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Post History:
lk2fireone (0)
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| 05-11-18 06:02pm - 2417 days | #648 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User  Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Giuliani calls Stormy Daniels lawyer a 'pimp' Rudy Giuliani called the attorney representing adult film star Stormy Daniels a "pimp" on Friday, the latest jab in a feud between the lawyers over the actress's claims she had an affair with President Trump. Giuliani, the latest addition to Trump's legal team, told Business Insider he wouldn't accept Michael Avenatti's challenge to a debate because he has been "pimping for money." "I don't get involved with pimps," he said. "The media loves to give him room because he makes these roundabout charges and they turn out to mean nothing. I think he's going to get himself in serious trouble," he added. The insult comes after Avenatti challenged the former New York City mayor on live television to a face-to-face debate to duke out the facts of Daniels's contentious lawsuits against Trump and his personal attorney Michael Cohen. Avenatti fired back at Giuliani in a tweet Friday evening: Hey Rudy - It turns out I’m not the only “pimp” you have experience with. History evidently is repeating itself. #pimped #bastahttps://t.co/YUmzf0c2oT — Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) May 11, 2018 Giuliani said earlier this week he wouldn't debate Avenatti even for "$10 million," saying "all he does is put out statements in the press and they fawn all over him." Giuliani made waves earlier this month when he confirmed for the first time that Trump repaid Cohen for the $130,000 nondisclosure payment that Daniels received just weeks before the 2016 election. Giuliani later clarified that Trump was unaware of that specific payment until recently. Updated: 6:50 p.m. | |
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| 05-11-18 01:15pm - 2417 days | #647 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
"It wasn't long ago people lived on less than a dollar a day in todays money." What the heck do you mean? That you can live on $1 a day in the United States? That's your standard for living? And what if you have to go to a hospital? How many days at $1/day would it take to pay a simple hospital bill? I went to a hospital for an emergency about 10 years ago, and the bill was over $9,000, and that was without any operation, just a few medical tests and some medication and room charges. And I was only in the hospital for less than 24 hours. $9,000 is 9,000 days at $1/day. And if your $1/day went to pay for medical help, what happens to the need to eat? Are you talking about real life in the United States? Or some fantasy in your head where someone can survive on $1/day? --------------------------- I'm beginning to think you might have a brain, but don't use it very much. I said: "Kill or be killed. The law of nature. That's your moral code?" You said you never said that. What you said was that "Yes, it's a universal law." Referring to the idea that it's only natural for the rich to get richer, while the poor and middle class fall behind. I've heard of the law of nature, which seems to be the basis for what you are saying. Unless you are talking about some law of physics or chemistry, which would be massive jump in logic, that only Donald Trump might attempt, with his hyperbole and lies. Another way of stating the law of nature is: the theory of evolution, survival of the fittest. Or: the law of the jungle: kill or be killed. Different expressions for the same basic idea. So I don't think I am making up what you said: just explaining what you said. There seems to be a dis-connect between what you say and what you understand. And an ability to ignore other people's ideas that don't fit with yours. Edited on May 11, 2018, 03:11pm | |
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| 05-11-18 09:50am - 2417 days | #645 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Amazing news: Not everyone admires Trump and Pence. ------------- ------------- New York Magazine May 10, 2018 11:22 am George Will Calls ‘Repulsive’ Pence Worse Than Trump By Ed Kilgore Has Mike Pence’s obsequious submission to Trump forfeited his distinctive usefulness to conservatives? Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images When Donald Trump chose Mike Pence as his running mate in July 2016, there was a strong sense that the Indiana governor could serve as his new boss’s ambassador to the more conventional conservatives whose party Trump had taken by storm. Pence had been a leading member of the right wing of the House Republican caucus for years. He was especially close to the Christian right, an important segment of the party that wasn’t initially keen on the great orange heathen, with his crude ways and history of ideological heterodoxy. Pence’s approach was cool while Trump’s was bubbling hot. And in the wake of either victory or (as seemed more likely in the summer of 2016) defeat, the stolid Hoosier looked like an ideal bridge between Trumpists and conservatives who were either resisting the new tribal chief or going along grudgingly. Now, nearly two years later, Pence is ostensibly in a much stronger position, as conservatives have become Trump’s base of support in the electorate and the Congress. The veep still has an indispensable function as the central figure in the conservative Evangelical supposition that Trump is surrounded by genuine men and women of faith who will continue to shine a light unto his path and perhaps even bring the self-absorbed worshiper of the golden calf of money and power to Jesus. But in a White House known for extreme turbulence and the constant ebb and flow of POTUS’ affections, fears, and moods, Pence has chosen to maintain his status via a degree of obsequiousness that is embarrassing even to watch. As Jonathan Chait observed last year, the vice-president has made a particularly cringeworthy habit of publicly admiring Trump’s “broad-shouldered” leadership traits. Becoming Chief Toady may have solidified Pence’s position as putative successor to Trump as leader of the GOP and of MAGA country. But it is beginning to destroy the subtle separation of the party from Trump and Trumpism that made him especially useful to Trump-o-skeptic conservatives. That is made plain by a remarkable column from the man who in the days before Hannity and Breitbart News was often regarded as the high priest of conservative punditry, George Will. One of the few #NeverTrump figures on the right who has neither wavered nor flagged in his disdain for the 45th president, Will has become so disgusted with Pence’s behavior that he is deeming him to be worse than Trump himself. He has, says Will, now replaced Trump as “America’s most repulsive public figure.” Last June, a Trump Cabinet meeting featured testimonials offered to Dear Leader by his forelock-tugging colleagues. His chief of staff, Reince Priebus, caught the spirit of the worship service by thanking Trump for the “blessing” of being allowed to serve him. The hosannas poured forthfrom around the table, unredeemed by even a scintilla of insincerity…. The vice president chimed in but saved his best riff for a December Cabinet meeting when, as The Post’s Aaron Blake calculated, Pence praised Trump once every 12 seconds for three minutes. What seems to have provoked Will’s fury more than all this routine of over-the-top brown-nosing was Pence’s decision during an Arizona appearance to give a big shout-out to convicted-and-pardoned felon Joe Arpaio, the great champion of racial profiling and a big buddy of Trump’s: Pence, oozing unctuousness from every pore, called Arpaio “another favorite,” professed himself “honored” by Arpaio’s presence, and praised him as “a tireless champion of . . . the rule of law.” Arpaio, a grandstanding, camera-chasing bully and darling of the thuggish right, is also a criminal, convicted of contempt of court for ignoring a federal judge’s order to desist from certain illegal law enforcement practices. Pence’s performance occurred eight miles from the home of Sen. John McCain, who could teach Pence — or perhaps not — something about honor. Arpaio is also running for the Senate, which makes Pence’s praise not just morally offensive but politically significant. But Pence is playing his assigned role as the great symbol of the compete surrender of the Republican Party, and of the conservative movement that is supposed to animate it, to dark forces typified by Arpaio. And so Will hurls an anathema at the whole pack of them: Because [Pence’s] is the authentic voice of today’s lickspittle Republican Party, he clarifies this year’s elections: Vote Republican to ratify groveling as governing … There will be negligible legislating by the next Congress, so ballots cast this November will be most important as validations or repudiations of the harmonizing voices of Trump, Pence, Arpaio and the like. Trump is what he is, a floundering, inarticulate jumble of gnawing insecurities and not-at-all compensating vanities, which is pathetic. Pence is what he has chosen to be, which is horrifying. Now even more than in 2016, when Will never even came close to coming to the aid of his party, the columnist is self-isolated in openly encouraging Democratic votes in November. But his contempt for Pence nonetheless signifies that if the whole Trump political enterprise comes to grief, the vice-president no longer has the reputation for independence that could make him the politician to pick up the pieces. He’s worked very hard to become Trump’s most loyal acolyte. He cannot survive the destruction of his boss’s cult. | |
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| 05-11-18 09:45am - 2417 days | #644 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Thank you for elevating me to the top 1%, sunshine. Does that increase my wealth, or my self-worth? Or are you following your hero, Donald Trump, the slimeball con man, who said he would not personally benefit from his new tax plan? I am a slow thinker. I thought you were willing to consider an opposing viewpoint. But I guess I'm wrong. Kill or be killed. The law of nature. That's your moral code? | |
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| 05-11-18 09:16am - 2417 days | #641 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Jade1, I don't know if you are aware of how the distribution of wealth in the United States has been shifting so that the rich are becoming increasingly rich. I realize it can be a complicated issue. But the fact is, the rich are becoming richer, and the poor (and the middle class) are falling behind. Here's a long article on the topic: ------------- https://www.thebalance.com/income-inequa...y-in-america-3306190 The Balance Income Inequality in America By Kimberly Amadeo Updated May 08, 2018 One-quarter of American workers make less than $10 per hour. That creates an income below the federal poverty level. These are the people who wait on you every day. They include cashiers, fast food workers, and nurse's aides. Or maybe they are you. The rich got richer through the recovery from the 2008 financial crisis. In 2012, the top 10 percent of earners took home 50 percent of all income. That's the highest percentage in the last 100 years. The top 1 percent took home 20 percent of the income, according to a study by economists Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty. Income Inequality Facts From 2000 through 2006, the number of Americans living in poverty increased 15 percent. By 2006, nearly 33 million workers earned less than $10 per hour. Their annual income is less than $20,614. This is below the poverty level for a family of four. Most of these low-wage workers receive no health insurance, sick days or pension plans from their employers. That means they can't get ill and have no hope of retiring. During this same period, average wages remained flat. That’s despite an increase of worker productivity of 15 percent. Corporate profits increased 13 percent per year, according to "The Big Squeeze" by Steven Greenhouse. Between 1979 and 2007, household income increased 275 percent for the wealthiest 1 percent of households. It rose 65 percent for the top fifth. The bottom fifth only increased 18 percent. That's true even after "wealth redistribution." In other words, subtracting all taxes, and adding all income from Social Security, welfare, and other payments. Since the rich got richer faster, their piece of the pie grew larger. The wealthiest 1 percent increased their share of total income by 10 percent. Everyone else saw their piece of the pie shrink by 1-2 percent. Even though the income going to the poor improved, they fell further behind when compared to the richest. As a result, economic mobility is worsening. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act required corporations to disclose employee pay. Its goal is to help shareholders better understand executive compensation practices compared to the average employee pay. The biggest discrepancy was Marathon Petroleum. Its CEO made $19.7 million, 935 times that of the median worker's pay of $21,034. Whirlpool's CEO made $7.1 million, 356 times that of its average employee pay of $19,906. Honeywell's average worker pay is $50,000. Its CEO made $16.8 million, or 333 times that. What Is to Blame Income inequality is blamed on cheap labor in China, unfair exchange rates, and jobs outsourcing. Corporations are often blamed for putting profits ahead of workers. But they must to remain competitive. U.S. companies must compete with lower-priced Chinese and Indian companies who pay their workers much less. As a result, many companies have outsourced their high-tech and manufacturing jobs overseas. The U.S. has lost 20 percent of its factory jobs since 2000. These were traditionally higher-paying union jobs. Service jobs have increased, but these are much lower paid. During the 1990s, companies went public to gain more funds to invest in growth. Managers must now produce ever-larger profits to please stockholders. For most companies, payroll is the largest budget line item. Reengineering has led to doing more with fewer full-time employees. It also means hiring more contract and temporary employees. Immigrants, many in the country illegally, fill more low-paid service positions. They have less bargaining power to demand higher wages. Wal-Mart is the nation's largest employer, at 1.4 million. Unfortunately, it has set new standards for reducing employee pay and benefits. Its competitors must follow suit to provide the same "Low Prices." Recent government tax policies have helped investors more than low wage earners. Deregulation means less stringent investigations into labor disputes. The U.S. minimum wage remained at $5.15 an hour until 2007. Ten years later, it only rose to $7 an hour. Technology, not globalization, feeds income inequality. It has also replaced many workers at factory jobs. Those who have training in technology can get higher paid jobs. In recent years, the Federal Reserve deserves some of the blame. Record-low interest rates were supposed to spur the housing market, making homes more affordable. While that is the case, housing prices have leveled off in recent years. The average American still doesn't have enough income to buy a home. This is especially true for younger people who typically form new households. Without good jobs, they're stuck living at home or with roommates. By keeping Treasury rates low, the Fed created an asset bubble in stocks. This helped the top 10 percent, who own 91 percent of the wealth in stocks and bonds. Other investors have been buying commodities, driving food prices up 40 percent since 2009. This hurts the "bottom" 90 percent, who spend a greater percentage of their income on food. Take A Global Perspective Many of the causes of U.S. income inequality can be traced to an underlying shift in the global economy. Emerging markets incomes are increasing. Countries such as China, Brazil, and India, are becoming more competitive in the global marketplace. That's because their workforces are becoming more skilled. Also, their leaders are becoming more sophisticated in managing their economies. As a result, wealth is shifting to them from the United States and other developed countries. This shift is about lessening global income inequality. The richest 1 percent of the world's population has 40 percent of its wealth. Americans hold 25 percent of that wealth. But China has 22 percent of the world's population and 8.8 percent of its wealth. India has 15 percent of its population and 4 percent of its wealth. (Source: "Estimating the Level and Distribution of Global Household Wealth," World Institute for Development Economic Research, November 2007.) As other countries become more developed, their wealth rises. They are taking it away from the United States, the EU, and Japan. In America, the least wealthy bear the brunt. There Is a Solution Trying to prevent U.S. companies from outsourcing will not work. It is punishing them for responding to global redistribution of wealth. Neither will protectionist trade policies or walls to prevent immigrants from entering illegally. The United States must accept that global wealth redistribution is occurring. Those in the top fifth of the U.S. income bracket must realize that those in the bottom two-fifths cannot bear the brunt forever. The government should provide the bottom two-fifths access to education and employment training. Improving education is the best way to increase individual wealth and improve the labor force. Equity in education would bring everyone up to at least a minimum standard. It would be a better solution than increasing welfare benefits or providing a universal basic income. Congress can raise taxes on the top fifth to pay for it. It should make these changes now so that the transition is gradual and healthy for the economy overall. | |
