The Fox News presidency: ‘You wanna get nuts? Come on! Let’s get nuts’

Trumpsters have decided that they want to be Michael Keaton in Batman: “Now you wanna get nuts? Come on! Let’s get nuts.”

Donald Trump’s TV lawyer Rudy Giuliani aka “Bat Boy” was on Fox News aka Trump TV today and said he was considering bringing a $17 million legal action against former special counsel Robert Mueller. No, really. Rudy Giuliani threatens $17 million legal action against Robert Mueller during Fox News interview:

Giuliani was incensed that Mueller did not come to a prosecutorial conclusion on Trump’s obstruction of justice. Mueller laid out over ten instances of such obstruction but said he was prevented from bringing charges due to a Department of Justice regulation.

“It was a dereliction of duty,” Giuliani claimed.

“Why do you appoint an independent counsel, a special counsel? Theoretically there’s some kind of conflict, they are supposed to make a decision,” the former New York City mayor said.

Giuliani said he was considering a $17 million legal action against the special counsel.

“I think I might bring a qui tam action to get that money back for the government,” he said.

“What a joke. I think Mueller has made a complete fool out of himself,” Giuliani said, unironically.

A qui tam action is a legal mechanism that allows a whistleblower exposing fraud to bring a lawsuit on behalf of the federal government. So Giuliani is saying that Mueller wasted taxpayer money because he did not indict his client Donald Trump — only because DOJ policy prohibits this — and I would hasten to add, the Southern District of New York identified Trump as “Individual-1” in Michael Cohen’s case in which he also would have been indicted as a co-conspirator but for this DOJ policy.

If anyone has wasted money, it was Donald Trump wasting money on this unbelievably incompetent TV lawyer. Get your money back.

Convicted former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort forfeited property and assets worth at least $36 million to the U.S. government and to his debtors and victims, which are mostly banks, as part of his criminal sentences. Manafort to Forfeit $36 Million:

He’s forfeited five properties in New York, including his Trump Tower condo, three bank accounts — including a trust for his kin, he said — and one life insurance policy. The real estate will be sold, and then that money split between the federal government and debtors and his victims. So far, the Justice Department has agreed to give millions back to the banks to pay off Manafort’s mortgages.

Once the sales and the payments to banks and debtors are done, Manafort still must pay about $17 million to the federal government: $11 million of it goes to the US Treasury, while $6 million he’ll send to the IRS, for back taxes.

Last Thursday, the federal government took possession of Paul Manafort’s condo 43G in Trump Tower because of the Mueller investigation, a judge certified. The feds now own a condo in Trump Tower, thanks to Paul Manafort. All in all, Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation could turn a profit for the government, thanks to Paul Manafort’s asset forfeiture. Mueller may have paid for his own investigation.

So fuck you, Bat Boy. Seek professional psychiatric care, will you? Geezus.

And then there are the authoritarian cult followers of the personality cult of Donald trump in Congress. The Daily Beast reports, Team Trump Now Wants Mueller to Testify Before Congress in Hopes of a Grilling:

President Trump’s close advisers are increasingly pining for Robert Mueller to be dragged before Congress and subjected to conservative lawmakers’ questions about the conduct and outcome of his investigation.

“If they allow [GOP Reps.] Mark Meadows and “Gym” Jordan and few of the others there, they’ll eviscerate him more than they did Michael Cohen,” said Rudy Giuliani, President Trump’s personal attorney during and after the Mueller probe. Giuliani said it would be “emotionally satisfying to have” Mueller testify and that “in terms of the politics of it, I would love to have him testify. I think he’s afraid to.”

This pair of Yahoos did not “eviscerate” Michael Cohen. They were also miserable failures, along with Trey Gowdy, in the eight Benghazi! investigations, where Hillary Clinton testified for 11 hours and they never laid a glove on her.

Rep. “Gym” Jordan (R-OH) on Sunday demanded an investigation into the FBI’s investigation of Russian election attacks in 2016. Jim Jordan shouts at Bob Mueller in ABC interview: ‘When did you know that there was no conspiracy?’

During an interview with ABC News, Jordan increased his volume when he began talking about former special counsel Robert Mueller.

