https://truthout.org/articles/corporate-wrongdoers-get-off-easy-under-trump/
"Under Attorney General Jeff Sessions, total penalties against corporations by the Justice Department fell 90 percent."
Sunday, July 29, 2018
Why the Allen Weisselberg subpoena is so dangerous for Trump
https://thinkprogress.org/allen-weisselberg-subpoenaed-trump-organization-cohen-investigation-187aa7fafd57/
"Allen Weisselberg, the man at the financial center of President Trump’s sprawling business operation for the past several decades, has been subpoenaed as a witness in the federal criminal probe into longtime Trump associate Michael Cohen, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday."
"Allen Weisselberg, the man at the financial center of President Trump’s sprawling business operation for the past several decades, has been subpoenaed as a witness in the federal criminal probe into longtime Trump associate Michael Cohen, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday."
Why Trump’s attacks on preexisting conditions are an attack on women
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/7/26/17587090/2018-elections-house-preexisting-conditions-trump
"As much as any other issue, women’s health will be on the ballot in the 2018 midterm elections. It’s almost hard to remember now, but in the days before the Affordable Care Act was in place, health insurance companies routinely charged women in America more than men. Some women were deemed uninsurable because they had preexisting conditions like pregnancy or a breast cancer diagnosis. Now Obamacare makes that illegal — but Donald Trump’s election endangered those protections."
"As much as any other issue, women’s health will be on the ballot in the 2018 midterm elections. It’s almost hard to remember now, but in the days before the Affordable Care Act was in place, health insurance companies routinely charged women in America more than men. Some women were deemed uninsurable because they had preexisting conditions like pregnancy or a breast cancer diagnosis. Now Obamacare makes that illegal — but Donald Trump’s election endangered those protections."
Cohen’s explosive Trump Tower revelation is very bad news for Donald Trump Jr.
https://thinkprogress.org/cohen-trump-tower-donald-trump-jr-bad-news-3b997fef6645/
"News of Cohen’s willingness to testify that Trump knew in advance about his campaign’s efforts to collude with Russia is obviously bad news for the president, who on Friday morning tweeted that “I did NOT know of the meeting with my son, Don jr.” Trump has repeatedly claimed he didn’t know his campaign met with Russians until the New York Times broke the news about the Trump Tower meeting 13 months after it happened. But the latest Cohen revelation is also very bad news for Donald Trump Jr. During his testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee last September, Trump Jr. flat-out denied informing his father of the Trump Tower meeting. It is against the law to lie to Congress, even if you’re not under oath. And now, Donald Trump’s longtime lawyer is willing to testify that Trump Jr. did just that. In the wake of CNN’s report, both Trump and Rudy Giuliani have tried to discredit Cohen as a liar. The only problem, however, is that not long ago — before Cohen started cooperating with prosecutors — Giuliani described Cohen as an “honest, truthful lawyer.” President Trump has already shown a willingness to lie about Russia-related matters. After the New York Times broke news of the Trump Tower meeting, Trump dictated a misleading statement for Trump Jr. that claimed “a program about the adoption of Russian children” was the reason his campaign met with Russians. That statement was quickly contradicted by Don Jr.’s emails, which he voluntarily published in order to get ahead of a forthcoming New York Times report."
"News of Cohen’s willingness to testify that Trump knew in advance about his campaign’s efforts to collude with Russia is obviously bad news for the president, who on Friday morning tweeted that “I did NOT know of the meeting with my son, Don jr.” Trump has repeatedly claimed he didn’t know his campaign met with Russians until the New York Times broke the news about the Trump Tower meeting 13 months after it happened. But the latest Cohen revelation is also very bad news for Donald Trump Jr. During his testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee last September, Trump Jr. flat-out denied informing his father of the Trump Tower meeting. It is against the law to lie to Congress, even if you’re not under oath. And now, Donald Trump’s longtime lawyer is willing to testify that Trump Jr. did just that. In the wake of CNN’s report, both Trump and Rudy Giuliani have tried to discredit Cohen as a liar. The only problem, however, is that not long ago — before Cohen started cooperating with prosecutors — Giuliani described Cohen as an “honest, truthful lawyer.” President Trump has already shown a willingness to lie about Russia-related matters. After the New York Times broke news of the Trump Tower meeting, Trump dictated a misleading statement for Trump Jr. that claimed “a program about the adoption of Russian children” was the reason his campaign met with Russians. That statement was quickly contradicted by Don Jr.’s emails, which he voluntarily published in order to get ahead of a forthcoming New York Times report."
