# Leaked report of Russian blackmail of Trump **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 10, 2017, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846 "2017-01-10T23:59:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/181 "2017-01-11T16:21:36Z")
Saw this tweet: > [@](#): > > NIXON: No way can you pull off a more scandal-ridden presidency than I did. > > TRUMP: Hold my beer. > > NIXON: Wait this isn’t beer ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/182 "2017-01-11T16:25:14Z")
My two favorite quotes, reevaluated in light of these new revelations: Clinton: I call it 'Trumped up trickle-down economics" Trump: I’ll bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/183 "2017-01-11T16:27:08Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Quoth George Takei: “Tinkle tinkle little czar, Putin put you where you are” Oh my. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/184 "2017-01-11T16:29:18Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > _How??_ > > I was thinking last night that if this were 1974, the truth of this story would be the proverbial ‘smoking gun,’ and Republicans would join with Democrats to push Trump out of office, preferably before he took office. > > But I don’t think we’re in 1974 anymore, Toto. The GOP holds all the cards, and AFAICT there’s nothing short of criminal indictments nearly certain to result in Trump’s being convicted of felonies that would cause them to bail on Trump at this point. And that might not even do it. But this is coming after the election. So it’s no longer a case of Clinton gaining through Trump’s downfall. This is a question of whether Trump will step aside for Pence. Republicans, who have never been all that happy with Trump, would be delighted to have a party loyalist like Pence in the Oval Office instead. The Democrats and other Trump opponents would likewise be happier to see Pence as President. Finally, the Republicans could avoid any anti-party backlash by pinning all this on Trump personally and disavowing him. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/185 "2017-01-11T16:29:30Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > That’s “Pissident” to you, bucko. 😉 I’m enjoying this Trump presidency thing a lot more than I thought I would. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/186 "2017-01-11T16:30:31Z")
> [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > Some people are so scared of a Trump presidency, they’ll believe anything, no matter how preposterous, and no matter how much substance the allegations lack. > > What happened to being wary of “fake news”, anyway? Maybe your reading comprehension leaves something to be desired. If you actually read through this thread, you’d see mostly the normal Dope skepticism about these latest allegations. I don’t see many posters who are convinced that the claims are true that Trump hired Russian prostitutes to put on a ‘golden showers’ show for him. (Me, I’m going with ‘who the hell knows?’) But that doesn’t stop us from _enjoying_ those claims, which is a whole 'nother matter. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/187 "2017-01-11T16:30:49Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > I’m enjoying this Trump presidency thing a lot more than I thought I would. By which you mean “at all”? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/188 "2017-01-11T16:31:56Z")
> [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > Some people are so scared of a Trump presidency, they’ll believe anything, no matter how preposterous, and no matter how much substance the allegations lack. > > What happened to being wary of “fake news”, anyway? Not afraid, repulsed. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/189 "2017-01-11T16:34:01Z")
> [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > Some people are so scared of a Trump presidency, they’ll believe anything, no matter how preposterous, and no matter how much substance the allegations lack. > > What happened to being wary of “fake news”, anyway? Some people are so scared that Trump might actually be terrible that they take mockery of silliness for gullibility. What happened to actually reading what people post, instead of reading your own biases about differing ideologies into their posts? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/190 "2017-01-11T16:35:28Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I’d love for the story to be true since it would pretty much kill his administration in the crib. Nothing short of multiple smoking guns demonstrating actual treasons or felonies will kill his administration. And maybe not even outright treason. As long as Trump will give Congressional Republicans what they want - elimination of the ACA, gutting of regulations, lots of pork, and social conservatism - they’ll overlook him being a gross weirdo. This “Trump’s doomed now!” is getting old. He is obviously not doomed because his supporters do not care. It was a matter of public record, known facts, that Trump was a liar and a pervert long before the election. Didn’t matter then. Doesn’t matter now. The Republicans would not impeach Donald Trump for anything short of videotaped evidence of him clearly, unquestionably committing treason. Nothing less. If incontrovertible evidence that Donald Trump had raped and murdered a woman a few years ago came to light, the GOP would refuse to impeach. After all, we know he brags about sexual assault; reasonable person would conclude it’s extremely likely he’s a rapist. You could have enough evidence to convict him ten times over; they would not impeach, because the Trumpists would not believe it was true, no matter what. And if they don’t believe it’s true, it won’t change their votes, and if it doesn’t change their votes, why would Republicans care if he was a serial killer? And really, I am totally serious; it would not matter if he turned out to be a serial killer. The Trumpists would pretend it wasn’t true. The sheer volume of things you have to believe are true that are not to be a Trump supporter is staggering; it’s just dozens and dozens of things that are not only lies, but _preposterous_ lies. It’s a post-truth world and it’s time to admit it. This latest revelation does not come anywhere near genuine harm to Trump even if it turns out to be 100% true. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/191 "2017-01-11T16:37:42Z")