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| 05-11-18 08:59am - 2417 days | #640 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Jade1, you seem to be just as biased as I am. You say that both the wealthy and the poor got their taxes reduced. Which is true, but also overly simplistic. The major benefits of the tax break were for big business and the wealthy. Minor benefits went to the poor and the middle class. The article below explains how the Trump tax cut plan favors big business and the wealthy over the poor and the middle class. It leaves out another important tax benefit to the rich under the Trump tax plan: Read the second article to see how wealthy individuals will save millions in inheritance tax under Trump's tax plan. ----------- The Washington Post Republicans say it’s a tax cut for the middle class. The biggest winners are the rich. By Reuben Fischer-Baum, Kim Soffen and Heather Long Updated Jan. 30, 2018 This piece has been updated to reflect the final version of the tax bill. President Trump signed a long-awaited tax bill into law on December 22nd, a few days after it passed the Senate 51-48. Republicans claim the bill is meant to benefit the middle class, but lower– and middle–class taxpayers will receive moderate tax cuts. The wealthy, by contrast, get a massive windfall, and the corporate tax rate would nearly cut in half. The individual tax cuts are expected to lessen over time, since most related provisions expire at the end of 2025, but the rich still do much better than everyone else. At the end of 2025, all the tax breaks for individuals and families will expire. In combination with tweaks to how inflation is calculated, this causes many low- and middle-income taxpayers to see a tax increase compared to current law. The cuts for corporations will not expire, and wealthy individual taxpayers will still save significant amounts of money, albeit less than in 2018. ------------------ ------------------ Personal Finance #TaxTime Dec 21, 2017 @ 08:46 AM 144,097 Final Tax Bill Includes Huge Estate Tax Win For The Rich: The $22.4 Million Exemption Ashlea Ebeling , Forbes Staff President Donald Trump’s vow to kill the federal estate tax failed, but his family, and other high-net worth families, could still come out way ahead based on changes to the estate, gift and generation-skipping taxes in the final tax bill that awaits his signature. “It’s a huge benefit to the wealthy,” says Beth Kaufman, an estate lawyer with Caplin & Drysdale in Washington, D.C. WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 20: U.S. President Donald Trump (C) pauses during an event to celebrate Congress passing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act with (L-R) Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Vice President Mike Pence, Rep. Kristi Noem (R-SD) and other Republican members of the House and Senate at the South Lawn of the White House December 20, 2017 in Washington, DC. The tax bill is the first major legislative victory for the GOP-controlled Congress and Trump since he took office almost one year ago. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) The tax bill, passed by the House and Senate yesterday, temporarily doubles the exemption amount for estate, gift and generation-skipping taxes from the $5 million base, set in 2011, to a new $10 million base, good for tax years 2018 through 2025. The exemption is indexed for inflation, so it looks like an individual can shelter $11.2 million in assets from these taxes. Another federal estate law provision called portability lets couples who do proper planning double that exemption. So, a couple could exclude $22.4 million for 2018. Watch out: The law’s sunset means that, absent further Congressional action, the exemption amount would revert to the $5 million base, indexed. In this window, the tax bill offers enormous planning opportunities for the rich. “Any client who can afford to do so will want to use their exemption for gifts, in case it actually does sunset,” says Kaufman. For couples, this would benefit anyone with $11 million or more in assets. Under current law, each person for 2018 had a $5.6 million exemption. Now each person will have an $11.2 million exemption. So, a couple has an extra $11.2 million to gift or transfer at death. “It’s better to give now while the law is certain,” she adds. What will these gifts look like? A memo circulated yesterday by estate planner Ronald Aucutt with McGuireWoods says strategies to consider include: Making gifts to existing or new irrevocable trusts, including generation-skipping trusts Leveraging gifts to support the funding of life insurance or existing sales to trusts and Pairing gifts with philanthropy (such as a charitable lead trust). Note, the tax bill doesn’t make changes to the rules that step-up basis at death. That means that when you die, your heirs’ cost basis in the assets you leave them are reset at the value when you die. Far fewer estates will be subject to the levy — the Joint Committee on Taxation estimates the number of taxable estates would drop from 5,000 under current law to 1,800 under the new law in 2018. By comparison, 52,000 estates paid the tax in 2000 when the exemption was $675,000. Separately, the annual exclusion amount that an individual can give to any number of individuals without eating into the lifetime gift tax exemption was not changed by the new tax law. It will be $15,000 for 2018, up from $14,000 in 2017, thanks to indexing for inflation. | |
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| 05-11-18 03:29am - 2418 days | #638 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Michael Avenatti, the lawyer for Stormy Daniels, reveals that he is being paid by Stormy Daniels and more by donations from a crowdfunding page. So, basically, he is not being paid by any mysterious PAC or anti-Trump organization. Basically, I am wondering why some of the wealthy anti-Trump forces are not contributing heavily to Michael Avenatti, since that would seem to be a cost-effective way to oppose Trump. Because the pro-Trump forces are almost certainly heavily funding Michael Cohen and other targets of the Mueller investigation (in their legal defense). ------- ------- Politics Michael Avenatti Reveals Who’s Paying for His Stormy Daniels Work After Questions About Anti-Trump Financing Newsweek Jessica Kwong,Newsweek 14 hours ago Michael Avenatti on Thursday afternoon issued a statement in response to an opinion piece by a former adviser for President Bill Clinton questioning who was paying him to represent Stormy Daniels, the adult film star legally named Stephanie Clifford who has alleged she had an affair with President Donald Trump. “Once again (for at least the 20th time)–ALL fees and expenses of this case have either been funded by our client, Ms. Stephanie Clifford, or by donations from our crowdjustice.com page,” Avenatti wrote in a statement he linked to a tweet through Dropbox. “Further, no political party or PAC is funding this effort. No left wing conspiracy group is behind this. And no big fat cat political donors are leading the charge,” Avenatti added. “Get over it.” He later told The Daily Caller that any claim he was being funded by the left or other political interests was “utter bullshit, and you can quote me on that.” Avenatti earlier tweeted that Mark Penn, a pollster and adviser to Clinton from 1995 to 2000, “didn’t do any basic research for his ridiculous piece in The Hill. Had he merely bothered to review google or this feed, he would know exactly who is paying me.” In his piece, Penn wrote that Avenatti, who had slammed the millions of dollars deposited into a bank account set up by Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen, had some questions of his own to answer about his financing. “He wants to make the discussion all about where Michael Cohen, President Trump’s personal attorney, got his money but, to have clean hands, Avenatti needs to come forward with exactly who is financing his operation.” The crowdjustice page for Daniels as of Thursday afternoon had received more than $428,000 in donations for her lawsuit against Trump to void a nondisclosure agreement that he did not sign and that she alleges is being used to intimidate her into not telling her story. Gerald Kelly, a Maryland-based tax attorney, told Newsweek Thursday that Avenatti’s legal fees in the six-figure range “would be reasonable.” “The fees could go up exponentially, if there’s substantial litigation and courtroom time,” Kelly said. This article was first written by Newsweek | |
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| 05-11-18 03:21am - 2418 days | #637 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
What are the main policies of Trump and his allies? Giving tax breaks to the wealthy and big business. Reducing funds to public education, social welfare, government workers. Reducing funds and protections for the environment to increase the profits of big business. Reducing protections for LGBT groups. Reducing protections for immigrants and/or denying immigrants legal rights to stay or enter the US. | |
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| 05-10-18 10:33pm - 2418 days | #635 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
As Americans, it's our bounden duty to act as critics of the Government (including Trump). Red, white and blue is passe. Especially under Trump, who uses red, white and blue as a shield and banner for his policies. Don't we, as citizens, have the right to complain if we think the President is not being fair in passing or promoting laws that do not benefit everyone equally? Conservatives seem to favor the wealthy. They seem to ignore or limit the rights of the less-wealthy, or political minorities, or racial minorities, or gays (and related groups). Just my view. | |
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| 05-10-18 10:01pm - 2418 days | #633 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
The 2 top terrorists in the US are hiding in plain site: Donald Trump and Mike Pence. I suspect Trump has been building shelters to hold pallets of his money (whether greenbacks, gold, platinum, or whatever will hold value in the coming years). Not sure what Pence is doing: he seems to keep his activities on the QT (Quiet Time), while he waits for Trump to be impeached or resign.  Some people might write: hiding in plain sight. But Trump and Pence are smart. They had chosen to be in sites that allow the crowd to think they "know" what these terrorists are doing, while actually working undercover for their Russian master, Putin. Where is Senator Joseph McCarthy when we need him? Edited on May 10, 2018, 10:07pm | |
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| 05-10-18 09:49pm - 2418 days | #631 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Republicans are smarter than Democrats. Republicans were able to block Obama from filling a federal judge seat for 6 years. Then a Republican President was elected. And he (Trump) was able to fill the seat with a conservative judge. Democrats are stupid. They follow the rules and traditions. Republicans are smarter. They follow the rules and traditions, while it benefits them: then they make new rules. Joke on the stupid Democrats. Ha-ha-ha. ----------- ----------- Politics Republicans Fill Court Seat They Denied To Obama For 6 Years HuffPost Jennifer Bendery,HuffPost 9 hours ago Sen. Ron Johnson used all kinds of delay tactics to prevent President Barack Obama from getting a federal judge confirmed. (Bill Clark via Getty Images) WASHINGTON ― The Senate voted Thursday to confirm Michael Brennan to a lifetime seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit ― a vacancy that Republicans prevented President Barack Obama from filling for six years. The vote, 49 to 46, was entirely partisan. Until now, the seat was the nation’s longest circuit court vacancy. It was empty since January 2010, and it had been up to Wisconsin’s two senators to work with the White House to fill it. The reason it went unfilled for so long largely came down to one person: Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.). Obama nominated Victoria Nourse to the seat in July 2010. Johnson denied her a confirmation hearing for all of 2011 by refusing to turn in his so-called blue slip, a Senate tradition whereby home-state senators have the ability to stop or advance a judicial nominee in the Judiciary Committee. Nourse withdrew her nomination in early 2012, calling the system “broken.” Nourse had been recommended for the court seat by Wisconsin’s judicial nominating commission. But after she withdrew, Johnson said he wanted a new system of picking judicial nominees. He disbanded the state’s nominating panel and worked with Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) to create a new one. That took another year. Johnson then said the panel couldn’t put forward a 7th Circuit nominee until Obama nominated people to two other district court vacancies in the state. That added another year to the process. By the time the panel was seeking applications for the 7th Circuit, it was July 2014 and the seat had been empty for four years. The commission had eight candidates to recommend by January 2015, but couldn’t reach a consensus. The process stalled out in May, so Baldwin submitted all of their names to the White House to let the administration pick someone. Johnson fumed that Baldwin’s move was “partisan” and said the nomination process should start all over. By January 2016, six years after the seat became empty, Obama nominated Donald Schott — one of the eight people chosen by the state panel. Baldwin gave the green light for him to get a hearing by turning in her blue slip, and reluctantly, Johnson did too. Schott got his hearing in June 2016. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) blocked action on Obama’s court picks for the rest of the year, and Schott’s nomination expired. That left the seat open for a Republican president, Donald Trump, to fill, which was Johnson’s and McConnell’s goal all along. Mitch McConnell has been very effective at denying Democrats the ability to fill empty court seats, and then filling up all those seats when Republicans are in power. (Alex Wong via Getty Images) After years of denying votes to Obama’s judicial picks, McConnell is now aggressively moving forward with filling those empty court seats with young, conservative, lifetime judges. Trump has been nominating people at record-breaking levels, and many of his picks have records of being anti-LGBTQ rights, anti-abortion rights or anti-voting rights. “This is my top priority in the Senate,” McConnell told conservative radio show host Hugh Hewitt last week. “By appointing and confirming these strict constructionists to the courts who are in their late 40s or early 50s ... I believe we’re making a generational change in the country.” Brennan’s confirmation is rich with irony. He wrote an editorial endorsing the blue slip process in 2011 after Johnson refused to return his blue slip for Nourse. He didn’t earn the support of Wisconsin’s judicial nominating commission. And the same Republicans who used blue slips to deny Obama the seat have now ignored the tradition of blue slips to help Trump fill it. Baldwin never turned in her blue slip in for Brennan, but Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the chairman, gave him a hearing anyway and Republicans sent his nomination to the Senate floor. Democrats have fumed about the hypocrisy surrounding this court seat. Some already opposed Brennan, a 57-year-old Milwaukee lawyer, on his merits. Among other things, Brennan has discounted the concept of the “the glass ceiling” being real, and raised some eyebrows in his confirmation hearing when he couldn’t say if racial bias exists in the criminal justice system. “How is Sen. Baldwin’s right to consult on judges for her state any less important than Sen. Johnson’s?” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday on the Senate floor. “It’s mind-bending hypocrisy. It’s an appalling double standard.” Until this year, it had been three decades since the Senate confirmed a judge without positive blue slips from both home-state senators. Before Brennan, the Senate held a confirmation vote in January for now-U.S. Circuit Judge David Stras of Minnesota. Then-Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) did not turn in a blue slip for Stras, but Grassley gave him a hearing anyway and sent his nomination to the floor. Video: Trump's Judicial Impact Goes Way Beyond the Supreme Court This article originally appeared on HuffPost. | |
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| 05-10-18 06:57pm - 2418 days | #629 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Shades of Barack Obama. Remember how so many aides to Barack Obama were sent to prison because Obama was not a US citizen, as he falsely claimed to be? Obama was born in Africa. Or somewhere outside of the US. And Obama never produced a legal birth certificate that showed he was born in the US. (I got this from Trump.) Now, unfortunately, Donald Trump is losing people who supported him. They are being sent to jail. Lawyer Alex van der Zwaan becomes the first Mueller convict to report to prison. ---------- ---------- First Mueller convict reports to prison Dutch attorney Alex van der Zwaan turned himself in Monday after being sentenced for lying to investigators. By JOSH GERSTEIN 05/08/2018 05:51 PM EDT A Dutch attorney now has the dubious distinction of being the first person imprisoned in connection with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Alex van der Zwaan, 33, reported to a low-security Federal Bureau of Prisons facility near Allenwood, Pennsylvania, on Monday to serve the 30-day sentence he received for lying to investigators in the course of Mueller’s investigation, according to a bureau spokesperson. His projected release date is June 4, according to information on the prison bureau’s website. In February, van der Zwaan, a former London-based attorney for the U.S. law firm Skadden Arps, pleaded guilty to a felony false-statement charge, admitting that he lied to the FBI and lawyers for Mueller’s office during questioning about his involvement with a report Skadden prepared in 2012 at the request of the Ukrainian government. Last month, U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced van der Zwaan to 30 days in prison and a $20,000 fine. His attorneys sought leniency because his wife is pregnant and is due in August, and made clear that they wanted him to begin serving the sentence as soon as possible so he would have a strong chance of making it home to London before his wife delivers. It’s still unclear whether that will happen. Jackson sought to facilitate van der Zwaan’s getting home by announcing that she would permit him to depart during a two-month probation she ordered to follow his short stint in custody. However, van der Zwaan’s attorneys said at the sentencing that it was possible he could be tied up in the deportation process for months if immigration authorities detained him when his prison sentence was complete. Spokespeople for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and for Mueller’s office had no immediate comment on what arrangements are in place for van der Zwaan’s departure from the country. A lawyer for van der Zwaan, William Schwartz, declined to comment on Tuesday. Van der Zwaan’s attorneys had requested that he be spared prison, but urged that if he was sentenced to time in custody he serve at the Allenwood low-security facility, part of a complex that also includes a medium-security center and a high-security penitentiary. A consultant for white-collar convicts facing prison, John Webster, said someone serving a short sentence would normally be sent to a federal prison camp. However, the Dutch attorney isn’t eligible for that sort of minimum-security facility, which has few physical obstacles to keep inmates from walking away. “He’s not a U.S. citizen, so he cannot go to a camp,” Webster said. The consultant said the other prisoners at Allenwood’s low-security facility were unlikely to give van der Zwaan any trouble, or pay much attention to him at all. “It’s not a bad place,” Webster said. “He’s going to be safe, not raped, abused, beaten up or anything along those lines. … He’s going to be just an administrative headache. They got to process his discharge paperwork the day he checks in. You do have a decent percentage of organized-crime guys there from the Tri-state area. … You’re going to find some guys there doing pretty serious time, 10, 15, 20 years.” Van der Zwaan was drawn into the Trump-Russia investigation by actions he took in 2012. At the time, his law firm was preparing to release a report commissioned by Paul Manafort, a future Trump campaign chairman, and Manafort’s aide Rick Gates for Ukraine’s Justice Ministry in a bid to defend then-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who had jailed one of his most prominent political opponents, former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. According to prosecutors, van der Zwaan considered working for Manafort and Gates, but when speaking with investigators made false statements about his most recent interactions with Gates. Mueller’s team also said van der Zwaan deceived others at his law firm, including former White House counsel Greg Craig, who was the lead author of the report. Craig was not charged and has not commented publicly on the case. Manafort and Gates were indicted last October on charges of money laundering and failing to register as foreign agents for their Ukraine-related work. Gates pleaded guilty in February and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, but Manafort is still fighting the original charges, as well as a new tax and bank fraud indictment filed in Virginia federal court in February. Rudy Giuliani is pictured. | Getty Images By ELIANA JOHNSON, ANNIE KARNI and DARREN SAMUELSOHN Van der Zwaan’s case doesn’t appear to have a direct connection to alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. The fact that investigators are willing to allow him to leave the country suggests he is not a pivotal witness in the Manafort case. At van der Zwaan’s sentencing, he made a brief statement apologizing for his actions, but the judge said he seemed inadequately contrite. “The expressions of remorse, even those made on his behalf, were somewhat muted, to say the least,” Jackson said. While van der Zwaan is the first person sentenced to prison as part of the Mueller inquiry, he is not the first to spend time in jail in connection with it. That appears to be George Papadopoulos, a Trump campaign foreign policy adviser, who spent a night in the detention center in Alexandria, Virginia, last July after being arrested as he arrived at Dulles Airport on a flight from Germany. Papadopoulos was released the next day. He ultimately pleaded guilty to making a false statement to the FBI and is awaiting sentencing. | |
