# The Trump Administration: A Clusterfuck in the Making **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 7, 2016, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070 "2016-12-07T00:25:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 906
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2018, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18105 "2018-03-18T21:08:56Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > ?? > > There’s no passive voice in this post. One sees that the passive voice has been spoken. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2018, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18106 "2018-03-18T21:10:24Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > One sees that the passive voice has been spoken. …in bed. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2018, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18107 "2018-03-18T21:16:51Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > One sees that the passive voice has been spoken. > [@QuickSilver](#): > > …in bed. …by zombies. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2018, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18108 "2018-03-18T22:19:51Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > White House staffer left email passwords on official stationery at bus stop > [http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/378949-white-house-staffer-left-email-passwords-on-official-stationery](http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/378949-white-house-staffer-left-email-passwords-on-official-stationery) That is very perplexing. Who would do a thing like that? It is almost like it was some kind of setup. Or a desperate cry for help: “_Here’s access to my e-mail account. Read through this shit I have to deal with and report on it._” ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2018, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18109 "2018-03-18T22:23:42Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > That is very perplexing. Who would do a thing like that? It is almost like it was some kind of setup. Or a desperate cry for help: “_Here’s access to my e-mail account. Read through this shit I have to deal with and report on it._” If that was the intention, there would have to be the same note “dropped” all over DC. A thing like that is not something you’d want to leave to chance to be found by some conscientious passer by. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2018, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18110 "2018-03-18T22:30:43Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I disagree. If a bureaucrat like Comey really believed that a Clinton win was inevitable the last thing he would do to cover himself would be making a political attack on the incoming President. That’s painting a target on your back. > > I think it’s a lot more plausible that this was an October Surprise; a political attack made at the moment when it would have the biggest impact on the outcome of the election. Comey didn’t release the report because he thought a Clinton win was certain. He did it for the opposite reason; he thought he could sway the election to Trump. > > Comey then discovered what associating himself with Trump meant. Rather than rewarding Comey for his help, Trump apparently expected Comey to go much further for him, most likely past the point of legality. Comey refused and was replaced. In support of this viewpoint: the fact that though Comey saw fit to tell the world _'there might be something on Anthony Weiner’s computer though we’re not sure yet, but there’s always a chance it could be bad stuff about Clinton_’-----just days before the election, so that there wouldn’t be time for a vindication of Clinton that could affect the voting-----yet breathed not one word of the fact that the FBI had begun investigating Trump back in July. July 2016 beginning for FBI investigation of Trump: [Memo: Papadopoulos info triggered FBI’s Russia investigation](http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/372043-memo-papadopoulos-info-triggered-fbis-russia-investigation) ---
**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:** [March 18, 2018, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18111 "2018-03-18T22:48:15Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > In support of this viewpoint: the fact that though Comey saw fit to tell the world _'there might be something on Anthony Weiner’s computer though we’re not sure yet, but there’s always a chance it could be bad stuff about Clinton_’-----just days before the election, so that there wouldn’t be time for a vindication of Clinton that could affect the voting-----yet breathed not one word of the fact that the FBI had begun investigating Trump back in July. > July 2016 beginning for FBI investigation of Trump: [http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/372043-memo-papadopoulos-info-triggered-fbis-russia-investigation](http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/372043-memo-papadopoulos-info-triggered-fbis-russia-investigation) At the time, I was convinced that Comey was doing a pre-emptive CYA move. If it came out afterward that he had suspected it and not said anything…well, what would have happened? Oh yeah, he might get fired. Oops. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2018, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18112 "2018-03-18T23:04:51Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > At the time, I was convinced that Comey was doing a pre-emptive CYA move. If it came out afterward that he had suspected it and not said anything…well, what would have happened? Oh yeah, he might get fired. Oops. Could be. And I suppose his book might shed light on the subject. Still, I’m disinclined to buy it. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2018, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18113 "2018-03-18T23:20:44Z")
Chump’s tweets this morning, dumping on Mueller by name, may signal he’s gearing up to fire him finally. This may be the beginning of the end of this Bozo’s presidency. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2018, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18114 "2018-03-18T23:26:08Z")
