How many MAGAs do you think know enough about the Trump-Russia Scandal to know that the “pee tape” the FSB recorded during Trump’s “Glory to Urine” Moscow trip in 2013 wasn’t even compromising and didn’t involve sexual conduct?
It’s *amazing* how little the MAGAs know about him.
That’s the funny thing about the pee tape allegation—it’s not harmful to Trump and it’s not kompromat.
The issue was that Trump had never been cautious during his trips to Russia, and per the CIA the FSB had recorded him doing *actually* compromising things during *other* trips.
That’s why, in the first presser Trump gave about the “pee tape”—which was full of obvious, provable lies—his focus was on how careful he always is when he goes to Moscow.
It was because the pee tape didn’t concern him at all—it was the tapes the CIA told the BBC about that did.
I’m reading the Musk biography, and it’s a real rags-to-riches story! When 23-year-old Elon dropped out of graduate school and told his parents he wanted to start a business, they instantly gave him $77,500 (in 2023 dollars), a car, and a credit card. And somehow he made it work!
Within 48 months Musk had turned the $77,500 his parents had gifted him—plus the value of a car and regular use of his mom’s credit card (and free labor from her)—into $41 million (2023 dollars), though beyond coding it’s not clear that Musk was anything but a disruption at Zip2.
It’s an odd story. Musk worked hard at coding but bristled at everything else and consistently acted unprofessionally. But either he (or his brother) had at least had *one* good idea at the right time, so Musk ended up with $41 million—none of it possible without his folks’ help.
Musk now says he wouldn’t have screwed Ukraine in Crimea had the White House asked him not to.
So... is he now admitting that he was consulting with the Kremlin but *not* the White House on how to handle Starlink in Ukraine?
What the hell? Why not check in with the White House?
Every instinct I have as a former criminal investigator who also represented thousands of defendants as a lawyer is going off. Musk admits he was willing to consult with the White House; admits it would’ve been dispositive; but didn’t do it and spoke to the Kremlin, instead. Why?
This appears to be an attempt to deflect blame to the White House by a man who is not as intelligent as he thinks but is acting like a suspect desperate not to incriminate himself. I’m not saying whether Musk committed a crime or not, but the *consciousness of guilt* is palpable.
(1 of 5) Ian, you’re correct that Musk chose to involve himself in the Russia-Ukraine war on the front end in a way that appeared heroic and was surely important. Did he do it because he believed in Ukrainian sovereignty, or because he wanted to advertise Starlink? We don’t know.
1️⃣ It became clear the Russians were committing daily war crimes.
2️⃣ Musk started having backchannel discussions with the Russians.
3️⃣ Musk started publicly pushing a Kremlin deal that amounted to a surrender by Ukraine.
So what changed?
(3 of 5) I’m merely proposing that nothing did. Occam’s Razor suggests that when an amoral billionaire narcissist always looking out for his business interests suddenly pivots from a just cause to a band of war criminals, it’s reasonable to assume a business interest is involved.
Came back from a movie to find my feed thick with apparently illiterate Elongelicals who claim I think Musk should be put to death—of course I don’t and have never said anything within a *galaxy* of that—even as it is Musk who says anyone who criticizes him has committed Treason
Only far-right nitwits who’ve never worked in the justice system—I did, and for years and years—would equate me saying there's evidence Musk aided war crimes (but would never be prosecuted, because the America isn’t part of the ICC) with me saying he should face the death penalty
Indeed I suspect one reason Musk admitted publicly to secretly discussing the war with the Kremlin, admitted publicly to being “in” the war (after Russia’s actions were declared war crimes) and admitted he aided the Russian war effort is because he *knows* the ICC can’t touch him
Do others read this, as I do, as Elon Musk confessing that he knowingly assisted the Kremlin in an international war crime, but that he’s not guilty of a death penalty-eligible offense solely because America is not at war with Russia?
(PS) To be clear, I’ve never said Musk committed Treason. He didn’t, because we’re not at war with Russia. But if he's confessing to aiding and abetting an international war crime, that is certainly a problem. And he appears to already have confessed to violating the Logan Act.
(PS2) The point I’m making here is that he seems to be conceding that what he did *would* be Treason if America were at war with Russia, which means he’s admitting to materially aiding the Russian war effort—which effort is an undeniable international war crime. See the problem?