Obstruction of Justice by Donald Trump are "thousandfold" more than anything in the past

"Trump is a compulsive liar"....

Donald Trump is guilty of serial documented occasions when he has deliberately obstructed justice.

This echo opinion letter was published in the Bismark Tribune, a North Dakota newspaper. 

Does obstruction of justice sound familiar? “The thing that's so appalling to me is that the president, when this whole idea was suggested to him, didn't, in righteous indignation, rise up and say, get out of here, you're in the office of the president of the United States. How can you talk about blackmail and bribery and keeping witnesses silent? 

This is the presidency of the United States. But my president didn't do that. He sat there and he worked and worked to try to cover this thing up so it wouldn't come to light.”

Evidence of Donald Trump directing obstruction of justice is enough to begin impeachment.

Actually, it’s Republican Rep. Lawrence Hogan who said it in 1974, in the House Judiciary Committee.

He was the only high-minded Republican representative to vote to impeach President Richard Nixon.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler has subpoenaed former White House counsel Don McGahn, seeking testimony and documents related to the committee’s investigation into obstruction of justice by President Donald Trump. 

In fact, Nadler also subpoenaed the Justice Department for the uncensored copy of the Robert Mueller report, and requested that Mueller testify before the committee.
Paul Rosenzweig, who served as counsel to Ken Starr, (who recommended the impeachment of President Bill Clinton), said Trump’s attempts to obstruct justice are a “thousandfold” more than anything Clinton did.
Trump is a compulsive liar. The Washington Post has documented evidence, that as president, he has made more then 10,000 false or misleading claims.

At a political rally in Wisconsin, as his crowd booed and screamed; Trump described a hideous scenario that he insists Democrats approve of:

Evil tRump falsely claimed.....

(Lies!) Ugh.....

“The baby is born, the mother meets with the doctor, they take care of the baby, they wrap the baby beautifully and then the doctor and the mother determine whether or not they will execute the baby.” He then made a chopping motion with his hand.

Larry Larsen, Mandan, North Dakota, an echo opinion letter to the editor.

Immigration reform is *not* putting children in cages ~ Bismark North Dakota echo opinion

The Bismark Tribune in North Dakota editorial ~ children in cages demonstrates how the Republicans have lost their moral compass.

Although the immigration issue in America has to do with with a porous southern border, but separating babies and small children from their parents and putting them in detention facilities is unacceptable. This is unethical and not the way to create immigration reform policies.

Even with the separation policy having been revoked on Wednesday by Donald Trump’s executive order, in fact, the directive that created the separation in the first place shows just how much the Republicans who supported this unhumanitarian order have lost, at least temporarily, their moral compass.

Our nation, the one the world used to look up to for setting the standard for freedom and equality, has been taking children from their parents and locking them in cages. Babies as young as 8 months have been taken from their parents at the Mexican border and sent to foster care as far away as Michigan. Thousands of parents have lost track of their children.

We should know better from past experience.

The U.S. took Native American children away from their families and sent them to boarding schools. The country tried to take their religion and culture away from them and make them act like whites. In World War II this country interned Japanese-Americans on the pretense they posed a security threat. We also stole their homes and businesses. The country didn’t lock up German-Americans, which is fortunate for North Dakota with its large German population. They were immigrants who helped settle what’s now North Dakota.

Immigration cages

The separation of families was adopted under a zero-tolerance program by the Trump administration to protect the border. Officials said they had no choice but to follow the law. Trump blames Democrats for forcing him to enforce the law. The responsibility, however, lies with the administration, which had the authority to end the policy. Trump exercised that authority Wednesday when he signed an executive order halting the policy. There’s no doubt the children were traumatized.

Dr. Colleen Kraft, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, visited a shelter along the U.S.-Mexico border to find out the impact on children and talked to the Washington Post about what she saw. In one case, a girl no more than 2 years old was screaming and pounding her fists on a mat. A shelter worker tried to give her books and toys, but neither the worker nor Kraft was allowed to pick up the child to comfort her. The rule at the shelter was don’t touch the children.

The girl had been taken from her mother the night before, Kraft told the Post. “The really devastating thing was that we all knew what was going on with this child. We all knew what the problem was. She didn’t have her mother and none of us can fix that.”

“The really basic, foundational need of having trust in adults as a young child was not being met. That contradicts everything we know that the kids need to build their health,” Kraft told the Post. That situation puts children at risk for toxic stress in their brains, which disrupts normal development and could lead to such problems as heart disease and substance abuse later in life, according to the children's doctors' organization.

Congress has failed to agree on immigration legislation. The House was moving toward a vote on two bills that would have ended the separation of families. The public outcry over the zero-tolerance policy forced Trump’s action. The separation of families shouldn’t have occurred. It’s disappointing that North Dakota’s congressional delegation wasn’t more vocal in its opposition to the policy.

Americans must be ashamed that the situation whereby families were separated was allowed to go so far. It’s time for Congress and the administration to reach agreement on an immigration policy. If they don’t, it’s likely another shameful episode will occur. Children and the nation’s reputation were the victims this time. This nation needs to find its moral compass and pursue real solutions that don’t involve caging children.

Donald Trump ignored Russia warnings

An echo opinion found in the Bismark Tribune, a North Dakota newspaper, published letter to the editor.  Maine Writer "echo blogs" are opinions found while randomly cruising the nation's newspapers. I'm particularly fond of finding and blogging from conservative newspapers, where there are plenty of anti-Trump opinions. Evindently, the White House doesn't read these contrarian points of view, otherwise, there would be more consideration given to uniting people in what should be the Trump "base". 
Clearly, there is trouble in @dateline - Trumpville.

http://bismarcktribune.com/opinion/letters/trump-got-warning-related-to-russians/article_26ec6d02-93d6-58f9-af40-72879b852b9d.html

Trump got warning related to Russians

On Dec. 18, it was revealed that the FBI briefed the Trump and Clinton campaigns back in August 2016 that "the Russians are coming -- the Russians are coming," and of course it was Donald Trump who couldn't bring himself to embrace the FBI conclusions.

Trump has since demeaned the agency, and all of law enforcement for that matter, in any and every way possible. 

During one of the debates, Hillary Clinton called Trump a "puppet" of the Russians, and he retorted "no puppet -- no puppet." Of course, Clinton knew better because she and her campaign got the same briefing from the FBI.

As bad as Trump's constant lying and denials of anything that resembles the truth may be, it's equally disheartening that our Sen. John Hoeven and Rep. Kevin Cramer can't exhale a bit, even long enough to utter any hint of condemnation of the president's aberrant (look that one up in the dictionary) behavior. 

In their defense, most Republicans in the House and Senate are holding their collective breaths, wondering what mean-spirited, hateful untruth will tumble from Trump's mouth, and what their defense of his behavior will be.

I didn't, nor ever could, vote for Hoeven or Cramer, but I do deserve better representation from them. 

Although Republicans finally passed something that resembles a tax bill (aka "tax cuts for the rich")~ (they're desperate to pass anything that has their name on it and that Trump can sign) ~ and that may be enough for Trump's base, but it doesn't bode well for the majority of Americans in the long haul.

Back to Trump for a final comment. His transgressions are numerous, but my guess is that Bob Mueller will hang his hat on obstruction of justice and money-laundering. 

Put those two things on a Post-it note and hang it on the fridge.

Ken Drovdal, Mandan