We can almost certainly say it now: Donald Trump is done for.

benfell

Updates

  1. Originally published December 19, 12:40 am.
  2. December 19, 12:00 noon:
    • What if cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, aren’t just one pump-and-dump scheme,[1] but thousands of them?[2]
    • Just a few days ago, it seemed like hush money paid to young ladies who alleged affairs with Donald Trump was central to the story of this particularly egregious gang of criminals presently occupying the White House.[3] Today, we see the return of Trump’s ambition to build a tower in Moscow as it emerges that Trump signed a letter of intent, which Rudy Giuliani had denied he had done.[4]

James Comey

Here’s Jonathan Chait:

[Michael] Flynn’s judge reeled in shock at the severity of his crimes, hinting that he might hand down prison time despite Robert Mueller’s recommendation that Flynn go free due to his cooperation. For this reason, [Judge Emmet G.] Sullivan offered, and Flynn accepted, a 90-day delay, so that Flynn might have more cooperation to show in order to bargain down his sentence. In the meantime, Sullivan dealt a death blow to the theory that Flynn’s crimes were minor, let alone that he had been mistreated by prosecutors.

Two more mysteries remain. The first is just what crimes by Flynn Mueller’s prosecutors found. The second, even larger, is what Flynn gave them on [Donald] Trump. If his offenses were as serious as Sullivan indicated, and Mueller still suggested he skip prison, it stands to reason that the evidence he turned over concerning other figures is devastating.[5]

Admittedly, we don’t know to what degree, if any, Michael Flynn has implicated Donald Trump. Even if Flynn has not implicated Trump, Chait is correct: It does “stand[] to reason that the evidence he turned over concerning other figures is devastating.”[6] Trump surrounded himself with these assholes; their crimes will, one way or another, reflect on him.

Aaron Blake, “Trump backers just had their anti-Mueller hopes and dreams dashed,” Washington Post, December 18, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/12/18/trump-backers-just-had-their-anti-mueller-hopes-dreams-dashed/

Jonathan Chait, “Michael Flynn’s Judge Destroys Trump’s Conspiracy Theory,” New York, December 18, 2018, http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/12/michael-flynns-judge-destroys-trumps-conspiracy-theory.html

Kate Sullivan, “Trump signed letter of intent for Trump Tower Moscow project despite Giuliani insisting he didn’t,” CNN, December 18, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/18/politics/trump-signed-letter-of-intent-rudy-giuliani-moscow/index.html

Andy Lopez

I still think we need to be thinking about what we call “toys.”

Nashelly Chavez, “Sonoma County to pay $3 million to settle lawsuit over Andy Lopez shooting,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, December 18, 2018, https://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/9083745-181/sonoma-county-to-pay-3

Cryptocurrencies

It’s worth remembering what Paul Krugman wrote about Bitcoin back in 2011:

What we want from a monetary system isn’t to make people holding money rich; we want it to facilitate transactions and make the economy as a whole rich. And that’s not at all what is happening in Bitcoin.[7]

Capitalist libertarians are unclear on this very basic concept, so for them, what everyone else regards as a fraud is entirely legitimate.

Adrian Zmudzinski, “Researchers Find Thousands of Crypto Pump-and-Dump Groups on Messaging Apps,” Cointelegraph, December 19, 2018, https://cointelegraph.com/news/researchers-find-thousands-of-crypto-pump-and-dump-groups-on-messaging-apps

  1. [1]Nathaniel Popper, “In Bitcoin’s Orbit: Rival Virtual Currencies Vie for Acceptance,” New York Times, November 24, 2013, http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/11/24/in-bitcoins-orbit-rival-virtual-currencies-vie-for-acceptance/↩
  2. [2]Adrian Zmudzinski, “Researchers Find Thousands of Crypto Pump-and-Dump Groups on Messaging Apps,” Cointelegraph, December 19, 2018, https://cointelegraph.com/news/researchers-find-thousands-of-crypto-pump-and-dump-groups-on-messaging-apps↩
  3. [3]Jordan Fabian and Morgan Chalfant, “Trump’s legal woes worsen,” Hill, December 15, 2018, https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/421491-trumps-legal-woes-worsen↩
  4. [4]Kate Sullivan, “Trump signed letter of intent for Trump Tower Moscow project despite Giuliani insisting he didn’t,” CNN, December 18, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/18/politics/trump-signed-letter-of-intent-rudy-giuliani-moscow/index.html↩
  5. [5]Jonathan Chait, “Michael Flynn’s Judge Destroys Trump’s Conspiracy Theory,” New York, December 18, 2018, http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/12/michael-flynns-judge-destroys-trumps-conspiracy-theory.html↩
  6. [6]Jonathan Chait, “Michael Flynn’s Judge Destroys Trump’s Conspiracy Theory,” New York, December 18, 2018, http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/12/michael-flynns-judge-destroys-trumps-conspiracy-theory.html↩
  7. [7]Paul Krugman, “Golden Cyberfetters,” New York Times, September 7, 2011, http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/07/golden-cyberfetters/↩

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