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| 05-10-18 06:23pm - 2418 days | #628 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Now that John McCain has been revealed as "Songbird John", maybe the United States will not allow him to be buried with a hero's honors? Enquiring minds want to know. Maybe Donald Trump should appoint a special prosecutor to look into John McCain's criminal activities during the Vietnam War? Before McCain dies in an attempt to avoid prosecution? | |
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| 05-10-18 06:19pm - 2418 days | #627 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Fox news speaks the truth (in its opinions). And its guests also speak the truth. Where else will you hear the dirty details about Trump's opponents and criminals? Senator John McCain is known as "Songbird John." He failed under torture, and revealed secrets to the enemy. -------- -------- HuffPost Fox Business Guest Defends Torture: It Worked On John McCain HuffPost Hayley Miller,HuffPost 6 hours ago A guest on Fox Business Network touted torture as an effective way to extract information from prisoners, claiming it “worked” on Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). “The fact is ... it worked on John [McCain],” Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Tom McInerney told FBN’s Charles Payne on Tuesday. “That’s why they call him ‘Songbird John.’” “The fact is those methods can work and they’re effective as former Vice President [Dick] Cheney said,” McInerney continued. “And if we have to use ’em to save a million American lives, we will do whatever we have to.” Payne apologized hours later for not confronting McInerney about his comments on McCain during the interview. “I regret I did not catch this remark, as it should have been challenged,” Payne tweeted. “As a proud military veteran and son of a Vietnam Vet, these words neither reflect my or the network’s feelings about Senator McCain.” | |
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| 05-10-18 06:05pm - 2418 days | #626 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Fake news: The White House (which means Donald Trump, the greatest President-for-life of the United States of Trumpland), expresses its love and admiration for John McCain. McCain, who is dying of cancer, has not invited Donald Trump to McCain's funeral. But Trump is a big man, and he's a busy man, who does not have time to attend all the funerals of his enemies. But maybe Trump will find the time to tweet about McCain when McCain dies. --------- --------- A White House staffer is accused of mocking John McCain's brain-cancer diagnosis during internal meeting Business Insider Bryan Logan May 10th 2018 7:27PM X White House staffer Kelly Sadler is accused of mocking Sen. John McCain, who is battling an aggressive form of brain cancer. Two unnamed sources told The Hill that Sadler took issue with McCain's criticism of President Donald Trump's CIA nominee, Gina Haspel, allegedly dismissing the ailing Arizona senator, saying "he's dying anyway." The White House did not deny the account, according to The Hill, but expressed its support for McCain in a statement released later. Trump has frequently been at odds with McCain. Trump mocked his military service during the 2016 presidential election. Kelly Sadler, a special assistant in the White House, is accused of mocking John McCain on Thursday. McCain, the Republican senator from Arizona, is battling an aggressive form of brain cancer. Two unnamed sources told The Hill that Sadler took issue with McCain's criticism of President Donald Trump's CIA nominee, Gina Haspel, allegedly dismissing the ailing McCain, saying "he's dying anyway." McCain on Wednesday said that Haspel is unfit to run the CIA because she would not say definitively that torture is immoral. That issue is one of several that have made Haspel's journey toward Senate confirmation an uphill battle. The White House did not deny the account of Sadler's alleged remark about McCain, but expressed its support for the ailing statesman and Vietnam war veteran in a statement released to The Hill: AdChoices "We respect Senator McCain's service to our nation, and he and his family are in our prayers," the statement reads in part. McCain and Trump have frequently been at odds since Trump was a candidate in the 2016 election. Trump, at one point, ridiculed McCain's military service and said "he's not a war hero." McCain made headlines this week when it was revealed that he does not plan to invite Trump to his funeral. | |
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| 05-10-18 05:52pm - 2418 days | #625 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Michael Cohen contested swaths of the banking records released by Stormy Daniels's attorney Michael Avenatti in a court filing on Wednesday. Cohen says this is a deliberate attempt to smear him. However, Stormy Daniels' attorney replies: "Out...of approximately $3 million worth of transactions we listed, you claim we are wrong on less than $25,000 and thus we are inaccurate? So we are only 99.0% right? What a joke," Avenatti said in a tweet to Laura Ingraham. Should Michael Cohen make payments to Stormy Daniels' attorney, so the opposing attorney can produce cleaner reports about Michael Cohen? Or maybe not. After all, as they say in show business, "“there’s no such thing as bad publicity.” ---------- ---------- Politics Stormy Daniels's Attorney Michael Avenatti Got the Wrong Michael Cohen in Bank Records, Trump Lawyer Says Newsweek Gillian Edevane,Newsweek 10 hours ago Michael Cohen contested swaths of the banking records released by Stormy Daniels's attorney Michael Avenatti in a court filing on Wednesday. Although President Donald Trump's embattled personal attorney isn't denying many of transactions, he argued that some of the transactions belong to men with the same name. The records detail money paid to Essential Consultants, a company that Cohen allegedly created in 2016 to pay adult film star Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about an alleged affair she had with Trump in 2007. The banking information shows that some major companies—including AT&T and Novartis—paid the attorney for consulting work, as did a firm tied to a Russian oligarch. Attorneys for Cohen and the companies have not disputed those inclusions. According to Cohen's legal team, which filed a complaint to a federal judge, the report issued by Avenatti included a slew of small transactions that belong to other Michael Cohens. "Mr. Avenatti has made numerous incorrect statements to the public in an apparent attempt to prejudice and discredit Mr. Cohen on this matter," his attorneys argued in a previous filing. “[He] deliberately distorted information from the records which appear to be in his possession for the purpose of creating a toxic mix of misinformation." NBC News tracked down one of the Cohens that Avenatti allegedly included as a mistake. The man confirmed to the station that he was the correct Michael Cohen who was paid $980 by two people in Kenya, as detailed in the banking records. "I am an Avionic technician in El Al airlines. So, no, not a lawyer," the 26-year-old Michael from Ashdod, Israel told NBC News. "No, I never talk with or meet Trump." Another Michael Cohen from Canada was also included in the bank documents released by Avenatti. "The Michael Cohen who was actually involved in this transaction has expressed grave concerns about the breach of his privacy by Mr. Avenatti's apparently improper possession and publication of his personal bank records," wrote Stephen Ryan, Michael Cohen's attorney. It's unclear how those names were mixed in with Cohen's actual banking records, which set off a firestorm after it was revealed that a Russian oligarch had paid $500,000 to Cohen. Avenatti responded to Cohen's attorneys and his critics on Twitter, noting that the large sums of money in the bank records have not been disputed by Cohen's legal team. "Out...of approximately $3 million worth of transactions we listed, you claim we are wrong on less than $25,000 and thus we are inaccurate? So we are only 99.0% right? What a joke," Avenatti said in a tweet to Laura Ingraham. He also addressed the issue in an earlier tweet. "If Mr. Ryan/Mr. Cohen dispute the receipt of nearly $2MM from Columbus Nova, Korea Aero, Novartis or ATT (as opposed to insignificant amounts), they should state it NOW," he wrote. "Regardless, they should IMMEDIATELY produce the bank records so the American people can judge the truth." Michael-Cohen-Trump-Tower Michael Cohen, personal attorney to the president, reportedly recorded his conversations with President Donald Trump's top advisers. Now, those advisers worry he recorded his conversations with Trump, too. Drew Angerer/Getty Images This article was first written by Newsweek | |
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| 05-10-18 05:33pm - 2418 days | #624 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Fake news: News reporters say Trump and Kushner are morons, running the government like a crooked real estate operation. My question: how much money are Trump and Kushner making? There should be plenty of ways they can make hundreds of millions, maybe billions, from graft and influence peddling and passing laws that favor special interest groups. Can anyone check their bank accounts, shell companies, etc. for financial net worth? Or is everything hidden from disclosure because the public has no legal right to know? -------- -------- Politics 'Morning Joe' Hosts Say Trump, Kushner are 'Morons' Running Government Like a 'Crooked Real Estate Operation' Newsweek Josh Keefe,Newsweek 8 hours ago After revelations that major companies, including AT&T and pharmaceutical giant Novartis, paid Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s shell company for insights into the new administration, Morning Joe hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski called the president, his aides and members of Congress that support them “morons” and “just not smart.” The cable news hosts, whose show is on left-leaning MSNBC, said Thursday morning that Trump was draining the swamp—but not in the way he intended when he coined the phrase on the campaign trail in 2016. “He is draining the swamp, in a way we could never imagine,” Brzezinski said. "And that is on Capitol Hill, revealing those who would still stand by a president who has lied thousands of times to the American people about the obvious. A president who has been racist at times, and a president whose team is being plucked out one by one by the special counsel. I mean, if you stand by this, if you run on this, you are part of quite a swamp.” After explaining that usually a candidate who wins the presidency has “literally scores” of people that companies can “buy off” in order to gain access, Scarborough said Trump’s “small ragtag operation” meant that companies were scrambling to find ways to influence the new administration, which resulted in the payments to Cohen’s shell company, Essential Consultants LLC. “There were very few people you could go to and figure out...the inner workings of the Trump administration,” Scarborough said. “Michael Cohen just happened to be one of them. Same as it ever was, Same as it ever was. The difference is that unlike everybody else who's ever done this, Trump had a historic run and didn't have insiders around him that these companies could buy off.” Scarborough continued to say that the people around Trump are “not smart people.” “They bumble around. I don’t mean to go back to Rudy Giuliani, talking about how intelligent he is, but who is dumb enough to go on the air, give three different accounts of an active case that the Southern District of New York is investigating,” Scarborough said. He also took a shot at Trump's son-in-law and White House senior adviser Jared Kushner. “Look at Jared Kushner during transition, just blindly going around calling other companies, calling other countries, that they then sought investment from, and bumbling around without talking to lawyers," he said. Scarborough concluded his slamming of the Trump administration by claiming that its incompetence was what led them into the snares of Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. "We’re here where we are today with a special counsel in large part because of sheer ignorance, thinking that the federal government runs the way a crooked real estate operation in New York and New Jersey runs," he said. "I’m speaking of Trump’s right now. It’s insanity.” This article was first written by Newsweek | |
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| 05-10-18 01:44pm - 2418 days | #622 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
An Army soldier found guilty of cutting parachute straps, destroying 3 Humvees that were dropped from a plane. A Humvee can cost up to $220,000. The soldier faced up to 10 years in prison, a dishonorable discharge and forfeiture of all pay and allowances under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, according to Stars and Stripes. However, his penalty was: a reduction in grade to E1 and a Bad Conduct Discharge. I've read cases where police shoot and kill civilians for stealing candy or beer. But here is a soldier who deliberately destroyed maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars of military equiqment being reduced in grade to E1 (the lowest enlisted grade) and a Bad Conduct Discharge. What the fuck happened? Is the soldier related to Donald Trump, that he got off so easily? -------- -------- Army 6 hours ago Army soldier found guilty of cutting straps, sending Humvees plummeting from plane during training exercise Travis Fedschun By Travis Fedschun | Fox News An Army soldier was found guilty of deliberately destroying three Army vehicles by cutting the parachute straps on Humvees that were dropped during an airborne exercise in southern Germany. An Army soldier was found guilty of deliberately destroying three Army vehicles by cutting the parachute straps on Humvees that were dropped during an airborne exercise in southern Germany. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Justin Geiger) A soldier with the U.S. Army was found guilty on Wednesday of deliberately destroying three Army vehicles by cutting the parachute straps on Humvees that were dropped during an airborne exercise in southern Germany. The Army said in a statement to Fox News that Sgt. John T. Skipper, 29, was found guilty in a court-martial of three instances of destroying military property worth over $500 and lying during the official criminal investigation. The incident happened back in April 2016, when Skipper was assigned to the 91st Cavalry Regiment (Airborne) in Grafenwoehr, Germany, part of the Italy-based 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne). By clipping the straps, the Humvees smashed to the ground after they were dropped from a plane – a moment that was captured in a video posted to YouTube. The Humvees dropped through the air from the Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport plane at the Hohenfels training area in Germany during the Saber Junction training exercise and were destroyed as they hit the ground. No one was hurt in the incident, but thousands of dollars of equipment was damaged. A Humvee can cost up to $220,000, according to Military.com. ARMY SOLDIER CHARGED AFTER HUMVEES DESTROYED "Skipper was sentenced to a reduction in grade to E1 and a Bad Conduct Discharge by a court-martial panel consisting of enlisted soldiers and officers," the Army said. The 29-year-old had faced up to 10 years in prison, a dishonorable discharge and forfeiture of all pay and allowances under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, according to Stars and Stripes. He was the second soldier to be punished for the incident. A sergeant first class heard laughing and cursing in the video of the Humvees falling from the sky was given an administrative letter of reprimand, Stars and Stripes reported. Video of the April 2016 incident went viral after it was posted on social media, and has over 1.4 million views on YouTube. Travis Fedschun is a reporter for FoxNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @travfed | |
