Originally published at: Busted: Trump denies secretly sending Russia Covid tests that U.S. needed — but Kremlin confirms he did - Boing Boing
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It says a lot that people (myself included) would take the word of Putin’s propaganda minister over that of von Clownstick.
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At this point it’s likely useless detail (unless the legal system against trump really finally ramps up) but there are actual people involved in “secretly sen[ding] Russia covid testing machines”. Even if it’s just a drunken Dr Ronny Jackson handing these machines to a couple of guys with their trunk open. And for that matter, you know the NSA (hi guys!) has recordings of the “half a dozen” phone calls trump made with Putin after being pried loose of the white-house. Would at least one Democratic senator please ask the NSA head for the call records of those? (“We got nuth’n, Nuth’n!” …uh, yeah right -sigh-)
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I have been pooh-poohed for suggesting this on BB, but I’ll go to my grave thinking that Putin has something on Trump, something catastrophic for him. If not blackmail, then some quid pro quo that Trump would be terrified to have come to light. What the hell are these phone calls and private meetings with Putin about???
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Big Orange said one thing i DO believe. He doesn’t kid. Anything his staff later says he meant as a joke is absolute bullshit. He means it as he says it, but if there is too much heat, he was “just kidding”. Nobody is buying it, man.
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I wish everyone could remember in 2024, like they did in 2020, how badly Trump bobbled Covid. Had he handled it better, he probably would have gotten a second term.
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I don’t think Putin necessarily has anything on Trump, other than probably some purse strings with investments. I don’t think he needs anything. I think Trump admires the strong man and Putin knows how to placate Trump with niceties to get what he wants.
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SUPER ironic the “America First” president gave high end testing machines that were in short supply to Russia. LOLs even.
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While there’s probably kompromat and evidence of shady dealings with and loans from Putin’s pet oligarchs and bankers, I think that after a certain point Vova realised that all it took to get von Clownstick to do his bidding was a little personal flattery every now and then. It must be a constant delight to Putin and his cronies to discuss how cheaply the narcissist grifter was bought.
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It is interesting the Kremlin tossed him under the bus on this. Are they not hopeful about the election?
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For those of us who are opposed to him, it’s just one more line item on a long, long list. For his cult members all they can remember is “Cheap Gas!” without actually remembering why gas prices fell so far.
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Whatever it is, I think the American public deserves to know what Trump and the autocratic leader of a rival state say to one another. Even if it’s merely flattery, that would be of interest to people deciding whether or not to vote for him.
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Yes, it’s really not very complicated. It’s been totally clear for years just how effective flattery is with this guy, and he pretty much explicitly admits as much when he says things like
He’s praised many terrible strongman leaders and I don’t think it’s especially likely that they are all blackmailing him. What would they have that’s worse than what we already know about him, anyway?
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Although I agree with you on the fact that it definitely should be released, I don’t think it’ll change the minds of anyone already voting for him.
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Huh. Pretty unusual to get a “Da” out of the Kremlin rather than a blanket “Nyet”.
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That, or the Putin 5D chess move is that they are dumping Trump. The successor may be a more useful idiot?
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Parse that carefully . . .
They said nothing about the not made up stories.
And note it was his campaign making the claim here. They are perhaps just smart enough to use the cover of that logical weasel.
I don’t doubt though that *Rump has by now made unequivocal lies about the subject.
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The 25th Amendment can’t be used to dump an unwilling President. It’s for when the President is in a literal medical coma. All the Shaitgibbon has to do is write a letter to Congress saying “I’m fine, drop dead” and the whole process is stopped. And a majority of Congress has to go along with it too, not just the Cabinet.
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He didn’t send “Covid tests” as we think of them. He sent the machine that reads Covid tests in a matter of minutes. The sort of thing hospitals desperately needed at the time.
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err, yeah, it can.
Section 4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
ETA:
From the law it does sound like impeachment is probably easier.
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And I repeat, the amendment goes on to state that all the President has to do to reclaim power is send his own letter saying he’s fine. If this really is Vance and Co.'s plan, they will have to conk the Shiatgibbon over the head with a mallet or drug his Big Macs. It would literally be easier to have him assassinated and have Vance be sworn in.
And the law says if they respond “uh huh”, it goes to Congress.
