{"id":12191,"date":"2017-06-20T17:48:05","date_gmt":"2017-06-21T00:48:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bradblog.com\/?p=12191"},"modified":"2017-06-20T17:55:09","modified_gmt":"2017-06-21T00:55:09","slug":"bedlam-ahead-obstruction-recusals-chain-of-succession-impeachment-and-indictments-bradcast-6202017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bbnewdb.webbyspice.com\/?p=12191","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Bedlam&#8217; Ahead: Obstruction, Recusals, Chain of Succession, Impeachment and Indictments: &#8216;BradCast&#8217; 6\/20\/2017"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/BradBlog.com\/Images\/BradCast_RodRosenstein_RachelBrand_062017.jpg\" hspace=\"6\" vspace=\"3\" border=\"0\" align=\"right\">On today&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/BradBlog.com\/BradCast\"><i>BradCast<\/i><\/a>, given the reports that Donald Trump is now personally being investigated for obstruction of justice, we unpack the chaos that may soon come about if the Deputy Attorney General is forced to recuse himself (or is fired) from overseeing the Special Counsel&#8217;s probe of Team Trump. [<i>Audio link to complete show follows below.<\/i>]\n<p>But, while all the madness of the DoJ&#8217;s Trump investigations are going on, Senate Republicans <a href=\"http:\/\/thehill.com\/policy\/healthcare\/338615-mcconnell-healthcare-bill-to-be-revealed-thursday\">indicated<\/a> today that they will call for a vote on their secret Obamacare replacement bill before the July 4th recess next week. They also <a href=\"http:\/\/thehill.com\/blogs\/floor-action\/senate\/338566-no-2-senate-republican-were-going-to-have-50-votes-on-obamacare?amp\">announced<\/a> they will have the votes needed for passage. If they are right, the results are likely be <a href=\"http:\/\/www.salon.com\/2017\/06\/20\/gop-sneak-attack-on-health-care-nears-a-critical-moment-and-its-a-total-monstrosity\/\">devastating<\/a> for millions of Americans, and not only the poor. One of out three elderly Americans in nursing homes, for example, <a href=\"https:\/\/mobile.nytimes.com\/2017\/06\/13\/opinion\/youre-probably-going-to-need-medicaid.html#_=_\">rely on Medicaid<\/a> to cover the costs, and the GOP is about to cut hundreds of billions of dollars from the program in exchange for massive tax cuts for the wealthy.<\/p>\n<p>We discuss that and, as record heat <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/travel\/nation-now\/2017\/06\/19\/its-so-hot-phoenix-they-cant-fly-planes\/410766001\/\">blasts<\/a> the Western US, the <a href=\"http:\/\/mashable.com\/2017\/06\/19\/rick-perry-denies-climate-change-co2\/\">unbelievably stupid<\/a> explanation for climate change <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/energy-environment\/wp\/2017\/06\/19\/trumps-energy-secretary-just-denied-that-man-made-carbon-dioxide-is-the-main-driver-for-climate-change\/?utm_term=.8c2fac17bf7b\">just offered<\/a> by Energy Secretary Rick Perry (it&#8217;s not CO2, he says, it&#8217;s &#8220;the ocean waters and this environment that we live in&#8221;!) We also offer a very quick preview of the U.S. House Special Elections being held today on 100% unverifiable touch-screen voting machines in BOTH <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/elections\/results\/georgia-congressional-runoff-ossoff-handel\">Georgia<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/elections\/results\/south-carolina-house-special-election\">South Carolina<\/a>.  (We&#8217;ll have full results, whatever they are reported to be, on tomorrow&#8217;s show).<\/p>\n<p>Then we&#8217;re joined by attorney, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sethabramson.net\/\">author<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/author\/seth-abramson\">columnist<\/a> and UNH asst. professor <b>SETH ABRAMSON<\/b> to step through his recent <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SethAbramson\/status\/875770889916252162\/photo\/1\">50 tweet(!) tweetstorm<\/a> detailing the &#8216;bedlam&#8217; that is likely to ensue when and if (he insists &#8220;when&#8221;) Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein is forced to recuse himself from overseeing Special Counsel Robert Mueller&#8217;s investigation of Team Trump and, reportedly, obstruction of justice by the President himself in his firing of FBI Director James Comey.<\/p>\n<p>The chain of events that could come about as the result of Rosenstein&#8217;s recusal, as Abramson details on the show today, are amazing and could lead to a very real Constitutional Crisis and even completely separate obstruction of justice charges against Trump based on an entirely different investigation related to his February mass firing of all of the US Attorneys.<\/p>\n<p>Lots of somewhat jaw-dropping &#8216;bedlam&#8217; unpacked and explained and to be absorbed in detail on this front on today&#8217;s show, including whether or not Rosenstein himself could come under investigation; who the next officials in line are to take his place (first, a friend of Ted Cruz&#8217; named Rachel Brand, then a man named Dana Boente) and what <i>their<\/i> conflicts are; how Trump could <i>personally<\/i> come to appoint the person overseeing the Special Counsel&#8217;s investigation after we go through Brand and Boente; and why, if sitting Presidents cannot be indicted, as many argue, Mueller would be carrying out a criminal obstruction of justice investigation of Trump in the first place.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Honestly, If I were to lay out the full complexity of the situation right now at the DoJ, which goes well beyond the question of Rachel Brand possibly becoming the Acting AG in the very near term, it would take &#8212; and I am not exaggerating &#8212; probably about 500 tweets,&#8221; Abramson tells me. &#8220;We are in so many unprecedented situations and sub-situations at the DoJ, it is bewildering even for attorneys,&#8221; he says, adding later: &#8220;This is the most complex and public litigation of probably the last 100 years in American political history.