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| Porn Users Forum » WHY DOESN'T POTUS ARREST BILL CLINTON, HILARY CLINTON, AND OBAMA? |
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| 04-12-18 03:00am - 2353 days | #401 | |
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Jade1 (0)
Active User Posts: 103 Registered: Mar 28, '18 |
Oh please. Toughen up buttercup. Someone said "you're nuts?" I leave you to clutch your pearls in horror. Edited on Apr 12, 2018, 03:42am | |
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| 04-12-18 04:23am - 2353 days | #402 | |
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Loki (0)
Active User  Posts: 395 Registered: Jun 13, '07 Location: California |
I defended this thread and the ability of PU members to discuss controversial issues without succumbing to incivility. That the PU community can embrace all kinds of opinions as long as people treat each other with respect. Maybe I was wrong. (I have always considered name calling demeaning not to the target, but to the originator. It shows immaturity, a meanness of spirit, a moral paucity, and an inability to engage with people by marshaling facts and evidence.) "A man talking sense to himself is no madder than a man talking nonsense not to himself." | |
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| 04-12-18 05:58am - 2353 days | #403 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User  Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
@Loki, Sometimes it's better to take the higher ground. Easier said than done. But the Internet seems to breed insults. That are better ignored.  | |
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| 04-12-18 06:17am - 2353 days | #404 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
https://www.yahoo.com/news/fire-special-...lease-090020791.html Fire the special counsel. Please. Matt Bai 4 hours ago Let me put it to you this way, Mr. President. Who are you going to listen to — the voice of the stable genius inside your head, or the timid voices of experience, the ones that said you’d never win? You know what you want to do. Just do it already. Oh sure, all the sour-faced pundits are warning of a national crisis if you follow through. All those bed-wetting Republicans on the Hill are counseling patience and caution. Your senior staff is glued to their Twitter feeds, praying you won’t hit Send on something you can’t take back. But they’re not the ones who sit in that swivel chair, are they. They never in their lives registered so much as a blip in the Nielsen ratings. Paul Ryan’s so smart that you gave him the biggest tax cut in the history of civilization and he still can’t hold his seat in Podunk, Wis. Go on, Mr. President. Fire Bob Mueller. Please. Don’t stop there, either — fire the rest of them, too. Sessions will be useless. That Boy Scout Rosenstein won’t have your back, either. There must be something in the halls of the Justice Department that causes people to suddenly grow a conscience, like some goiter sprouting on the soul. Burn it down, Mr. President. Do what you really came here to do. Let’s see how those Ivy League lawyers like taking orders from Attorney General Laura Ingraham and her new deputy, Michael Cohen. You said it yourself: This latest raid on Cohen, your most trusted personal lackey, was an attack on America. I couldn’t agree more. The first image that jumped into my mind when I heard the news was Pearl Harbor. Many years from now, our grandchildren will mark the day of the Stormy Daniels Raid with little shoebox dioramas of federal prosecutors marching into Rockefeller Center. What were they really after, anyway? Payoffs to paramours? Campaign finance violations? No, Mueller’s aiming higher than that. Prosecutors sometimes talk about “tickling the wire,” by which they mean purposely freaking out witnesses who might be under electronic surveillance. You rattle the dumpster a little, and then you sit back and listen as the rats inside panic. My guess is that Mueller is onto the real stuff now: loans from Moscow laundered through European banks, clumsy backchannel connections to your meathead son-in-law, bullying from the Oval Office that might cross the line into outright obstruction. He’s crossed the moat and breached the castle now. He’s rummaging through the Hall of Armor. And what he’s doing now is goading you. Tickling the wire. Pushing your buttons to see just how reckless your cronies can get. You and I know who Mueller is, Mr. President. Born in Manhattan, schooled at St. Paul’s and Princeton. He played high school hockey with John Kerry. He even looks like John Kerry. He might be John Kerry, for all we know. The newspaper profiles never fail to mention that Mueller joined the Marines, fought in Vietnam, got himself covered head to toe with medals for valor. Meanwhile, you described your own version of combat, after all those deferments, as having dodged venereal diseases while hopping from one bed to the next. Can’t anyone around here take a joke? No, Mueller isn’t just a prosecutor; he’s the stand-in for all the bluebloods and public service types who never respected you, who never thought you belonged, who always thought you too coarse and outer-borough, too much of a carnival barker, to join their clubs or sit on their boards. He’s trying to destroy you, Mr. President. He thinks you’re beneath the office. And if you’re going to stop him, what better time to do it than now, just as Jim Comey’s big memoir hits the virtual shelves? You don’t need me to tell you what getting rid of Mueller would do to the Comey Sanctification Tour. This is what you’re better at than anyone alive — commandeering the news cycle. This isn’t hard. Look at all the people you’ve already fired. Priebus, Flynn, Tillerson, Price, McMaster — the list goes on. Of course, you didn’t actually fire them, eye to eye. That’s something you only do on TV, when people are watching and you get to humiliate some wannabe TV star. Your style is more to let them know on Twitter, or in the fake news. Which is why I’ve theorized that you’re a man of show business, not of action. I’ve said that other world leaders sense your insecurity and walk all over you. I’ve never bought the storyline about you as an aspiring tyrant because, when you get down to it, I don’t think you really have the steel. So prove me wrong. Reprise Nixon’s Saturday Night Massacre. Find your Robert Bork. Because here’s the thing, Mr. President: All these responsible people frantically warning of a constitutional crisis if you do this — they’re afraid. They don’t think the institutions of American democracy and jurisprudence are strong enough now to withstand the assault. They think the Republican Party you’ve annexed will prostrate itself in your presence, as it has for the entire last year. Even more than that, they don’t believe in the voters. Their faith is shaken. They fear that Americans are so angry at the system, so dimwitted and disillusioned, that we’ll accept anything that comes disguised as anti-elitism. They worry that you’ll win, and America’s claim to being a nation of laws will be lost. I don’t. If I’m being straight with you, I think firing Mueller is your Waterloo. And this kind of clear-cut crisis may be exactly what we need. I think there are more than enough Republicans who genuinely believe in the bedrock principles of American government (and, not for nothing, who can see what your leadership is about to do to them in the midterm elections), and a solid majority of patriotic voters who won’t stand by and watch another president try to strong-arm the judicial system. I think trying to shut down the special counsel and seize control of the Justice Department will be the thing that brings this entire Legoland of an administration crashing down on itself. So enough bluster, Mr. President. It’s time to walk the walk. Because I’m pretty sure that all you’ll have left, when Mueller and Rosenstein and Sessions are all back at law firms basking in the public’s admiration, are enough unshakable, reactionary supporters to just about fill a park in Charlottesville. Everyone else in your party will have moved on to President Pence. | |
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| 04-12-18 03:34pm - 2352 days | #405 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Trump has assailed Comey as a "showboat" and a "liar." How can the President of the United States be surrounded by such losers? Does he not have the right to fire people who can't do their jobs? Maybe Congress should vote him a bigger salary, so the President can hire good guys who will serve him loyally. -------- -------- In new book, Comey says Trump 'untethered to truth' Associated Press CHAD DAY and JONATHAN LEMIRE,Associated Press 44 minutes ago WASHINGTON (AP) — Former FBI Director James Comey blasts President Donald Trump as unethical and "untethered to truth" and calls his leadership of the country "ego driven and about personal loyalty" in a forthcoming book. Comey reveals new details about his interactions with Trump and his own decision-making in handling the Hillary Clinton email investigation before the 2016 election. He casts Trump as a mafia boss-like figure who sought to blur the line between law enforcement and politics and tried to pressure him regarding his investigation into Russian election interference. The book adheres closely to Comey's public testimony and written statements about his contacts with the president during the early days of the administration and his growing concern about the president's integrity. It also includes strikingly personal jabs at Trump that appear likely to irritate the president. The 6-foot-8 Comey describes Trump as shorter than he expected with a "too long" tie and "bright white half-moons" under his eyes that he suggests came from tanning goggles. He also says he made a conscious effort to check the president's hand size, saying it was "smaller than mine, but did not seem unusually so." The book, "A Higher Loyalty," is to be released next week. The Associated Press purchased a copy this week. Trump fired Comey in May 2017, setting off a scramble at the Justice Department that led to the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel overseeing the Russia investigation. Mueller's probe has expanded to include whether Trump obstructed justice by firing Comey, an idea the president denies. Trump has assailed Comey as a "showboat" and a "liar." Comey's account lands at a particularly sensitive moment for Trump and the White House. Officials there describe Trump as enraged over a recent FBI raid of his personal lawyer's home and office, raising the prospect that he could fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller, or try to shut down the probe on his own. The Republican National Committee is poised to lead the pushback effort against Comey, who is set to do a series of interviews to promote the book, by launching a website and supplying surrogates with talking points that question the former director's credibility. Trump has said he fired Comey because of his handling of the FBI's investigation into his Clinton's email practices. Trump used the investigation as a cudgel in the campaign and repeatedly said Clinton should be jailed for using a personal email system while serving as secretary of state. Democrats, on the other hand, have accused Comey of politicizing the investigation, and Clinton herself has said it hurt her election prospects. Comey writes that he regrets his approach and some of the wording he used in his July 2016 press conference in which he announced the decision not to prosecute Clinton. But he says he believes he did the right thing by going before the cameras and making his statement, noting that the Justice Department had done so in other high profile cases. Every person on the investigative team, Comey writes, found that there was no prosecutable case against Clinton and that the FBI didn't find that she lied under its questioning. He also reveals for the first time that the U.S. government had unverified classified information that he believes could have been used to cast doubt on Attorney General Loretta Lynch's independence in the Clinton probe. While Comey does not outline the details of the information — and says he didn't see indications of Lynch inappropriately influencing the investigation — he says it worried him that the material could be used to attack the integrity of the probe and the FBI's independence. Comey's book will be heavily scrutinized by the president's legal team looking for any inconsistencies between it and his public testimony, under oath, before Congress. They will be looking to impeach Comey's credibility as a key witness in Mueller's obstruction investigation, which the president has cast as a political motivated witch hunt. He provides new details of his firing. He writes that then-Homeland Security secretary John Kelly — now Trump's chief of staff — offered to quit out of a sense of disgust as to how Comey was dismissed, as well as his first encounter with Trump, a January 2017 briefing at Trump Tower in New York City. Kelly has been increasingly marginalized in the White House and the president has mused to confidantes about firing the chief of staff. Comey also writes extensively about his first meeting with Trump after his election. Others in the meeting included Vice President Mike Pence, Trump's first chief of staff, Reince Priebus, Michael Flynn, who would become national security adviser, and incoming press secretary, Sean Spicer. Comey was also joined by NSA Director Mike Rogers, CIA Director John Brennan and DNI Director James Clapper. After Clapper briefed the team on the intelligence community's findings of Russian election interference, Comey said he was taken aback by what the Trump team didn't ask. "They were about to lead a country that had been attacked by a foreign adversary, yet they had no questions about what the future Russian threat might be," Comey writes. Instead, he writes, they launched into a strategy session about how to "spin what we'd just told them" for the public. | |