President Trump Instructs Americans to Take His Word For It
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-not-really-happening-702991/
"Reality has become too powerful an enemy for Trump to subvert inconspicuously. He now has no choice but to challenge it directly and in plain sight. The president best summed it up while speaking to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Kansas City on Tuesday afternoon. “Just remember,” he said. “What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening.” If Trump’s warning on Tuesday sounds familiar, you may be thinking of what George Orwell wrote in 1984, his seminal novel imagining a dystopian future in which the public is oppressed by a manipulative authoritarian state. “The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears,” Orwell wrote. “It was their final, most essential command.” Welcome to 2018."
"Reality has become too powerful an enemy for Trump to subvert inconspicuously. He now has no choice but to challenge it directly and in plain sight. The president best summed it up while speaking to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Kansas City on Tuesday afternoon. “Just remember,” he said. “What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening.” If Trump’s warning on Tuesday sounds familiar, you may be thinking of what George Orwell wrote in 1984, his seminal novel imagining a dystopian future in which the public is oppressed by a manipulative authoritarian state. “The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears,” Orwell wrote. “It was their final, most essential command.” Welcome to 2018."
White House will stop transcribing conversations between Trump and foreign leaders
https://thinkprogress.org/white-house-not-publishing-call-summaries-trump-foreign-leaders-a1d185bab7d4/
"Abandoning readouts is the latest in a line of unnecessary steps the White House has taken to reduce transparency since Trump was elected. President Donald Trump has reportedly taken multiple personal calls with world leaders that even his closest staffers didn’t know about. The White House has also advocated to keep its visitor logs private, ending a longstanding tradition among past administrations. Last year, the White House was forced to release some of those logs, revealing who had access to the president. The logs included visits from lobbyists and members of the Office of Management and Budget, Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Council on Environmental Quality. Additionally, Trump has not held a solo press conference in over 18 months and is the first U.S. president in decades to not release his tax returns, which would provide insight into how he is profiting off the presidency."
"Abandoning readouts is the latest in a line of unnecessary steps the White House has taken to reduce transparency since Trump was elected. President Donald Trump has reportedly taken multiple personal calls with world leaders that even his closest staffers didn’t know about. The White House has also advocated to keep its visitor logs private, ending a longstanding tradition among past administrations. Last year, the White House was forced to release some of those logs, revealing who had access to the president. The logs included visits from lobbyists and members of the Office of Management and Budget, Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Council on Environmental Quality. Additionally, Trump has not held a solo press conference in over 18 months and is the first U.S. president in decades to not release his tax returns, which would provide insight into how he is profiting off the presidency."
‘The People’s Budget’: Analysis of the Congressional Progressive Caucus budget for fiscal year 2019
‘The People’s Budget’: Analysis of the Congressional Progressive Caucus budget for fiscal year 2019: "The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) has unveiled its fiscal year 2019 (FY2019) budget, titled The People’s Budget: A Progressive Path Forward. It builds on recent CPC budget alternatives in setting the following priorities: near-term job creation, financing public investments, strengthening low- and middle-income families’ economic security, raising adequate revenue to meet budgetary needs while restoring fairness to the tax code, strengthening social insurance programs, and ensuring long-run fiscal sustainability."
Ryan Zinke’s War on the Interior
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/ryan-zinke-trump-war-on-department-of-interior-700218/
"From gutting the Endangered Species Act to opening off-shore drilling – inside the Trump administration’s crusade to hand America’s public lands to the fossil-fuel industry"
"From gutting the Endangered Species Act to opening off-shore drilling – inside the Trump administration’s crusade to hand America’s public lands to the fossil-fuel industry"
Accidentally-released documents show Interior agency prioritized industry over public lands
https://thinkprogress.org/interior-zinke-public-lands-oil-drilling-d8a4cc51c5d2/
"Under Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, the agency intentionally tailored a survey of protected sites, emphasizing instead the value of fossil fuel extraction and other industry endeavors."
"Under Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, the agency intentionally tailored a survey of protected sites, emphasizing instead the value of fossil fuel extraction and other industry endeavors."
