FactChecking the Mueller Hearings

https://www.factcheck.org/2019/07/factchecking-the-mueller-hearings/

While former special counsel Robert S. Mueller reiterated in congressional testimony what he said in his voluminous report on the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign, politicians reiterated some claims about the inquiry and its findings.

Mueller testified before the House judiciary and intelligence committeeson July 24. A redacted version of the special counsel’s 448-page report had been released three months earlier, on April 18. It concluded that “[t]he Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion,” detailing the hacking and social media operations involved, as we’ve explained before. 

The report said the “investigation established multiple links between Trump Campaign officials and individuals tied to the Russian government.” It “did not establish that the Campaign coordinated or conspired with the Russian government in its election-interference activities.” See our April 18 story “What the Mueller Report Says About Russian Contacts” for more on that. 

On the issue of potential obstruction of justice by President Donald Trump, the report “found multiple acts by the President that were capable of exerting undue influence over law enforcement investigations, including the Russian-interference and obstruction investigations,” but it “did not draw ultimate conclusions about the President’s conduct,” Mueller wrote, because investigators refrained from making a prosecutorial judgment. As he repeated in his congressional testimony, Mueller wrote in the report that an opinion issued by the Office of Legal Counsel finding that a sitting president couldn’t be indicted factored into the decision to not weigh in on prosecution. For more on the “key events” the report examined regarding  obstruction, see “What the Mueller Report Says About Obstruction.”

Attorney General William P. Barr told Congress in a March 24 letter that the Department of Justice wouldn’t bring charges against Trump, concluding that “the evidence developed during the Special Counsel’s investigation is not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense.”

For an overview of key moments during the Russia investigation, see our timeline of the probe.

Let’s take a look at some repeated claims made during and about Mueller’s testimony.

Trump's lies are getting bolder and the press is stuck in the middle

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/25/media/mueller-hearing-trump-lies/index.html
Big Lies

Either you reject the lies, or you accept the lies.

Of all the divides in American life today, this is the divide I keep thinking about. President Trump and his allies lie with reckless abandon. They make dishonest politicians from the past look like amateurs. When they get called out, they lie about the lying. Trump did this on Wednesday after Robert Mueller contradicted several of the president's fictions about the Mueller Report. When PBS "NewsHour" correspondent Yamiche Alcindor pointed this out to him, citing Mueller's own words, Trump denied it and insulted Alcindor.

I'm often told that people are "numb" to Trump's noise and nonsense. But let's examine this for a minute:

President Trump blasts Robert Mueller after hearings

A look at whether Robert Mueller broke the rules for special counsels

https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2019/jul/24/john-ratcliffe/look-whether-robert-mueller-broke-rules-special-co/\\\

Our ruling

Ratcliffe said Mueller overstepped the rules for prosecutors by writing about potential crimes that were not charged. This is wrong.

Federal regulations specifically require special prosecutors to explain their decisions not to prosecute. That explanation goes to the attorney general, who then decides what to make public.

We found no legal scholar who agreed with Ratcliffe.

We rate this claim False.

The Most Revealing Exchange of the Mueller Hearing

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/07/mueller-wont-say-it-but-trump-clearly-obstructed-justice/594634/

There’s a logical disconnect in volume 2 of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report that is unmissable to any careful reader.

As Mueller explains in the report, a charge of obstruction of justice requires three elements: an obstructive act, a nexus with an official proceeding, and corrupt intent. And in the report, Mueller’s team laid out several cases where President Donald Trump committed an obstructive act, in connection with an official proceeding, with what Mueller’s team concluded could be a corrupt intent.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/robert-mueller-testimony-highlights-hearing-special-counsel-report/

Robert Mueller Is Testifying Before the House. Here's Everything to Know

https://time.com/5629528/robert-mueller-testimony-live-updates/

The hearing was characterized by partisan politics, with House Democrats asking questions about Trump’s moves to interfere with the Mueller investigation through former White House Counsel Don McGahn and former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. Meanwhile, Republicans tried to discredit or minimize the investigation with questions about Peter Strzok, the former FBI employee who texted anti-Trump text messages, and Christopher Steele, the former British intelligence officer.