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| 04-12-18 04:03pm - 2352 days | #406 | |
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Loki (0)
Active User Posts: 395 Registered: Jun 13, '07 Location: California |
Let me get this right: President Trump, who is a celebrity, a serial liar, and a business fraud, called James Comey a "showboat" and a "liar?" Putting aside the veracity of Comey, isn't this a case of the pot calling the kettle black? Why should the FBI Director be held to a higher standard than the US President? Shouldn't the counter argument be "showboating and lying are wrong, so please stop doing it Mr. President?" "A man talking sense to himself is no madder than a man talking nonsense not to himself." | |
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| 04-12-18 04:19pm - 2352 days | #407 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
I'd mainly agree with you. But I think it's more like Trump accusing a fired employee of faults Trump has in spades. Trump is just employing the Trump style of attacking people with lies. I doubt that Comey is as skilled as Trump in character assassination. So Comey is probably sticking closer to the truth. While Trump has a complete disregard for the truth. | |
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| 04-12-18 04:27pm - 2352 days | #408 | |
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Loki (0)
Active User Posts: 395 Registered: Jun 13, '07 Location: California |
I think it's vital to democracy to hold politicians to standards of conduct similar to the standards that we apply to civil servants. They all work for "we the people" so they should be held to the highest standards of ethical conduct. I don't know the veracity of James Comey, but trust him more than President Trump based on the fact that he has not demonstrably lied to the American people repeatedly. That does not mean his allegations are true, but his starting level of trust is higher than the president's. James Comey has made enemies on both sides of the aisle. It'll be interesting what the response to his book will be. I assume that it will be massively popular with the rabidly anti-Trump crowd, but will largely piss off both Republicans and Democrats alike. "A man talking sense to himself is no madder than a man talking nonsense not to himself." | |
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| 04-12-18 05:33pm - 2352 days | #409 | |
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biker (0)
Active User  Posts: 632 Registered: May 03, '08 Location: milwaukee, wi |
So Comey wrote a book. This should be fun. FBI raids the office of Trump's lawyer. A porn star is got him tied up in court. It just gets deeper. China will probably ruin our economy, because they can afford to take the hit. Warning Will Robinson | |
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| 04-12-18 05:42pm - 2352 days | #410 | |
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Loki (0)
Active User Posts: 395 Registered: Jun 13, '07 Location: California |
The exhaustive pace of news coming out of Washington DC is wearying and depressing. I don't know about other people, but I am tired of waking up every day and seeing the "scandal du jure" so to speak, most of which are (in the words of Shakespeare), "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." I love politics and discussing politics, and have always read the political news of the day, but this pace is overwhelming. It's got to be detrimental to businesses because they need to know the policies of the government will be stable to make sound investments in their companies. I've actually seen business news articles about how the chaos in Washington DC is keeping businesses from hiring workers and making capital investments. "A man talking sense to himself is no madder than a man talking nonsense not to himself." | |
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| 04-12-18 06:07pm - 2352 days | #411 | |
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Jade1 (0)
Active User Posts: 103 Registered: Mar 28, '18 |
Absolutely. That's why since Since Donald Trump took office, employment records have been topped eight times, black employment is at a record high, and unemployment is the lowest its been since Bill Clinton was in office. But I should probably not disturb the fragile inhabitants of the echo chamber. | |
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| 04-12-18 06:50pm - 2352 days | #412 | |
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Loki (0)
Active User Posts: 395 Registered: Jun 13, '07 Location: California |
This "fragile inhabitant of the echo chamber" actually applauds the good economic news. What kind of monster wants other Americans to suffer because it fits a political narrative? "A man talking sense to himself is no madder than a man talking nonsense not to himself." | |
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| 04-12-18 07:03pm - 2352 days | #413 | |
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Jade1 (0)
Active User Posts: 103 Registered: Mar 28, '18 |
Not you Loki. Your the bestest. | |
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| 04-12-18 07:09pm - 2352 days | #414 | |
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Loki (0)
Active User Posts: 395 Registered: Jun 13, '07 Location: California |
Absolutely!  Like Mary Poppins sings, "No matter what the circumstance. For one thing I'm renown. My character is spit-spot spick and span. I'm practically perfect. In every way." "A man talking sense to himself is no madder than a man talking nonsense not to himself." Edited on Apr 12, 2018, 07:20pm (Loki: added Mary Poppins lyric) | |
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| 04-12-18 08:47pm - 2352 days | #415 | |
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biker (0)
Active User Posts: 632 Registered: May 03, '08 Location: milwaukee, wi |
I'm a big fan of Janus Joplin. Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz ? My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends. Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends, So Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz ? Oh Lord, won't you buy me a color TV ? Dialing For Dollars is trying to find me. I wait for delivery each day until three, So oh Lord, won't you buy me a color TV ? Oh Lord, won't you buy me a night on the town ? I'm counting on you, Lord, please don't let me down. Prove that you love me and buy the next round, Oh Lord, won't you buy me a night on the town ? Everybody! Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz ? My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends, Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends, So oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz ? That's it! Warning Will Robinson | |
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| 04-12-18 09:07pm - 2352 days | #416 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Ming the Merciless was always a big hero of mine. Plus, he had a fantastic looking daughter. | |
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| 04-12-18 09:09pm - 2352 days | #417 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Fake news: Is Donald Trump a member or former member of the PU site? Would he ask the PU staff, in the interests of national security, or personal loyalty, to destroy any records of his membership? Here is an example of Trump asking the FBI director to investigate if there are any "pee tape" copies. Trump gives the reason that he wants to reassure his wife, Melania. Which sounds like bullshit. What he really wanted, was to know if there were any copies, so that he could bury them away under a non-disclosure agreement. --------- --------- 5 hours ago Comey: Trump Asked Me to Investigate ‘Pee Tape’ Allegations REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst President Donald Trump asked James Comey to consider investigating the “pee tape” allegations in order to “reassure Melania” that they were untrue, the fired FBI director wrote in his new book, according to the New York Post. “He brought up what he called the ‘golden showers thing’…adding that it bothered him if there was ‘even a one percent chance’ his wife, Melania, thought it was true,” Comey wrote in A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership, which is set to be released Tuesday. “He just rolled on, unprompted, explaining why it couldn’t possibly be true, ending by saying he was thinking of asking me to investigate the allegation to prove it was a lie. I said it was up to him.” The so-called "pee tape" was mentioned in the infamous Steele dossier, which claimed Trump had watched Russian prostitutes urinate in a Moscow hotel room in 2013. Comey said the conversation took place at the same dinner where Trump allegedly asked him for “loyalty” in January 2017. Comey wrote that he told the president that an investigation may “create a narrative that we were investigating him personally.” Trump replied that he “might be right,” but asked him to consider it anyway, according to the book. “In what kind of marriage, to what kind of man, does a spouse conclude there is only a 99 percent chance her husband didn’t do that?” Comey wrote. The Associated Press also reports that Comey claims in the book that Trump is “untethered to truth.” Comey’s interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos is due to air Sunday before the book's release. Read it at New York Post | |
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| 04-13-18 12:21am - 2352 days | #418 | |
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biker (0)
Active User Posts: 632 Registered: May 03, '08 Location: milwaukee, wi |
Mings daughter, Princess Aura, was played by Priscilla Lawson. She was in the first of three Flash Gordon serials. I own all three. Sadly Priscilla died very young and her performance as Princess Aura is about the only work you will find her. She has been my desktop picture for more then ten years. She is the reason I gravitate toward strong mysterious women. Warning Will Robinson | |
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| 04-13-18 01:04pm - 2351 days | #419 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Scott Pruitt Spending Abuses: EPA Chief’s Former Aide Says It’s Even Worse Than You Think Newsweek Josh Keefe,Newsweek Thu, Apr 12 11:28 AM PDT Just when it looked as though things couldn’t get any worse for Scott Pruitt, new accusations of misuses of taxpayer funds have been levied against the embattled Environmental Protection Agency administrator. Five congressional Democrats sent Pruitt a letter on Thursday detailing accusations made against Pruitt by Kevin Chmielewski, former Donald Trump campaign aide who served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations under Pruitt. Chimielewski met with congressional Democrats this week and painted a picture of Pruitt as a feckless manager who wasted taxpayer money and took retribution against employees who tried to stop his reckless spending. Chmielewski told Democrats that when he first arrived at the EPA to work for Pruitt, EPA Chief of Staff Ryan Jackson told him “the nightmare is now yours.” Trending: Lawyers Like Trump’s Are Hired to Keep Secrets and Do the Dirty Work | Opinion “Mr. Chmielewski said those words turned out to be accurate,” the Democrats wrote in their letter to Pruitt, which was also sent to the chairs of Senate and House oversight committees. In the letter, the Democrats asked Pruitt for documents related to the allegations, which built on previous scandals surrounding the former Oklahoma attorney general, including controversies over a $50-a-night Washington D.C. rental from an energy lobbyist, an expensive security detail and first-class travel, the installation of a $43,000 soundproof phone booth in his office, the use of motorcade sirens to get through slow traffic, and pay raises for two aides that were procured by going around the White House. Chmielewski confirmed many of these reports. Even before the new allegations, the accumulating scandals led members of both parties to call on Pruitt to resign. Chmielewski, who has been placed on leave, described several other alleged instances of Pruitt abusing his authority. The Democrats who signed the letter, Senators Tom Carper and Sheldon Whitehouse, as well as Representatives Elijah Cummings, Gerald Connolly and Don Beyer, said they found Chmielewski “to be a credible professional who continues to express deep loyalty to the President and Vice-President.” An EPA spokesperson previously said that accusations that Pruitt mismanaged taxpayer funds were from “disgruntled employees.” Among the new allegations made by Chmielewski: Pruitt had one aide “act as [his] personal real estate representative, spending weeks improperly using federal government resources and time to contact rental and seller’s agents.” He had aides seek to get a $100,000-a-month contract for a private jet rental, a cost that would have greatly exceeded his annual $450,000 annual travel budget. Chmielewski said he was ultimately able to stop the contract. Most popular: Husband Dismantled His Wife's Parachute Prior to 4,000 foot Jump, Prosecutors Say Pruitt, according to Chmielewski, designed his schedule around places he wanted to visit, and then would tell staff to justify the destination after the fact. The letter said he would give orders to “‘find me something to do [in those locations]’ to justify the use of taxpayer funds.” This would often involve flying to Pruitt’s home state of Oklahoma for long weekends, Chmielewski said. What's more, Chmielewski alleged, Pruitt would make staff book flights on Delta in order to get personal frequent flier miles using government funds. There are also numerous allegations about the EPA chief's hotel spending. Among them is the charge that Pruitt stayed in the nicest hotels, resulting not only in costs that exceeded the government’s per diem limit, but bills that exceeded the 300 percent per diem cap that was only allowed in “exceptional circumstances.” Pruitt is also accused of refusing to stay in Australian and Italian hotels that were recommended by the U.S. Embassy because of security concerns, instead demanding to stay at more expensive hotels that required even more taxpayer funds to pay for additional security. Pruitt is said to have punished his chief of staff for raising concerns about his travel costs by texting him that he was not allowed at meetings in which travel was planned. Pruitt did share some of the luxury with his staff, Chmielewski said, including flying top aide Samantha Dravis first class on a return flight from Morocco “even though there was no legal justification for her to do so.” This article was first written by Newsweek | |
