“Rudy Unchained” went on TV (well, Fox, but it is still TV) and, in a uniquely Rudy way, seemed to indicate that perhaps the Trump campaign got some dirt, but they didn’t use it, so how could there be collusion?
Wait, what?
Giuliani, who joined President Donald Trump’s legal team last month, went on to say that the “main thing” was that the Trump campaign “never used it … they rejected it,” referring to political “dirt.”
Anyone else confused and bewildered that the president didn’t step down at 2:30 a.m?
Why, yes, glad you asked. The twitter machine near overheated:
Giuliani with a potential unforced error on Fox News. Says “if there was collusion with the Russians, they would have used it.”
They being the Trump campaign. It being dirt they had on Clinton.
This seems to set the Trump legal team’s bar for what constitutes collusion.
— Sam Stein (@samstein) May 17, 20
More? Sure, you’ve earned it:
2017: There was no collusion.
2018: So what if there is collusion? Who cares? We all do it. https://t.co/t9EhGpxkFH
— Bryan Behar (@bryanbehar) May 17, 2018
“They never used it, is the main thing. They rejected it.”
They rejected whatnow? https://t.co/gXebu4KfxM
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) May 17, 2018
Forgive me, my increasingly large audience (and thanks for that), the revelations came out so fast yesterday, that at times it appeared the President might not last throughout the day, and Morning Joe appears to not yet know how to organize this in some coherent manner, though that is entirely forgivable. I can relate.
Where do you even want me to begin?
Oh! Right, with the title. Let’s put Rudy’s statements in some context, because – yes, it can get worse. We are to believe that the entire top management of the Trump campaign walked into an office one floor away from “the boss,” who learned of it from news reports, walked into the meeting on the premise that they were going to get “dirt” on Hillary from the Russians, for now Rudy appears to be trying to soften the blow for hearing they got some dirt, that American citizens need not worry about “collusion” because the campaign didn’t use it, that it is not a crime anyway, and the campaign left the meeting somewhat angry that they didn’t get the kilo of coke, I mean the dirt on Hillary. (Sometimes we forget that we are dealing with a slightly different crime family). Not one of them said; “Hey, maybe we should run this by the lawyers, or maybe call the FBI, because it is kind of weird that the Russians want us to win so bad.” Finally, upon the revelations of the meeting hitting the press, the White House “explained it” not once, not twice, but three times. Which, if your head is spinning right now, means that two were a lie. I don’t know about you, but on the few occasions I might lie, it’s because I damn sure don’t want to tell the truth.
We have to believe all of that, and yet take nothing from the fact that Trump seems “offended” that Mueller wants to speak to him, since the whole thing is a witch-hunt and everyone knows it, there’s not collusion, and he gives every appearance that he will not speak to Mueller, unless it is to lecture Mueller about something, and if Mueller says “no,” he’ll face “Plan B and Plan C,” which everyone over age six knows to be two variations of being fired.
Was Rudy done? Oh, no, no, no, much damage left to do. Rudy then appeared to argue that none of this possibly could have been a crime because getting dirt on someone happens all the time:
You shouldn’t, but you do. Nothing illegal about that,” Giuliani said. “Even if it comes from a Russian or a German or an American, doesn’t matter.”
Actually Rudy, when you get that dirt, with an “understanding” that those Russians are going to help you, it does, in fact, become illegal in two ways. You cannot receive direct campaign contributions from foreign citizens, never mind a foreign government, and you cannot make a deal – a quid pro quo – for that information that involves selling out the United States. Rudy didn’t mention that, likely it slipped his mind, because at this point Rudy is either a double agent working for Robert Mueller, Mike Pence or the Confederate States of America, or he’s insane.
Regardless, someone might want to tell Rudy that even though he’s on Fox, we can still hear him. And boy did people ever hear him. I would add more tweets, but my editor is likely uncomfortable by the length of this already.
Hey! Know what we really didn’t have time to get into?
The Senate transcripts indicate that part of the reason the Trump team left the meeting disappointed was that [pretty much] most of the meeting was about the Magninsky Act – you know, the one which inhibits Russian billionaires? That would sure seem to indicate that the Russians came to the meeting, also expecting something.
Something not right about a blocked phone call to Donald Jr. at a very wrong time, right after the meeting, and that Donald Trump is known to use blocked phone calls.
We also know there is something extremely strange going on with the President “post dating” his financial disclosures, involving a payment to Michael Cohen to reimburse campaign expenses, which would be a felony in and of itself.
And perhaps the most important point of all, we must never ever forget that this president plans to be the only one to ever not speak to a special prosecutor, even though not doing so screams that he is guilty. Instead, he says the prosecutor is on a witch hunt. (Trump seems to believe that serious investigations into very embarrassing and serious crimes committed by rich white people must be witch hunts.)
That was just yesterday, god only knows what might happen today, when we might well see: “Rudy Unchained, The Director’s Cut.” I hear that the FBI guys love it.
ADDENDUM:
Some comments on Facebook, near surely ones who only read the headline, are saying “B.S. if they had it they would have used it.” Giuliani is supposedly just playing with the public – supposedly.
That would initially sound correct. However, I don’t think it is. I can thEithink of 2 different reasons they could have gotten “dirt” but not used it – the first is they already had it. Thus, they (in their thinking) didn’t use the “Russian dirt.” Second possibility, what was given did them no good because it would so obviously come back to bite Trump.
Either way, Giuliani said it, and it’s not like he’s been acting like a fox lately and thinking 3 steps down the road. So, we will see.