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Finally today, another heartbreaking <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nydailynews.com\/new-york\/9-11-recovery-worker-queens-targeted-ice-deportation-article-1.3256340?cid=bitly\">story<\/a> of yet another immigrant victim of Trump&#8217;s, now facing deportation and separation from his family despite spending months in the clean-up efforts at Ground Zero after 9\/11&#8230;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\".\/Images\/Speaker_Icon_24.png\" style=\"width: 24px; float: none; vertical-align: middle;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; line-height: 18px;\"> <b><i><a href=\"https:\/\/BradBlog.com\/audio\/BradCast_BradFriedman_SenateAHCA_SethAbramson_TrumpDOJRecusalObstruction_062017.mp3\">CLICK TO LISTEN OR DOWNLOAD SHOW!&#8230;<\/a><\/i><\/b><br \/>\n[audio:http:\/\/bradblog.com\/audio\/BradCast_BradFriedman_SenateAHCA_SethAbramson_TrumpDOJRecusalObstruction_062017.mp3]<\/blockquote>\n<p><center><b>* * *<\/b><\/center><i>While we post <a href=\"https:\/\/BradBlog.com\/BradCast\"><\/i>The BradCast<i><\/a> here every day, and you can hear it across all of our great affiliate stations and websites, to automagically get new episodes as soon as they&#8217;re available sent right to your computer or personal device, subscribe for free at <a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/the-bradcast-w-brad-friedman\/id803467610\">iTunes<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/stitcher.com\/s\/player.php?fid=25838&#038;src=psl\">Stitcher<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/tunein.com\/radio\/The-BradCast-with-Brad-Friedman-p477565\/\">TuneIn<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/podcastgen\/bradcast\/feed.xml\">our native RSS feed<\/a>!<\/i><center><i><b>* * *<\/b><\/i><\/center><center><\/p>\n<table cellspacing=\"0\">\n<tr style=\"background: blue; color:white;\">\n<td width=\"50%\"><center><span class=\"footnote\"><b>MONTHLY BRAD BLOG SUBSCRIPTION<\/b><\/span><\/td>\n<td width=\"50%\"><center><span class=\"footnote\"><b>ONE-TIME DONATION<\/b><\/span><\/center><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid blue;\"><center><\/p>\n<form action=\"https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/cgi-bin\/webscr\" method=\"post\" target=\"_top\" style=\"margin-top:-3em; margin-bottom:2em;text-align:center;\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"cmd\" value=\"_s-xclick\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"hosted_button_id\" value=\"9PMSTMCJK9B3E\"><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"on0\" value=\"Choose monthly amount...\">Choose monthly amount&#8230;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><select name=\"os0\"><option value=\"$10\">$10 : $10.00 USD &#8211; monthly<\/option><option value=\"$20\">$20 : $20.00 USD &#8211; monthly<\/option><option value=\"$50\">$50 : $50.00 USD &#8211; monthly<\/option><option value=\"$100\">$100 : $100.00 USD &#8211; monthly<\/option><\/select> <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<p><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"currency_code\" value=\"USD\"><input type=\"image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.paypalobjects.com\/en_US\/i\/btn\/btn_subscribe_LG.gif\" border=\"0\" name=\"submit\" alt=\"PayPal - The safer, easier way to pay online!\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.paypalobjects.com\/en_US\/i\/scr\/pixel.gif\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\"><\/form>\n<p><\/center><\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid blue;\"><center><\/p>\n<form action=\"https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/cgi-bin\/webscr\" method=\"post\" target=\"_top\" style=\"margin-top:0em; margin-bottom:2em;text-align:center;\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"cmd\" value=\"_s-xclick\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"hosted_button_id\" value=\"K5A5LX7J6WTHQ\"><input type=\"image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.paypalobjects.com\/en_US\/i\/btn\/btn_donateCC_LG.gif\" border=\"0\" name=\"submit\" alt=\"PayPal - The safer, easier way to pay online!\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.paypalobjects.com\/en_US\/i\/scr\/pixel.gif\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"footnote\">(Snail mail support to <b>&#8220;Brad Friedman, 7095 Hollywood Blvd., #594 Los Angeles, CA 90028<\/b>&#8221; always welcome too!)<\/div>\n<p><\/center><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On today&#8217;s BradCast, given the reports that Donald Trump is now personally being investigated for obstruction of justice, we unpack the chaos that may soon come about if the Deputy Attorney General is forced to recuse himself (or is fired) from overseeing the Special Counsel&#8217;s probe of Team Trump. [Audio link to complete show follows [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[675,543,999,869,479,954,635,374,477,497,1000,491,977,972],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bradcast","category-climate-change","category-dana-boente","category-dept-of-interior","category-donald-trump","category-election-2017","category-james-comey","category-john-cornyn","category-kpfk","category-mitch-mcconnell","category-rachel-brand","category-rick-perry","category-robert-mueller","category-rod-rosenstein"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbnewdb.webbyspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbnewdb.webbyspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbnewdb.webbyspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbnewdb.webbyspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbnewdb.webbyspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bbnewdb.webbyspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12191\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbnewdb.webbyspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbnewdb.webbyspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbnewdb.webbyspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}