Trump says only 11 percent favor impeachment hearings — lower than recent polls show

washington Post

President Trump cited an unidentified poll Tuesday that he said showed only 11 percent support for starting impeachment hearings against him, a figure notably lower than results from several reputable polling organizations.

“Newest Poll: Only 11% in favor of starting ridiculous impeachment hearings,” Trump said in morning tweets. The posts also touted what he sees as his accomplishments in office and accused Democrats of suffering from “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”

The White House did not respond to a question about which poll the president was citing, and Trump did not specify what category of people was purportedly surveyed.

Meanwhile, an Economist-YouGov poll this month found that 36 percent of adults support efforts in the House to impeach Trump, while 45 percent were opposed.

In that poll, 11 percent of Republicans supported efforts to impeach Trump. It’s possible that that is the figure Trump was referencing in his tweet, but the poll was conducted more than a week ago and would not be the “newest.”

Three daycare assistants suspected of abuse

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/266384

Israel Police opened an investigation into three daycare assistants suspected of attacking children in their care, Israel Hayom reported.

A restraining order has been issued against assistants, who are employed by a daycare center in Rosh Ha'ayin's Psagot Afek neighborhood.

There is also a suspicion that the abuse caused one of the children to suffer a broken leg.

According to Israel Hayom, the investigation was opened after parents submitted a complaint against the daycare assistants, claiming the assistants had acted violently towards their children. One of the mothers, whose son broke his leg in daycare, submitted a complaint claiming that the assistants caused the break.

The child's parents have removed him from the center until additional details became clear, and other children have been removed from the center as well.

Israel Police investigators interrogated the assistants and issued a two-week restraining order. Investigators have also taken security footage from the center, in order to investigate whether any abuse was documented.

Earlier this month, 25-year-old Carmel Mauda, a daycare provider also from Rosh Ha'ayin, admitted to abusing the children in her care, saying she had a "black day" and "was a devil.

No, Mexico didn't take 30% of U.S. auto business as Trump claims

https://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2019/jul/23/donald-trump/no-mexico-didnt-take-30-us-auto-business-trump-cla/

Our ruling

Trump said Mexico "took 30 percent of our automobile business."

Experts say there isn’t one example of an automaker closing a plant in the U.S. in order to open one in Mexico, much less enough to total 30% of anything.

And Mexican-built cars still account for only 15% of sales in the U.S.

It’s noteworthy that car production has decreased in the U.S. while increasing in Mexico in recent years, and that Mexico has landed the majority of the new vehicle plants built in North America in the last decade.

But neither of those trends match Trump’s description in the more detailed CNBC claim, of plants being closed and workers let go in the U.S. as work moves to Mexico.

We rate Trump’s claim False.

WHAT DO WOMEN WANT sexually?

Had a long talk yesterday with a rabbi who does a  lot of of marriage counselling He said one of the biggest problems  he deals with is the lack of awareness that women have different sexual needs than men

 He repeated the well known  claim that men have a great physical need for sex while women are primarily focused on being loved i.e emotion.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/insight-therapy/201308/what-do-women-really-want

I challenged him on this saying there are no Torah sources for this claim.

He responded rather weakly in my opinion with two sources.

1. Rav Wolbe says the husband should sit on the bed after sex(couldn't find it)

2. Rambam says not to be drunk or angry during sex.

Does anyone know of better more explicit sources.

The sources I have seen explicitly emphasize the need of the wife to satisfy physical sexual needs  of the husband i.e., moredes or shibud

the above research shows that while women have greater physical lust than men as the result of physical stimuli - they apparently are not aware of it or deny its existence. this fits with the following psak  of  ..IGROS MOSHE

שו"ת אגרות משה אבן העזר חלק ג סימן כח
ובדבר מה שחדשו האחרונים שהביא הפ"ת סימן ע"ו סק"ג בשם מעיל צדקה שיש לת"ח בזה"ז לקיים עונה שתים בשבת ובבאור הלכה סימן ר"מ הביא כן גם מהחכ"א בשם צואת ר"י מפראג וכתר"ה כותב שכן הורו גם גאוני זמננו, הנה גם אני אומר כן, ואני מוסיף דלפ"מ שכתבתי שעיקר העונה הוא מה שהאשה משתוקקת ומתאוה, וכיון שכתב הפ"ת בשם ספר מעיל צדקה דהוא משום פריצת הדור וקנאת ירך חברתה הרי בא מזה תשוקה ותאוה ליותר מפעם אחת שלכן נמצא שהוא מעיקר העונה ואף שלא הכיר בעלה בזה יש לתלות שהוא מצד הבושה וגודל הצניעות דהרי בשביל זה קבעו הזמנים כדכתבתי לעיל ולכן שפיר הורו דיש ליעץ וגם לחייב שתי פעמים בשבת. והנני ידידו מוקירו מאד, משה פיינשטיין