“This is something I want to ask Bob Mueller if he actually comes and testifies,” Jordan explained. “Did you explore the dossier? They took the dossier to the secret court, didn’t tell the court the Clinton campaign paid for the document, didn’t tell the court the guy who wrote it, Christopher Steele, had told the FBI he was desperate to stop Trump!”

“When did you know that there was no conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia?” Jordan demanded to know of Mueller. “That was after putting [an agent] next to George Papadopoulos, that was after using the dossier to spy on the Trump campaign via Carter Page!”

“How long did it take Bob Mueller with 19 lawyers, most of them were Democrats who are out to get the president!” Jordan shouted. “How long did it take him to figure that out?”

Wow, “Gym” Jordan is obviously off his meds again. It is clear that he has not followed Robert Mueller’s admonition: “Read my report … it is my testimony … it speaks for itself.” All of his questions accusations are answered in the report.

Robert Mueller is no Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and “fixer” who is serving jail time for participating in a campaign finance violation that “Individual-1,” Donald Trump, instructed and coordinated as his co-conspirator. Mueller is a consummate professional and public servant, something which will never be said about “Gym” Jordan.

Denizens of Trumpworld were left enraged by [Mueller’s] appearance, believing Mueller had taken the opportunity to call Trump’s innocence into question without having to be pressed on how he came to his conclusions. During his broadcast later that evening, Fox News aka Trump TV host [and Trump’s Minister of Progaganda] Sean Hannity fantasized about Trump-aligned lawmakers placing Mueller under oath and grilling him.

“If you are wondering whether or not Mueller is open to transparency [and] accountability in this deeply flawed investigation, think again,” Hannity said. “Oh, Bob Mueller does not want to answer questions [from] “Gym” Jordan, Mark Meadows, Matt Gaetz, and other Republicans.”

Rep. Matt Gaetz, that ass-hat? Florida Bar Is Investigating US Rep. Matt Gaetz After Complaints of Alleged Cohen Witness Tampering. These guys are who Trumpsters are putting all their hopes in to discredit Robert Mueller? Bwahahaha!

Hannity is a close friend and adviser of Trump’s and his broadcasts often serve as an indicator of where the president’s mind is on any given subject.

Giuliani said he would like Republican lawmakers to grill Mueller about matters such as whether his team ever leaked damaging information to reporters and how former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was treated in solitary confinement. Other prominent Trump allies said they agreed with the idea that Mueller needed to be called before lawmakers, if only to provide Republicans with the opportunity to pepper him on topics such as the composition of his team of investigators and the evidentiary foundations of his investigation.

The right-wing “deep state” conspiracy theory of a “coup” attempt against Donald Trump, who was not president at the time the investigation began, so no coup, but a justified concern over the numerous contacts the Trump campaign had with Russian operatives from foreign signal intelligence and U.S. intelligence: A total of 251 contacts between Trump’s team and Russia-linked operatives have been identified, including at least 37 meetings. “And we know that at least 33 high-ranking campaign officials and Trump advisers were aware of contacts with Russia-linked operatives during the campaign and transition, including Trump himself. None of these contacts were ever reported to the proper authorities. Instead, the Trump team tried to cover up every single one of them.”

“[The Mueller Report was] one of the most dishonest reports ever rendered, and I think the Republicans could take it apart upon examination,” John Dowd, a lawyer who repped the president for nearly a year of the Mueller probe, told The Daily Beast on Thursday. “[Bob Mueller] doesn’t want to go up there. It’s obvious he’s pulled a fast one.” Dowd, who still informally advises Trump and his legal team, added that it would be “great to get him up there” so that GOP lawmakers could “take him apart.”

The same John Dowd who has been implicated in witness tampering and obstruction of justice in Michael Flynn’s case. Transcript of Trump Lawyer Message in Flynn Case Is Released. Is there anyone on Team Trump who is not implicated in obstruction of justice?

Joseph diGenova, an informal legal adviser to the president, echoed those sentiments. “I think it would be really wonderful if Bob Mueller were to testify. I hope he does. I hope he has a respirator with him when he does it,” he said in a brief interview. “I think there are many questions to ask him that are legitimate, given the damage that he caused by letting the investigation fester for two years.” DiGenova said he has a list of questions for Mueller that he has “already provided to people” but would not specify if he had shared this list with Trump or anyone else in the administration or in Congress.

