{"id":36431,"date":"2019-05-07T09:26:13","date_gmt":"2019-05-07T16:26:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=36431"},"modified":"2019-05-07T09:26:13","modified_gmt":"2019-05-07T16:26:13","slug":"does-putin-like-his-quo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2019\/05\/07\/does-putin-like-his-quo\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Putin Like His Quo?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The most important elements needed to establish a criminal conspiracy between Trump and Putin are mens rea<\/em> and quid pro quo<\/em>.  To establish mens rea, Mueller needed to prove that Trump intended to commit that crime.  Mueller could not establish legal intent without interviewing Trump to determine his state of mind.  To establish quid pro quo<\/em> Mueller needed to prove an exchange of value (this for that).  He established quid<\/em>. Quo<\/em> is self evident.  Even Trump’s lackeys can’t explain it.<\/font><\/p>\n

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President Trump on Friday seemed to adopt Vladimir Putin\u2019s talking points<\/a>, saying after a phone call with the Russian president that Russia was \u201cnot looking at all to get involved in Venezuela.\u201d He said this even though his own secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said Russia had \u201cinvaded\u201d the South American country<\/a>. Pompeo even said Russia persuaded embattled President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro not to flee the country<\/a>. <\/p>\n

So in a series of appearances on the Sunday shows this weekend, Pompeo was tasked with some explaining. But his explanation doesn\u2019t make much sense. And a closer look at the situation reinforces just how soft Trump has been on Russia \u2014 at least rhetorically. <\/p>\n

Appearing on CBS, ABC and \u201cFox News Sunday,\u201d Pompeo suggested he wasn\u2019t familiar with the \u201ccontext\u201d of Trump\u2019s Friday remarks but argued that they did not contradict anything. <\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t see the full context of the quote there. I don\u2019t know what context that was in,\u201d Pompeo told CBS\u2019s \u201cFace the Nation.\u201d \u201cI do know this: The president has made clear, we want everyone out, and that includes the Russians.\u201d <\/p>\n

He added on \u201cFox News Sunday\u201d: \u201cPresident\u2019s been very clear on this. He said \u2014 I think it was in a tweet several weeks back \u2014 the Russians have to get out. That remains our view.\u201d <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a truism of politics that whenever a surrogate says their boss has been \u201cvery clear\u201d about something, it usually means they haven\u2019t. And that\u2019s certainly the case here. <\/p>\n

Trump has indeed said that Russia should get out of Venezuela, but it was hardly a proactive declaration. It came not in a tweet (as Pompeo thought), but in response to a question during a Q&A with reporters. And Trump seemed anxious to get past the question…<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Inserted from <Washington Post<\/a>><\/font><\/p>\n

Furthermore, when Putin said he had no involvement in Venezuela, and Trump backed him up on it.<\/font><\/p>\n

Putin is enjoying his quo. <\/em>Here’s a video<\/a>.<\/font><\/p>\n