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| 04-13-18 01:19pm - 2351 days | #420 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Were these assholes using campaign contributions for these payoffs? Or their own personal money? ----------- ----------- Trump fundraiser resigns from RNC after payout report Associated Press TOM LoBIANCO,Associated Press 52 minutes ago WASHINGTON (AP) — A top fundraiser for President Donald Trump has resigned from the Republican National Committee following a report that he paid $1.6 million to a Playboy playmate he had an affair with. Elliott Broidy told RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel Friday afternoon that he was resigning immediately, an RNC official familiar with the discussion said. The official requested anonymity to discuss a private phone call between McDaniel and Broidy. The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen helped negotiate a non-disclosure agreement between Broidy and the model last year. The unidentified playmate elected to have an abortion after discovering she was pregnant. Broidy apologized to his wife for the affair in a statement provided to The Associated Press Friday. | |
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| 04-13-18 02:51pm - 2351 days | #421 | |
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Loki (0)
Active User Posts: 395 Registered: Jun 13, '07 Location: California |
Rich, powerful, married men being unfaithful to their wives and covering it up is nothing new. It's just that in a data driven age like ours it's getting harder and harder to get away with it (not to actually pay off the women, but to do so secretly). There's also a level of hypocrisy in the whole issue. No one slams mega rock stars from sleeping with groupies, but politicians can't? Why the distinction? Like lots of issues, it's complicated. Issues of class, power, and sexual morality make it a morass. "A man talking sense to himself is no madder than a man talking nonsense not to himself." | |
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| 04-13-18 07:06pm - 2351 days | #422 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Fake news: Trump got rid of McCabe 2 days before FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe was due to retire, thus denying McCabe the ability to receive pension benefits for years. The reason Trump (or his henchman, Sessions) gave was that McCabe was not honoring the public trust, that McCabe had misled investigators. In an opposite course of action, Trump has now pardoned former Vice President Dick Cheney's aide for four counts of perjury, obstruction of justice, and making false statements. Way to go, Trump. Fire someone on trumped up charges, and deny him the benefits he would have received if he had retired two days later. And pardon someone else who had been convicted of perjury, obstruction of justice, and making false statements. Trump, probably one of the most corrupt and slezoid Presidents we've ever had. -------------------- -------------------- WHY NOW? 8 hours ago Trump Pardons Former Cheney Aide Scooter Libby for Perjury in CIA Case JAMES LAWLER DUGGAN/Reuters President Trump on Friday officially pardoned former Dick Cheney chief of staff I. “Scooter” Lewis Libby for his 2007 convictions on four counts of perjury, obstruction of justice, and making false statements. “Before his conviction, Mr. Libby had rendered more than a decade of honorable service to the Nation as a public servant at the Department of State, the Department of Defense, and the White House,” Trump’s press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in an official statement. “His record since his conviction is similarly unblemished, and he continues to be held in high regard by his colleagues and peers. In light of these facts, the President believes Mr. Libby is fully worthy of this pardon.” In a statement, the president wrote: “I don’t know Mr. Libby, but for years I have heard that he has been treated unfairly. Hopefully, this full pardon will help rectify a very sad portion of his life.” Cheney told NBC News that he was “grateful that President Trump righted this wrong by issuing a full pardon to Scooter, and I am thrilled for Scooter and his family.” President George W. Bush commuted Libby’s sentence, but did not issue a full pardon. | |
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| 04-13-18 07:18pm - 2351 days | #423 | |
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Loki (0)
Active User Posts: 395 Registered: Jun 13, '07 Location: California |
Valerie Plame, the CIA officer whose outing was the basis of Libby's legal troubles, has speculated that Trump was sending a message to his staff--if you don't cooperate with Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, I will protect you by giving you a presidential pardon. There is another possible reason. Libby was prosecuted by special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, who was appointed by President Trump's current bête noire, then-Deputy Attorney General James Comey. Comey has written a book about Trump comparing him to the mobsters that Comey prosecuted as a Federal Attorney in New York. Trump is reportedly furious about Comey's book. "A man talking sense to himself is no madder than a man talking nonsense not to himself." | |
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| 04-13-18 10:57pm - 2351 days | #424 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
HHS official shared post saying 'forefathers' would have 'hung' Obama, Clinton for treason By Andrew Kaczynski, Chris Massie and Nathan McDermott, CNN Updated 4:04 PM ET, Fri April 13, 2018 Ximena Barreto (CNN)A political appointee at the Department of Health and Human Services shared an image in 2017 that said "our forefathers would have hung" Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for treason, a CNN KFile review has found. Ximena Barreto is a far-right political pundit who in December 2017 joined the Trump administration as deputy director of communications at the department. Barreto was placed on leave by the department on Monday after the liberal watchdog Media Matters reported that Barreto called Islam "a cult" and pushed the false Pizzagate conspiracy theory, which alleged that Clinton was part of a child-sex ring based in part at a Washington, DC, pizza restaurant. A subsequent KFile review of her Twitter account "RepublicanChick" found that Barreto also repeatedly used the hashtag #BanIslam and twice shared conspiracy theories about the death of Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich. Barreto also shared a conspiracy theory that French President Emmanuel Macron was controlled by the Rothschild family and that Clinton and Obama were controlled by investor and Democratic mega-donor George Soros. Both the Rothschilds and Soros are frequent targets of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. A department spokesperson did not comment on tweets unearthed by KFile and reiterated to CNN that Barreto has been placed on administrative leave while they look into the matter. Prior to joining HHS, Barreto was a far-right political pundit and Trump-supporting blogger. She co-hosted a YouTube show called "The Right View by Deplorable Latinas." A now-removed biography on her personal website said she "has worked as a political activist, and worked hundreds of hours with Republican candidates (sic) campaigns, including John McCain, Ted Cruz and President Donald Trump." Here's what Barreto tweeted: On Barack Obama In May of 2017, Barreto retweeted an image saying the "our forefathers would have hung" Clinton and Obama for treason. In August of 2017 Barreto retweeted an image of a statue of Obama labeling him "a Muslim terrorist." In January of 2017, Barreto wrote in a tweet that Obama was a "pansy and a traitor." On Seth Rich In October 2016, Barreto implied Rich was killed by either Clinton or the Democratic National Committee, using the hashtags #KilledByTheDNC #HillaryBodyCount #ClintonBodyBags In May, 2017, Barreto retweeted a video about Rich, saying that "the media blackout and the silence from Washington on Seth Rich should scare the hell out of you." On Islam On five separate occasions found by KFile's review, Barreto tweeted the hashtag "#BanIslam" in asserting that those participating in the Women's March had turned their back on "real oppression." She also tweeted "#DeportLSarsour," referring to Women's March organizer Linda Sarsour. In other tweets, she called for a boycott of Amazon for an ad that showed a Christian priest and Muslim imam together, saying that "an Imam would never sit with a priest FYI". On Hillary Clinton, Democrats and Emmanuel Macron In a tweet in August of 2016, Barreto falsely claimed that Clinton aide Huma Abedin's family had terrorist ties. In April of 2017, Barreto spread a conspiracy theory that Macron was controlled by the Rothschilds and that Clinton and Obama were controlled by Soros. "Macron is just a political puppet of the Rothschilds, just like Obama and Hillary are Soros Puppets!" she wrote. | |
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| 04-14-18 02:13am - 2351 days | #425 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Fake news: Trump responds to Comey's book by calling him an 'untruthful slime ball' “James Comey is a proven LEAKER & LIAR,” Trump wrote on Twitter. Let us hope the US government will assign medical helpers to help Comey in this time of crisis. Because Comey needs all the support we can give this poor individual who has been trashed by the greatest President the US has ever had. ---------- ---------- Politics Trump responds to Comey's book by calling him an 'untruthful slime ball' Dylan Stableford 20 hours ago President Trump tore into James Comey on Friday in a pair of tweets aimed at discrediting Comey’s new book, which details the former FBI director’s interactions with the president before his firing last year. “James Comey is a proven LEAKER & LIAR,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Virtually everyone in Washington thought he should be fired for the terrible job he did-until he was, in fact, fired. “He leaked CLASSIFIED information, for which he should be prosecuted,” the president continued. “He lied to Congress under OATH. He is a weak and untruthful slime ball who was, as time has proven, a terrible Director of the FBI. His handling of the Crooked Hillary Clinton case, and the events surrounding it, will go down as one of the worst ‘botch jobs’ of history. It was my great honor to fire James Comey!” Trump’s comments came a day after numerous excerpts from Comey’s upcoming memoir, “A Higher Loyalty,” were published online. In them, Comey describes Trump as “untethered to the truth,” likens him to a mob boss, and recounts a meeting with the president in which the former FBI director says Trump asked him to investigate salacious allegations from the so-called dossier to disprove the claims to first lady Melania Trump. Related: What’s in James Comey’s book? “He brought up what he called the ‘golden showers thing’ … adding that it bothered him if there was ‘even a 1 percent chance’ his wife, Melania, thought it was true,” Comey writes, according to an excerpt published by the New York Post. “He just rolled on, unprompted, explaining why it couldn’t possibly be true, ending by saying he was thinking of asking me to investigate the allegation to prove it was a lie. I said it was up to him.” “He said, you know, ‘If there’s even a 1 percent chance my wife thinks that’s true, that’s terrible,’” Comey told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos in a separate interview, parts of which aired Friday morning. “And I remember thinking, ‘How could your wife think there’s a 1 percent chance you were with prostitutes peeing on each other in Moscow?’ I’m a flawed human being, but there is literally zero chance that my wife would think that was true. So, what kind of marriage to what kind of man does your wife think there’s only a 99 percent chance you didn’t do that?” Stephanopoulos asked Comey whether believed Trump’s denial. “Honestly, I never thoughts these words would come out of my mouth, but I don’t know whether the current president of the United States was with prostitutes peeing on each other in Moscow in 2013,” Comey said. “It’s possible, but I don’t know.” Comey said he first informed Trump about the dossier in a private meeting that followed one where U.S. intelligence officials briefed Trump on Russian interference in the 2016 election. According to Comey, Trump appeared less concerned by Russia’s attack on the election than how it could undermine his victory. “President-elect Trump’s first question was to confirm that it had no impact on the election,” Comey said. “And then the conversation, to my surprise, moved into a PR conversation about how the Trump team would position this, and what they could say about this, with us still sitting there.” Comey added: “That’s just not done. That the intelligence community does intelligence; the White House does PR and spin.” The former FBI director also said he was struck by what the Trump team didn’t ask. “No one to my recollection asked, ‘So, what’s coming next from the Russians? How might we stop it?'” Comey said. | |