[CNN is running a growing list of Republicans who are telling the President to keep out of the Mueller investigation.](https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/18/politics/congress-robert-mueller-donald-trump-cnntv/index.html) Lindsay Graham is my favorite so far: > [@](#): > > South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham said he continues to believe any attempt to fire Mueller would be catastrophic for Trump. > “If he tried to do that, that would be the beginning of the end of his presidency,” Graham said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” I feel odd saying that, but I will support any member of the legislature who is willing to do their job at this point. I also think this story may deserve its own thread. We’ll see how it develops over the week. I suspect Trump may have just pushed too hard, in combination with the mounting evidence of the crumbling strength in the mid-terms. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2018, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18115 "2018-03-18T23:43:29Z")
Trump and [running the government like a business](https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/03/18/why-trump-slayed-his-own-masters-of-the-universe-217651). **Why Trump Slayed His Own Masters of the Universe** > [@](#): > > Trump vowed to bring business acumen to the White House. He just didn’t like it when the ideas came from someone else. Or, as [Del]Rex Tillerson[/Del] John Goodman said last night on SNL "One moment you are running a $50 Billion multinational and the next, you are being fired by a guy who sells mail-order steaks… There are just two job descriptions left in this Administration - Lackey or Henchman. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2018, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18116 "2018-03-19T00:34:35Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > …in bed. [sub]golf clap[/sub] (I’ve read all XKCD) I’m at the point that I think WE ALREADY HAVE a constitutional crisis. But not because the law can’t resolve this. It’s because of the congress not doing their job to get rid of a completely inept president. He could be impeached with what is already known. The problem is that the idiots that still support him will possibly riot, and of course republicans will find it harder to line their pockets. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2018, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18117 "2018-03-19T01:11:35Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > [CNN is running a growing list of Republicans who are telling the President to keep out of the Mueller investigation.](https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/18/politics/congress-robert-mueller-donald-trump-cnntv/index.html) > > Lindsay Graham is my favorite so far: > I feel odd saying that, but I will support any member of the legislature who is willing to do their job at this point. > > I also think this story may deserve its own thread. We’ll see how it develops over the week. I suspect Trump may have just pushed too hard, in combination with the mounting evidence of the crumbling strength in the mid-terms. Lindsay Graham is a pussy. If you think he’s going to stand up to Trump firing Mueller, pffffff… Mark my words (after all, I’ve called it correctly so far): the Republicans aren’t going to challenge Trump unless Trump actually begins fucking things up for Trump voters. I don’t mean bad optics, I mean like actually raising the prices of the shit they buy, making their homes less affordable, tanking their 401Ks, and just generally giving everyone the impression that America is becoming a limp dick country. These are all the things they predicated about Obama but never came true because Obama knew what he was doing. Trump does not. And that will reveal itself in time, but he’s going to fuck things up first. Firing Mueller won’t matter. Fucking up someone’s 401K or costing some Nebraska shit kicker his farm? That matters. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2018, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18118 "2018-03-19T01:17:16Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > … but never came true because Obama knew what he was doing. Trump does not. And that will reveal itself in time … as Obama’s fault ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2018, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18119 "2018-03-19T01:33:40Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > as Obama’s fault There’s a difference between talking shit and bathing in it. They may never admit it publicly but Republitards will eventually have no choice but to accept that Trump ain’t their guy, even if it means just staying home and not voting. ---
**Author:** ![tripthicket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripthicket/32/297_2.png) [@tripthicket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tripthicket)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2018, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18120 "2018-03-19T01:55:21Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > One sees that the passive voice has been spoken. > [@QuickSilver](#): > > …in bed. > [@GreysonCarlisle](#): > > …by zombies. …as the prophecy foretold. ---
**Author:** ![Skypist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skypist/32/169_2.png) [@Skypist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skypist)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2018, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18121 "2018-03-19T02:16:01Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Chump’s tweets this morning, dumping on Mueller by name, may signal he’s gearing up to fire him finally. This may be the beginning of the end of this Bozo’s presidency. I don’t know why people keep saying that. Why would firing Mueller be a roadblock for Donnie when nothing else has been? As far as I know, there’s no specific law that forbids the President from firing a special prosecutor. It’s just a tradition, like all the other norms Donnie has broken, not actually a law, or something that has never been challenged in law before. That would require Republicans in Congress to do something and that will probably never happen. If Donnie fires Mueller, all the Republicans in Congress will just say “so unseemly!” and then look the other way, like they always do. Impeachment process could be another way to go, but they will never do that, either. > [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > [CNN is running a growing list of Republicans who are telling the President to keep out of the Mueller