# 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:** 398
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/7943 "2018-12-01T11:38:53Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > I can’t stop smiling. Knew it was all coming, just didn’t think the holiday gifts would be so abundant or so timely!! Barbara Underwood is a goddess. > > I hate to rejoice at someone else’s misfortune, but the damage the Trump operation has done to this country… we’ll be rehabbing for years and may never again regain our standing in the world. We’ve paid a terrible price for Trump. Time for him to learn the meaning of payback. I hope he lives long enough to grasp the full impact of his downfall. I mean, I don’t want to dump cold water anywhere–or cold Asahi, nyuk nyuk–but Trump’s suffering consequences for his actions will never change his narcissism. I don’t mind the idea of his downfall one little bit, and I will absolutely see it as a victory for the forces of sanity and the rule of law, but I don’t think he has the emotional or mental wherewithal to learn anything at this point. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/7944 "2018-12-01T12:03:27Z")
I just hope the electorate can. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/7945 "2018-12-01T13:51:41Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I just hope the electorate can. You might wanna brace yourself. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/7946 "2018-12-01T14:29:51Z")
> [@andros](#): > > I mean, I don’t want to dump cold water anywhere–or cold Asahi, nyuk nyuk–but Trump’s suffering consequences for his actions will never change his narcissism. I don’t mind the idea of his downfall one little bit, and I will absolutely see it as a victory for the forces of sanity and the rule of law, but I don’t think he has the emotional or mental wherewithal to learn anything at this point. I was going to say something along the same lines. This dipshit says he’s too intelligent to believe in climate change. He will never understand that he has done anything wrong. He has the introspection ability of a dog turd. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/7947 "2018-12-01T14:31:46Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > There was that dwarf in Prague, seeking a place to hide, and asking if anyone would cache a small Czech. Was this the seance leader? I’ve heard about him! The police were looking for a small medium at large. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/7948 "2018-12-01T14:52:16Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > Putin and MBS are so excited to see each other at the G20 Summit. The miserable asshole in the background must be so sad that he hasn’t killed a journalist or threatened to invade a country lately. > > [https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/30/watch-putin-and-saudi-crown-prince-mbs-exuberant-handshake-at-g-20.html](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/30/watch-putin-and-saudi-crown-prince-mbs-exuberant-handshake-at-g-20.html) > [@CNBC](#): > > The president also has recently praised Saudi Arabia for falling oil prices even as outrage continues over the murder of Khashoggi, a resident of the United States who contributed to The Washington Post. So Donny has the impression oil prices are down because of his mad negotiation skillz? He either slept through the supply-and-demand part of Econ 101 or got a gentleman’s C. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/7949 "2018-12-01T14:55:45Z")
Is it possible for a conspiracy like this to be too big to fail? Let’s say it’s the worst version of what it looks like. Russians and Saudis laundered money into the GOP, even using the NRA to make the story spicier, with full knowledge and encouragement of the leadership and much of the rank and file of the Republican party. They all worked together and got a president elected. They’re dictating policy even now. Hell, they even got their fingers into the Kavanaugh by paying off his debts and blackmailing him. Again, sake of argument. Then what? Is this even a problem that would be possible to remedy without completely tearing the country apart first? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/7950 "2018-12-01T14:56:23Z")
Well, the gentleman didn’t want it anyway, so no harm. ---
**Author:** ![Dacien](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dacien/32/5663_2.png) [@Dacien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dacien)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/7951 "2018-12-01T17:57:11Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Is it possible for a conspiracy like this to be too big to fail? Let’s say it’s the worst version of what it looks like. Russians and Saudis laundered money into the GOP, even using the NRA to make the story spicier, with full knowledge and encouragement of the leadership and much of the rank and file of the Republican party. They all worked together and got a president elected. They’re dictating policy even now. Hell, they even got their fingers into the Kavanaugh by paying off his debts and blackmailing him. Again, sake of argument. > > Then what? Is this even a problem that would be possible to remedy without completely tearing the country apart first? Is it possible that if Cthulhu exists it could never be revealed because of the mass hysteria and panic it would cause? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/7952 "2018-12-01T21:54:03Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Is it possible for a conspiracy like this to be too big to fail? Let’s say it’s the worst version of what it looks like. Russians and Saudis laundered money into the GOP, even using the NRA to make the story spicier, with full knowledge and encouragement of the leadership and much of the rank and file of the Republican party. They all worked together and got a president elected. They’re dictating policy even now. Hell, they even got their fingers into the Kavanaugh by paying off his debts and blackmailing him. Again, sake of argument. > > Then what? Is this even a problem that would be possible to remedy without completely tearing the country apart first? If Russia successfully installed a President into the United States and caused the UK to leave the EU, and that’s provable, then war is on the table. Those are two direct, non-Cold, major attacks on countries with nuclear weapons. Nuclear war is not something we can have. It is on the road to being a “too big to fall” situation, but not as you describe. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/7953 "2018-12-01T23:48:37Z")
The Manchurian Candidate was elected. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2018, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/7954 "2018-12-02T00:57:44Z")
“What candidate?” “Manchurian.” “Gesundheit.” ---
