What Is Truth?

What time is it? Why it’s Mueller time, of course. With the release of the report, we go full Mueller on this week’s show as we enlist Law Talk’s John Yoo to help us with the legal angle, and Byron York (he’s got a podcast too) to guide us through the political ramifications. Also, the fire at Notre Dame and a mediation (really!) on Good Friday.

Music from this week’s show:  Somebody Lied by Ricky Van Shelton

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  1. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Sometimes Trump trades debt for equity when he goes through bankruptcy. It isn’t necessarily inequitable every single time. It’s just business. 

    As far as I know, there was only one journalist that had the skill to get into this stuff. I have no idea why his stuff isn’t more popular.

    • #31
  2. Goldwaterwoman Thatcher
    Goldwaterwoman
    @goldwaterwoman

    Petty Boozswha (View Comment):
    Trump inherited $500 million of prime NYC real estate in 1977

    According to several sources on the internet, Fred Trump’s entire estate was valued at $300,000,000 — divided between four siblings and their mother.  You can find higher estimates and lower ones. Since no one knows for sure, we can only speculate. 

    • #32
  3. Petty Boozswha Inactive
    Petty Boozswha
    @PettyBoozswha

    Goldwaterwoman (View Comment):

    Petty Boozswha (View Comment):
    Trump inherited $500 million of prime NYC real estate in 1977

    According to several sources on the internet, Fred Trump’s entire estate was valued at $300,000,000 — divided between four siblings and their mother. You can find higher estimates and lower ones. Since no one knows for sure, we can only speculate.

    I agree figures are all over the place. After NYC’s bankruptcy and Fred Trump’s troubled relationship with the “Big MAC”  receivers substantial assets were put in the Donald’s name while they were still known to be Fred’s. So anyone can guess.

    • #33
  4. Annefy Member
    Annefy
    @Annefy

    Petty Boozswha (View Comment):

    EDISONPARKS (View Comment):
    Now if he had a negative net worth of $3.1 billion then you’d be on to something

    If our bankruptcy courts treated the top .01% the way they treat the bottom 99% Trump would be a bag boy at a supermarket today.

    I know several people who have declared bankruptcy and none of them had a problem.

    • #34
  5. Petty Boozswha Inactive
    Petty Boozswha
    @PettyBoozswha

    Annefy (View Comment):

    Petty Boozswha (View Comment):

    EDISONPARKS (View Comment):
    Now if he had a negative net worth of $3.1 billion then you’d be on to something

    If our bankruptcy courts treated the top .01% the way they treat the bottom 99% Trump would be a bag boy at a supermarket today.

    I know several people who have declared bankruptcy and none of them had a problem.

    I don’t think they deliberately embezzled banks and had the banks cover up for them because it would show bank regulators how incompetent they were to not demand accurate financial statements in the beginning. I doubt if any of your friends got a pre-packaged settlement that allowed them a $450,000 a month allowance for personal expenses and eventual control of the most important assets while hundreds of honest subcontractors and tradesmen were driven out of business.

    • #35
  6. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Aren’t business people supposed to get some props under our system too, for employing others?  Those hotels etc also employ a lot of people.

    • #36
  7. Annefy Member
    Annefy
    @Annefy

    Petty Boozswha (View Comment):

    Annefy (View Comment):

    Petty Boozswha (View Comment):

    EDISONPARKS (View Comment):
    Now if he had a negative net worth of $3.1 billion then you’d be on to something

    If our bankruptcy courts treated the top .01% the way they treat the bottom 99% Trump would be a bag boy at a supermarket today.

    I know several people who have declared bankruptcy and none of them had a problem.

    I don’t think they deliberately embezzled banks and had the banks cover up for them because it would show bank regulators how incompetent they were to not demand accurate financial statements in the beginning. I doubt if any of your friends got a pre-packaged settlement that allowed them a $450,000 a month allowance for personal expenses and eventual control of the most important assets while hundreds of honest subcontractors and tradesmen were driven out of business.

    Well, I’ve got some stories to tell, but none that I’d share here …

    • #37
  8. Charlotte Member
    Charlotte
    @Charlotte

    William Barr is the only one who looks photoshopped.

    • #38
  9. EDISONPARKS Member
    EDISONPARKS
    @user_54742

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Aren’t business people supposed to get some props under our system too, for employing others? Those hotels etc also employ a lot of people.

    Not if they disrupt the status quo and make “some” feel a little queasy in their presence:

    • #39
  10. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    By the way, I found the bit I was looking for, about the left claiming to be victims but actually they are the aggressors in the “culture war.”  It’s the GLoP from June 13, 2017.  (Wow, time flies!)  It has a lot of good stuff, including some great silliness about English place names and elections and stuff, which is a reason why I re-listen to it occasionally.  But I usually skip the earlier part so I forgot that it has the Culture War bit, starting at about 16:10.