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| 05-10-18 01:23pm - 2418 days | #621 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Wikipedia: Since the 16th century, Lady Justice has often been depicted wearing a blindfold. The blindfold represents impartiality, the ideal that justice should be applied without regard to wealth, power, or other status. However, Trump and his allies interpret justice differently. This is normal, because people have individual perceptions of truth, justice, and the American way of life. For example: Rudy Guliani. As he grows older, he grows wiser. And he learns new truths. ---------- ---------- Politics Watch 1998 Rudy Giuliani Completely Torpedo 2018 Rudy Giuliani's Trump Arguments HuffPost Ed Mazza,HuffPost 15 hours ago Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York City and part of President Donald Trump’s legal team, is coming under fire... from himself. Comments he made in 1998 during the investigation into President Bill Clinton seem to undermine the arguments he’s making today for Trump. On Sunday, Giuliani said the president doesn’t have to testify even if subpoenaed by special counsel Robert Mueller. “We don’t have to,” Giuliani insisted. “He’s the president of the United States. We can assert the same privileges other presidents have.” But he sang a different tune in an interview with interviewer Charlie Rose two decades ago. “You gotta do it,” he said. “I’m mean, you don’t have a choice.” Rose then asked what would happen if the president refused. Giuliani replied: “Then there is a procedure for handling that. You go before a judge and a judge decides whether or not he has a recognizable exemption or privilege from testifying. And if a judge decides that he doesn’t, you have to testify. You don’t have a choice about it.” Later in the same interview, Giuliani said the Watergate case that brought down President Richard Nixon “resolved the fact that the president is not above the law, is not able to avoid subpoenas.” He said the president has the right to go to a judge to see if the proceeding is improper. “And, if a judge agrees with that, fine,” Giuliani said. “But, if a judge doesn’t, then you have to testify.” Giuliani said that, as far as criminal law is concerned, the president should be treated as a citizen. The former mayor also torpedoed another argument that’s been used by Trump, that the investigation is hurting the country. In 1998, he said the nation could handle it. “The wisdom of the American public may be far greater than we realize,” he said at the time. Video: Giuliani Says Trump Wouldn’t Have to Comply With Subpoena This article originally appeared on HuffPost. ----------- ----------- The Independent Bizarre video of Rudy Giuliani dressed in drag while being seduced by Donald Trump resurfaces The Independent Maya Oppenheim,The Independent 6 hours ago A video of US president Donald Trump pushing his face into former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani’s chest for a drag queen comedy sketch has resurfaced. The spoof, which was recorded in 2000 when Mr Trump was a property magnate, transpired as part of the Mayor’s Inner Circle Press Roast. This was an annual event which sees New York politicians and White House journalists stage skits and parody themselves for charity. The clip sees Mr Giuliani, who joined Mr Trump’s legal team last month to represent him through the Justice Department’s investigation into Russia meddling in the 2016 presidential election, dressed in drag flirting with the president. The video culminates in Mr Trump nuzzling his face into Mr Giuliani's fake breasts. "Oh, you dirty boy, you!" the mayor exclaims and slaps Mr Trump in the face. "Donald, I thought you were a gentleman!" Mr Giuliani’s alter-ego says as he distances himself from the mogul-turned-politico. "Can't say I didn't try!” Mr Trump replies. The footage takes on a different meaning in light of the now infamous Access Hollywood 2005 tape which was leaked in 2016. In the tape, Mr Trump could be heard bragging about groping and making unwanted advances on women and saying he was such a “star” that he could grab women “by the pussy”. On Monday, the video of the world leader and Mr Giuliani became one of the top items in Reddit’s thread for gifs and videos. A version posted on YouTube since 2006 has racked up over two million views. The video previously surfaced during the 2016 presidential campaign when late night TV host Stephen Colbert showed it on his show in the wake of an attack by Mr Giuliani, then a Trump campaigner, on Democrat presidential rival Hillary Clinton. Since joining Mr Trump's legal team Mr Giuliani has made a series of notable television appearances. This includes making the bombshell admission last week Mr Trump repaid his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, for the $130,000 payment to adult actor Stormy Daniels as part of a nondisclosure agreement related to an affair Ms Daniels says she had with Trump in 2006. But on Sunday Mr Giuliani was challenged over how his statement appeared to contradict Mr Trump’s earlier denial of knowledge of the payment to Ms Daniels. Mr Giuliani responded by saying the talk of a $35,000 a month retainer was just “rumour” – despite him having said days earlier that it was fact. | |
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| 05-09-18 07:07pm - 2419 days | #620 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Trump is the deal un-maker in chief Rick Newman 10 hours ago President Trump, as everybody knows, fancies himself a master dealmaker. But so far, Trump has mostly dismantled deals made by others, while clinching hardly any deals of his own. Trump just pulled the United States out of the deal President Obama made in 2015 to halt Iran’s nuclear weapons program. He has also pulled the United States out of the Trans Pacific Partnership and the Paris climate accord, both of which are now in effect without the United States. Trump is undoing an agreement the Obama administration made with automakers to set fuel-economy standards through 2025. Last year, he rescinded Obama’s deferred-action program for so-called “dreamers” who were brought to the United States illegally as children. And he killed a few features of the Affordable Care Act, while failing to repeal the law in full, as he promised to do while campaigning. While Trump seems particularly hostile to Obama deals, he’s also undoing a trade regime established by predecessors of both parties. He has imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, including, possibly, those from friendly nations. He has laid additional tariffs on some Chinese imports and threatened to expand the levies to a much broader set of Chinese goods. He’s also revamping the North American Free Trade Agreement, which he says he’ll also pull out of if he doesn’t get his way. So what deals has Trump closed? He managed to pass sizable tax cuts, especially for businesses. And he modified a trade deal with South Korea. That’s about it. U.S. President Donald Trump holds up a proclamation declaring his intention to withdraw from the JCPOA Iran nuclear agreement. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo Other deals are a work in progress. Trump’s upcoming meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un might lead to new limits on North Korea’s nuclear program, which would be a bona fide accomplishment. But unlike Iran, North Korea already has nuclear weapons, and most experts think there’s little chance the rogue nation will give up its only real source of leverage with the rest of the world. Trump may end up with little to show for his outreach to North Korea, besides empty promises from a crafty dictator. Trump apparently wants another deal with Iran—one that would go further than Obama’s deal, by limiting Iran’s long-range missile program and support for terrorism, in addition to its nuclear program. Yet the United States is now the odd man out, with [former?] allies such as France and Germany saying they’re not interested in Trump’s approach. It’s not clear how Trump could assert the additional leverage needed to get a new deal that’s even tougher on Iran, with none of the allies Obama had backing him up. Trump also says he favors bilateral, nation-to-nation trade deals, rather than multiparty arrangements like NAFTA and TPP. Yet he hasn’t inked any new deals, so far, or even initiated negotiations. Maybe that’s because his top trade negotiators, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, have been too busy scrapping prior agreements. To be fair to Trump, trade and diplomatic negotiations are typically lengthy and complex, and it often takes years to get to the finish line. If you believe the various Obama deals were bad for the United States, then it would be logical to first dismantle the broken structure, before reassembling the pieces in a more constructive way. But it’s also far easier to destroy than to build, and so far, Trump has been taking the easy way out by undoing the prior guy’s work. “You can’t con people, at least not for long,” Trump wrote in his 1987 bestseller, “The Art of the Deal.” “You can create excitement, you can do wonderful promotion and get all kinds of press, and you can throw in a little hyperbole. But if you don’t deliver the goods, people will eventually catch on.” Time for Trump to follow his own advice. Confidential tip line: rickjnewman@yahoo.com. | |
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| 05-09-18 06:53pm - 2419 days | #619 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Fake news: Your government is protecting you from possible leaks of your financial records: (Except when government workers want to leak the information to discredit you or put you in jail.) In this case, the government wants to protect Michael Cohen, the President's fixer, from having his financial records disclosed, which might lead to criminal indictments. Only the government has the right to Cohen's records. Not the public. So any criminal activity by Michael Cohen can be suppressed, by the government. Until a reporter makes it public-- and since Trump hates most reporters, that would be never. If Trump has his wishes. Because Michael Cohen is a "good man", according to Trump. ------ ------ Treasury inspector general probing possible leak of Cohen financial records By Lucien Bruggeman May 9, 2018, 6:21 PM ET An internal government watchdog is investigating the possibility that financial records tied to a company founded by Michael Cohen may have been leaked to the press. Rich Delmar, a spokesman for the Treasury Department’s Office of Inspector General, told ABC News on Wednesday that investigators are “inquiring into allegations that SAR information” – short for a Suspicious Activity Report – “has been improperly disseminated,” referring to reporting related to Cohen’s startup, Essential Consulting, LLC. The Treasury inspector general’s announced move comes less than a day after a memorandum outlining alleged banking and financial information was posted online by Michael Avenatti, an attorney for adult film star Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford. Delmar told ABC News that the Treasury IG inquiry stems from a report in the New York Times on Tuesday that appeared to include the same information Avenatti released. The Times story cited financial records its reporters had reviewed. Both Avenatti and the New York Times described millions of dollars in payments to Essential Consulting, LLC – a company set up by Cohen in October 2016 – from four companies: AT&T, Korean Aerospace Industries, global health care company Novartis AG, and investment firm Columbus Nova LLC. All four companies have since confirmed payments to Essential Consulting for various services they say Cohen offered. According to Avenatti’s document, Cohen used the same firm to pay out Daniels. Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) are a channel for individuals or institutions to file allegations of improper financial transactions. SARs are enforced by the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. On Wednesday, Avenatti took to Twitter to encourage media outlets to investigate the alleged SARs filed on Cohen’s Essential Consulting. Avenatti has repeatedly declined to reveal how he obtained the Essential Consulting banking information. “I’m not going to get into how we got the information," Avenatti said on Good Morning America on Wednesday. "But what I will says is we stand behind it 100 percent.” Cohen promised health care company access to Trump White House, exec says | |
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| 05-09-18 06:29pm - 2419 days | #618 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Fake news: I'm not sure I understand. The US is punishing a Chinese company for breaking US rules. And also for lying to US officials. But Trump is proud of his lies. And he lies constantly. And Trump does not expect to be punished for lying. Instead, lying shows how smart and powerful Trump is. So why punish a Chinese company for lying? Is this a double standard? Trump can lie, and boast about it. But if a Chinese company lies, they are punished? -------- -------- Engadget ZTE faces bleak future after US ban prevents it from making phones Engadget Kris Holt,Engadget 5 hours ago ZTE's future is increasingly murky after the company's main business ground to a halt. The Chinese firm is unable to make its smartphones after the US blocked it from working with American suppliers, most notably Qualcomm. ZTE has appealed the seven-year export ban, which the US government revived last month. Last year, ZTE admitted it shipped US-made parts to Iran and North Korea despite trade restrictions. The US hit the company with a $1.2 billion fine, but agreed to suspend an export ban for a three-year probation period. The Commerce Department ruled ZTE broke the pact, however, by paying full bonuses to employees at the heart of the dispute despite promising otherwise -- it also lied to US officials about the payouts. According to Reuters, the Chinese government discussed the issue with a US delegation last week amid intensifying US-China trade tensions. Most of ZTE's phones use processors from Qualcomm, which is based in San Diego. While the company also uses chips from Taiwanese firm MediaTek, those aren't powerful enough for ZTE's premium handsets -- only Qualcomm's fit the bill. One ZTE employee said manufacturing had ceased and workers are keeping busy with training, Nikkei reported. With no phones rolling off the production line, ZTE has stopped sales through its website and Alibaba's Tmall marketplace. Wireless carriers in China are still selling the devices, but are almost out of stock. Meanwhile, the company's annual shareholder meeting was scheduled for Friday, but the disruption prompted executives to delay it until late June. ZTE said in an exchange filing it "maintains sufficient cash" for now and will meet its commercial obligations. However, if it can't find a resolution to the impasse quickly, the company might close its doors for good. ZTE This article originally appeared on Engadget. | |
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| 05-09-18 06:08pm - 2419 days | #617 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Fake news: President Trump is a humble man. He says everyone thinks he deserves to win the Nobel Peace Prize. But instead of winning the Nobel Peace Prize, what he really wants is to make the world safe for democracy. He wants everyone to be happy. That is why he is trying to slash benefits to the poor in the United States, and trying to slash the retirement benefits of US federal workers. To make people appreciate the value of hard work and to encourage them to save for their own retirement. He also wants to spend billions of dollars to keep out the scum who want to enter the US illegally. And to make it illegal for scum from Mexico, shithole countries in Africa, and Muslims to enter the United States. Keep America white, free, and the land of the rich. God bless America. ----------- ----------- Trump says he wants 'victory for the world' more than a Nobel Prize Hunter Walker 5 hours ago WASHINGTON—President Trump told reporters that “everyone thinks” he deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for his work on an agreement with North Korea but that he’s more interested in “victory for the world” than in honors for himself. “Everyone thinks so, but I would never say it,” Trump said, speaking to reporters before a Cabinet meeting, in response to a question by Yahoo News. “You know what I want to do? I want to get it finished. The prize I want is victory for the world, not for even here. I want victory for the world, because that’s what we’re talking about. So, that’s the only prize I want.” At least 18 Republican members of Congress have nominated Trump for the prize, which was won by Barack Obama in 2009. They cited Trump’s efforts to denuclearize the Korean peninsula, which will be the subject of an upcoming summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The outcome of those negotiations is uncertain. The agreement to meet came after a series of insults and escalating threats between the two leaders, including Trump’s memorable warning of unleashing “fire and fury” on North Korea. The deadline for nominations this year, however, was Jan. 31. The letter to the Norwegian Nobel Committee was sent last week. As part of the thaw in relations between North and South Korea, Kim met with South Korean President Moon Jae-In last month – the first summit between the two Koreas in more than a decade. Following the meeting, the pair said they wanted to continue talks and end the long-standing conflict between their nations. North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in shake hands over the military demarcation line during the Inter-Korean Summit on April 27, 2018, in Panmunjom, South Korea. (Photo: Inter Korean Press Corp/NurPhoto via Getty Images) At his Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Trump said a location and time for his summit with Kim had been set and would be announced “within three days.” Trump also fielded a question about whether something could “still scuttle this meeting.” He expressed optimism that it would go forward. “Everything can be scuttled. Everything can be scuttled. … Lot of things can happen, lot of good things can happen, lot of bad things can happen. I believe that we have — both sides want to negotiate a deal,” said Trump. Trump also predicted the agreement would be a good one. “I think it’s going to be a very successful deal. I think we have a really good shot at making it successful, but lots of things can happen. And, of course, you’ll be the first to know about it if it does. But I think we have a really good chance to make a great deal for the world,” he said. At the meeting, Yahoo News also asked Trump whether he plans to ban reporters from the White House. Earlier in the day Trump had tweeted a complaint that “91% of the Network News about me is negative (Fake) . . . Take away credentials?” Trump did not answer the question. “Thank you,” he said. | |