**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:** [December 2, 2018, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/7955 "2018-12-02T01:13:03Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > If Russia successfully installed a President into the United States and caused the UK to leave the EU, and that’s provable, then war is on the table. Those are two direct, non-Cold, major attacks on countries with nuclear weapons. > Nuclear war is not something we can have. > It is on the road to being a “too big to fall” situation, but not as you describe. It has been quite well-established, in recent years, that international responses to aggression by one nation need not be of the nuclear variety. Economic sanctions have become the new weapon of choice to punish attacks of all sorts. Is it possible to visit even more economic pain on Russia than has been the case already? Yes. Will Russia be tempted to retaliate with its own nuclear arsenal? Possibly, if Putin feels cornered. But physical, military attacks on Russia in response to a determination that Russia attacked the US and Europe, are an unlikely first resort. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2018, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/7956 "2018-12-02T01:15:35Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > The Manchurian Candidate was elected. :dubious: Well, let’s say that in the 80s or 90s, Trump goes to Russia to try and get a development deal. [A group of prostitutes](https://www.dropbox.com/s/t76cli71uq8foel/img_0.jpg?dl=0) show up at his hotel door, Trump picks a couple, and has sex. A couple decades later, while running for office, Russia sends him a letter, “Surprise! [You work for us](https://www.dropbox.com/s/8isjtc4dr9buh59/img_11.jpg?dl=0), [bitch](https://www.dropbox.com/s/j8mxpinffefjbzy/img_15.jpg?dl=0)! [You were on camera!](https://mobile.twitter.com/DevorrahTester/status/1018938503588122624?s=19)” This is exactly the sort of thing that Russia likes to do, and exactly the sort of thing that Trump is too stupid, cavalier, horny, and trusting of his own infallibility not to do. So when you consider that he’s been to Russia a half dozen times and St. Petersburg is the global capital of underage prostitution, under Putin’s watch, you genuinely do need to be concerned about how much we can trust having this man running the nation. (Note: Images are of Russian models in Russian modeling school. Not actually prostitutes so far as I know, just pointing out that underage girls can look “close enough to 18” given the right outfit and makeup. No aspersions to the women in the photos.) ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2018, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/7957 "2018-12-02T02:02:34Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > I was thinking more Tom Sizemore and Johnny Knoxville than Dennis Farina, with Stanley Tucci as Trump. Much better and had I remembered their names, instead of “that guy and that other guy”, I woulda said them. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2018, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/7958 "2018-12-02T03:27:27Z")
[**Mueller Exposes the Culture of Lying That Surrounds Trump**](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/01/us/politics/trump-mueller-lying.html) My bold. > [@](#): > > WASHINGTON — When Michael D. Cohen admitted this past week to \*\*lying \*\*to Congress about a Russian business deal, he said he had testified falsely out of loyalty to President Trump. When he admitted this summer to \*\*lying \*\*on campaign finance records about payments to cover up a sex scandal during the campaign, he said it was at Mr. Trump’s direction. > > Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, former senior Trump campaign officials, \*\*lied \*\*to cover up financial fraud. George Papadopoulos, a former Trump campaign aide, \*\*lied \*\*in hopes of landing an administration job. And Michael T. Flynn, another adviser, \*\*lied \*\*about his interactions with a Russian official and about other matters for reasons that remain unclear. > > If the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, has proved anything in his 18-month-long investigation — besides how intensely Russia meddled in an American presidential election — it is that Mr. Trump surrounded himself throughout 2016 and early 2017 with people to whom \*\*lying \*\*seemed to be second nature. > > They \*\*lied \*\*to federal authorities even when they had lawyers advising them, even when the risk of getting caught was high and even when the consequences for them were dire. > … “People to whom lying seemed to be second nature.” What the ever-loving fuck. Just like their Fuehrer, who can’t open his mouth without uttering a lie. These are the best people. The ones who are going to drain the swamp. :rolleyes: Whatever else Mueller is doing, HE’S draining the swamp. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2018, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/7959 "2018-12-02T04:04:24Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > [You were on camera!](https://mobile.twitter.com/DevorrahTester/status/1018938503588122624?s=19)" Thanks for posting that. When I clicked on it, it said my Twitter account was suspended. By your posting the link, I realised I had a Twitter account! I thought I didn’t, but there I am; Gordon Bennett (@GordonHeliboy). I don’t remember how long ago I signed up, and I’ve never made a tweet nor followed anyone. I’ve just been notified I’m unsuspended. . ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2018, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/7960 "2018-12-02T08:46:03Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > [**Mueller Exposes the Culture of Lying That Surrounds Trump**](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/01/us/politics/trump-mueller-lying.html) > > My bold. > > “People to whom lying seemed to be second nature.” What the ever-loving fuck. Just like their Fuehrer, who can’t open his mouth without uttering a lie. > > These are the best people. The ones who are going to drain the swamp. :rolleyes: > > Whatever else Mueller is doing, HE’S draining the swamp. One thing that I have yet to see anyone mention is that [he isn’t even really a blond.](https://goo.gl/images/skWWSn) ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2018, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/7961 "2018-12-02T14:43:10Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > One thing that I have yet to see anyone mention is that [he isn’t even really a blond.](https://goo.gl/images/skWWSn) So he’s lying by just standing there. One thing you have to give him: he’s consistent. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2018, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/7962 "2018-12-02T16:09:16Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > “What candidate?” > “Manchurian.” > “Gesundheit.” Don’t you mean “Bud’te zdorovy”? Even this better, [this site](https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/how-to-respond-to-sneeze-in-6-different-languages/) says if a sneeze interrupts someone who is speaking, the speaker is supposed to say, “Pravdu govorju,” (I am speaking the truth) which is eerily appropriate. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093.md?page=397) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093.md?page=399)