# A Thread for the Mueller Investigation Results and Outcomes (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 28, 2017, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093 "2017-10-28T20:14:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 311
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2018, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6202 "2018-08-05T13:58:17Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Can we talk about $900,000 plus Manafort spent on antique rugs? > [The Paul Manafort indictment: His personal expenses, by the numbers](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2017/10/30/paul-manafort-indictment-his-personal-expenses-numbers/813032001/) Walter Sobchak: That rug really tied the room together, did it not? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2018, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6203 "2018-08-05T15:32:46Z")
I would assume that this is important? > “Fake News reporting, a complete fabrication, that I am concerned about the meeting my wonderful son, Donald, had in Trump Tower. This was a meeting to get information on an opponent, totally legal and done all the time in politics - and it went nowhere. I did not know about it!” 1. An admission that the earlier statement… about the meeting being about adoptions… was an official lie 2. Oh, yeah, we _were_ meeting to collude! 3. Totally legal! And I knew nothing about it, anyway! 4. It wasn’t me, it was my kid! Those crazy kids, can’t hardly keep up with them! One thing Mueller has probably had to learn in all this was how to do push notifications on Twitter. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2018, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6204 "2018-08-05T16:27:05Z")
Jay Sekulow admitting he lied… or was lied to… in regards to earlier statements he made about the June 9th, 2016 meeting: > Novel defense that: “over time, facts develop.” Naw, they stay the same Jay, it’s just the lies that have to change. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2018, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6205 "2018-08-05T16:47:43Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Jay Sekulow admitting he lied… or was lied to… in regards to earlier statements he made about the June 9th, 2016 meeting: > > [https://twitter.com/AynRandPaulRyan/status/1026107068963418115?s=19](https://twitter.com/AynRandPaulRyan/status/1026107068963418115?s=19) > > Novel defense that: “over time, facts develop.” Naw, they stay the same Jay, it’s just the lies that have to change. Any defense that includes belief that this was legal needs to explain why they then lied about it. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2018, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6206 "2018-08-05T17:42:22Z")
“My client lied to me!” is the best old Jay can do at this point. And, to be a bit more serious, it is pretty damned obvious that whatever Hope Hicks spoke about last night while on AF1 has driven the Trump team into a frenzy. Can’t wait for the next round of Giuliani interviews! ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2018, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6207 "2018-08-05T17:52:21Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > I would assume that this is important? > > [https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1026084333315153924?s=19](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1026084333315153924?s=19) > > “Fake News reporting, a complete fabrication, that I am concerned about the meeting my wonderful son, Donald, had in Trump Tower. This was a meeting to get information on an opponent, totally legal and done all the time in politics - and it went nowhere. I did not know about it!” > > 1. An admission that the earlier statement… about the meeting being about adoptions… was an official lie > 2. Oh, yeah, we _were_ meeting to collude! > 3. Totally legal! And I knew nothing about it, anyway! > 4. It wasn’t me, it was my kid! Those crazy kids, can’t hardly keep up with them! > > One thing Mueller has probably had to learn in all this was how to do push notifications on Twitter. 😃 I’m pretty sure the Donald’s big deposition will just be Mueller, sitting next to a tape recorder, quietly sipping his coffee. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2018, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6208 "2018-08-05T18:38:58Z")
I subscribe to 45’s Facebook posts. There had been a frenzy of posting lies and jingoism in the last few days. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2018, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6209 "2018-08-05T18:55:46Z")
Just getting warmed up! Rallies are Il Douche’s drug of choice. He gets the rush of adoration and approval, and the buzz is believing that the American people totally love him! He just saw them, totally loving him! So, he’s emboldened, letting it all hang out. Because the American people love it, he just saw that they did! And thus he will weather this silly crisis! Look at the latest polling, you’ll see that calling LeBron James stupid totally worked in Ohio! OK, there isn’t any yet, but when there is, you should look, this may sur! ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2018, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6210 "2018-08-05T23:04:09Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Just getting warmed up! Rallies are Il Douche’s drug of choice. He gets the rush of adoration and approval, and the buzz is believing that the American people totally love him! He just saw them, totally loving him! So, he’s emboldened, letting it all hang out. Because the American people love it, he just saw that they did! > > And thus he will weather this silly crisis! Look at the latest polling, you’ll see that calling LeBron James stupid totally worked in Ohio! OK, there isn’t any yet, but when there is, you should look, this may sur! I think you’re right about this being Trump’s inner monologue. But…the venues keep getting smaller. That Ohio rally? Held in a _ **high school gym** _: > [@](#): > > [Jim] Jordan, who arrived to the Olentangy Orange High School gymnasium here to chants of “Jordan! Jordan!” minutes before Trump took the stage… > **[Trump silent on LeBron, praises Jim Jordan, as dual Ohio controversies swirl](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-heads-ohio-rally-hopes-deliver-victory-gop/story?id=57030232)** > > President Trump had already headlined two rallies this week in Florida and Pennsylvania. Trump’s VFW rally in July had to be moved to a smaller venue, and even so wasn’t a full house: > [@](#): > > Smith, a life-long veterans’ advocate, … noted that even after the VFW shifted the venue of the president’s speech from the convention center to a smaller auditorium, the president was still greeted by plenty of empty seats. “I think that veterans are starting to see who this man really is,” he told me by telephone, “and they’re beginning to worry. …" [https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/veterans-hit-a-breaking-point-with-trump/](https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/veterans-hit-a-breaking-point-with-trump/) Someone must be keeping track of the size of Trump’s rally venues–I’ve searched but haven’t found those statistics. They would shed light both on his waning popularity, and his increasing desperation, I suspect. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2018, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6211 "2018-08-05T23:28:09Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > I think you’re right about this being Trump’s inner monologue. > > But…the venues keep getting smaller. That Ohio rally? Held in a _ **high school gym** _: > [Trump silent on LeBron, praises Jim Jordan, as dual Ohio controversies swirl - ABC News](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-heads-ohio-rally-hopes-deliver-victory-gop/story?id=57030232) > > Trump’s VFW rally in July had to be moved to a smaller venue, and even so wasn’t a full house: > > [https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/veterans-hit-a-breaking-point-with-trump/](https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/veterans-hit-a-breaking-point-with-trump/) > > Someone must be keeping track of the size of Trump’s rally venues–I’ve searched but haven’t found those statistics. They would shed light both on his waning popularity, and his increasing desperation, I suspect. I saw how empty the VFW hall was. Some cameras dared to pan the empty part of the auditorium. I’ve never found emptiness to be so uplifting – and even more so because it was for hosting the **VFW**! Also heard that many of the attendees to the Ohio event were out-of-staters. The faithful will come out and travel to do the Troglodyte Shuffle with Trump… but they can’t vote in the Ohio election. Heh. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2018, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6212 "2018-08-06T00:20:19Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > Also heard that many of the attendees to the Ohio event were out-of-staters. The faithful will come out and travel to do the Troglodyte Shuffle with Trump… Does he have his own “deadheads”? Seriously though, I wonder how many people follow him from rally to rally. Aside: I started typing “do” for “does” in the first line and my auto-complete offered me “Donald” and “Dog-whistle”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2018, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6213 "2018-08-06T00:50:33Z")
> [@Apollyon](#): > > Does he have his own “deadheads”? Seriously though, I wonder how many people follow him from rally to rally. > > Aside: I started typing “do” for “does” in the first line and my auto-complete offered me “Donald” and “Dog-whistle”. 😃 The Dead had a song, _Ship of Fools_, that seems appropriate for his die hard supporters, and the iceberg is looming large for the Trumptanic ship of state. ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2018, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6214 "2018-08-06T01:52:04Z")
> [@Apollyon](#): > > Does he have his own “deadheads”? Seriously though, I wonder how many people follow him from rally to rally. Well, there’s the [blacks for Trump guy](https://www.google.com/search?biw=1398&bih=656&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=IKlnW4vAN-SUjwTW64aoBw&q=blacks+for+trump+guy&oq=blacks+for+trump+guy&gs_l=img.3...103017.103813.0.104209.4.4.0.0.0.0.131.275.3j1.4.0....0...1c.1.64.img..0.0.0....0.iyWPdYFYIak). ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2018, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6215 "2018-08-06T02:52:09Z")
> [@Apollyon](#): > > Does he have his own “deadheads”? Seriously though, I wonder how many people follow him from rally to rally. > > Aside: I started typing “do” for “does” in the first line and my auto-complete offered me “Donald” and “Dog-whistle”. 😃 “Deadheads” is right. Not in a nice way. More like boneheads. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2018, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6216 "2018-08-06T02:53:30Z")
