First, about the choice of photos I made and the NY Times made to illustrate a story. My hunch is that the NYT chose the photo because of the allegations that, among the many indictable charges that it appears Mueller could level against him, lurks the legal but blackmailable Russian sexual activity he engaged in has to do with women when he was in Moscow. I chose it because it got me to thinking about the following:
We don’t know what happened in the Moscow hotel room. We do know what happened on the Access Hollywood bus:
TRUMP: "I moved on her. Actually, she was down on Palm Beach. I moved on her and I failed. I'll admit it. I did try and fuck her. She was married."
BUSH: "That's huge news."
TRUMP: "Nancy [O'Dell - former co-host of Access Hollywood], no this was... and I moved on her. Very heavily. In fact, I took her out furniture shopping. She wanted to get some furniture. I said 'I'll show you where they have some nice furniture'. I took her... I moved on her like a bitch. I couldn't get there and she was married. And all of a sudden I see her. She's now got the big phoney tits and she's totally changed her look."
BUSH: "Sheesh, your girl's hot as shit. In the purple."
TRUMP: "Whoa! Yes! Whoa!"
BUSH: "Yes! The Donald has scored. Whoa, my man!"
[cross talk]
BUSH: " It better not be the publicist. No it's her, it's..."
TRUMP: "Yeah that's her in the gold. I better use some Tic Tacs [breath fresheners] just in case I start kissing her. You know, I'm automatically attracted to beautiful... I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything."
BUSH: "Whatever you want."
TRUMP: "Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything." Transcript of entire tape
We also know what some of the contestants said about Trump barging into their dressing room and what Trump told Hoard Stern about it.
Co-host Robin Quivers then asked Trump if sleeping with the contestants could be construed as a conflict of interest.
"It could be a conflict of interest," Trump said. "But, you know, it's the kind of thing you worry about later, you tend to think about the conflict a little bit later on."
Stern then put on a fake foreign accent, saying that "some of these foreign girls" say hello "with vagina."
"Well, what you could also say is that, as the owner of the pageant, it's your obligation to do that," Trump said, before discussing how he got away with going backstage when the contestants were naked.
"Well, I'll tell you the funniest is that before a show, I'll go backstage and everyone's getting dressed, and everything else, and you know, no men are anywhere, and I'm allowed to go in because I'm the owner of the pageant and therefore I'm inspecting it," Trump said. "You know, I'm inspecting because I want to make sure that everything is good."
"You know, the dresses. 'Is everyone okay?' You know, they're standing there with no clothes. 'Is everybody okay?' And you see these incredible looking women, and so, I sort of get away with things like that. But no, I've been very good," he added.
Later in the episode, Stern asks Trump to assure his audience that "the chicks will be almost naked" at his pageant, saying to Trump that before he bought the contest, "they were starting to take women who were educated over women who were hot." This is an excerpt from a long and disturbing article from CNN
Donald Trump to Howard Stern: It's okay to call my daughter a 'piece of ass' which also includes Stern show videos.
There’s more here from Rolling Stone: “A Timeline of Donald Trump's Creepiness While He Owned Miss Universe: From walking into a teen dressing room to joking about his obligation to sleep with contestants, Trump's a storied pageant creep”
The article tells us what we already know, i.e., that Trump is an empowered misogynist pig who gets a particular thrill about making women uncomfortably squirm under his lascivious gaze. This is a sadistic sexual pleasure. I just skimmed the article not even wanting to pick out an excerpt to tarnish the “pages” of Daily Kos. However, I did find the published Trump campaign response which is interesting in that it presages the excuse they have persisted in using quite successfully with their base.
Update, October 13th, 2016 10:30 a.m. ET: The Trump campaign issued a statement to Rolling Stone categorically denying these allegations and questioning the political motivation behind reporting on them, adding, "Mr. Trump has a fantastic record of empowering women throughout his career, and a more accurate story would be to show how he's been a positive influence in the lives of so many."
Trump has been credibly accused more than a dozen women. I think the number is up to 19 by now, and I’m not sure if this includes his first wife. None of these assaults are federal crimes, although as we know from yesterdays furor over Rob Porter and domestic abuse, accusations of behavior that are state crimes can lead to the FBI withholding a security clearance recommendation. This brings up something I haven’ t heard so far: Trump couldn’t get a top secret clearance just based on the allegations and admissions of his sexual crimes.
As enumerated in the Kristoff essay, there’s we didn’t know about. Taken alone or even a few lumped together with the things we know about Trump, his campaign, and Russia, you could say ho-hum, shrug it off, or say have some more borscht, Boris.
A whisper of smoke, but not even glowing embers let alone fire.
However, seen together one has to think in terms of a five-alarm fire.
Below is the list, each item explained in his opinion piece in today's New York Times. Actually, the first 11 are things we know. I suppose number 12 is a matter of perspective. I mean, in this Era (or Error) of Trump, who the Hell can say what is "normal?"
Excerpted:
President Trump and Devin Nunes have been muddying the waters of the Russia investigation, so let’s try to clarify those waters so that they’re as clear as vodka.
Here are a dozen things we know.
1. Russia interfered in the U.S. election.
2. Trump has longstanding business interests in Russia.
3. Trump has consistently displayed a soft spot for Putin.
4. Trump picked people with ties to Russia.
5. Russia confided in the Trump campaign.
6. Trump aides secretly met with Russians.
7. A Trump ally secretly communicated with a Russian mouthpiece.
8. … more secret contacts.
9. Kushner met a Putin ally.
10. Trump aides falsely denied contacts.
11. Russia is still at it.
12. This is not normal!
Actually, I doubt that there was anything so straightforward as a secret quid pro quo. Indeed, some of these links are so blatant that they seem confusingly exculpatory: Why would anybody conspiring with Putin raise suspicions by publicly praising him?
Yet the Russian interference itself is beyond doubt. The Mueller investigation has led to two guilty pleas and two indictments so far, and it must continue. Frankly, it’s suspicious that Trump is throwing up so much dust and trying so hard to delegitimize the investigation.
He is not acting innocent.☐
Trump is guilty of federal crimes and most assuredly state white collar crimes.
He is also guilty of state crimes against sexual assault, although he’ s never been charged and convicted. The credible allegations and the evidence of his own words would be enough for the FBI.
He wouldn’t be able to get a clearance to be the custodian in the West Wing.