Sexual matters were apparently viewed differently in the old pre Victorian days

 NEDARIM 20B Imma Shalom2 was asked: Why are thy children so exceedingly beautiful? She replied: [Because] he [my husband] ‘converses’ (HAS SEXUAL RELATIONS RAN )with me neither at the beginning nor at the end of the night, but [only] at midnight; and when he ‘converses’, he uncovers a handbreadth and covers a hand breadth, and is as though he were compelled by a demon. And when I asked him, What is the reason for this [for choosing midnight], he replied, So that I may not think of another woman,1 lest my children be as bastards.2 — There is no difficulty: this refers to conjugal matters;3 the other refers to other matters.

BERACHOS 62A. It has been taught: R. Akiba said: Once I went in after R. Joshua to a privy, and I learnt from him three things. I learnt that one does not sit east and west but north and south; I learnt that one evacuates not standing but sitting; and I learnt that it is proper to wipe with the left hand and not with the right. Said Ben Azzai to him: Did you dare to take such liberties with your master? He replied: It was a matter of Torah, and I required to learn. It has been taught: Ben ‘Azzai said: Once I went in after R. Akiba to a privy, and I learnt from him three things. I learnt that one does not evacuate east and west but north and south. I also learnt that one evacuates sitting and not standing. I also learnt it is proper to wipe with the left hand and not with the right. Said R. Judah to him: Did you dare to take such liberties with your master? — He replied: It was a matter of Torah, and I required to learn. R. Kahana once went in and hid under Rab's bed. He heard him chatting [with his wife] and joking and doing what he required. He said to him: One would think that Abba's mouth had never sipped the dish before! He said to him: Kahana, are you here? Go out, because it is rude.1 He replied: It is a matter of Torah, and I require to learn.

SOTAH 20A  R. JOSHUA SAYS: A WOMAN PREFERS ONE KAB8 AND SEXUAL INDULGENCE TO NINE KAB9 AND CONTINENCE. HE USED TO SAY, A FOOLISH PIETIST, A CUNNING ROGUE, A FEMALE PHARISEE, AND THE PLAGUE OF PHARISEES10 BRING DESTRUCTION UPON THE WORLD.

R. JOSHUA SAYS: A WOMAN PREFERS etc. What does he intend? — He means that a woman prefers one kab and sensuality with it to nine kab with continence.

רש"י מסכת סוטה דף כא עמוד ב

רוצה אשה בקב ותיפלות - חפיצה ליזון במזונות מועטין ויהא תיפלותה מצוי לה בתשמיש מט' קבין ופרישות לפרוש מן התיפלות לפיכך אין טוב שתלמוד תורה.

Conservative Conference Avoids Trump as They Rebrand Nationalism and Economic Policy

https://time.com/5630848/conservative-conference-avoids-trump/

Scrupulous avoidance of the president was hardly the confab’s only paradox. Take foreign policy. One of the keynote speakers, Fox News host Tucker Carlson, has repeatedly criticized Trump for bombing Syria and reportedly convinced the president not to strike Iran. He has called Trump’s hawkish national security advisor John Bolton a “bureaucratic tapeworm” who “seems to live forever in the bowels” of Washington. Yet the following day, said tapeworm slithered into the Ritz for his own keynote appearance, which, like Carlson’s, was well-received by the audience.

The Rise and Rage of Donald Trump : The Fire Breather - the fifth estate

New Letter in Support of the Beis Din's Ruling in the Case of R' Shmuel Tal

The Perilous State of the University: Jonathan Haidt & Jordan B Peterson

Stimulating discussion, with relevance to social and intellectual state of Orthodox Judaism, from about the 30 minute mark, but you need to listen to what precedes it, for context: