If He Could Pick One Day Not to Be Donald Trump– This Might Be It…

There will doubtless be worse days for Trump in future. To sum up my favorite parts of today…for those not watching news 24/7:

Paul Manafort and his associate Rick Gates turned out to be Bob Mueller’s mystery dates. Both entered not guilty pleas.
Both were released after posting bond–Manafort $10 million, Gates $5 million, and relinquishing their passports. But they were not not really released. They were placed on “house arrest.” 

*Just a side note to the FBI from a mother of three–Every 18 year old has a fake ID, they use them to purchase alcohol, based on that fact alone, I would think Paul Manafort could get a fake passport. 

There are reports claiming the no knock middle of the night raid on Manafort’s home, back in July, afforded the FBI information they needed– documents he had told the DOJ did not exist–  regarding his lobbying campaign on behalf of a Ukrainian political party, aligned with Vladimir Putin. 

The order for today’s events came from one even more powerful than Special Council Bob Mueller:

Who knew God was on Twitter? I didn’t.

It has been a fun filled day, but if I had to choose only one event as my favorite it would be, without a doubt, the reports stating George Papagreekguy flipped on Trump. He has been described as a “pro-active cooperator,” wearing a microphone since The FBI arrested him on July 27th, 2017. Trump of course doesn’t know anyone named George. He’s the fourth guy down from Trump, on the left, facing the camera. Maybe this will help his memory. 

Oh, and George pled guilty… to what? Lying, Additionally, court documents unsealed today say he was trying to set up a meeting between Trump and the Russians. Snap and word. I think this is an early checkmate…game over.

Meanwhile on twitter:

Fox news is relentless… 

Newsweek reports Trump will likely not seek re-election. 

What’s next?
I’ve seen reports that dozens more indictments are sealed and ready, but even those will only be the beginning. According to Scott Dworkin of The Democratic Coalition there will be approximately 70 indictments. 

Indictments in the near future must include– Michael Flynn, Jared Kushner, Carter Page, Uday…
While more GOP members turn against Trump daily, others will not, because they have also been implicated. For example, Paul Ryan was caught on tape during surveillance of Russian diplomat Sergey Kislyak, from whom Ryan and many others in the GOP accepted money.

Rumors continue to fly regarding Trump’s threats to fire Mueller. This would not stop the ball rolling, and it would add to his obstruction of justice charges.  

Another hotly debated topic has been whether or not Trump will attempt to pardon any of those indicted. 

On Tuesday, House Democrat Rep. Steve Cohen’s (Tenn.) will propose a constitutional amendment, prohibiting presidents from pardoning themselves, their families, members of their administrations or people who worked on their presidential campaigns. 

Mueller may name Trump as a co-conspirator, removing his authority to pardon anyone in this case. 

Trump would be smart to attempt to bargain with Mueller, but he only has his resignation to offer, and he is not smart.

The following are the steps to impeach a president: 

The House of Representatives needs only a simple majority vote. Upon passage, said president is considered to be “impeached.” This has only happened twice in history, with Presidents Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton. Neither was convicted. Richard Nixon would have been a third had he not resigned. Nixon was later pardoned of all wrong doing by Gerald Ford, his VP.

Impeachment is not enough to remove a PotUS from office. 

After voting for impeachment with a majority yes, the House Judiciary Committee launches an investigation into allegations… or they can use data and conclusions gathered by the FBI. If they decide there is justifiable cause, it goes to the Senate for a vote.

This is the phase that will result in the removal of the president. He must be “convicted on articles of impeachment.” That requires a supermajority vote of the Senate–a  2/3 yes vote. That has never happened…yet. 

There is a first time for everything.

Trump had a few tweets in response to today’s events, here is just one–

And a photo from…I’m guessing Puerto Rico–

Also, Happy Birthday to Ivanka Trump.