> [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > Well, there’s the [blacks for Trump guy](https://www.google.com/search?biw=1398&bih=656&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=IKlnW4vAN-SUjwTW64aoBw&q=blacks+for+trump+guy&oq=blacks+for+trump+guy&gs_l=img.3...103017.103813.0.104209.4.4.0.0.0.0.131.275.3j1.4.0....0...1c.1.64.img..0.0.0....0.iyWPdYFYIak). AKA [Michael the Black Man (born Maurice Woodside, but also known as Michael Symonette and Mikael Israel)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_the_Black_Man) > [@](#): > > …He was one of 16 members of Yahweh ben Yahweh arrested and charged with one murder charge and one attempted murder charge in 1990.[6] He was found not guilty of these charges by a Florida jury in 1992… > > … > > Woodside subsequently became a rabid opponent of the Democratic Party,[9] changed his name to Michael Symonette, and began a career as a musician. He later started a radio station, BOSS 104.1 FM, before reinventing himself as “Michael the Black Man”.[1][10] He briefly came to media attention in September 2008, when he accused Oprah Winfrey of being the devil, and Barack Obama of being endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan, at one of Obama’s speeches in Coral Gables. > > … > > As of August 2017, he runs multiple conspiracy theory-promoting websites, including [Gods2.com](http://Gods2.com), which he frequently promotes on his shirt at Trump rallies. Only the best people. ---
**Author:** ![Psychopants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Psychopants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Psychopants)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2018, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6217 "2018-08-06T12:13:38Z")
The out of state attendees (and some locals) may nave been paid. There have been a number of craigslist ads offering $50 and a $10 bonus if you bring a sign. Not bad for 3 hours of work. Also, if you look at the carefully chosen crowd behind the podium, some faces are in more than one venue. Bottom line is that he has to pay people to fill a HS gym. Sad. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2018, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6218 "2018-08-06T12:19:14Z")
> [@Psychopants](#): > > The out of state attendees (and some locals) may nave been paid. There have been a number of craigslist ads offering $50 and a $10 bonus if you bring a sign. Not bad for 3 hours of work. Also, if you look at the carefully chosen crowd behind the podium, some faces are in more than one venue. > > Bottom line is that he has to pay people to fill a HS gym. Sad. Even if I were desperately in need of work, _and_ there were no government assistance and I was in danger of hunger, I would not sign up to do this. Because I would not trust a bit that I would get paid. Perhaps this is why even with the offer they had a hard time filling the gime. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2018, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6219 "2018-08-06T12:19:21Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > The Dead had a song, _Ship of Fools_, that seems appropriate for his die hard supporters, and the iceberg is looming large for the Trumptanic ship of state. Personally, I prefer Bob Seger’s Ship of Fools. Someplace in the Oval Office must be a dartboard to pick the lie of the day. There was no meeting. There was a meeting, but I wasn’t there. It was about adoption but I didn’t help Junior write the memo. All right, I wrote the memo but it was still about adoption. Well, it was about getting Kremlin help for the election but that’s okay because everybody does it. I didn’t collude. Collusion isn’t a crime but I didn’t do it. Well, I did collude but neener neener neener… ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2018, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6220 "2018-08-06T13:33:42Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Personally, I prefer Bob Seger’s Ship of Fools. > > Someplace in the Oval Office must be a dartboard to pick the lie of the day. There was no meeting. There was a meeting, but I wasn’t there. It was about adoption but I didn’t help Junior write the memo. All right, I wrote the memo but it was still about adoption. Well, it was about getting Kremlin help for the election but that’s okay because everybody does it. I didn’t collude. Collusion isn’t a crime but I didn’t do it. Well, I did collude but neener neener neener… Pete’s fine, but deadheads were specifically mentioned. Anyway, I was reading comments on a right wing site about Trump’s tweet regarding the meeting and apparently everyone is missing the fact that the Russian lawyer was actually a Fusion GPS undercover plant to set up the Trump campaign. I did like a comment by one of the few non-Trumpster posters who suggested that Don Jr. might be an undercover plant to make the Trump family look stupid. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2018, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/6221 "2018-08-06T13:55:14Z")
> [@Psychopants](#): > > The out of state attendees (and some locals) may nave been paid. There have been a number of craigslist ads offering $50 and a $10 bonus if you bring a sign. Not bad for 3 hours of work. Also, if you look at the carefully chosen crowd behind the podium, some faces are in more than one venue. > > Bottom line is that he has to pay people to fill a HS gym. Sad. I wouldn’t be totally surprised by such an action, but let’s not go overboard here. Reports that actors were paid to fake enthusiasm at Trump rallies (as well as hired anti-Trump protesters, presumably paid by the opposition) apparently go all the way back to the start of his campaign in 2015, and continue as rumor, but actual hard evidence of this seems to be rather thin on the ground. Got any links to an actual, recent Craigslist ad of the type mentioned above, or testimony from one or more of these rally-attendees for hire? I find it hard to believe the (FAKE NEWS!) media wouldn’t be all over this if true. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093.md?page=310) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093.md?page=312)