> [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > Some people are so scared of a Trump presidency, they’ll believe anything, no matter how preposterous, and no matter how much substance the allegations lack. > > What happened to being wary of “fake news”, anyway? What’s proposterous about the idea that Russia has blackmail material on Trump? Dismissing this as “fake news” is false equivalence. Yes, it may be wrong - but it’s coming because these documents were presented to the FBI by John McCain (famous liberal) and other parties involved in the intelligence community. That’s a little different from Drudge or Breitbart just making shit up, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/192 "2017-01-11T16:38:16Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > This “Trump’s doomed now!” is getting old. He is obviously not doomed because his supporters do not care. It was a matter of public record, known facts, that Trump was a liar and a pervert long before the election. Didn’t matter then. Doesn’t matter now. Trump won by 80,000 votes. He can’t afford to piss off too many of them. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/193 "2017-01-11T16:40:12Z")
It doesn’t matter if he won by 1 vote or 10,000,000. The idea that you only have a mandate with a convincing election win is just false. They hold all three branches of government, the close margin of victory does not matter to them at all. Trump has no intention of running for a second term, either. He’s going to set fire to the whole thing and try to cash out. You think he’s going to do this job that he doesn’t really want for 4 years and then want more of it? When he’s 76? ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/194 "2017-01-11T16:40:41Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Quoth George Takei: “Tinkle tinkle little czar, Putin put you where you are” Ooooo…! George…! Urine trouble nooooow…" ---
**Author:** ![Donald\_Rump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Donald\_Rump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donald_Rump)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/195 "2017-01-11T16:42:01Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > This “Trump’s doomed now!” is getting old. He is obviously not doomed because his supporters do not care. When he becomes a net liability to the GOP’s congressional majorities, he’ll be doomed. First it will be red state Dems becoming less cozy with him, then blue state Republicans will turn on him, and eventually some red state Republicans will start turning on him as well, no matter how much his core supporters stick with him. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/196 "2017-01-11T16:42:45Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > But this is coming after the election. So it’s no longer a case of Clinton gaining through Trump’s downfall. This is a question of whether Trump will step aside for Pence. Republicans, who have never been all that happy with Trump, would be delighted to have a party loyalist like Pence in the Oval Office instead. The Democrats and other Trump opponents would likewise be happier to see Pence as President. Finally, the Republicans could avoid any anti-party backlash by pinning all this on Trump personally and disavowing him. I dunno. Pence was looking like a political dead duck in _Indiana_ before he became the veep nominee, and he’d only look worse as President. The Republicans would miss Trump almost as soon as they got rid of him. No wait, they wouldn’t miss Trump because he wouldn’t go away: he’d be tweeting nonstop against them. And since their base would still like Trump more than they like the rest of the GOP, it would be a _yuuuuge_ problem for them. A GOP-initiated impeachment proceeding would be civil war inside the GOP, and the pro-Trump faction would win. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/197 "2017-01-11T16:43:11Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > Trump won by 80,000 votes. He can’t afford to piss off too many of them. off? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/198 "2017-01-11T16:44:36Z")
Too bad “Golden-gate” is already taken. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/199 "2017-01-11T16:48:35Z")
> [@Donald\_Rump](#): > > When he becomes a net liability to the GOP’s congressional majorities, he’ll be doomed. No, when GOP Congresscritters no longer fear losing primaries if they oppose Trump in such a manner, he _might_ be at risk. But that’s the thing that will keep Trump unworried about impeachment: it really would cause a civil war within the GOP, and he’d be good with that, because unlike them, he thrives on chaos. And where’s there any reason to believe that the pre-Trump GOP power structure would come out on top in such a civil war? I just don’t see it. ---
**Author:** ![Crybaby\_Boobie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crybaby_boobie/32/545_2.png) [@Crybaby\_Boobie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crybaby_Boobie)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846/200 "2017-01-11T16:51:27Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Too bad “Golden-gate” is already taken. Benghazpee? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaked-report-of-russian-blackmail-of-trump/776846.md?page=11)