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| 04-14-18 06:27am - 2351 days | #426 | |
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Loki (0)
Active User Posts: 395 Registered: Jun 13, '07 Location: California |
Odd that the same day he blasted James Comey as a "a proven LEAKER & LIAR" President Trump pardoned I. Lewis Libby, who was convicted for leaking classified information and lying to investigators. There's a double standard here. I'm really demoralized and weary of the politicization of justice. I'm tired of seeing both Democrats and Republicans justify using the legal system to attack each other. Every action by the other party ends up challenged in Federal Court. Courts are, under our system of Common Law, adversarial. It's having a detrimental effect on the political process and destroys the notion that politics is the uniting of people to achieve common goals--forging coalitions of varied interests and compromising to get things done. We're as divided now as we were when it was Slave States versus Free States. That division led to the Civil War. Isn't one of the points of teaching history to help future generations to avoid the mistakes of the past? "A man talking sense to himself is no madder than a man talking nonsense not to himself." | |
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| 04-14-18 07:53am - 2351 days | #427 | |
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merc77 (0)
Disabled User Posts: 291 Registered: Apr 17, '16 |
America was having trouble what a sad, sad story; Needed a new leader to restore her former glory; Where oh where was he? Where could that man be? We looked around and then we found a man for you and me! And now it's Springtime for The Trump and America! Rednecks are happy and gay! We're marching toward a faster pace; Look out here comes the Master race! Don't be stupid be a shmarty come and join the Republican Party! Springtime for The Trump and America! Goosesteps the new step today! Bombs falling from the skies again (on Syria) USA is on the rise again! Springtime for The Trump and America! Warships are sailing once more! Springtime for The Trump and America! Means that soon we'll be going We've got to be going You know we'll be going to WAAAAAAR! (With apologies to the master of them all Mel Brooks!) "Dogs think people are Gods. Cats don't as they know better." - Kedi (2016) Dogs have masters; Cats have staff. | |
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| 04-14-18 08:40am - 2351 days | #428 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
You calling Trump a redneck? You calling rednecks gay? Say what you mean, dude. Can't disrespect the greatest President who ever was. | |
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| 04-14-18 08:42am - 2351 days | #429 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Fake news: Finally, another bit of comedy. Newsman Brian William confuses Trump with Obama. Perfectly understandable: they were both Presidents. Plus, they are friends who often go golfing. So what if one is white and the other is black. Remember the Ebony and Ivory song by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder? Trump and Obama will go down in history as musical twins. ---------- ---------- Fox News ENTERTAINMENT 11 hours ago MSNBC's Brian Williams confuses Trump with Obama, internet reacts Fox News Brian Williams mistakenly refereed to President Trump as "President Obama." Brian Williams mistakenly refereed to President Trump as "President Obama." (NBC) It doesn’t take much to create a social media frenzy. Brian Williams, the former host "NBC Nightly News" and now host of MSNBC’s “The 11th Hour With Brian Williams,” was trending on Twitter early Saturday after mistakenly referring to President Trump as "President Obama." Williams' report was about the U.S. announcement that it would strike against Syria in response to an alleged chemical attack last week. “It all started, nine o’clock Eastern time, with about a five-minute address by President Obama,” Wiliams said, matter-of-factly to the camera. “Here’s a portion of that.” The newsman, who lost his coveted network anchor chair in 2015 after being suspended for misrepresenting himself when he claimed his helicopter was hit by enemy fire during the Iraq War, was lambasted on social media for Friday night’s flub. Williams reportedly corrected his error, but social media had a field day. “Honestly, I can understand Brian Williams confusion. Bombing Syria is totally something President Obama would have done too,” one person tweeted. | |
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| 04-14-18 08:51am - 2350 days | #430 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Fake news: Looking at the bright side of Trump's Presidency. Trump threatens Beijing. Trump threatens Russia. If Trump sends nuclear missiles at China, Russia, and North Korea, the US can wipe out foreign enemies. And Trump is the man with courage enough to defend America from its enemies. Go, Trump. ----------------- ----------------- World China Says It Urgently Needs a Powerful Military As Trump Threatens Beijing Newsweek Cristina Maza,Newsweek 23 hours ago Chinese President Xi Jinping made a surprise visit to the South China Sea Thursday to observe naval exercises and spend time with his country’s sailors, according to the state-run media. Pictures of Xi during the visit showed him wearing military fatigues while aboard ship and eating with members of China’s navy. He also stressed that it is "urgent" for China to build a powerful navy. The naval exercises are being carried out as tensions in the region ratchet up over China’s military dominance. During Xi’s visit, Bejing announced its intention to stage live fire drills next week in the Taiwan Strait, the area of water separating China from Taiwan. They will be the first fire drills in the Strait since 2015, and some analysts have suggested that the drills are meant to show Washington that China is firmly in control of the region. Chinese officials were reportedly unhappy that the U.S. signed the Taiwan Travel Act in March, which will permit high-level government officials to visit the small island nation. China considers Taiwan a province and for decades has insisted that its allies follow a strict “One China” policy that does not recognize Taipei’s independence. Congress, however, recently signed the Taiwan Travel Act with unanimous votes in both the House and the Senate. Other military experts suggested that the Chinese exercises were meant to call attention away from the current tensions between the U.S. and Russia over Syria, and that they represent a gesture of support for Moscow on the part of Beijing. Meanwhile, they could also be a response to exercises conducted by the U.S. military in the disputed South China Sea on Tuesday. The U.S. Navy had flown a small group of military officials from the Philippines to the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier as it traversed the South China Sea on its way to the Philippine capital Manila. China has built a collection of military facilities on small islands around the South China Sea. In 2016, an international court ruled that the “nine-dash line”—a demarcation line China uses to lay claim to parts of the South China Sea—is inconsistent with the international laws on maritime resources. In response, the U.S has maintained a policy of using U.S. Navy vessels and aircraft to patrol the South China Sea in order to assert freedom of navigation rights. China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei all lay claim to disputed parts of the South China Sea. This article was first written by Newsweek | |
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| 04-14-18 08:54am - 2350 days | #431 | |
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Loki (0)
Active User Posts: 395 Registered: Jun 13, '07 Location: California |
I hope you meant your "Springtime for Trump" post as satire. There's been a recent trend of demonizing political ideas and political figures with labels like "Hitlerian" or "Nazi" or "Nazi-like." It's common on both the left and the right, and it should stop. "A man talking sense to himself is no madder than a man talking nonsense not to himself." | |
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| 04-14-18 09:37am - 2350 days | #432 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
I think it's pretty plain that the "Springtime for Trump" was satire. I doubt that merc77 is a fan or supporter of Trump or Mike Pence. However, even Russia is now comparing Trump with Hitler. ---------- ---------- A high-ranking Russian politician is comparing Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler Business Insider Alison Millington Apr 14th 2018 7:48AM A leading Russian politcian is comparing Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler. Alexander Sherin's comments came after the US-led launch of missile strikes on Syria on Friday night. Russia has had military presence in Syria since 2015 and has warned there will be 'consequences' of the attacks. A high-ranking Russian politician has compared U.S. President Donald Trump to former German dictator and Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. The comments came after the U.S., UK, and France launched missile strikes on Syria Friday night, for which Russia, who has had military presence in the country since 2015, has warned there will be "consequences." According to The Guardian, Alexander Sherin, Russia’s deputy head of the state Duma’s defence committee, said Trump "can be called Adolf Hitler no. 2 of our time because, you see, he even chose the time that Hitler attacked the Soviet Union," referencing the strike time of around 4 a.m. Sherin also described the air strikes as "a targeted threat against Russia." Russia’s ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov has also issued a statement lashing out against the U.S.-led coalition campaign, whose military action is a response to an apparent chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of people earlier this month. "The worst apprehensions have true," ambassador Anatoly Antonov said. "Our warnings have been left unheard. A pre-designed scenario is being implemented. "Again, we are being threatened," Antonov continued. "We warned that such actions will not be left without consequences. All responsibility for them rests with Washington, London and Paris." The statement went on to say that "insulting the President of Russia is unacceptable and inadmissible. "The U.S. — the possessor of the biggest arsenal of chemical weapons — has no moral right to blame other countries," Antonov added. | |
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| 04-14-18 09:51am - 2350 days | #433 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
I wonder: Is it hypocrisy when the US criticizes and attacks any country developing nuclear and chemical weapons, when the US is almost certainly the country with the largest arsenal of nuclear and chemical weapons? And Trump boasts that the US is spending billions to make its nuclear weapons ever more powerful. | |
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| 04-14-18 10:15am - 2350 days | #434 | |
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Loki (0)
Active User Posts: 395 Registered: Jun 13, '07 Location: California |