    • #40
  11. FredGoodhue Coolidge
    FredGoodhue
    @FredGoodhue

    George Conway makes Donald Trump look like a faithful husband.

    • #41
  12. Columbo Inactive
    Columbo
    @Columbo

    It is very meaningful that DAG Rosenstein was on stage behind AG Barr. He adds his complete testimony to AG Barr’s assessment of the Weissman Report* … and portends future investigations which will reveal the real truths behind this sordid affair and coup attempt …

    Second Scope Memo – Rosenstein authorizes Mueller to target Michael Flynn, Jr …

    The second scope memo was issued by Rod Rosenstein to Robert Mueller on October 20th, 2017.  The transparent intent of the second scope memo was to provide Weissmann and Mueller with ammunition and authority to investigate specific targets, for specific purposes.  One of those targets was General Michael Flynn’s son, Michael Flynn Jr.

    As you review the highlighted portion below, found on pages 12 and 13 of the Weissmann report, read slowly and fully absorb the intent; the corruption is blood-boiling:

    • #42
  13. Chris Campion Coolidge
    Chris Campion
    @ChrisCampion

    Petty Boozswha (View Comment):

    Annefy (View Comment):

    Petty Boozswha (View Comment):

    Trump inherited $500 million of prime NYC real estate in 1977 – the absolute nadir of the New York real estate market. If he had bought a yacht and spent the intervening years partying with Stormy Daniels and friends he should have been worth north of $20 billion. Of all the nitwit statements about Trump the notion he’s somehow an astute businessman and that is a qualification for his “management style” is one of the most galling.

    I do believe Warren Buffett said the same about his own portfolio. I don’t have enough expertise to opine

    I was working as a teenager on Wall Street when the Dow hit 1000 points, today its between 26000 and 27000.

    Then why aren’t you and everyone else on the planet a millionaire?  Do we all just like not being rich?

    • #43
  14. Chris Campion Coolidge
    Chris Campion
    @ChrisCampion

    EDISONPARKS (View Comment):

    Petty Boozswha (View Comment):

    EDISONPARKS (View Comment):

    Hoyacon (View Comment):

    Annefy (View Comment):

    Petty Boozswha (View Comment):

    Trump inherited $500 million of prime NYC real estate in 1977 – the absolute nadir of the New York real estate market. If he had bought a yacht and spent the intervening years partying with Stormy Daniels and friends he should have been worth north of $20 billion. Of all the nitwit statements about Trump the notion he’s somehow an astute businessman and that is a qualification for his “management style” is one of the most galling.

    I do believe Warren Buffett said the same about his own portfolio. I don’t have enough expertise to opine

    Neither do I. But I have enough to question the initial assertion, as I would any alleged statements of “fact” without sources.

     

    Petty Boozswha (View Comment):

    Trump inherited $500 million of prime NYC real estate in 1977 – the absolute nadir of the New York real estate market. If he had bought a yacht and spent the intervening years partying with Stormy Daniels and friends he should have been worth north of $20 billion. Of all the nitwit statements about Trump the notion he’s somehow an astute businessman and that is a qualification for his “management style” is one of the most galling.

    If Trump were worth $20 billion you would only hate him 10 times more than you already do.

    If being worth $3.1 billion is your definition of business failure, I’m sure there are billions of people on this planet who would love to fail just like Trump has.

    Nice try, but I was talking about the respect Trump gets as a “businessman” not about my feelings for his personality or character. I’m quite confident I could have run a real estate business starting with Trump’s advantages better than he has – at least I wouldn’t have needed to sell Trump steaks or Trump water or Trump University diplomas to stay on top.

    In theory you have a point …. he should be worth more.

    However, in the real world $3.1 Billion is tough to sell as failure.

    Now if he had a negative net worth of $3.1 billion then you’d be on to something

    You’d be some small portion of the federal budget.

    • #44
  15. Chris Campion Coolidge
    Chris Campion
    @ChrisCampion

    Petty Boozswha (View Comment):

    EDISONPARKS (View Comment):
    Now if he had a negative net worth of $3.1 billion then you’d be on to something

    If our bankruptcy courts treated the top .01% the way they treat the bottom 99% Trump would be a bag boy at a supermarket today.

    What does your speculation about what bankruptcy courts might theoretically do, have to do with anything about what was discussed in the podcart?  This has literally nothing to do with the Mueller report.

    Here, I’ll take a stab:  If the FDA treated Trump steaks like the 99% of us treat our steaks, we’d all be starting an 8:00AM tee time at a Trump golf resort tomorrow.

    There.  See how easy that is?