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| 05-09-18 09:04am - 2419 days | #616 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Fake news: Finally, we have a President who is willing to take the steps necessary to make America great again. One of tne steps is shutting down the fake news sources that portray the President in a harsh light. The President is the shining light that guides America. Shame on the fake reporters and fake news agencies that smear our beloved leader. These reporters and news people should be arrested, lined up in the street, and blown away to strengthen American birthers and other right-thinking Americans. -------- -------- Politics Donald Trump threatens to 'take away media's credentials' over negative news stories about him The Independent Tom Embury-Dennis,The Independent 4 hours ago Donald Trump threatens to 'take away media's credentials' over negative news stories about him Donald Trump has suggested he could "take away credentials" of media organisations over negative stories about him. "The Fake News is working overtime." the US president wrote on Twitter. "Just reported that, despite the tremendous success we are having with the economy & all things else, 91% of the Network News about me is negative (Fake). "Why do we work so hard in working with the media when it is corrupt? Take away credentials?" The billionaire appeared to be responding to a segment on his favourite cable news show, Fox & Friends, which aired figures collated by Media Research Center (MRC), a right-wing media watchdog. In the study, the authors said the "liberal media's war" against Mr Trump was "as fierce as ever" during the first four months of 2018. They claimed 90 per cent of evaluative comments about Mr Trump during evening news broadcasts by ABC, CBS and NBC were negative. The president's suggestion appeared to be a threat to remove access to the White House for news networks he considers overly critical. His comments echoed ones made in October, when he threatened to shut down NBC over reports the 71-year-old had sought to increase America's nuclear Arsenal tenfold. "With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country!" Mr Trump wrote on Twitter. On Tuesday, the White House issued a statement attacking "opposition media" for its coverage of Melania Trump's use of an Obama-era pamphlet to launch her anti-bullying campaign. ------------- ------------- Politics Trump again threatens government action against reporters Los Angeles Times 1 hour 58 minutes ago Trump complains about the media often but rarely threatens government action. During the presidential campaign, he would sometimes bar reporters for certain media outlets from his rallies. As president, he suggested he could take television networks’ broadcast licenses — though federal licenses go to individual stations, not networks — and he proposed an audit of the Post Office system to target Amazon, linking the company to the Washington Post because both are owned by Jeff Bezos. ... AFP Trump threatens to revoke journalists' press credentials AFP AFP 1 hour 2 minutes ago US President Donald Trump is hinting he may revoke the press credentials of journalists who criticize his presidency (AFP Photo/SAUL LOEB) Washington (AFP) - Tired of negative coverage, US President Donald Trump hinted Wednesday that he was ready to take his battles with the news media a step further by revoking journalists' credentials. "The Fake News is working overtime. Just reported that, despite the tremendous success we are having with the economy & all things else, 91% of the Network News about me is negative (Fake)," Trump tweeted. "Why do we work so hard in working with the media when it is corrupt? Take away credentials?" Journalists are required to obtain and present press credentials in order to enter and report from the White House, government agencies, Congress and the Supreme Court. Trump has frequently attacked the media and its coverage of him since his days as a presidential candidate when he appeared to condone or even encourage violence against journalists. In a July 2017 tweet, he included doctored video showing him body-slamming and punching a World Wrestling Entertainment whose head was covered with the CNN logo. Since taking up the presidency, Trump has strongly favored news outlets that provide glowing coverage such as Fox News, the Daily Caller, Newsmax and Sinclair, a group of almost 200 local TV stations. He often uses Twitter to tout day-to-day stock market increases, jobs data and other positive economic indicators as evidence of his administration's success. He routinely attacks the news media as "dishonest" and brands critical media outlets and reports as "fake news." For the second year in a row, he skipped the prestigious White House Correspondents' Dinner, an event traditionally attended by the American president. "Why would I want to be stuck in a room with a bunch of fake news liberals who hate me?" Trump said ahead of the event in a fundraising email authorized by the Republican National Committee. Trump has attended the dinner before, but as a guest. Then a reality TV star, Trump was in the audience in 2011 when Barack Obama famously mocked him for renewing the "birther" conspiracy about the nation's first black president. "No one is prouder to put this birth certificate matter to rest than The Donald," Obama quipped, as Trump scowled in his seat. "And that's because he can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter, like, did we fake the moon landing?" | |
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| 05-09-18 04:09am - 2420 days | #613 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
I'm lactose intolerant, so I try to avoid milk and milk-related products (cheese, ice cream, etc.). | |
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| 05-08-18 10:14pm - 2420 days | #611 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Trum...h-143-5-12898408.php OPINION: Trump thanks federal employees with $143.5 billion in retirement cuts Joe Davidson, The Washington Post Published 2:30 pm, Tuesday, May 8, 2018 President Donald Trump really knows how say thank you. Just as festivities geared up for Public Service Recognition Week, which began Sunday, his administration sent a letter to Congress proposing $143.5 billion in compensation cuts for federal employees. In a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., Friday, Office of Personnel Management Director Jeff T. H. Pon pushed four proposals that, over 10 years, would significantly cut retirement benefits for 2.6 million federal retirees and survivors. Saying he wants "to bring Federal benefits more in line with the private sector," Pon proposed: Eliminating supplements for Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS) annuitants who retire before being eligible for Social Security benefits. Reducing federal pensions by basing them on workers' basic pay five-year averages instead of three years. Increasing employee retirement contributions with no increase in benefits. The plan would sharply boost the 0.8 percent of basic pay most FERS employees contribute. The letter makes the impact on federal retirees clear. "Under this proposal, FERS employee deduction rates will increase by 1 percent per year until they reach 7.25 percent of basic pay. . . This proposal would require FERS employees to fund a greater portion of their retirement benefit." Reducing or eliminating retirement cost-of-living adjustments. The administration plans "to reduce the cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) by one half of one percent and to eliminate COLAs under the Federal Employees' Retirement System (PERS) for current and future retirees." In addition to these retirement cuts, the administration also has proposed freezing federal pay next year. Employees suffered a three-year freeze on basic pay rates under the Obama administration. With next year's planned freeze, federal employees would have been hit with $246 billion in cuts to wages and benefits, complained J. David Cox Sr., president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which released Pon's letter after getting it from a congressional source. "President Trump's war on working people knows no limits," Cox said. "As Wall Street shareholders are reporting record profits and the wealthiest 1 percent are basking in their massive tax cuts, President Trump believes the career employees who keep the government running deserve another cut, this time to their retirement." Pon signed the letter to Ryan, but it certainly has Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney's fingerprints all over it. The proposals were part of the administration's budget proposal released in February, before Pon took office. Ryan did not respond to a query about the letter, but Rep. Elijah Cummings, Md., the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee was upset. Calling the Trump administration's proposal "draconian," he said, it "would betray the promises the nation has made to middle class federal workers who dedicate their lives to public service-as well as their families-and it would severely degrade recruitment and retention." Pon's signature on the letter raises additional questions. In a conference call with reporters last week, Pon talked about the need to have "data required for having an intelligent conversation" with federal unions about compensation and having "that dialogue with the same data." So, why he is pushing major compensation cuts before there is any dialogue or agreement on the data? The data differ. In April, a Federal Salary Council report said federal pay lags behind the private sector by about 32 percent. Last year, the Congressional Budget Office said, overall, feds are paid 3 percent more than private-sector workers, but that varies widely with educational level. Those with no more than a high school education are paid about a third more than private sector counterparts, while those with a professional degree or more are paid about a quarter less. Furthermore, Pon has called for "wholesale change" to the civil service system, which would have to include compensation. He promised to have a civil service reform plan by the midterm elections and criticized previous proposals as "nibbling around the edges." If that's the case, why is he pushing the retirement cuts before his larger plan is ready? I asked OPM these questions. Its response did not address them, but largely copied language from the letter. Perhaps Pon will explain when he appears at a Public Service Recognition Week forum on civil service reform Wednesday morning at the Partnership for Public Service. During the call with journalists, he answered only questions submitted in advance. We were allowed no live questions or follow-ups. I'm sure federal retirees would like to ask him about keeping commitments. "In exchange for years of hard work over long careers, our government made a commitment to middle class federal and postal workers that they would receive federal pensions in retirement," said National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) President Richard Thissen. "Those pensions are not gifts. Diminishing their value in any way for those who have already earned them - including by eliminating or reducing COLAs, altering how they are calculated, or eliminating an entire element of the pension - fails to honor the basic commitments made to our public servants." In his Public Service Recognition Week proclamation, Trump praised the workforce for its commitment, saying "every day, our Nation's civil servants help make America better, safer, and stronger. This week, we honor their efforts and extend our gratitude for their exceptionalism and steadfast commitment to serving the American people." They can take that to the bank. | |
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| 05-08-18 02:51pm - 2420 days | #609 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Jade1, if the cows shed hair, can the hair be dyed and used to help cover Donald Trump's bald spots? Enquiring minds want to know. | |
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| 05-07-18 12:30pm - 2421 days | #605 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Roger Stone, one of Trump's advisors, is caught on lie on CNN. But Stone keeps on lying. Trump and his associates and flunkeys have a long history of telling lies. The problem with the news is that the news want to find the truth. And with Swampy Don Trump, any truth is buried deep in his swamp of lies and corruption. ------ ------ Roger Stone gets caught in blatant lie on CNN, doesn’t miss a beat 30 seconds that prove just how easily Stone lies. Aaron Rupar May 7, 2018, 11:12 am During a CNN interview on Monday, longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone attempted to downplay the notion that a tweet he posted in August 2016 about how it would soon be “Podesta’s time in the barrel” indicated he had foreknowledge that emails stolen from Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman would be published by WikiLeaks. “As far as John Podesta is concerned, my tweet says, ‘the Podestas,’ ‘the Podestas’ — not apostrophe S, meaning John and Tony, referring to the [brothers],” Stone said. “Is that true? I thought it was apostrophe S,” CNN’s Chris Cuomo replied. “No,” Stone insisted. Then Cuomo displayed an image of the tweet Stone was reading. “There is an apostophe S,” Cuomo notes. It was a tweet Stone has been asked about dozens of times over the last two years. Stone was lying. And he doesn’t skip a beat. The ease with which Stone lied about his own tweet raises questions about his credibility more broadly. During another part of the interview, Stone claimed that he “is not involved in any collusion, coordination, or conspiracy with the Russians, or anyone else, and there’s no evidence to the contrary.” But during the campaign, Stone claimed to be in direct contact with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, whose site has been publicly accused by the U.S. intelligence community of laundering emails stolen from Democratic targets by Russian hackers for publication. Stone refused to answer questions about his contacts with WikiLeaks during his testimony before the House Intelligence Committee last fall. Stone’s August 21, 2016 tweet about “the Podesta’s” wasn’t the only time he indicated he had foreknowledge that WikiLeaks was about to publish stolen emails. On October 7, 2016, Stone tweeted, “Wednesday@HillaryClinton is done. #Wikileaks.” Less than a week later, WikiLeaks published the first tranche of Podesta emails. Stone wasn’t asked about that tweet during his CNN interview. | |
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| 05-07-18 11:40am - 2421 days | #604 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Trump pledged to drain the swamp of Washington while running for president. But it seems solid as shit that he made the swamp much deeper. Case in point: Scott Pruitt, head of the Environmental Protection Agency. -------- -------- Scott Pruitt was apparently pretty open about his scheming at the EPA 11:06 a.m. ET The embattled chief of the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, reportedly gave energy executives a wink at a closed-door meeting just a month after taking his position last year, The New York Times reports, telling them: "Whoever said you can't have your cake and eat it too, doesn't know what to do with cake." The comment, which segued into a discussion of his efforts to walk back the Clean Power Plan, which reduces emissions from coal-fired plants, was made at one of dozens of Pruitt's secretive, selective appearances before "friendly" audiences as the EPA has struggled to keep information about Pruitt's travel and meetings out of the public eye — and out of headlines. Pruitt's staff, for example, apparently sorts potential audiences into categories of "friendly" and "unfriendly," documents retrieved from the agency by a Sierra Club Freedom of Information lawsuit reveal. "He didn't want anybody to question anything," said Kevin Chmielewski, the former EPA deputy chief of staff. One memo, for example, noted that the National Association of Homebuilders' top executive "will moderate Q&A on industry issues set forth in advance and possibly from the audience — who are all industry-friendly and supportive of Mr. Pruitt and his efforts." The EPA's efforts also often extended to avoiding the press, holding meetings in private, and issuing announcements about events only after they'd already concluded. In another instance, the vice president for government affairs at Toyota Motor North America wrote to the EPA, "We just received an inquiry from a CBS News reporter in Dallas about [Pruitt's visit to a Texas auto plant]. We won't reply until the visit is over." The Times notes that such measures are unprecedented, and were not taken by EPA administrators under former Presidents Barack Obama or George W. Bush. Read Matthew Walther on Scott Pruitt's cartoon villainy here at The Week. Jeva Lange | |
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| 05-07-18 11:13am - 2421 days | #603 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Alien lands fighter plane on a US aircraft carrier. The alien was not vaporized or put in jail. US defenses are destroyed by allowing aliens onto US warships. Does President Trump have secret missiles armed and aimed at Finland for our protection? The Finnish navy is small — some 3,500 sailors in total. So if the US attacks and invades Finland, it should not take more than 2 or 3 months before the Finnish navy is totally destroyed. Especially with a surprise attack, that is not preceded by Donald Trump tweets warning the enemy the US is coming. (Can we put Trump in jail for telling Syria about his intention to send missiles? After all, that was classified information. That the President leaked. And Trump hates leakers. So the Department of Justice needs to prosecute Trump and put him in jail for leaking classified information--warning our enemies. Loose lips sink ships!) ----------- ----------- The Buzz This Plane Landed on a Navy Aircraft Carrier (But Its Not American) Robert Beckhusen May 7, 2018 Finland is in the early stages of shopping around for a replacement fighter, which could be new F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, F-35 Joint Strike Fighters or F-16s. Or Finland could buy European Gripens, Rafales or Typhoons. Causing confusion, U.S. Pres. Donald Trump incorrectly claimed that Finland was buying Super Hornets during an August 2017 press conference with Finnish Pres. Sauli Niinistö. On March 17, 2017 in the Atlantic, a fighter jet landed onto the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. The only difference this time was that the pilot was Finnish, not American. Capt. Juha “Stallion” Jarvinen’s landing was the first landing on an aircraft carrier by a Finnish air force pilot in history, according to the U.S. Navy. Jarvinen was flying a U.S. Marine F/A-18C Hornet with Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 101 as part of a pilot exchange program — also a first between the U.S. Marines and the Finnish air force. “It was pretty intense,” Jarvinen said according to a U.S. Navy news release. “I was extremely happy because I knew I actually caught the wire when I felt the sensation of rapidly slowing down, but at the same time I was a little disappointed because I caught the second wire and not the third.” Nimitz-class aircraft carriers — with two exceptions, the Ronald Reaganand George H.W. Bush — have four arresting wires, or cables. Catching the third cable is safest, but the snagging the second one isn’t bad. The landing is interesting because Finland, like neighboring Sweden, is an officially neutral country and is not part of NATO, and the country during most of the post-war era navigated a fine line between East and West. That is still true, mostly. “At the moment, to have Finland and Sweden forming this militarily non-aligned zone, I think that increases the security and stability in the Baltic Sea region … I see no reason to change this,” Finland’s center-right Prime Minister Juha Sipila told Reuters in December 2017. However, in recent years Finland’s military has participated in more joint military exercises with NATO countries — the first pilot exchange program with the U.S. Marines being a case in point. Finland is making plans for a large-scale joint exercise in Finnish territory with Sweden and the United States as early as 2020. The model is the Aurora 17 exercises in September 2017 — one of Sweden’s biggest military drills in decades, and included troops from 10 countries including the United States and Finland. These events are on top of NATO exercises in the Baltic states, and a new U.S. Marine rotation in Norway and the basing of Swedish troops to the island of Gotland. “The need for similar kinds of exercises in Finland is obvious, especially when you consider that new legislation came into effect last summer on the obligation of the Finnish Defence Forces to receive and provide international assistance. Finland should have opportunities to practice receipt of this international assistance,” Finnish Defense Minister Jussi Niinistö said. Finnish pilots won’t be landing on aircraft carriers of their own anytime soon — or ever. The Finnish navy has no need for carriers, and its reason for existence is primarily coastal defense provided by a small fleet of minelaying and fast-attack craft. The most important Finnish naval project at the moment is the Squadron 2020 project, which aims to build four corvettes armed with U.S.-made RIM-162 Evolved SeaSparrow anti-aircraft missiles, anti-ship missiles, torpedoes and mines. The Finnish navy is small — some 3,500 sailors in total, 1,900 of them conscripts. Neutral Finland’s primary threat comes from Russia, and secondarily from Western countries that could occupy it to fight Russia, making the army the primary means of territorial defense. The Finnish air force operates some 62 Hornets, 62 F/A-18Cs and seven F/A-18Ds — the latter a two-seat variant — for a total of three squadrons. That is the same type of fighter Jarvinen flew when he touched down onto the Abraham Lincoln. | |