I'm no fan of President Trump either. I understand that satire is a legitimate art form and critical technique. I understand that merc77's post was satirical. I acknowledged that in my post. It's incumbent upon us to stand up for principles. Words are powerful (hence the saying, "the pen is mightier than the sword"). I want a civil and open forum. I support the right of merc77 to post satire, just as I defend anyone's right to speak. I feel the greater principle here is that it is wrong to call people names or compare them to Nazis. Maybe I read too much into it. But it's just as important to speak up against your friends when they do something you object to as to speak up against your enemies. "A man talking sense to himself is no madder than a man talking nonsense not to himself." | |
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| 04-14-18 10:43am - 2350 days | #435 | |
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merc77 (0)
Disabled User Posts: 291 Registered: Apr 17, '16 |
It is meant to be both satiric and humorous. I agree too many from both sides of the aisle compares politicians to Hitler and that gets old fast. My main inspiration is actually the satire about war since Trump has wagged the dog and used missile strikes just like Clinton did when his presidency was mired in controversy. "Dogs think people are Gods. Cats don't as they know better." - Kedi (2016) Dogs have masters; Cats have staff. | |
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| 04-14-18 11:08am - 2350 days | #436 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
I thought that "Wag the Dog" (1997) was a great movie. And it validated the use of warfare as a political tool. As well as teaching us about the perils of over-reaching ego in what happened to Dustin Hoffman. The man was a genius, but he did not understand political reality. Unlike Donald Trump, who insults people the better to making them bosom friends. | |
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| 04-14-18 03:45pm - 2350 days | #437 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Fake news: As far as I can see, FBI Director James Comey tried to swing the national election to help Donald Trump win over Hilary Clinton, by sending a letter to Congress just days before the election was held, stating that Clinton was still the subject of an FBI investigation for emails. The move would violate the policies of an agency that does not reveal its investigations or do anything that may influence an election. This was probably not illegal. But it sure as hell was unethical, an attempt to influence voters in a Presidential election by the FBI. The FBI is not supposed to be influenced by politics. Or to influence politics. But it sure as hell tried with the Clinton-Trump campaign. A decision that came back to bite the FBI in the ass after Trump was elected President. Comey's defense that he was trying to do his duty is a fucking lie: He tells Congress that the FBI has re-opened its investigation into Hilary Clinton. But does not tell Congress that the FBI is also investigating Donald Trump. -------- -------- The New York Times U.S. Comey Tried to Shield the F.B.I. From Politics. Then He Shaped an Election. As the F.B.I. investigated Hillary Clinton and the Trump campaign, James B. Comey tried to keep the bureau out of politics but plunged it into the center of a bitter election. By MATT APUZZO, MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT, ADAM GOLDMAN and ERIC LICHTBLAU APRIL 22, 2017 WASHINGTON — The day before he upended the 2016 election, James B. Comey, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, summoned agents and lawyers to his conference room. They had been debating all day, and it was time for a decision. Mr. Comey’s plan was to tell Congress that the F.B.I. had received new evidence and was reopening its investigation into Hillary Clinton, the presidential front-runner. The move would violate the policies of an agency that does not reveal its investigations or do anything that may influence an election. But Mr. Comey had declared the case closed, and he believed he was obligated to tell Congress that had changed. “Should you consider what you’re about to do may help elect Donald Trump president?” an adviser asked him, Mr. Comey recalled recently at a closed meeting with F.B.I. agents. He could not let politics affect his decision, he replied. “If we ever start considering who might be affected, and in what way, by what we do, we’re done,” he told the agents. But with polls showing Mrs. Clinton holding a comfortable lead, Mr. Comey ended up plunging the F.B.I. into the molten center of a bitter election. Fearing the backlash that would come if it were revealed after the election that the F.B.I. had been investigating the next president and had kept it a secret, Mr. Comey sent a letter informing Congress that the case was reopened. What he did not say was that the F.B.I. was also investigating the campaign of Donald J. Trump. Just weeks before, Mr. Comey had declined to answer a question from Congress about whether there was such an investigation. Only in March, long after the election, did Mr. Comey confirm that there was one. For Mr. Comey, keeping the F.B.I. out of politics is such a preoccupation that he once said he would never play basketball with President Barack Obama because of the appearance of being chummy with the man who appointed him. But in the final months of the presidential campaign, the leader of the nation’s pre-eminent law enforcement agency shaped the contours, if not the outcome, of the presidential race by his handling of the Clinton and Trump-related investigations. An examination by The New York Times, based on interviews with more than 30 current and former law enforcement, congressional and other government officials, found that while partisanship was not a factor in Mr. Comey’s approach to the two investigations, he handled them in starkly different ways. In the case of Mrs. Clinton, he rewrote the script, partly based on the F.B.I.’s expectation that she would win and fearing the bureau would be accused of helping her. In the case of Mr. Trump, he conducted the investigation by the book, with the F.B.I.’s traditional secrecy. Many of the officials discussed the investigations on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters. Mr. Comey made those decisions with the supreme self-confidence of a former prosecutor who, in a distinguished career, has cultivated a reputation for what supporters see as fierce independence, and detractors view as media-savvy arrogance. The Times found that this go-it-alone strategy was shaped by his distrust of senior officials at the Justice Department, who he and other F.B.I. officials felt had provided Mrs. Clinton with political cover. The distrust extended to his boss, Loretta E. Lynch, the attorney general, who Mr. Comey believed had subtly helped play down the Clinton investigation. His misgivings were only fueled by the discovery last year of a document written by a Democratic operative that seemed — at least in the eyes of Mr. Comey and his aides — to raise questions about her independence. In a bizarre example of how tangled the F.B.I. investigations had become, the document had been stolen by Russian hackers. The examination also showed that at one point, President Obama himself was reluctant to disclose the suspected Russian influence in the election last summer, for fear his administration would be accused of meddling. Mr. Comey, the highest-profile F.B.I. director since J. Edgar Hoover, has not squarely addressed his decisions last year. He has touched on them only obliquely, asserting that the F.B.I. is blind to partisan considerations. “We’re not considering whose ox will be gored by this action or that action, whose fortune will be helped,” he said at a public event recently. “We just don’t care. We can’t care. We only ask: ‘What are the facts? What is the law?’” But circumstances and choices landed him in uncharted and perhaps unwanted territory, as he made what he thought were the least damaging choices from even less desirable alternatives. “This was unique in the history of the F.B.I.,” said Michael B. Steinbach, the former senior national security official at the F.B.I., who worked closely with Mr. Comey, describing the circumstances the agency faced last year while investigating both the Republican and Democratic candidates for president. “People say, ‘This has never been done before.’ Well, there never was a before. Or ‘That’s not normally how you do it.’ There wasn’t anything normal about this.” | |
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| 04-14-18 04:10pm - 2350 days | #438 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Fake news: Important development in the Trump case against Stormy Daniels. The Ninth Circuit points out in the order, filed Friday, that the court does not have to dismiss a case because all the parties agree to dismiss it, and lists reasons not to dismiss the case, including that "Naruto is not a party to the settlement agreement." Naruto is the name of the monkey in the photo. (So is Trump a party of the Stormy Daniels lawsuit? Even though he did not sign the non-disclosure agreement?) Even though the monkey was the author of the photo, because monkeys are not legally capable of being authors under copyright law, the photo cannot be copyrighted. ---------- ---------- Despite settlement, high court to rule in monkey selfie case By Susan McFarland | April 14, 2018 at 4:15 PM Despite a settlement between a photographer and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the U.S. Court of Appeals is is refusing to dismiss the monkey selfie copyright case. PETA contended that the photo taken with the photographer's equipment belonged to Naruto, a crested macaque monkey. Image courtesy of PETA April 14 (UPI) -- Months after a photographer and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals settled the monkey selfie copyright case, the U.S. Court of Appeals is refusing to dismiss the case and will soon come out with an official appellate decision. The Ninth Circuit states wariness of "abetting 'strategic behavior' on the part of institutional litigants," is reason for denying the parties' joint motion to dismiss the case, which vacates a lower court order from U.S. District Judge William Orrick III of the Northern District of California. The original settlement ended a two-year court battle between PETA and photographer David Slater, who agreed that 25 percent of any revenue derived from the self-portrait by Naruto, a crested macaque monkey, will be dedicated to charities protecting macaque habitats in Indonesia. The Ninth Circuit points out in the order, filed Friday, that the court does not have to dismiss a case because all the parties agree to dismiss it, and lists reasons not to dismiss the case, including that "Naruto is not a party to the settlement agreement." The photograph was taken in 2011 by a Naruto, then 7. He took Slater's camera and snapped a photograph of himself with it, court documents say. PETA has contended that by republishing the photo, Naturo's copyright rights were infringed. After the photo was posted online it made its way to Wikimedia Commons and was uploaded as a public domain image - something the website found allowable because the monkey was the author of the photo and because monkeys are not legally capable of being authors under copyright law, the photo cannot be copyrighted. | |
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| 04-14-18 04:16pm - 2350 days | #439 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Home / Top News / U.S. News House oversight committee expands probe into EPA's Pruitt By Susan McFarland | April 14, 2018 at 3:22 PM The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is expanding an investigation into alleged ethical and spending abuses by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo April 14 (UPI) -- Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee are expanding their investigation into alleged ethical and spending abuses by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt. House Oversight Chairman Trey Gowdy on Friday sent a letter requesting more information from Pruitt, accused of excessive spending on travel, vehicles, staff raises and over-the-top security features such as a $43,000 soundproof phone booth. The committee asked for documents about Pruitt's security detail and its lead member, Pasquale Perrotta. Also being sought is information about the lease for a bedroom in a Capitol Hill condominium that Pruitt rented last year. Gowdy's letter was sent one day after lawmakers heard details from the EPA's former deputy chief of staff for operations, Kevin Chmielewski, who said those who questioned Pruitt's unethical behavior were retaliated against. Chmielewski said Pruitt insisted on staying at expensive hotels while traveling even if they exceeded allowable federal spending limits and told staff to book him on Delta Air Lines so he could accrue frequent flier miles. The committee also is asking to meet with Chmielewski and Perrotta; Ryan Jackson, Pruitt's chief of staff; Millan Hupp, an aide; and Sarah Greenwalt, senior counsel to Pruitt. Jahan Wilcox, EPA spokesman, said the agency had "responded to Chairman Gowdy's inquiries and we will continue to work with him." Last month, Pruitt was scrutinized after travel documents released showed the EPA spent close to $90,000 to send him and his staff to Italy for one day for the G7 environmental summit. Included in that amount was a $36,000 military flight so Pruitt could join President Donald Trump at a Cincinnati event, then make it to New York in time for his flight to Rome. Related UPI Stories Watchdog: EPA chief's trip to Italy cost taxpayers $120,000 E.P.A. broke law by not releasing smog data, judge rules Trey Gowdy steps down from Ethics Committee, citing 'challenging workload' | |