Joseph diGenova and his wife Victoria Toensing were announced to be replacing John Dowd, before they were unceremoniously not hired by Trump. Trump backtracks, decides not to hire 2 controversial lawyers to represent him in the Russia probe. DiGenova has been a vocal supporter of Donald Trump, often appearing on television to speak of “a brazen plot” to “exonerate” Hillary Clinton and “frame” Trump. “This never should have been started,” he once said on Fox News about the Mueller investigation.

While Trump’s advisers are increasingly itching for Mueller to be called before lawmakers, not all Republicans, including many of those lawmakers, are on board with the idea.

Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the House and a current outside adviser to Trump, told The Daily Beast that the savvier move for congressional Republicans would be to use whatever investigative powers they had to focus on the origins of the counterintelligence operation into the Trump campaign that preceded Mueller’s appointment as special counsel. As such, he said, Senate Republicans, who are in the majority, would be wise to call in former Obama administration officials along with ex-FBI director James Comey to testify. Mueller, Gingrich said, would be a “dead end.”

“I think Mueller is smart enough that he would not hence be a helpful witness. And I don’t think it leads you to anything,” said Gingrich. “Mueller is a door to nowhere because nothing you will learn will matter.”

If Republicans were to try to force Mueller to testify, it would have to be in the Senate, where the party still has power over committee schedules. Senator Lindsey “Stonewall”  Graham (R-SC), the chair of the Judiciary Committee, had previously offered Mueller the opportunity to testify but has since stated emphatically that he believes the matter is closed.

Asked Wednesday if the senator’s position had softened at all, Graham’s spokesman, Kevin Bishop, pointed to Mueller’s request not to come to the Hill. Asked if the senator would consider a subpoena, Bishop noted that doing so would go “against [Mueller’s] wishes.”

The more likely venue for Mueller to be compelled to testify remains in the House, where Democrats have been attempting to negotiate a hearing for weeks. But those talks stalled, first after the Department of Justice wouldn’t agree to a date and then when Mueller privately conveyed his fears that any testimony would become a political circus. Leadership has since toyed with the idea of subpoenaing Mueller and hinted that they may well do so despite his request not to testify.

House Republicans have been divided over having Mueller testify. Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, released a statement on Wednesday effectively conceding that Mueller wouldn’t come to the Hill.

Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, alleged on Sunday that a “cabal” in the U.S. government plotted against President Donald Trump. Chris Wallace stumps ranking GOPer: Would the FBI be ‘derelict in their duty’ to ignore Russia attacks?

Fox News host Chris Wallace pointed out that former FBI Direct James Comey has defended the Russia investigation.

“They had information by July of 2016 that the Russians were hacking Democratic emails,” Wallace explained. “And we know that George Papadopoulos, an adviser of some sort, was talking about that. Comey says they would have been derelict in their duty if they hadn’t pursued that.”

“Do you agree?” the Fox News host asked.

But Collins dodged the question.

“Jim Comey is trying to rewrite history!” Collins exclaimed. “His 15 minutes are up, he knows it. He’s going everywhere talking about the things he did or should have done. The interesting thing here, I believe, is he doesn’t want the light of an investigation shined on what they were actually doing.”

Gawd, Fox News Trumpsters love their conspiracy theories.

But the mood on Thursday appeared to be changing. Ass-hat Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) confirmed to The Daily Beast that he wanted Mueller to be questioned before Congress. And a senior GOP aide said other members had begun warming up to the idea of putting the now-former special counsel under oath.

“I think the sense is people are miffed by the way Mueller handled the situation from the time he released the report: the fact he didn’t come to a prosecutorial decision and that he is not taking questions,” said the aide. “My sense is some members do want to get more from him in that regard.”

Yes, Robert Mueller testifying before Congress will become a circus, only because of Donald Trump’s co-conspirators and accessories in Congress who are aiding and abetting his obstruction of Congress and obstruction of justice. They are all equally culpable at law.

If Democrats stick to a detailed script of carefully crafted questions for Robert Mueller that drill down into the questions they still have about his report (please don’t waste your time with speeches), it will still educate the public, while Republicans on the committee only interested in creating talking point clips for Fox News aka Trump TV will demonstrate their own duplicity and that they are unfit to serve in Congress.

NB: The graphic and caption above are derived from Jane Mayer’s piece at The New Yorker, The Making of the Fox News White House.