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| 05-07-18 10:54am - 2421 days | #602 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Trump should start to act more like Prince Charles. Instead of hating them and wanting to destroy them and put them in jail, Trump should follow Prince Charle's style, and ignore his enemies. It takes less energy. ----------- ----------- Celebrity Duchess Fergie 'deeply unhappy' over royal wedding reception snub: Report AOL.com AOL.com editors,AOL.com 1 hour 49 minutes ago Duchess Sarah Ferguson, commonly referred to as Fergie, is "deeply unhappy" after reportedly not receiving an invitation to the upcoming royal wedding reception, sources told the Daily Mail. Though Fergie was one of the 600 guests who received invitations to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's upcoming May 19 royal wedding at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle and subsequent reception at St. George's Hall, Prince Andrew's ex-wife was kept off the list for a second reception reserved for the royal family's "inner sanctum." The intimate nighttime gathering is being hosted by Harry's father, Prince Charles, "who can't see why she is still such a big part of his brother's life." (Despite being divorced, Fergie and Andrew live together at Royal Lodge.) "Numbers are limited to the evening party, she is not a member of the royal family any more and Prince Charles simply doesn't have time for her," a source told the Daily Mail, while also noting that daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie did receive invitations to the party. The outlet added that, despite Fergie's controversial reputation within the royal family, she and Harry have remained close. So, despite being snubbed by Prince William and Kate Middleton for their royal wedding back in 2011, "Prince Harry personally intervened to make sure she had an invitation to his wedding." "He absolutely, 100 percent wants her there and has told palace officials that in no uncertain terms," a source said. The Daily Mail also suggested that the family's lasting sourness around Fergie stems from Prince Philip's alleged "grudge" against her after she was caught cheating on his son, Andrew, during their marriage. Philip, who once described his son's ex as "having no point," has reportedly "held a grudge against her for a long, long time and normally refuses to even be in the same room as her." Though Philip has been laying low recently while he recovers from hip surgery, he is expected to attend his grandson's upcoming wedding, which would put him in the same place as Fergie. "It will be fascinating to see if the Duke of Edinburgh acknowledges her," a source mused. | |
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| 05-07-18 10:38am - 2421 days | #601 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
President Donald Trump is a law and order man. He has a unique style of law and order: The law is what he says it is, and order is blind, lifelong loyalty to Trump. Anyone who does not worship Trump is an enemy, who must be destroyed. Or possibly put in jail. For breaking the law: What law? The law of the jungle: kill or be killed. Hopefully, the US will pass laws that allow Trump to put his enemies in jail or destroy them financially. The dream state would be Trump as politically powerful as the rulers and dictators he admires: Putin of Russia, Rocket Man of North Korea, Xi Jinping of China. So Comey (FBI), Obama (ex-President who was not a native-born citizen who should never have been President), Hilary Clinton (who broke the law and belongs in jail), and hundreds of other people who do not support Trump should be prosecuted and put in jail, where they belong. Former Secretary of State John Kerry, who has been talking with the Iranian foreign minister about salvaging the Iran deal, is doing "possibly illegal acts. Kerry was not chosen by Trump, Kerry was not authorized by Trump to speak, therefore Kerry might be a criminal who should be prosecuted. Trump has absolute power as Master (some people call him the President) of the United States. He does not yet have absolute power: but that's what he wants. Throw out the illegals. Ignore anything illegal Trump or his cronies or flunkies are doing, because Trump is the President. Go, Trump, make America great again, in Trump's image. Maybe Trump should have had the Secret Service seize French President Emmanuel Macron, for urging Trump to stay in the deal. Kerry also quietly met with Macron. Kerry is a US citizen, who met with an alien (Emmanuel Macron is French, not part of the United States). Put Kerry in jail. Put Macron in jail. They have not shown the loyalty and allegiance that is required of every person who stands under Trump. -------- -------- Trump spars with Kerry over 'possibly illegal' talks on Iran deal Yahoo News Dylan Stableford May 7th 2018 12:28PM Former Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday dismissed President Trump’s suggestion that Kerry’s discussions with the Iranian foreign minister about salvaging the Iran deal are “possibly illegal.” “I think every American would want every voice possible urging Iran to remain in compliance with the nuclear agreement that prevented a war,” Kerry’s spokesman said in a statement. “Secretary Kerry stays in touch with his former counterparts around the world just like every previous secretary of state.” Kerry helped broker the 2015 agreement. “Like America’s closest allies, he believes it is important that the nuclear agreement, which took the world years to negotiate, remains effective as countries focus on stability in the region,” the spokesman added. Last week, the Boston Globe reported that Kerry met with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif at the United Nations in April “seeking to salvage the Iran deal he helped craft.” Trump responded to Kerry’s diplomatic freelancing in a tweet on Monday morning. “The United States does not need John Kerry’s possibly illegal Shadow Diplomacy on the very badly negotiated Iran Deal,” Trump tweeted. “He was the one that created this MESS in the first place!” The president was presumably referring to a possible violation of the Logan Act, an 18th-century law that prohibits private citizens, as Kerry now is, from conducting negotiations with foreign governments. Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and his informal adviser, Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, both raised the issue over the weekend. There have been no prosecutions under the act for well over a century, although there was speculation in 2017 that contacts before Trump took office between nominee for national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and the Russian ambassador to the U.S., might have constituted a violation. The Obama administration hailed the agreement limiting Tehran’s nuclear program as historic. But Trump has long hinted that he may withdraw from the Iran deal, calling it “one of the worst deals I have ever witnessed.” The president faces a May 12 deadline to decide whether the United States will remain in the pact. During a state visit Washington, D.C., last month, French President Emmanuel Macron urged Trump to stay in the deal. According to the Globe, Kerry also quietly met with Macron. Edited on May 07, 2018, 10:43am | |
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| 05-07-18 05:02am - 2422 days | #599 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
John McCain Doesn’t Want Donald Trump At His Funeral The Cut Amanda Arnold,The Cut 14 hours ago If Donald Trump thought his decision to skip Barbara Bush’s memorial service would be the last funeral drama in which he’d find himself embroiled, oh, was he wrong. According to the New York Times, 81-year-old Senator John McCain is currently compiling his dream guest list for his funeral — smart, given the nature of death! — and Trump is not on it. In mid-2017, McCain announced that he was battling an aggressive form of brain cancer, and in the Times report, Biden describes McCain as “ailing.” Therefore, in the comforts of his Arizona ranch, the senator is reportedly receiving old friends and considering his life’s biggest regrets (cough, Sarah Palin). He’s also thinking about his funeral plans: His intimates have informed the White House that their current plan for his funeral is for Vice President Mike Pence to attend the service to be held in Washington’s National Cathedral but not President Trump, with whom Mr. McCain has had a rocky relationship. | |
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| 05-06-18 07:48pm - 2422 days | #13 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
I did see Thor: Ragnarok. I'm not an expert on Comic Book movies. But my impression is: Characters can be killed, and then re-appear in a new movie, sometimes with an explanation of how they are still alive, or were re-born, or were "re-animated", or whatever story is used to explain how they are still alive. Or-skip the explanation: they are alive. Comics are full of contradictions, and most fans accept that consistency (internal, succeeding, whatever) has little or nothing to do with comics. Agent Coulson, who is not even a god or immortal, was killed. Then he came back to life. You could say Hela was killed in Thor: Ragnarok. Or you could say that Asgard was destroyed. But was Hela destroyed? Only Marvel can know the true, ultimate fate and facts of Hela's story. And they can tell the story, then re-imagine it, however they want. My vision: Hela, the immortal, can be destroyed, possibly. But she has married Death, and each death will only make her stronger. And here is a fact: Hela has died before, and came back to life. So: dead is dead, but not really: especially in Comic Book movies. | |
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| 05-06-18 07:27pm - 2422 days | #4 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
New York Post FBI paid Best Buy ‘informants’ to search customers’ computers for kiddie porn By Lia Eustachewich March 7, 2018 | 3:03pm | Updated The FBI has been bribing employees of Best Buy’s Geek Squad to hack into computers for the past 10 years, according to a stunning new report that raises concerns over Fourth Amendment violations. Technicians were paid between $500 and $1,000 as “informants” and encouraged to search customers’ computers for any illegal material, a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit found. The FOIA request was filed by the nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation after the FBI’s link to the Geek Squad was uncovered in the child pornography case against California doctor Mark Rettenmaier. Documents recently released to EFF detail the FBI’s close relationship with Best Buy. A memo from September 2008 describes how the big-box electronic retailer hosted a meeting of the agency’s “Cyber Working Group” at Best Buy’s Kentucky repair facility and even gave agents a tour of the space. The memo also said the agency’s Louisville Division “has maintained close liaison with the Geek Squad’s management in an effort to glean case initiations and to support the division’s Computer Intrusion and Cyber Crime programs.” Geek Squad technicians would flag what they believed to be child porn in calls to FBI’s Louisville field office, EFF said. The feds would show up, review the images in question and determine whether they were illegal. The hard drive or computer would then be seized and sent to another FBI field office closest to where the device’s owner lived, EFF said. Local agents would investigate further — and sometimes try to obtain a search warrant. In some of the reports obtained by EFF, FBI agents identified Geek Squad technicians as “CHS” — or confidential human sources. In other instances, agents noted the calls as coming from Best Buy employees. “The relationship potentially circumvents computer owners’ Fourth Amendment rights,” EFF said. Rettenmaier was charged after a technician went through the oncologist’s deleted files and called the FBI in 2011, according to CBS. EFF said at least one tech in Rettenmaier’s case was paid $500 to do the sleuthing. The X-rated material allegedly was found in an unallocated space on the doctor’s hard drive — which would have required forensic software to find. Charges against Rettenmaier were tossed last year after a judge ruled that an FBI agent made “false and misleading statements” to obtain a search warrant for his home. Best Buy has denied the claims. | |
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| 05-06-18 07:03pm - 2422 days | #3 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
If the drive manufacturer requests you send them the drive for a replacement drive: -The most important consideration: If you have stored porn on the drive (which you seem to have done), it's better to just junk the drive. Even if the porn was legal when you downloaded it, which it almost certainly was: Do you want to risk any potential legal problems about shipping your drive to a third party? I've read where the FBI has paid Best Buy employees to check on whether computers (and computer accessories) have illegal porn. Even if the porn was deleted from the hard drive, the Best Buy employees were taught to search for deleted porn. And I read about one case, years ago, where a man was arrested and tried in court for one or more images that had been deleted from his hard drive. This can be done without a search warrant. Without any written permission from the owner of the computer/hardware. You are in Canada. So the laws are different from US laws. But I would just destroy/junk the hard drive, rather than risk any potential legal problems about shipping a hard drive that had ever been used for porn to a third party. Less important: -Will the drive manufacturer make you pay shipping cost of drive to the manufacturer? -Your warranty on the replacement drive will be pro-rated for the time you owned the failed drive. My opinion: junk/destroy the failed drive. Why risk potential legal problems that could mess you up more than you would believe? Edited on May 06, 2018, 07:18pm | |
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| 05-05-18 10:52am - 2423 days | #597 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Trump and Giuliani are about the same. Trump has more money, more power (he's the president), and that's what Guiliano wants: more money, more power. Guiliani's position has shifted dramatically over the years. He's now a rabid conservative, who backs Trump 100%. Which is a shame. Guiliani has lost all credibility he had from years ago. He's now serving as an attack dog for Trump. | |
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| 05-04-18 11:23pm - 2424 days | #595 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Donald Trump needs to speak with this Muslim woman and teach her how to respect her elders. Trump is an expert on Muslims, and wants to build a wall around the United States to keep them out. Since she is covered in black robes, she could have claimed the court has the wrong person. But: "Defense lawyers had initially cast doubt over whether Elzahed was the woman under the black robes who refused to stand. But they later said her identity would not be contested." Maybe Trump could consider this woman if his current wife leaves (after he teaches her the correct respect, of course). ------- ------- Australian court convicts Muslim woman for failing to stand Updated 10:43 am, Friday, May 4, 2018 SYDNEY (AP) — The wife of an Islamic State group recruiter gave the militants' single-finger salute outside a Sydney court on Friday after becoming the first person convicted under a new state law criminalizing the refusal to stand for a judge. Moutia Elzahed, 50, defiantly remained seated with her arms folded in the Downing Centre Local Court dressed in a black niqab, gown and gloves after magistrate Carolyn Huntsman delivered the landmark decision. She was found guilty of nine charges of disrespectful behavior during previous court hearings she was involved in. She will be sentenced on June 15. New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, introduced the law in 2016 after several Muslim defendants refused to stand for judges on religious grounds. The magistrate found Elzahed had repeatedly and intentionally flouted the established court convention in 2016 when she failed to rise for District Court Judge Audrey Balla. Elzahed said she only stood for Allah, but Huntsman found no evidence she had acted on a genuine religious belief. "No evidence was presented that the teachings of Islam compel this conduct," the magistrate said. In 2016, Elzahed had been trying to sue the state and federal governments on claims of police violence and wrongful imprisonment over a raid on her Sydney home two years earlier. She was ultimately unsuccessful. Closed circuit TV showed Elzahed failed to rise in court nine times, with each offense carrying a maximum jail term of 14 days and a 1,100 Australian dollar ($82  fine.Defense lawyers had initially cast doubt over whether Elzahed was the woman under the black robes who refused to stand. But they later said her identity would not be contested. Elzahed is married to Sydney resident Hamdi Alqudsi, who was sentenced in 2016 to eight years in prison for helping young Australians reach Syria to fight for extremists. | |