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| 04-14-18 04:27pm - 2350 days | #440 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Politics FBI Seized Recordings Between Michael Cohen And Stormy Daniels' Former Lawyer: Report HuffPost Antonia Blumberg,HuffPost 22 hours ago Among the documents seized during an FBI raid targeting President Donald Among the documents seized during an FBI raid targeting President Donald Trump’s personal attorney are recordings of conversations Michael Cohen had with the former lawyer to two women who claim to have had affairs with Trump, according to a CNN report. The FBI raided Cohen’s New York office and hotel room on Monday seeking, among a number of things, information regarding the role he may have had in attempting to suppress information about the alleged affairs. Agents seized Cohen’s computers and phones, as well as documents related to a payment of $130,000 he said he made to former adult film actress Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 presidential election. A source familiar with the matter told CNN on Friday that the FBI had also seized recordings Cohen made of his communications with Keith Davidson, who had represented both Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal. “Attorney Davidson never consented to any recordings of his conversations with Mr. Cohen,” a spokesman for Davidson told CNN. “If they in fact do exist, Attorney Davidson will pursue all his legal rights under the law.” It is illegal in some states ― including California, where Davidson is based ― to record phone conversations without both parties’ consent. Cohen is known to tape conversations with associates and store them, The Washington Post reported Thursday. Experts described the recordings to the Post as a potential “gold mine” for the FBI, saying that if they exist and are admissible in court, they could prove valuable to prosecutors. Trump expressed outrage after the FBI raid, calling it a “disgraceful situation” and a “total witch hunt” during off-the-cuff remarks to reporters. On Tuesday, he tweeted that “attorney-client privilege is dead!” Lawyer Michael Avenatti, who currently represents Daniels, responded to the CNN report in a tweet on Friday. Both Daniels and McDougal were reportedly paid large sums of money to keep their stories about the alleged 2006 affairs with Trump quiet. The women are now pursuing litigation in order to be released from their agreements. Trump reportedly called Cohen on Friday to “check in,” The New York Times said Friday, citing two people briefed on the call. The call could prove to be problematic depending on what the two discussed, given that Cohen is currently under criminal investigation. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Yahoo View If Michael Cohen goes down, does Trump go with him? | |
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| 04-15-18 06:28pm - 2349 days | #441 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Fake news: President Trump demands former FBI chief James Comey be put in jail. Trump calls the former chief a slimeball and a slippery liar. I always thought the FBI was supposed to be the US law enforcement that we could trust. But now I have doubts. Serious doubts about their integrity, their truthfulness, their honesty. Can Trump clean house at the FBI? Or will the United States sink into a pool of slime, dragged down by lying, corrupt FBI agents and other civil servants? --------- --------- Politics Donald Trump demands former FBI chief James Comey is jailed The Telegraph Julie Allen,The Telegraph 7 hours ago Donald Trump, the US president, has called for former FBI director James Comey to be jailed, accusing him of revealing classified information and of lying to Congress. In addition to suggesting the former intelligence chief be incarcerated, Mr Trump called him "slippery" and a "slimeball" and said he would go down as the worst FBI director in history, during a Twitter rant which spanned the course of two hours on Sunday morning. He also challenged accusations made by the former FBI director in a tell-all book that is due for release this week. Mr Trump wrote: "The big questions in Comey’s badly reviewed book aren’t answered like, how come he gave up Classified Information (jail), why did he lie to Congress (jail), why did the DNC refuse to give Server to the FBI (why didn’t they TAKE it), why the phony memos, McCabe’s $700,000 & more?" He added: "I never asked Comey for Personal Loyalty. I hardly even knew this guy. Just another of his many lies. His “memos” are self serving and FAKE!" And shortly after came: "Slippery James Comey, a man who always ends up badly and out of whack (he is not smart!), will go down as the WORST FBI Director in history, by far!" The two men have been involved in a ferocious war of words since the president fired Mr Comey last May amid the investigation into his 2016 campaign and Russian meddling in the election. It was Mr Comey's firing that prompted the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller. Mr Comey later testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee that President Trump had asked him for "loyalty" at a January dinner. And that alone in the Oval Office, Mr Trump had said to him that he "hoped" he could let the investigation into former national security director Michael Flynn "go". His evidence opened up the president to accusations of obstruction of justice, which Mr Trump has repeatedly and strongly denied. Mr Comey's memoir, "A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership" is released on Tuesday, but has already become a bestseller thanks to huge pre-publication sales. On Sunday, ABC was due to air a lengthy interview to kick off Mr Comey's book tour, which was expected to attract millions of viewers. Extracts that emerged last week showed Mr Comey likened the president to an “unethical” mob boss who is "untethered" to the truth, casts his inner circle poorly and details an obsession with a dossier written by former British spy Christopher Steele who wrote of rumoured engagements with prostitutes. Mr Comey writes: “What is happening now is not normal. It is not fake news. It is not okay,” describing “the forest fire that is the Trump presidency”. Meanwhile, Mr Trump’s approval rating stands at its highest since his first 100 days in office at 40 per cent. The Washington Post-ABC News poll showed his popularity up four per cent from January. Among white voters, he has 53 per cent support, up seven points since the beginning of the year and among white men without college degrees he is up six percent to 70 per cent. Almost three-quarters of conservatives approve of the president in the latest poll, 74 per cent, up nine points from January. | |
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| 04-15-18 06:51pm - 2349 days | #442 | |
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Loki (0)
Active User Posts: 395 Registered: Jun 13, '07 Location: California |
So let me get this straight. Leaking classified information is bad, so James Comey must be jailed. But it's not really that bad, because President Trump pardoned I Lewis Libby who was convicted of leaking classified information. President Trump just says whatever he wants. He has no consistency other than to do or say the most outrageous things to please his base. "A man talking sense to himself is no madder than a man talking nonsense not to himself." | |
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| 04-15-18 09:27pm - 2349 days | #443 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Libby leaked to harm a critic of Bush. He outed the identity of a covert CIA agent. Which was illegal. No two ways about it. And he lied under oath to protect himself instead of admitting guilt. Which seems to be two different crimes: perjury plus obstruction of justice. So Libby was found guilty. But President Bush commuted his sentence so he did not have to go to jail. Bush did not give him a full pardon. When Comey gave information to the press, I don't know if it was illegal. Comey was head of the FBI, so giving information to the press, even in secret, might not be illegal. But since Comey is now a critic of Trump, Trump feels free to call Comey a slimeball, a leaker, a liar, which fits Trump's style of bashing his critics and opponents. Trump has no consistency other than to do or say whatever he thinks, because that's the way he acts. The facts have little or nothing to do with it. If Comey broke the law by giving out news, to Congress or to the press, then I assume that the Justice Department would already have had him arrested, and put in jail. So Trump calling Comey a slimeball and leaker and liar is probably protected political speech. And it would be expensive and difficult to sue Trump for slander. That's part of Stormy Daniels' problem. I read one of the Non-disclosure agreements that Cohen had. I didn't make a copy of the NDA, but I was amazed at the details of the NDA: I assume that the Stormy Daniels NDA includes: If the NDA is legally binding: Then Daniels could be forced to pay back the $130,000 payment she got if she breaks the agreement. She could be liable for a $1 million penalty for each time she broke the agreement. Not only does Daniels have to never reveal any details on the subject, but all artifacts concerning the event are required to be turned over to Cohen. Plus Daniels, in addition to never revealing any details of the subject, has to deny the event ever took place (which would require Daniels to lie, as far as I can see). That's what I remember from reading a NDA contract that Cohen had with someone. | |
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| 04-15-18 09:40pm - 2349 days | #444 | |
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Loki (0)
Active User Posts: 395 Registered: Jun 13, '07 Location: California |
Free speech is very dear to Americans. It baffles many people I know abroad that we regard it the first of all our freedoms. "A man talking sense to himself is no madder than a man talking nonsense not to himself." | |
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| 04-16-18 07:28am - 2349 days | #445 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Fake news: First question: why is news about Donald Trump so often fake? Is it because Donald Trump is the gold mine source of fake statements and lies? President Donald Trump is fighting to protect and expand the rights of criminals everywhere. The President wants a criminal to be able to see and inspect all documents seized by the FBI as part of their investigation. Trump is the President of all Americans, law-abiding and criminals too. If attorney-client privilege is dead, as the President claims, then the FBI has the right to examine evidence against the President. The President wants it both ways: Criticize the FBI for killing attorney-client privilege, but claim attorney-client privilege to deny the FBI the right to examine and use documents obtained through a legal process. Only a great mind like President Trump can see an argument from opposite sides, and speak from both sides of his mouth. What a man to lead our great cunty. --------- --------- Donald Trump wants to review documents seized from Michael Cohen's office before investigators see them President claims attorney-client privilege 'is dead' Devlin Barrett Washington 2 hours ago Trump wants to review documents seized from his lawyer before investigators see them President Donald Trump asked a federal judge on Sunday night to allow him to review documents that FBI agents seized from the office of his longtime lawyer before criminal investigators have a chance to see the material. The request underscores the high stakes in an ongoing legal fight in federal court in New York, where Michael Cohen, Trump's lawyer, is also fighting to get a chance to review material seized as part of a criminal investigation of his business dealings. Trump's request, in the form of a letter from other lawyers representing him, could further complicate a hearing set for Monday afternoon. During that session, lawyers for Cohen are expected to tell the judge overseeing the case how many legal clients he has and how many seized documents he thinks might be covered by attorney-client privilege. Cohen is set to attend the hearing. Also expected to be on hand is adult-film star Stormy Daniels, whom Cohen secretly paid $130,000 in 2016 to keep quiet the details of an alleged sexual liaison she had with Trump. Prosecutors indicated in court filings Friday that Cohen has been under criminal investigation for months by the U.S. attorney in Manhattan and that a grand jury has been hearing evidence in the case. Last week's raid of Cohen's office and residences infuriated the president, who argued on Twitter that attorney-client privilege “is dead.” Prosecutors have defended the search in part by saying that the investigation has shown that Cohen does not do much legal work and does not appear to have many clients. Cohen, through his lawyers, has argued that the government's policies to protect information covered by the attorney-client privilege are not enough, and that his own lawyers should be allowed to review the seized material before investigators do. In a letter to U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood on Sunday