investigation.](https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/18/politics/congress-robert-mueller-donald-trump-cnntv/index.html) > > Lindsay Graham is my favorite so far: > > I feel odd saying that, but I will support any member of the legislature who is willing to do their job at this point. > > I also think this story may deserve its own thread. We’ll see how it develops over the week. I suspect Trump may have just pushed too hard, in combination with the mounting evidence of the crumbling strength in the mid-terms. It’s easy for Graham to blow smoke now, but that’s all it is. If and when the firing actually happens, one or two Republicans will be tasked with going on TV and talking about what a poor choice Donnie made, then it will be back to business as usual. > [@asahi](#): > > Lindsay Graham is a pussy. If you think he’s going to stand up to Trump firing Mueller, pffffff… > > Mark my words (after all, I’ve called it correctly so far): the Republicans aren’t going to challenge Trump unless Trump actually begins fucking things up for Trump voters. I don’t mean bad optics, I mean like actually raising the prices of the shit they buy, making their homes less affordable, tanking their 401Ks, and just generally giving everyone the impression that America is becoming a limp dick country. These are all the things they predicated about Obama but never came true because Obama knew what he was doing. Trump does not. And that will reveal itself in time, but he’s going to fuck things up first. Firing Mueller won’t matter. Fucking up someone’s 401K or costing some Nebraska shit kicker his farm? That matters. If someone in Nebraska loses his farm due to Donnie’s policy, it will be blamed on Obama and/or Hillary, even though they aren’t in office anymore, and also on Democrats in Congress, even though they are in the minority and can’t do anything. Somehow it will be the powerless Democrats’ fault. It just will be and that’s it, for the hardcore Trumpsters. ---
**Author:** ![Ambrosio\_Spinola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@Ambrosio\_Spinola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambrosio_Spinola)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2018, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18122 "2018-03-19T02:42:06Z")
> [@Skypist](#): > > I don’t know why people keep saying that. Why would firing Mueller be a roadblock for Donnie when nothing else has been? As far as I know, there’s no specific law that forbids the President from firing a special prosecutor. It’s just a tradition, like all the other norms Donnie has broken, not actually a law, or something that has never been challenged in law before. That would require Republicans in Congress to do something and that will probably never happen. If Donnie fires Mueller, all the Republicans in Congress will just say “so unseemly!” and then look the other way, like they always do. I’m sure Devin Nunes would be willing to throw an emergency hearing together on the subject of how the Obama Administration abused the FISA warrant system to kick off a fraudulent investigation. Anyway, yeah, I agree with you. The best option from Trump’s perspective would have been to stop the special counsel investigation at once, and failing that to do it as soon as possible. It may be too late to meaningfully fire Mueller now, though - not for political reasons but because the investigation’s progressed enough that the actual leaks of the investigative material itself would damaging, or even enough for state level charges against people. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2018, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18123 "2018-03-19T02:45:22Z")
[Trump required staff to sign nondisclosure agreements that last past his presidency](http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/379040-trump-required-staff-to-sign-nondisclosure-agreements-that-last-past) > [@](#): > > Those staffers believed that it would be nearly impossible to enforce the agreements. > > The source also told the Post that the agreement was supposed to extend past Trump’s time in office, a move the newspaper described as “extraordinary.” > > A draft of the agreement penalized staffers $10 million, to be paid to the federal government, for sharing confidential information. > > That information was defined as “all nonpublic information I learn of or gain access to in the course of my official duties in the service of the United States Government on White House staff,” including “communications … with members of the press” and “with employees of federal, state, and local governments.” > > The Post noted that the $10 million penalty was likely lowered in the final agreements, as other sources did not recall the same figure. > > The agreement blocked the sharing of confidential information in any form, including “the publication of works of fiction that contain any mention of the operations of the White House, federal agencies, foreign governments, or other entities interacting with the United States Government that is based on confidential information.” Someone tell me why an ethical, transparent _government_administration would have its senior staff sign NDA’s? ---
**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:** [March 19, 2018, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/18124 "2018-03-19T03:04:36Z")
[We may now know why Trump and his lawyer made their most brazen calls yet for the Mueller investigation to be shut down](https://www.aol.com/article/news/2018/03/18/we-may-now-know-why-trump-and-his-lawyer-made-their-most-brazen-calls-yet-for-the-mueller-investigation-to-be-shut-down/23388870/) > [@](#): > > Shortly before President Donald Trump and one of his personal defense attorneys made their most brazen calls yet for the Russia investigation to be shut down, they apparently received a list of questions from the special counsel Robert Mueller… > > According to The New York Times, Trump’s tweets this weekend came after Mueller sent the questions as part of his negotiations with Trump’s legal team over an interview with the president. Mueller is still seeking an interview, sources told The Times, but sent the list as a starting point that he can later use to ask follow-up questions. > > Soon after, Trump embarked on one of his most heated, weekend-long tirades against Mueller, former FBI director James Comey, and former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=905) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=907)