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| 05-04-18 10:41pm - 2424 days | #594 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Trump states the DOJ has been investigating him for too long. And they have come up with nothing. However, the Republican party is still investigating Hilary Clinton, and they want the investigation to continue for as long as it takes. Why the difference? Trump is a Republican. Stop investigating Republicans. That is immoral, and shameful, and a waste of money. Clinton is a Democrat. Spend whatever is needed to put her in jail. Expose her shameful past. Above all, focus on Clinton, who lost the election, instead of the crimes of the President, who is now in power. ----- ----- Law 15 hours ago DOJ inspector general's testimony postponed, amid new leads in Clinton case review Catherine Herridge By Catherine Herridge | Fox News Hillary Clinton blames another group for her election loss Democratic presidential nominee says declaring herself a capitalist during 2016 primaries 'probably' hurt her with voters; reaction and analysis on 'The Five.' Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s widely anticipated testimony next week before the House Oversight Committee has been postponed, as the Justice Department IG has pursued new leads in his review of the Hillary Clinton email investigation, according to a congressional letter and sources familiar with the matter. “It is of the utmost importance that your review be as fulsome, complete and unimpeded as possible,” Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., the chairman of the committee, wrote in a recent letter to Horowitz obtained by Fox News. Horowitz was scheduled to appear before the committee on May 8. But Gowdy told Horowitz he wants to reschedule his testimony “as close to the day the report is finalized as is practicable.” Gowdy said the decision to postpone is based on “the representations” in an April 23 letter from Horowitz. Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz testifies during a Judiciary Committee hearing into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., July 26, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein - RC15A41CCB80 DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s widely anticipated testimony has been postponed. The developments suggest Horowitz is still working to complete his review of the FBI and DOJ's handling of the Clinton case. Sources familiar with the review have told Fox News that Horowitz has continued to pursue new leads and witnesses in recent weeks. During a speech Friday, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said he expects Horowitz’s review will be finalized soon. “Within the next few weeks, I anticipate that our inspector general will complete a comprehensive, fair and nonpartisan report that answers many questions about how the Department of Justice handled a high-profile investigation during the last presidential campaign,” Rosenstein said. “We will learn from it, and our Department will do better in the future.” Elements of a related review already have been made public. In April, a Horowitz review faulted former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe for his role in a media leak about the Clinton Foundation. In that report, Horowitz said McCabe lied four times -- three times under oath -- and referred the matter to the U.S. Attorney’s office for possible criminal prosecution. Former U.S. attorney Bud Cummins on NBC backtracking on reports the feds wiretapped attorney Michael Cohen and concerns about the leadership at the FBI and Department of Justice. McCabe has vowed to fight the allegations, saying then-FBI Director James Comey knew of his media engagement with the Wall Street Journal, but wanted to distance himself from disclosures. Horowitz’s forthcoming report is also expected to examine actions taken at the bureau by Comey. The former director confirmed in an interview with Fox News last week that he had spoken with Horowitz’s team about his handling of memos documenting his conversations with President Trump. Gowdy did not set a new date for the testimony, but, considering the short congressional calendar in May, it’s possible Horowitz’s testimony could be put off until June. Fox News’ Jake Gibson contributed to this report. Catherine Herridge is an award-winning Chief Intelligence correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC) based in Washington, D.C. She covers intelligence, the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security. Herridge joined FNC in 1996 as a London-based correspondent. | |
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| 05-04-18 07:54pm - 2424 days | #593 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Politics Giuliani believes Ivanka Trump off limits in Mueller probe NBC News Thu, May 3 4:52 PM NEW YORK (AP) -- Rudy Giuliani, once known as "America's Mayor" and hailed for helping unite a wounded city after Sept. 11, has become the aggressive face of President Donald Trump's forceful new legal team. Giuliani, who is bonded with the president by a particular brand of New York bravado, has escalated Trump's attacks on the Department of Justice, pushed for strict limits on special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe and upended White House legal strategy. Giuliani and Trump cut out senior West Wing aides this week as they hashed out plans to combat what they see as an existential threat to his presidency. But on Friday, Trump suggested that Giuliani may have stepped out of line — at least in one area. The president told reporters that the former New York City mayor still needed to "get his facts straight" on one of the legal fronts facing Trump, the $130,000 payment that his personal attorney Michael Cohen made to porn actress Stormy Daniels in 2016 to buy her silence about a sexual tryst with Trump. Trump said Giuliani was "a great guy but he just started a day ago" and that he was still "learning the subject matter." It remained to see what impact Trump's brushback would have on Giuliani, who had quickly become the dominant figure on the president's reshuffled legal team as his political inner circle is stocked with familiar, TV-ready faces. Giuliani has warned Trump that he fears that Cohen may "flip" on him. He has urged Trump to cut off communications with Cohen, according to a person close to Giuliani but not authorized to discuss the talks publicly. After an FBI raid on Cohen's office and home, Giuliani also indicated that he wanted to change the discussion surrounding the $130,000 payment that Cohen made to Daniels to buy her silence about a sexual tryst with Trump. Giuliani did so with a jaw-dropping interview with Sean Hannity on Wednesday. Giuliani's remarks — that Trump knew about the payment and had repaid Cohen for it — seemed to contradict Trump's past statements appeared to draw his ire on Friday. But he argued that it removed legal peril over a possible campaign finance violation, a claim some legal experts have questioned. Giuliani's bold offensive — on display in a series of cable news appearances in which he unleashed broadsides on the very law enforcement officers with whom he once worked — underscored the thoroughness of his transformation from moderate Republican mayor of a liberal city to fiery conservative hero. Trump and Giuliani have had several private conversations in recent days in which former mayor fanned the president's anger with Mueller's probe, according to two people familiar with their conversations who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to publicly discuss them. Giuliani has warned Trump against sitting down for an interview with Mueller and has suggested that, at a minimum, the president place limits on his level of cooperation. "Russian collusion is total fake news," Giuliani, a former U.S. attorney, told Fox News. "Unfortunately, it has become the basis of the investigation. And Mueller owes us a report saying that Russia collusion means nothing, it didn't happen. That means the whole investigation was totally unnecessary." Over a pair of Fox News interviews, Giuliani also unleashed a series of provocative broadsides. He said Trump had fired James Comey last year because the FBI director wouldn't publicly clear the president of wrongdoing in the Russia probe, a different explanation than the White House offered. He said he would defend the president's daughter Ivanka Trump but suggested that her husband, Jared Kushner, was "disposable." And he derided the agents who raided Cohen's office as "stormtroopers," a charge that attracted particular attention because it appeared to evoke Nazi soldiers in the context of the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office, which had approved the raids and which Giuliani had once led. "It's a different Rudy. He's always been tough, but he changed when he started to have national ambitions," said George Arzt, former press secretary to Democrat Ed Koch, one of Giuliani's predecessors as New York City mayor. "And after he wedded himself to Trump, his popularity in his hometown disappeared completely." Giuliani was elected mayor in 1993 on a pledge to slash the city's sky-high crime rate. That year, 1,946 people were killed in the city. By 2001, Giuliani's final year in office, the number had shrunk to 649. Giuliani was largely praised for the drop in crime but remained a polarizing figure. His no-holds-barred defense of the New York Police Department, often at the expense of minority communities, drew sharp criticism. A possible Senate run was abandoned after a cancer diagnosis. And after years of public battles and a very messy public separation from his second wife — which resulted in his moving out of Gracie Mansion, the mayor's official residence — his poll numbers sank and many New Yorkers were eager for a change at City Hall. But then, one clear September day just a few months before he was to leave office, two planes flew into the World Trade Center. In the hours after the attacks, Giuliani became the face of the nation's grief. His leadership — both inspiring and compassionate — over the following weeks earned him the nickname of "America's Mayor." But his relationship with the city would soon change again. Giuliani played a key role in the 2004 Republican National Convention that re-nominated President George W. Bush, a deeply unpopular figure in New York. And Giuliani shifted right on a number of issues — including gun control and public funding of abortions — during his failed presidential run four years later. Although his future electoral prospects vanished, Giuliani remained a conservative darling, a frequent guest on Fox News and a sought-after member of the political speaking circuit. He has known Trump for decades — his bomb-throwing rhetorical style can at times mirror that of the president — and he became an aggressive surrogate for the celebrity businessman from the early days of his insurgent presidential campaign. Giuliani had been widely expected to join Trump's administration but was passed over for secretary of state, the position he badly wanted, and eventually was left without a Cabinet post. But the president kept in touch with Giuliani, sometimes calling to ask for advice, and frequently asked for the ex-mayor's take on developments in the special counsel's probe, according to three people familiar with the conversations but not authorized to publicly discuss private talks. In the weeks before he hired Giuliani last month, Trump had grown increasingly frustrated with the cable news chatter that he couldn't hire a big-name attorney for his legal team. But, according to one person familiar with his conversations, he later boasted to a confidant that he had struck a deal that he believed would silence those critics: He was hiring "America's F---ing Mayor." | |
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| 05-04-18 07:40pm - 2424 days | #592 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Politics Trump Throws Rudy Giuliani Under The Bus: 'He'll Get His Facts Straight' HuffPost Ryan Grenoble,HuffPost 9 hours ago Rudy Giuliani put it all out on the table this week. And now, after days of confusion and speculation that he may have exposed President Donald Trump to new legal jeopardy, he’s gathering it all back in. In remarks to the media Friday, Trump contradicted statements the former New York City mayor made earlier in the week regarding a $130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 election. “He just started yesterday,” Trump said of Giuliani, who started as the lead attorney regarding issues related to special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation in late April. “He’ll get his facts straight.” On Wednesday, Giuliani made waves when he told Fox News the president had in fact repaid his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, for the funds. Trump had previously denied all knowledge of the payment. Trump seemed to initially confirm Giuliani’s statements in a series of tweets on Thursday morning. As of Friday, though, Trump’s explanation is apparently that Giuliani didn’t know what he was talking about. “When Rudy made the statements ― he’s great ― but Rudy had just started and he wasn’t totally familiar with everything,” Trump said. “And Rudy ― we love Rudy ― he’s a special guy. What he really understands is this is a witch hunt.” “But when he made certain statements, he just started yesterday,” the president went on. “So that’s it.” “It’s actually very simple,“ Trump added. “I say, you know what, learn before you speak. It’s a lot easier.” In a statement released Friday afternoon, Giuliani capitulated to the President’s version of the Daniels payment. “First: There is no campaign violation,” he said. “The payment was made to resolve a personal and false allegation in order to protect the President’s family. It would have been done in any event, whether he was a candidate or not. “Second: My references to timing were not describing my understanding of the President’s knowledge, but instead, my understanding of these matters.” Watch excerpts from the president’s remarks below: This story has been updated with Giuliani’s statement. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. | |
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| 05-04-18 07:22pm - 2424 days | #591 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Trump, Cohen, Guiliani are allowed to revise and "clarify" their statements. But Comey and other people are not allowed, because if they do revise or clarify, they are liars. Double standard, anyone? Also, the FBI are Nazi stormtroopers for raiding the properties of Michael Cohen. However, the FBI had search warrants. So how are they Nazi stormtroopers? Because the FBI might be looking for evidence of crimes by Michael Cohen. And Trump tells everyone that Michael Cohen is a "good" guy. And should not be investigated by the FBI. The FBI is being run by a bunch of crooks, who are on a witch hunt to hurt and smear the President. We need to have the FBI do its job: throw Trump, Cohen, and Guiliani in jail. And release the evidence they have built up, to show what hypocrites and crooks they are. And Trump's statements and tweets are already proof that he is a liar. (Unless you believe that he did not know about the payment to Stormy Daniels, at the same time he was re-imbursing Cohen for the payment--which seems kind of difficult to believe.) -------- -------- CBS News May 4, 2018, 2:35 PM Rudy Giuliani releases statement "to clarify" his remarks on Trump Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor now working for President Trump's legal team, released a statement Friday "to clarify the views" he has expressed in recent days. The statement said "there is no campaign violation," an apparent reference to Giuliani's remarks on Wednesday that Mr. Trump had reimbursed his lawyer Michael Cohen for a $130,000 payment he maid to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Mr. Trump claimed to reporters last month that he was unaware of Cohen's financial arrangement with Daniels, but on Thursday said that Cohen had used his monthly retainer to pay her. "The payment was made to resolve a personal and false allegation in order to protect the President's family," Giuliani's statement continued. "It would have been done in any event, whether he was a candidate or not." The distinction matters because if the payment was made to help Trump's candidacy, it could be considered a violation of campaign finance laws. Giuliani's statement then adds that his "references to timing were not describing my understanding of the President's knowledge, but instead, my understanding of these matters." It goes on to address the firing of FBI Director James Comey, saying that it "is undisputed that the President's dismissal of former Director Comey – an inferior executive officer – was clearly within his Article II power. Recent revelations about former Director Comey further confirm the wisdom of the President's decision, which was plainly in the best interests of our nation." Giuliani's press tour this week raised eyebrows among political observers. Over the past few days, Giuliani has claimed that Mr. Trump fired Comey because "among other things" he refused to say that the president was not a target in the Russia probe. Giuliani also called Comey a "very perverted man," warned that he would "get on my charger and go right into their offices with a lance" if investigators targeted Ivanka Trump, and repeatedly accused the special counsel's office of acting like "stormtroopers."  2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. | |
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| 05-04-18 01:36pm - 2424 days | #590 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
President Trump and Michael Cohen want to rewrite history. They want you to forget whatever they said in the past. They are coming up with newer versions of what happened. So, start with a clean slate. Do it the legal way. Ignore whatever you heard or saw or thought: These men are innocent (Remember, innocent until proven guilty). So, let them tell the story in their own words: Starting anew, with each day. ------ ------ The Wrap Trump Says Giuliani ‘Wasn’t Totally Familiar With Everything’ When He ‘Made Certain Statements’ The Wrap Jon Levine,The Wrap 4 hours ago Trump Says Giuliani ‘Wasn’t Totally Familiar With Everything’ When He ‘Made Certain Statements’ President Donald Trump appeared to distance himself from Rudy Giuliani’s curious interview with Sean Hannity earlier this week, telling reporters at Andrews Air Force Base on Friday that the former New York City mayor was “new” to his legal team and was still learning the ropes. “When Rudy made the statements — Rudy’s great — but Rudy had just started and wasn’t totally familiar with everything,” said Trump. “We love Rudy, he’s a special guy,” the president quickly clarified. “What he really understands is, this is a witch-hunt. He understands that probably better than anybody … but when he made certain statements, he just started yesterday.” During his interview with Hannity on Wednesday, Giuliani said that the president repaid attorney Michael Cohen for his $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels. Hannity seemed stunned when Giuliani told him that Trump had “funneled” money through a law firm to repay Cohen. The news contradicted the president’s previous position that he had no knowledge of the payment and the money was offered by Cohen alone. During an appearance on “Fox & Friends” Thursday morning, Giuliani suggested that everything was on track, and that the purpose of the disclosure was to show that the payment had been a personal matter and not a campaign finance violation. The money, said Giuliani, had nothing to do with the presidential campaign and was intended to spare Trump’s wife and save his image, “to save not so much their marriage, as much as their reputation.” The president is embroiled in a legal fight with porn star Stormy Daniels, who is suing him to be released from a nondisclosure agreement she signed with Cohen in October 2016. Daniels is also suing the president for defamation. The adult film actress says she had an affair with Trump back in 2006 and wants to be able to speak about it publicly. Trump has consistently denied that there was ever a sexual relationship between the two. | |
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| 05-04-18 01:29pm - 2424 days | #589 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Would Trump Use an NDA to Silence Stormy Daniels If Her Allegations Were False? Legal Experts Are Skeptical 'Were You Lying?' Sarah Sanders Confronted about Giuliani's Stormy Daniels Comments in Tense Press Briefing. | |