night, other lawyers working on Trump's behalf argue that the president should have a chance to review the material ahead of investigators. The eight-page letter written by Trump's lawyer, Joanna Hendon, accuses the Justice Department of acting in “an aggressive, intrusive, and unorthodox manner” in an attempt to “eliminate the president's right to a full assertion of every privilege argument available to him.” The FBI executed search warrants last week on Cohen's office, home, security deposit box and hotel room. It is unusual, but not unprecedented, for agents to search a lawyer's records, and there is a policy in place designed to shield information covered by the attorney-client privilege. That procedure involves having a “taint team” of prosecutors outside the investigation review all the material and separate what is covered by the privilege. A lawyer's communications with a client are not covered by the privilege if those discussions do not involve legal advice, or were used to further a crime or fraud. Under the procedure, the taint team would turn over to the case investigators all the material that is relevant and not covered by attorney-client privilege. World news in pictures “The president objects to the government's proposal to use a 'taint team' of prosecutors from the very office that is investigating this matter to conduct the initial privilege review of documents seized from the President's personal attorney, Michael Cohen,'' Hendon's letter said. She added that “the president respectfully requests” that the judge issue an order barring the taint team from conducting an initial review of the seized material and require the government to turn over a copy of that material to Cohen's lawyers. Then, the president wants the court to direct Cohen “to identify to the president all seized materials that relate to him in any way and to provide a copy of those materials to him and his counsel,” according to the letter. Any disputes about what material was or wasn't covered by the attorney-client privilege would then be decided by a judge, under the president's proposal. People familiar with the Cohen investigation have said he is being investigated for possible bank and wire fraud. Prosecutors are examining whether crimes were committed as part of any pattern or strategy of trying to buy the silence of people who could offer accounts that could have damaged Trump's candidacy in 2016. In addition, the FBI is also looking into whether any fraud was committed in connection with Cohen's ownership of taxi medallions - assets whose value has plummeted in recent years. Washington Post | |
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| 04-16-18 07:47am - 2349 days | #446 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Fake news: James Comey's brain is dying from an over-load of US politics. When asked if Donald Trump should be impeached, Comey answered, No. Although Comey states Trump is morally unfit to be President of the United States, Comey believes that to impeach Trump would be wrong: The people of the United States must let Trump finish his term of office, and then vote Trump out of office. This proves that Comey is a delusional man, who should never be allowed to run the FBI or any important business ever again. Maybe Comey was damaged by his association with Trump, and needs medical treatment. Unfortunately, I have sincere doubts that Comey can think in a clear and positive way.  ----- ----- Politics James Comey Gives A 'Strange Answer' When Asked If Donald Trump Should Be Impeached HuffPost Ed Mazza,HuffPost 10 hours ago Former FBI Director James Comey hopes President Donald Trump isn’t impeached. “I’ll give you a strange answer,” Comey said when George Stephanopoulos asked about the issue in an interview that aired on Sunday night. “I hope not because I think impeaching and removing Donald Trump from office would let the American people off the hook and have something happen indirectly that I believe they’re duty bound to do directly.” Comey then urged Americans to “stand up and go to the voting booth and vote their values.” He added: “We’ll fight about guns. We’ll fight about taxes. We’ll fight about all those other things down the road. But you cannot have, as president of the United States, someone who does not reflect the values that I believe Republicans treasure and Democrats treasure and Independents treasure. That is the core of this country. That’s our foundation. And so impeachment, in a way, would short circuit that.” Comey also said he wanted special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia to continue. “...As a citizen, I think we owe it to each other to get off the couch and think about what unites us,” he said. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. | |
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| 04-16-18 09:22am - 2348 days | #447 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
NO MORE LOYALTY James Comey’s ABC Interview Has Furious FBI Insiders Lashing Out The ex-director’s first TV interview finally broke the loyalty of one longtime FBI colleague, others reacted with disbelief as their former boss pontificated. Jana Winter 04.16.18 3:51 AM ET James Comey’s first interview since President Trump fired him as director of the FBI has enraged his former agents, who deluged The Daily Beast with their disdain as they watched him tell his side of the story to George Stephanopoulos on Sunday night. Seven current or former FBI agents and officials spoke throughout and immediately after the broadcast. There was a lot of anger, frustration, and even more emojis—featuring the thumbs-down, frowny face, middle finger, and a whole lot of green vomit faces. One former FBI official sent a bourbon emoji as it began; another sent the beers cheers-ing emoji. The responses became increasingly angry and despondent as the hourlong interview played out. “Hoover is spinning in his grave,” said a former FBI official. “Making money from total failure.” When a promo aired between segments announcing Comey’s upcoming interview with The View, the official grew angrier. “Good lord, what a self-serving self-centered jackass,” the official said. “True to form he thinks he’s the smartest guy around.” A current FBI official said it was bizarre that Comey seemed so pleased with the whole episode. “It’s how happy he looked on TV while cashing in on the biggest mistake in history. His mistake,” they said. “Jim Comey made that mistake. We all just wonder what could have been and what we could’ve done to change it.” There was one former official who spoke out in support of Comey, saying the former director had seemed honest and heartfelt. “I thought he was highly trustworthy and very transparent, like watching someone in confession,” the former official said. “It seems like he’s still wrestling with it.” The six others who spoke to The Daily Beast did not respond positively to the interview by its end. One longtime Team Comey source—who is still an FBI agent—sent thumbs-up emojis repeatedly during the first half hour, but even this loyalist began to lose patience by the halfway mark—sending a frowny face. A few minutes later there was a nauseous emoji, and then a poop emoji after the final segment. Another former FBI official not historically known for their use of emojis, sent a bowing emjoi which—they explained in a follow up message—they believed to mean “slamming my head into something, obviously.” An additional source, who works frequently with the FBI, said they had refused to watch the extended cut of the interview altogether. “Didn’t watch it—I don’t care, he’s basically a scumbag. I don’t know how they’re letting him write a book in the middle of an investigation that he’s part of. I wonder if he had his book cleared by the intelligence community? He’s supposed to but I bet he didn’t.” The former FBI director was fired by President Trump on May 9, 2017. Comey responded by leaking his memos about conversations with Trump to The New York Times, which kick-started the special counsel investigation led by Comey’s predecessor, Robert Mueller. That investigation focuses on Russia influencing the 2016 election and any potential connections, assistance, or cooperation of those in Trump’s orbit. Comey quickly wrote a book about his experiences with Trump, which comes out this week. The interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos was the first stop of his book publicity tour. The much-anticipated book has been met with less than positive responses from those on the Hillary Clinton campaign. Comey has been named by Hillary Clinton as a major reason for her loss in 2016. Clinton insiders told The Daily Beast that Comey should “beg for forgiveness,” not use his book to try and explain away his actions. Days before the election, Comey publicly announced that he was reopening the investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server, but he made no mention of the simultaneous inquires being made into Russian links to members of Trump’s team. This was seen by many inside the FBI as Comey inserting the agency into the campaign, which was especially unwise coming so close to the election, when the agency tries to abstain from anything that could have political consequences. Comey’s ouster by Trump came as a surprise to him—and everyone else—and resulted in what appeared to be a massive outpouring of support from within the FBI and those close to the bureau—there were even T-shirts printed bearing Comey’s face. FBI sources who did not support Comey’s decision to announce the reopening of the Clinton email investigation still stood by him at the time and were outraged at the way in which Trump fired the director. He learned of his dismissal after reading it on a television screen inside the Los Angeles FBI building where he was speaking to agents. Those same current and former FBI agents and officials—and others—did not respond well to Comey’s interview Sunday night. Support for Comey has dwindled as those who worked closely with him and initially supported him began to see his book and his public interactions—including Twitter selfies in Iowa—as self-serving and gauche, four sources said. Their anger has grown in recent months as agents have come to see Comey as the reason for the “current shitshow… that is the Trump presidency,” one former official, who voted for Trump, explained. Hence the onslaught of emojis when the interview with Comey began airing Sunday night. The final message sent by one source early Monday morning was the bright red SOS emoji. | |
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| 04-16-18 03:15pm - 2348 days | #448 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Fake news: Updates are coming faster and faster, lately. The scum is rising to the surface. Sean Hannity had the chance to break a major news story: that he is a client of Michael Cohen. But he missed his opportunity, when Cohen's lawyer revealed that Hannity is the third client of Cohen. But maybe Sean Hannity can still make news, by revealing what scandals Cohen fixed for Hannity. Enquiring minds want to know: what dirt did Cohen bury for Hannity? Of course, Hannity later denied Cohen was his lawyer. And we can take that to the bank: all republicans are famous for never telling lies. Just like George Washington, who must have been a Republican before the party ever started. (Since Hannity said Cohen never represented him, and Hannity never paid Cohen to be his lawyer, I wonder why Cohen's lawyer said Hannity was a client of Cohen.) It takes a lawyer to understand the truth of these matters. ---------- ---------- U.S. Sean Hannity Was Apoplectic Over The FBI Raid Of Michael Cohen. Now We Know Why. HuffPost Amanda Terkel,HuffPost 1 hour 11 minutes ago Sean Hannity was livid the day that the FBI raided the office and hotel room of Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s longtime personal lawyer. He said it showed that special counsel Robert Mueller was “out to get the president,” and he blasted the media for giving the raid so much coverage. “The media, while they are obsessing over Michael Cohen ― yeah, there are really important stories to bring to you,” Hannity said on his Fox News show. But what he never revealed is why he doesn’t want the media to pay attention to the story: because he is one of Cohen’s clients. Cohen has done legal work for just three clients since leaving his position last year as counsel for Trump’s private company. It was previously reported that the first two clients were the president and GOP fundraiser Elliott Broidy. Broidy had an affair with a former Playboy model. She became pregnant during their relationship, and Cohen helped arrange payments to her to keep her quiet. On Monday, Cohen’s lawyer revealed that Hannity was Cohen’s third, secret client, although it’s unclear what the nature of the work was. Cohen is under federal criminal investigation for possible bank fraud, wire fraud and campaign finance violations in connection with his business dealings. The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan is handling the case. Mueller, who is investigating Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election, referred the matter to the U.S. attorney’s office but has not been involved since. Hannity said on his radio show Monday that he has known Cohen “a long, long time” and tried to play down his involvement in his life. “Let me be very clear to the media: Michael never represented me in any matter. I never retained him in the traditional sense. ... I never received an invoice from Michael. I never paid legal fees to Michael,” Hannity said. “But I have occasionally had brief discussions with him about legal questions. I wanted his input and perspective. I assumed those conversations were attorney-client confidential.” “Not one of any issues I ever dealt with Michael Cohen on ever, ever involved a matter between me and a third party,” he added. He also tweeted that his discussions with Cohen were primarily about real estate. Hannity appears to be specifically trying to put to rest any speculation that he was in a situation similar to Broidy. Federal investigators are also reportedly interested in records Cohen has regarding a payment he made to porn star Stormy Daniels, who claims to have had an affair with Trump and received money from Cohen to stay silent in the run-up to the election. On Monday, Fox News hosts found themselves in the strange position of reporting breaking news on their own colleague. Shep Smith had to report that his own colleague, Sean Hannity, was a Michael Cohen client. (Fox News) Hannity never addressed his conflict of interest in his initial coverage of the Cohen raid. On his radio show on April 9, Hannity said the incident showed “that there’s no limit at all into the fishing expedition that Mueller is now engaged in and if he has access to everything that his personal attorney has.” Jen Bendery contributed reporting. | |
