That MOU references a document called IT Rules of Behavior that each user of GSA provided electronics was required to sign.
I found a copy of that document.
The actual rules are on Page 3. The first item under the heading PRIVACY is:
Nothing explicit about release tona 3rd Party but I think that covers it. And there’s also other, stringent rules that you KNOW those idiots didn’t follow.
All due respect the WaPo and the NYT but in this instance Mueller has access to a lot of people and documents the press don’t.
I’m inclined to think that the hits are not going to be about the actual collusion and more about lying about the collusion and obstructing justice. I’m also uncertain as to whether Trump himself will take any direct hit (unless the Democrats take over Congress next year) but that doesn’t mean that Kushner or one or more of the Trump kids won’t be indicted at some point.
The other interesting aspect of it from my perspective was that he felt that he and other high-ranking intelligence people had contributed to Trump’s distrust of the US intelligence agencies by being overtly political (plus the leaks). (Though he says he’s undecided as to whether what he did was wrong, in spite of that - just that he hadn’t considered that downside.)
That’s true. But it’s generally the case that if the press throws massive resources at something that they can find it without the documents and such. And this has been especially true WRT matters connected to the Trump administration.
I think one big risk for Trump will be if he himself is interviewed by Mueller’s team. I’m not sure his grasp on reality is strong enough for him to stick to the facts.
Aw, crap! Yeah, you are likely correct about all that. That tactic would probably achieve the desired result for the Trumpists. Scary!
Wow. And somewhere in Trumpland there’s an an attorney who will have to explain why he thought this was a suitable medium for privileged attorney-client communication.
This is the biggest risk he faces, I think. He has proved that he can’t speak without lying, and seems unable to distinguish between things that can hurt him and things that will not. I believe that the precipitating event for the firing of Mueller will be a request or a subpoena for an interview with Trump.
If thump did testify, it would be a horrifying spectacle (which I would gladly pay money to see). If for some reason he doesn’t or can’t fire Mueller, I can see him delaying, stalling, doing anything and everything to avoid such an appearance, up to and including WWIII (“Sorry, can’t do it today because incoming North Korean missiles!”)
Congress is formed of two separate entities of quasi-equal power. It’s almost a given that the House will go to the Democrats in 2018. Even if the Senate stays Republican, the House Oversight, Intelligence, Judiciary, and Ethics Committees will be chaired by Democrats, and they’ll have free reign to request all sorts of documents on Trump’s businesses, finances, taxes, private life, etc. and throw it around in front of C-Span or leak it to the press.
Unless the man is spotless, he’s going to take a hit within weeks - if not days - of the new House coming into session, in 2019.
I was about to say that the sad thing is that Trump and his family probably wouldn’t have used the new accounts. I mean, no one can make Trump stop tweeting, nor can they even make him use the official @POTUS twitter handle. It’s just as likely that he’s still emailing everyone in the White House and in Congress as bigdaddy@trump.com.
My guess would have been that the emails only helped with Flynn.
But Trump’s lawyers are only covering Trump and his family. If they’re concerned about, redacting, or culling these emails, then that means that at least one person in Trump’s family was using one of the GSA email accounts.
Eric and Junior are probably too stupid and lazy to bother signing up for the new accounts, Trump himself (as noted) is probably using bigdaddy@trump.com, so that leaves Kushner and Ivanka.
One wonders whether this revelation has anything to do with Friday’s news that Kushner is seeking a crisis management PR firm?
One wonders why he needs a crisis management firm when he has Fox News.
Yeah, he’s finding out the hard way that the tactics that served him in business don’t work in government. Because that’s how he ran the business. He lied on permitting and filing documents and if he got caught he was able to get away with refiling them. He defrauded customers but when he got caught he was able to dodge criminal prosecution by giving everyone their money back.
We saw he laughably lame attempts to use the tactics that worked for him in business. Trying to schmooze Comey over dinner to try and get him to drop the Flynn case. That time he provided a an actual letter from a respected lawyer stating he didn’t do business it’s Russia. When he was a sleazy businessman these tactics would sometimes work.
I’ve gotta be honest, I’ve never been a big Russiagate drum beater. But I think these new emails are going to be a treasure chest of smoking guns. And a great tactic on Mueller’s part —because by requesting them he probably led the perpetrators of “Stupid Watergate” to believe he NEEDED them to get the e-mails.
Now he can compare them. It’s going to be awesome.
In my opinion (IANAL), everything you need to know about the “validity” of this claim is that a Trump transition team lawyer sent a letter to Congress. There are legal remedies available when a party obtains unauthorized discovery (the emails), and the most likely one would be for the Trump team to file a motion with the federal court seeking to prevent the use of the emails in furtherance of the Mueller investigation.
They haven’t filed any motion. It’s very telling about their true motivations.
QFT. Awesome, indeed.
Haven’t we been assured over the last couple years that a government official using a private e-mail server is literally the worst criminal and moral transgression that a human being can commit?
Only if you are a Clinton.
Yeah, it seems that the Trumpster is probably evil enough to start a war in order to relieve the pressure on himself. Pathetic!
You’ll see that, I’ll see that. What he will see is a huge threat to America that only he can defeat. Defeat, that is, if he is not hampered by biased investigations and distractions. A lot will depend on whether the existential threat comes from Russia, China, or Belgium.
None of this will impact the Dutch, of course! No, not the Dutch, never the Dutch!
LOL, this is gonna burn.
Mueller Team Expects Investigation to Last Through Most of 2018. (WaPo)
About to get intense.
I think that as Americans we need to understand that this year, 2018, will be the year that our country is challenged in unprecedented ways. The right wing will absolutely try to shut down the investigation. They will also be increasingly hostile to free and fair elections. Prepare to be outraged. Prepare to see things we never imagined possible in this country.
I agree with this completely. We are in the hands of a mad man, supported by a complicit, corrupt Congress. It’s up to the people now.