    • #45
  16. cdor Member
    cdor
    @cdor

    Chris Campion (View Comment):

    Petty Boozswha (View Comment):

    Annefy (View Comment):

    Petty Boozswha (View Comment):

    Trump inherited $500 million of prime NYC real estate in 1977 – the absolute nadir of the New York real estate market. If he had bought a yacht and spent the intervening years partying with Stormy Daniels and friends he should have been worth north of $20 billion. Of all the nitwit statements about Trump the notion he’s somehow an astute businessman and that is a qualification for his “management style” is one of the most galling.

    I do believe Warren Buffett said the same about his own portfolio. I don’t have enough expertise to opine

    I was working as a teenager on Wall Street when the Dow hit 1000 points, today its between 26000 and 27000.

    Then why aren’t you and everyone else on the planet a millionaire? Do we all just like not being rich?

    Some of us do not like being rich, apparently. But some of us really like being…Petty.    Ha!Ha!

    • #46
  17. Rick Tessner Member
    Rick Tessner
    @RickTessner

    Just finished listening to the podcast and moved over to see what’s in my youtube subscriptions. Lo and behold, there’s a new Ten Minute Bible Hour by Matt Whitman.  And, it’s all about Pontius Pilate. 

    I’m about 1/2 way through and so far, it’s really quite enjoyable. Mr Whitman is a historian, theologian and pastor.

    The video is a very deep dive and warning, it’s one hour and 10 minutes in length.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8s8fMMEuiA

    • #47
  18. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Why no mention of Zebit in the show notes?

    I won’t be using it though.  They might be useful for people with low/no credit, but they also don’t REPORT your credit history with THEM.  So it’s not a way to IMPROVE your credit from the dismal state it may be in.

    It makes more sense to deal with places that do report to the credit bureaus.

    • #48
  19. Blue Yeti Admin
    Blue Yeti
    @BlueYeti

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Why no mention of Zebit in the show notes?

    I won’t be using it though. They might be useful for people with low/no credit, but they also don’t REPORT your credit history with THEM. So it’s not a way to IMPROVE your credit from the dismal state it may be in.

    It makes more sense to deal with places that do report to the credit bureaus.

    Will be added tomorrow AM.

    • #49
  20. FredGoodhue Coolidge
    FredGoodhue
    @FredGoodhue

    You all are the boys who openly said they did not see the emperor’s new clothes.  I’ve seen that pyramid in many pictures, although never in person.  It’s terrible.

    • #50
  21. Taras Coolidge
    Taras
    @Taras

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

    Petty Boozswha (View Comment):
    Nice try, but I was talking about the respect Trump gets as a “businessman” not about my feelings for his personality or character. I’m quite confident I could have run a real estate business starting with Trump’s advantages better than he has

    How well has this ever been sorted out?

    – at least I wouldn’t have needed to sell Trump steaks or Trump water or Trump University diplomas to stay on top.

    Total red herring. What is he supposed to do, not lease out his brand?

     

     

     

     

    “Can you play the violin?”

    “I don’t know. I’ve never tried.“

    • #51
  22. Taras Coolidge
    Taras
    @Taras

    Chris Campion (View Comment):

    Petty Boozswha (View Comment):

    Annefy (View Comment):

    Petty Boozswha (View Comment):

    Trump inherited $500 million of prime NYC real estate in 1977 – the absolute nadir of the New York real estate market. If he had bought a yacht and spent the intervening years partying with Stormy Daniels and friends he should have been worth north of $20 billion. Of all the nitwit statements about Trump the notion he’s somehow an astute businessman and that is a qualification for his “management style” is one of the most galling.

    I do believe Warren Buffett said the same about his own portfolio. I don’t have enough expertise to opine

    I was working as a teenager on Wall Street when the Dow hit 1000 points, today its between 26000 and 27000.

    Then why aren’t you and everyone else on the planet a millionaire? Do we all just like not being rich?

    “He should have been worth north of $20 billion.”   No question, Trump —or anybody — with perfect foresight— could have gotten very, very rich.  But few people, and by “few people” I mean absolutely no people, were investing for the Reagan Boom in 1977. 

    According to Wikipedia (which leans to the left):

    In 1982, Trump was listed on the initial Forbes List of wealthy individuals as having a share of his family’s estimated $200 million net worth.  His financial losses in the 1980s caused him to be dropped from the list between 1990 and 1995, and reportedly obliged him to borrow from his siblings’ trusts in 1993.  In its 2019 billionaires ranking, Forbes estimated Trump’s net worth at $3.1 billion …

    Wikipedia points out that running for and becoming President has cost Trump 31% of his net worth, so it must have been about $4.5 billion before he announced.  (This fits the pattern of Democrats going into politics to make money, and Republicans, to lose money.)