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| 04-16-18 05:42pm - 2348 days | #449 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
The Michael Cohen legal sideshow: Gasps, pratfalls and paparazzi Hunter Walker 1 hour 25 minutes ago NEW YORK — Even before Sean Hannity was named as the mystery “third client” of President Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen, the hearing over how to handle the evidence FBI agents seized from Cohen’s office and residences last week was a media circus, featuring the best-known adult actress in America and her omnipresent lawyer, fringe political candidates, and people who literally fell to the ground. Before Cohen made his appearance, there was already a spectacle outside. Michael Avenatti, the lawyer for adult film star Stormy Daniels, was circling the federal district courthouse in Lower Manhattan, making as many as 10 circuits of the block. Avenatti is now at least as recognizable as his client, who has said she had a sexual liaison with President Trump. The sight of him pacing the sidewalk prompted a frenzy of reporters and cameramen sprinting after him. One man somersaulted over a pile of garbage bags as he walked backward, peppering Avenatti with questions. “We don’t want anybody having to find a lawyer or something,” Avenatti quipped, as the man struggled back onto his feet. Daniels is suing Trump and Cohen to nullify a nondisclosure agreement she signed after receiving a $130,000 payment from Cohen in 2016. The agreement was designed to prevent Daniels from discussing her decade-ago relationship with Trump, who has denied knowing anything about the agreement between Daniels and Cohen. Inside the courthouse, a long line of reporters waited for hours to get into Judge Kimba Wood’s courtroom, along with curious members of the public, including a long-shot congressional candidate from Manhattan’s Upper East Side named Peter Lindner. He handed out cards emblazoned with his campaign slogan (“For Pete’s Sake”) and key elements of his platform, including marijuana legalization. Another man in the line said he was an attorney who skipped out of work to watch the proceedings. “Does everyone in your office want to come to this?” one reporter asked him. “Of course,” he said. “Who doesn’t want to be at this hearing?” Court officers admitted people to the courtroom on the 21st floor in small groups. One woman who came to watch the trial became angry as press were let in first. “I pay taxes and I’m a citizen!” she exclaimed. Yahoo News managed to get a seat in the back, next to a man in a suit and Yankees cap. He opened up a briefcase that contained two unopened packs of Parliament Lights, a well-worn Bible, and a deck of playing cards. The man read from his Bible as he waited for the hearing to start. Cohen came in about 20 minutes before the start of the hearing. After he sat down, one of his lawyers, Stephen Ryan, gave his back a reassuring rub. The hearing concerned a motion by Cohen to review the documents taken by the FBI before prosecutors see it. Lawyers for Trump and the president’s eponymous real estate company also appeared in support of the motion. During the discussion, prosecutors pointed out that Cohen’s legal team would not disclose the name of one of his three clients. The judge ordered Cohen’s lawyers to reveal the identity of the mystery client. It was Fox News host Sean Hannity, which prompted gasps from the crowd. Although the nature of Cohen’s work for Hannity did not come up in the courtroom, the attorney is best-known for arranging hush-money payments between certain male clients and the women who claim to have had relations with them. All electronic devices are banned in the courtroom. Yahoo News was among several members of the media who jumped up and sprinted outside to report on Hannity’s relationship with Cohen. Hannity has denied being Cohen’s client. As the hearing drew to an end, the two imposing bodyguards accompanying Daniel and Avenatti huddled over how Daniels could exit the courtroom safely and make a public statement outside. “For years, Mr. Cohen has acted like he is above the law,” Daniels told reporters outside. “My attorney and I are committed to making sure that everyone finds out the truth and the facts of what happened, and I give my word that we will not rest until that happens.” Ultimately, Judge Wood denied Cohen’s request for a temporary restraining order to block prosecutors from reviewing the documents seized in the raid. She outlined a process for both Cohen’s attorneys and the government lawyers to review the materials while leaving open the possibility that she might appoint a special master who would examine documents that may constitute privileged communications between Cohen and his clients. After the hearing, members of the media rushed after Daniels. Cohen and many of the other lawyers remained in the courtroom. Joanna Hendon, who is representing Trump, grabbed one of Cohen’s attorneys, Todd Harrison, by the elbow and asked to speak with him away from Cohen. “Can we talk outside the presence of your client?” Hendon asked. The pair left together. Cohen was preoccupied with the courtroom sketch artists. He asked to see the drawings they made of him. “I’m better-looking,” Cohen declared after reviewing a sketch. Cohen was apparently less interested in talking to the press. He did not respond to questions from Yahoo News about whether he has anything he would want to hide in the documents or reports that, in spite of his denials, special counsel Robert Mueller has evidence he visited Prague in 2016 as alleged in the infamous Trump dossier. The phalanx of photographers waiting outside didn’t have any better luck getting Cohen to talk, and he rode off without comment. “The Michael Cohen Show” will continue playing at the courthouse and the Loews Regency Hotel, where Cohen has been holding court on the sidewalk. And based on Cohen’s complex web of million dollar deals and foreign ties, the real spectacle might be inside those 10 boxes of documents and electronic devices the FBI took from his office. | |
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| 04-16-18 06:57pm - 2348 days | #450 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
EPA Chief Scott Pruitt decides that it's OK for public citizens to live near toxic wastes. (After all, he lives in Washington DC, home of the toxic Donald Trump, so the rest of the country can live near toxic wastes, as well.) ----------- ----------- EPA Takes Toxic Site Flooded By Harvey Off Special Cleanup List April 16, 20185:31 PM ET Rebecca Hersher Satellite images show the San Jacinto Waste Pits near Houston on Sept. 2, 2017 (left) when the site was still flooded after Hurricane Harvey and on Jan. 24, 2018 after the waters had receded. Satellite image  2018 DigitalGlobe, a Maxar companyThe Environmental Protection Agency has removed a toxic waste site flooded by Hurricane Harvey from a special list of contaminated sites that require the personal attention of the agency's leader, because it says there's been significant progress on a cleanup plan. The San Jacinto Waste Pits are a heavily contaminated area near Houston that is right next to homes and schools, and that has frightened residents for decades. Monday's decision to take it off the list, and to add other sites, underscores the delicate equilibrium between rigorously protecting public health and expediting the cleanup of toxic waste areas across the country. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt calls this a priority for his agency. Last year, Pruitt appointed a task force to recommend ways to speed up decisions about toxic waste sites. One of their recommendations was that Pruitt personally push for legally-binding cleanup plans at a handful of locations. One of those sites was the San Jacinto Waste Pits. It's a pair of pits in the middle of the San Jacinto River that were used as a dumping area for toxic waste from a paper mill in the 1960s. The area full of chemicals called dioxins and furans, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department warns people should not eat fish and crabs from the area because the animals may be contaminated. It took decades for the site to get any federal attention. In 2008, the EPA added the San Jacinto Waste Pits to the National Priorities List of Superfund sites, which is meant to funnel money and attention to toxic areas that are a threat to human health. The Superfund program has been plagued with budget shortfalls for years, and nationwide, many communities have complained that cleanup progress is slow, inadequate or both. Floodwaters from Hurricane Harvey ripped apart fences and flooded Interstate 10 east of Houston last year. The San Jacinto Waste Pits Superfund site is on the other side of the road. Rebecca Hersher/NPR For years before Hurricane Harvey, progress on the pits was slow and the two companies responsible for the waste opposed any plan that required them to remove any contaminated rock and dirt. "For folks who live near the site or see that site every single day, [remediation] can't happen fast enough," says Jacqueline Young of Texas Health and Environment Alliance, an advocacy group that leads the local effort to clean up the pits. But, she adds, "we need to take time to make sure that all the fine details can be worked out. At the end of the day, we have hundreds of thousands of cubic yards of contaminated material in a dynamic river, and that's not something that you can just go in and start digging." In 2011, the EPA oversaw the installation of a temporary concrete cap meant to protect the river from contamination while the agency and the two companies came up with a more permanent cleanup plan. That still left the site vulnerable to rainstorms or hurricanes, since Houston lies along the flood-prone Gulf. When Hurricane Harvey inundated the area last year, the normally-placid San Jacinto became a raging torrent of muddy water that ripped away chunks of the temporary caps. Inspectors found a plume of contamination both up and downstream from the pits. When the water subsided, EPA administrator Scott Pruitt visited the site, and promised to expedite the clean up. Less than a month later, the EPA announced a $115 million plan to remove the contaminated material, and last week, a judge signed off on an agreement that requires the two companies responsible for the waste to develop specific cleanup plans for both pits. Today's announcement that the waste pits no longer need Pruitt's personal attention cited "cleanup activities progress and completion of specific milestones and timelines." A former copper mine in Nevada was also removed, and three other areas in California, Delaware and Minnesota were added to the list. For the San Jacinto Waste Pits, the two companies have 29-months to come up with a specific cleanup design. Rock Owens, an environmental lawyer with the office of the Harris County Attorney, notes this means at least two more hurricane seasons will pass before waste material is actually removed. Both Owens and Young, of the Texas Health and Environment Alliance, credit the relatively fast pace of recent EPA decision-making in part to the Pruitt's personal attention. "Scott Pruitt has made it clear that Superfund sites are a high priority," says Owens. Now that the EPA chief's attention is shifting to contaminated sites elsewhere in the country, Young says her group will be watching carefully to make sure companies don't fall behind schedule. "Folks are not particularly excited about the 29-month estimate," says Young. She notes that even though many environmental advocates agree with the current pace of cleanup planning at the waste pits, people who live near the site are understandably concerned about the immediate risk of another flood. "We will do everything we can to make sure the plan moves forward and doesn't take any longer than it needs to," she says. | |
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