker was lying to congress the other week when he said Trump didn’t pressure him. Time to haul this lying toady back before the committee in chains this time.

More:

The Justice Department had already raised questions that Mr. Flynn might be subject to blackmail by the Russians for misleading White House officials about the Russian contacts, and inside the White House there was a palpable fear that the Russia investigation could consume the early months of a new administration.

As the group in the Oval Office talked, one of Mr. Trump’s advisers mentioned in passing what then-Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin had told reporters — that Mr. Trump had asked Mr. Flynn to resign.

It was unclear where Mr. Ryan had gotten that information, but Mr. Trump seized on Mr. Ryan’s words. “That sounds better,” the president said, according to people with knowledge of the discussions. Mr. Trump turned to the White House press secretary at the time, Sean Spicer, who was preparing to brief the media.

“Say that,” Mr. Trump ordered.

But was that true, Mr. Spicer pressed.

”Say that I asked for his resignation,” Mr. Trump repeated.

Truth means nothing to the liars.

And the big kicker, the buried lead:

One of Mr. Trump’s lawyers also reached out that summer to the attorneys for two of his former aides — Paul J. Manafort and Mr. Flynn — to discuss possible pardons. The discussions raised questions about whether the president was willing to offer pardons to influence their decisions about whether to plead guilty and cooperate in the Mueller investigation.

Blatant. Criminal. Obstruction.

Impeach Now.

11 Likes

They’re just a bunch of criminals. Many voters obviously didn’t have the ability to recognize that.

Good gosh. Trump asked the AG if he could install a particular favorite in NY. The AG said no, he couldn’t. And this is the NYTs idea of intimidation and obstruction of justice. Pathetic.
And pressured? Since Whittaker said “no” he obviously didn’t feel too pressured.

You might want to read the whole OP. There’s a little more to it than that.

I hate to tell you this, but in the real world, when a boss asks you something… they’re telling you something.

2 Likes

Tell that to Whittaker. He had no problem saying “no”.
Apparently only the NYTs, not Whittaker, knew Whittaker was pressured.

So it means Trump is corrupt and weak.

2 Likes

Well, that’s just not accurate at all. The guy was already installed in NY.

Trump asked to have his guy take over an investigation into Trump. An investigation his guy had already recused himself from.

So, Trump asked Whitaker to do something that was patently wrong. You think Whitaker saying no is evidence that he wasn’t pressured.

That’s ■■■■■■ up.

It’s like me saying my teen wasn’t pressured when his buddies tried to get him to try meth, because he said no.

2 Likes

If I tell a subordinate at my job to commit fraud and that employee refuses, am I still in trouble?

If I tell another employee to touch me in the no no spot… and they refuse, am not committing harassment?

1 Like

My guess is that this particular defense is not going to make it through the AM Radio focus group and will be quickly retired. Who knows, maybe it has legs, but I’m pretty sure refusing an illegal order does not make the order legal.

Didn’t Whitaker also testify that Trump had never asked (or pressured) him into influencing any of the investigations?

So was he asked by Trump to install this guy, or not?

Article came up on my notices a bit ago. trump keeps digging a deeper hole day after day.

I’m sure trump will be tweeting about this article sometime today after the talking heads @ FOX report on the story.

Seems trump asked Whitaker to interfere with the investigation, whitaker said no and trump once again acted like a spoiled man child and turned against Whitaker…

“Hey can you rob a bank for me?”

“Um…no. no I can’t.”

“Bah, what did I hire you for anyways…”

1 Like

Maybe, just maybe, Whitaker is a full-blown liar.

He was just on MSNBC from the oval saying that it is all fake news. He said he never talked to him about that subject. Whitaker’s honesty in front of the house committee has been questioned on another subject. So I guess we can add this to the list of questions he will be asked if he is recalled.

On tomorrow’s edition of “Great Moments in Flop Sweat”.

1 Like

This is a horrible summary of the article.

But if we ignore that and take this post at it’s face value, you’re still acknowledging he’s attempting to obstruct the investigations into himself.

This has been obvious for a long time now, however seeing it stated as some sort of defense is interesting

1 Like

Even Judge Napolitano finds this story troubling if true. He also said he thought the NYTs article seemed well researched. Drip, drip…

Of course he lied while testifying in front of the Congressional Committee.

All the President’s men are liars.