    Of course, that we’re arguing about this at all only shows how anti-Trumpers are still re-fighting the 2016 primaries.  It’s like somebody in 2012 arguing Barack Obama was too inexperienced to be President in 2008.

    • #52
  23. OccupantCDN Coolidge
    OccupantCDN
    @OccupantCDN

    Taras (View Comment):

    “He should have been worth north of $20 billion.” No question, Trump —or anybody — with perfect foresight— could have gotten very, very rich. But few people, and by “few people” I mean absolutely no people, were investing for the Reagan Boom in 1977. 

    According to Wikipedia (which leans to the left):

    In 1982, Trump was listed on the initial Forbes List of wealthy individuals as having a share of his family’s estimated $200 million net worth. His financial losses in the 1980s caused him to be dropped from the list between 1990 and 1995, and reportedly obliged him to borrow from his siblings’ trusts in 1993. In its 2019 billionaires ranking, Forbes estimated Trump’s net worth at $3.1 billion …

    Wikipedia points out that running for and becoming President has cost Trump 31% of his net worth, so it must have been about $4.5 billion before he announced. (This fits the pattern of Democrats going into politics to make money, and Republicans, to lose money.)

    Of course, that we’re arguing about this at all only shows how anti-Trumpers are still re-fighting the 2016 primaries. It’s like somebody in 2012 arguing Barack Obama was too inexperienced to be President in 2008.

    Its Trump Derangement Syndrome’s version of PTSD. They’re stuck in 2016. Frankly they set the bar so low on a Trump Administration, that having avoided a nuclear war – they’ll have to concede to him some success. (hope they didnt skip leg day!)

    • #53
  24. Blondie Thatcher
    Blondie
    @Blondie

    @blueyeti, love the end song selection! I am impressed! Ricky Van Shelton is not a household name even in country circles. I always liked his version better than Conway’s (not just because he was a “local boy”. He was born and raised not far from where I grew up.)

    While I’m here, I have to also add, Byron York’s podcast is a great addition to our library. Thanks to whomever got that rolling.

    • #54
  25. Goldwaterwoman Thatcher
    Goldwaterwoman
    @goldwaterwoman

    Blondie (View Comment):
    While I’m here, I have to also add, Byron York’s podcast is a great addition to our library. Thanks to whomever got that rolling.

    Could not possibly agree more. He’s the best thing on Ricochet along with Dave Sussman.

    • #55
  26. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    What the number 444 always makes ME think of, is the office building where the central firm was located in the TV series “L.A. Law.”  Whenever they showed the “establishing shots” of the building, you could see the “444” on the side.

    The “next step up,” 555, is the game-changing/ground-breaking timer-on-a-chip integrated circuit (IC), first introduced in the early 1970s and still widely used today.

    One more than that, 556, is the dual-timer version of the 555; written as 5-56 it’s the similar product to WD-40, Liquid Wrench, etc, produced and sold by CRC; written as 5.56 it’s the size in millimeters of the .223 caliber ammunition widely used including by AR-15 semi-automatic and M-16 fully-automatic rifles…

    • #56
  27. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Blue Yeti (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Why no mention of Zebit in the show notes?

    I won’t be using it though. They might be useful for people with low/no credit, but they also don’t REPORT your credit history with THEM. So it’s not a way to IMPROVE your credit from the dismal state it may be in.

    It makes more sense to deal with places that do report to the credit bureaus.

    Will be added tomorrow AM.

    Pssst…  it’s still not there.

    • #57
  28. Blue Yeti Admin
    Blue Yeti
    @BlueYeti

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Blue Yeti (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Why no mention of Zebit in the show notes?

    I won’t be using it though. They might be useful for people with low/no credit, but they also don’t REPORT your credit history with THEM. So it’s not a way to IMPROVE your credit from the dismal state it may be in.

    It makes more sense to deal with places that do report to the credit bureaus.

    Will be added tomorrow AM.

    Pssst… it’s still not there.

    Now it is…

     

    • #58
  29. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    DJ EJ (View Comment):
    “…but in the capital itself, where all things horrible or shameful in the world collect and find a vogue.”

    Yep, some things never change. Washington, DC? Rome? Same difference.

    • #59
  30. Max Ledoux Coolidge
    Max Ledoux
    @Max

    Petty Boozswha (View Comment):

    Trump inherited $500 million of prime NYC real estate in 1977 – the absolute nadir of the New York real estate market. If he had bought a yacht and spent the intervening years partying with Stormy Daniels and friends he should have been worth north of $20 billion. Of all the nitwit statements about Trump the notion he’s somehow an astute businessman and that is a qualification for his “management style” is one of the most galling.

    Trump’s older brother drank himself to death. If you think Trump’s success is solely due to who his father was then I respectfully think you’re wrong. 

    • #60
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