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| 05-04-18 01:26pm - 2424 days | #588 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Some people are doing or planning bad things to make money off of Donald Trump. Now that Trump has been revealed to be generous to his ex-girlfriends (or gals he had sex with), other people want some of Donald Trump's money. Stephen Colbert, for one. That is not right. Trump worked hard to get him money: he lied, cheated, conned his way into millions of dollars. Maybe even billions of dollars. (This is all allegedly.) Now Stephen Colbert wants some of Trump's money. I believe Stephen Colbert is married. What will his wife say when she hears that Stephen Colbert had sex with Donald Trump? Will she file for divorce? Will she stay married to a man who slept with Trump for money (I assume it was for money, and not for sexual attraction). Enquiring minds want to know. ----- ----- Politics Stephen Colbert Has A Plan To Get A Stormy Daniels' Pay-Off: 'I Had Sex With Donald Trump' Newsweek James Tennent,Newsweek 7 hours ago Stephen Colbert Has A Plan To Get A Stormy Daniels' Pay-Off;I Had Sex With Donald Trump; As the twisting saga of President Donald Trump and Stephanie Clifford, better known as adult actress Stormy Daniels, took another surprise turn with the revelatory interviews of former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani (now a part of Trump's legal team), Stephen Colbert saw an opportunity. “Trump is claiming that he paid [his lawyer, Michael] Cohen a monthly fee to hush-up all the affairs he wasn’t having,” the Late Show host said during his Thursday night monologue. “So that means anyone can just say they had an affair with Donald Trump and leave with $130,000. In that case, I had sex with Donald Trump.” After the cheers of his crowd, Colbert reassured the audience that the claim was not true but joked that with everything else the president is dealing with, it would be a “terrible time for it to come out.” During an appearance on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show, Giuliani, a member of President Trump’s legal team, suggested that Trump had known about a payment made by his attorney, Michael Cohen, to the porn star, Stormy Daniels. Trump had previously said he did not know about the payment. He later took to Twitter to claim that non-disclosure agreements such as the one entered into by Cohen and Daniels are “very common among celebrities and people of wealth.” Appearing on Colbert’s show, Daniels’ lawyer, Michael Avenatti, produced a new piece of evidence—a receipt. Avenatti showed a copy of the wire transfer from Cohen to Daniels for the $130,000 payment. According to Avenatti, the receipt is significant as it shows the payment coming from a San Francisco bank—something which could give California Attorney General Xavier Becerra “jurisdiction over certain criminal acts associated with this payment,” Avenatti said. This article was first written by Newsweek | |
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| 05-04-18 10:48am - 2424 days | #587 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Judges are supposed to be impartial. They are also supposed to try a case or guide a case on the merits of the law. But here, a judge is criticizing the prosecutor for using the case to damage President Trump. Can the judge be censored or removed from a trial, for allowing his political beliefs to influence his behavior during a trial? My understanding of the law is that it's common for prosecutors to use the law however they please. Al Capone was put in prison for tax evasion, a new crime at the time it was used. The law was used to harm or destroy Al Capone. Also, it is common criminal procedure to use crimes against a person to force him to testify against others. It's done all the time, for well over 80 years, that I know of. The Joseph McCarthy hearings forced witnesses to name suspected communists or face jail terms. So this judge should either be censored, or removed from the trial. He is showing a bias in favor of the defense. Even if what the judge says is true, he is not supposed to speak on such matters, as a judge involved in the trial. --------- --------- Judge in Manafort case says Mueller's aim is to hurt Trump Anchor Muted Background Jessica Schneider Profile By Katelyn Polantz and Jessica Schneider, CNN Updated 12:27 PM ET, Fri May 4, 2018 (CNN)A federal judge expressed deep skepticism Friday in the bank fraud case brought by special counsel Robert Mueller's office against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, at one point saying he believes that Mueller's motivation is to oust President Donald Trump from office. Although Mueller's authority has been tested in court before, Friday's hearing was notable for District Judge T.S. Ellis' decision to wade into the divisive political debate around the investigation. "You don't really care about Mr. Manafort's bank fraud," Ellis said to prosecutor Michael Dreeben, at times losing his temper. Ellis said prosecutors were interested in Manafort because of his potential to provide material that would lead to Trump's "prosecution or impeachment," Ellis said. "That's what you're really interested in," said Ellis, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan. Ellis repeated his suspicion several times in the hour-long court hearing. He said he'll make a decision at a later date about whether Manafort's case can go forward. "We don't want anyone in this country with unfettered power. It's unlikely you're going to persuade me the special prosecutor has power to do anything he or she wants," Ellis told Dreeben. "The American people feel pretty strongly that no one has unfettered power." When Dreeben answered Ellis' question about how the investigation and its charges date back to before the Trump campaign formed, the judge shot back, "None of that information has to do with information related to Russian government coordination and the campaign of Donald Trump." At one point, Ellis posed a hypothetical question, speaking as if he were the prosecutor, about why Mueller's office referred a criminal investigation about Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen to New York authorities and kept the Manafort case in Virginia. They weren't interested in it because it didn't "further our core effort to get Trump," Ellis said, mimicking a prosecutor in the case. Prosecutors to turn over Rosenstein memo Mueller's prosecutors will have to turn over a full, unredacted version of the August 2 memo that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein used to describe the criminal allegations Mueller's team could investigate, Ellis ordered. The judge said he would like to see the full memo, which prosecutors submitted to the court in Virginia and in Washington, DC, for another case against Manafort with more than a page of redactions. The visible part of the memo says Mueller should investigate allegations about Manafort's financial relationship with former Ukrainian politicians, and that he may have assisted Russia with attempts to interfere in the presidential election. The redacted portion appears to outline several other legs of the ongoing Russia probe. CNN Politics app Download the new CNN Politics app for daily insights, latest news, polls and podcasts. Ellis said prosecutors may present the full classified memo to him under seal -- without showing Manafort its additional details -- in two weeks. Mueller's prosecutors have argued this memo gives them the authority to bring cases against Manafort related to his work in Ukraine reaching back more than a decade before he joined the Trump campaign. Manafort lost civil suit on similar complaint Manafort is charged in Virginia with financial violations related to his lobbying work in Ukraine prior to joining Trump's 2016 campaign. Dreeben said they had to "follow the money" and find Manafort's contacts with Russians through the Ukrainian work and his financial dealings as part of their investigation. He lost a civil suit making similar complaints about the special counsel's investigation last week. Manafort had filed a lawsuit in Washington claiming Rosenstein and Mueller exceeded their authority in charging him with alleged crimes he said had nothing to do with the 2016 campaign. DC District Judge Amy Berman Jackson dismissed that lawsuit, saying a civil case was "not the appropriate vehicle" for objecting to either past or future actions by a prosecutor. Manafort faces five charges in the case brought by Mueller's prosecutors in DC federal court, including money laundering and foreign lobbying violations. | |
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| 05-04-18 10:01am - 2424 days | #586 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Trump's lawyers have advised Trump not to speak to Robert Mueller. In spite of this, Trump wants to speak to Mueller about the Russia probe. You should listen to your lawyers, and then make up your own mind. So the best solution would be for Robert Mueller to subpoena Trump, Michael Cohen, Rudy Guiliana, and force them to testify under oath. If they want to take the 5th, fine. Then prosecute them to the full extent of the law, for any crimes they may have committed. Put these powerful men in jail or prison, which is where they belong. ------- ------- Trump says lawyers have advised him against Mueller talks Reuters 1 hour 28 minutes ago WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday his lawyers had advised him against talking to U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller, even though he would like to speak with him as part of the Russia probe. "I would love to speak. I would love to. Nobody wants to speak more than me ... because we've done nothing wrong," Trump told reporters at the White House. "But I have to find a way to be treated fairly." "If I thought it was fair, I would override my lawyer," he added. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Bernadette Baum) | |
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| 05-04-18 09:22am - 2424 days | #585 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Ex-CIA director's advice: Do not serve this president Dylan Stableford 2 hours 48 minutes ago Former CIA Director Michael Hayden has some surprising advice for onetime colleagues who ask whether they should take a job working for President Trump: Don’t do it. You will only endanger your own future and reputation. In a new interview featured on the Yahoo News podcast Skullduggery, Hayden said it’s been hard to watch top Trump administration officials — including former National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster, former Homeland Security Advisor Tom Bossert and others — defend an often indefensible president. “The longer they were in the administration, the more their personal credentials were being threatened,” Hayden said. “At what point do you stop being a guard rail and become an enabler and a legitimizer?” Hayden lays out his views in his new book, “The Assault on Intelligence: American National Security in an Age of Lies,” which serves as a searing indictment of a president who Hayden depicts as a congenital liar and a “useful idiot” of Vladimir Putin. The former CIA chief is quick to acknowledge that Trump is not the first modern president to have an attenuated relationship to the truth. Hayden himself served as CIA chief under a president (George W. Bush) who took the country to war based on false claims about the threat posed by the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein. “We’ve had presidents who lie, who have argued with us, who have disagreed with our version of objective reality,” said Hayden, without naming which ones he had in mind. But Trump, he said, is in a category all to himself. “The difference here is, this seems to be a president who bases a fair number of decisions on something other than a view of objective reality,” he said. Hayden clicks off multiple examples of Trump’s falsehoods, from his insistence that President Obama had him wiretapped at Trump Tower to the president’s claim — belied by all the scientific evidence — that global warming is a hoax. Just as troubling as Trump’s propensity to misrepresent reality, according to Hayden, is the president’s constant demand for extreme fealty from his subordinates—an extreme threat to vital American institutions. “What we have is the president inarguably demanding of both the institutions and their leadership that their first priority is personal loyalty to him rather than to the norms that have governed their behavior for a couple of centuries,” Hayden said. As jarring as it is to hear a retired four-star Air Force general and former director of the National Security Agency — tell former colleagues not to enlist in government service under Trump, Hayden’s advice comes with several caveats: He mainly recommends that more seasoned former officials sit out the Trump administration. Those who are younger should still take the opportunity to serve in government. But when they do, Hayden advises they should “take notes” — a practice former FBI Director James Comey adopted on his own. “Remember your own moral thresholds,” Hayden said, adding: “You may want to keep a draft letter [of resignation} in your desk drawer.” | |
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| 05-04-18 02:07am - 2425 days | #584 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Fox's Cavuto on pattern of false statements: 'Mr. President, that’s your swamp' By Jacqueline Thomsen - 05/03/18 09:24 PM EDT Trump defends payment to Stormy Daniels after Giuliani revelation TheHill.com Fox News host Neil Cavuto on Thursday scolded President Trump for making contradictory statements about a payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels, calling the president’s habit of making inaccurate statements his “swamp.” “Let me be clear, Mr. President. How can you drain the swamp if you’re the one that keeps muddying the waters? You didn’t know about the $130,000 payment to a porn star until you did,” Cavuto said. “You said you knew nothing about your lawyer Michael Cohen handling this, until acknowledging today you were the guy behind the retainer payment that took care of this,” he continued. “You insist that money from the campaign or campaign contributions played no role in this transaction. Of that you’re sure. The thing is, not 24 hours ago, sir, you couldn’t recall any of this. And you seemed very sure.” “I’m not saying you’re a liar,” Cavuto added. “You’re a president, you’re busy. I’m having a devil of a time figuring out which news is fake. Let’s just say that your own words on lots of stuff gave me lots of pause." Cavuto then ran through a long list of claims that Trump has made that have later been proven to be false or were inaccurate or unsubstantiated in the first place. Among the items were Trump’s claims that Russians didn’t interfere in the 2016 election, that the new GOP tax law would cost him a “fortune” and that he had signed more bills at that point of his presidency than any of his predecessors. “None of this makes what you say fake. Just calling out the press for being so, a bit of a stretch,” Cavuto said. “But more oftentimes they’re using your own words to bash you. Your base probably might not care. But you should,” he continued. “I guess you’re too busy draining the swamp to ever stop and smell the stink you’re creating. That’s your doing. That’s your stink, Mr. President, that’s your swamp.” Cavuto’s commentary came one day after Rudy Giuliani, a member of Trump's personal legal team, revealed on Fox News that Trump had reimbursed his longtime personal attorney Michael Cohen for a payment to Daniels despite Trump previously denying knowing about the payment. Trump offered his explanation for the payment in a series of tweets early Thursday, saying that Cohen was reimbursed for the payment through a retainer. | |
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| 05-04-18 01:36am - 2425 days | #583 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Politics: Giuliani follows Trump style of insulting and demeaning his opponents with barefaced lies. Will this work to defend Trump, or will the Trump administration be brought down for their lies, corruption, and criminal acts? Easiest way to handle things: Let the FBI act like Guiliani's accusations of Nazi Storm Troopers. Line up the Trump adminstation, including Guiliani, and execute them all. Then there might be a factual basis to Guiliani's extremist lies and slanders. Trump is the biggest liar of them all. But even though Guiliani has just joined the Trump team, it appears that Guiliani had secret knowledge of the Trump's affairs before then, and long before the public did. Can Guiliani be charged with obstruction of justice, knowing details of possible criminal acts committed by the President? That's why Guiliani should be lined up and shot like the Nazis would have done, since he states that the FBI is tainted by Nazi Storm Troopers. Take a bullet, Guiliani, for shooting off your mouth in such a disrespectful manner to the FBI. Guiliani is a disgrace, and should be charged with formenting treason, and shame: and Trump must take notice, and fire Guiliani and put the criminal in prison, where Guiliani belongs. ---------- ---------- Politics Giuliani Calls Comey A 'Baby' For Defending FBI Agents Against 'Storm Trooper' Insult HuffPost Mary Papenfuss,HuffPost 8 hours ago Rudy Giuliani lashed former FBI Director James Comey as a “sensitive little baby” Thursday after Comey defended the bureau’s agents after Giuliani called them “storm troopers,” The Washington Post reported. Among a number of stunning comments by Giuliani in his Fox News interview Wednesday night, he compared FBI agents to Nazi storm troopers for raiding the office of President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen last month and collecting documents and computers. Agents, provided with court-issued warrants, were legally authorized to do so. Cohen is being investigated for bank fraud and possible campaign finance violations. Comey tweeted Thursday that there are no “stormtroopers” in the FBI — “just a group of people devoted to the rule of law and the truth.” Comey said the country would be better off if “our leaders” tried to emulate them instead of “comparing them to Nazis.” Giuliani, who just joined Trump’s legal team, responded to the tweet in an interview with The Washington Post, calling Comey a “sensitive little baby.” He added, without offering details: “He should be sensitive, because he’s been caught lying over and over again.” Bolstering his growing reputation as Trump’s new insult man, Giuliani on Fox also called Comey a “disgraceful liar” and “very perverted man” — again, without explaining what he was referring to. In defending Trump on Fox, Giuliani appeared to support suspicions that the president fired Comey a year ago to short-circuit an investigation into possible collusion between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign to swing the election in Trump’s favor. Giuliani said the president “fired Comey because Comey would not — among other things — say that he wasn’t a target of the investigation.” So “he fired him and he said, ‘I’m free of this guy.’” Giuliani has traditionally enjoyed strong ties with the FBI, both as a U.S. attorney and as New York City mayor. After Comey reopened the investigation into Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s emails just before the election, Giuliani indicated he learned that members of the bureau weren’t happy with the initial conclusion to not pursue her use of a private email server from both former and “active” agents. Giuliani’s former law firm, then called Bracewell & Giuliani, was also general counsel to the FBI Agents Association, which represents 13,000 current and former agents. Giuliani left the firm in early 2016. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. | |
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