How the Republican tax cuts are failing workers, in one chart
https://www.vox.com/2018/7/23/17602746/tax-cuts-work-bloomberg-wages
"Republicans said corporate tax cuts would boost wages. They’re not."
"Republicans said corporate tax cuts would boost wages. They’re not."
FBI Believed Trump Campaign Aide Carter Page Was ‘Collaborating’ With Russia
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/fbi-carter-page-russia_us_5b53c5fee4b0fd5c73c60649
"In the months leading up to the 2016 presidential election, the FBI believed that Carter Page, a campaign adviser to Donald Trump, was “conspiring and collaborating with the Russian government,” according to startling wiretap warrant applications released Saturday by the Justice Department. The 412 pages of documents, including an initial wiretap warrant application and three follow-up renewals, were heavily redacted. But they included damning passages concerning Page, who served for a time as a foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign. “The FBI believes Page has been the subject of targeted recruitment by the Russian government... to undermine and influence the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election in violation of U.S. criminal law,” the documents say. The FBI also believed that “Page has been collaborating and conspiring with the Russian government,” the document says, adding that “there is probable cause that such activities involve or are about to involve violations of the criminal statutes of the United States.” Other sections noted that Page “has established relationships with Russian government officials, including Russian intelligence officers,” and that the FBI believed “the Russian government’s efforts are being coordinated with Page and perhaps other individuals associated with” Trump’s campaign."
"In the months leading up to the 2016 presidential election, the FBI believed that Carter Page, a campaign adviser to Donald Trump, was “conspiring and collaborating with the Russian government,” according to startling wiretap warrant applications released Saturday by the Justice Department. The 412 pages of documents, including an initial wiretap warrant application and three follow-up renewals, were heavily redacted. But they included damning passages concerning Page, who served for a time as a foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign. “The FBI believes Page has been the subject of targeted recruitment by the Russian government... to undermine and influence the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election in violation of U.S. criminal law,” the documents say. The FBI also believed that “Page has been collaborating and conspiring with the Russian government,” the document says, adding that “there is probable cause that such activities involve or are about to involve violations of the criminal statutes of the United States.” Other sections noted that Page “has established relationships with Russian government officials, including Russian intelligence officers,” and that the FBI believed “the Russian government’s efforts are being coordinated with Page and perhaps other individuals associated with” Trump’s campaign."
The first casualties of the trade war are Trump supporters
https://www.salon.com/2018/07/21/the-first-casualties-of-the-trade-war-are-trump-supporters/
"The US Chamber of Commerce, America’s business voice, states that these actions threaten 2.6 million U.S. jobs. 468,790 US jobs are estimated to be lost from the steel and aluminum tariffs alone. Over 41 percent of clothes, 72 percent of shoes, and 54 percent of non-leather handbags sold in the US are made in China and will likely now be more expensive. As a result of the EU’s retaliatory tariffs, Harley Davidson is moving some production of its iconic American motorcycle out of the US to the EU, which it says “is not the company’s preference”. Trump’s trade wars promise both immediate and longer-term economic effects. BlackRock’s CEO Larry Fink stated that intensifying trade tensions could reduce stock prices by 10 to 15 percent, spur a broad market downturn and slow down the U.S. economy. In June, investors withdrew $12.4 billion from global stocks, the fastest withdrawal since the 2008 financial crisis. That same month, the market values of US corn, soybeans, and wheat crops dropped $13 billion, about 10 percent. Reflecting a 25 percent Chinese tariff, US soybean prices fell by 16 percent to their lowest level in ten years, after having exported some $12 billion to China last year (56 percent of all US soybean exports). According to Mr. Rusty Smith, a corn and soybean farmer in Cotton Plant, Arkansas, this price drop is “like $100,000 that has disappeared into thin air. We were already in the red, and now it’s even worse.” Bloomberg Economics estimates that all these tariffs could cost the global economy $470 billion, reduce global trade by 3.7 percent, and shrink the US economy by 0.9 percent by 2020. In the US, who will be most affected? The emerging conclusion is Republican states, Trump voters, and small business people."
"The US Chamber of Commerce, America’s business voice, states that these actions threaten 2.6 million U.S. jobs. 468,790 US jobs are estimated to be lost from the steel and aluminum tariffs alone. Over 41 percent of clothes, 72 percent of shoes, and 54 percent of non-leather handbags sold in the US are made in China and will likely now be more expensive. As a result of the EU’s retaliatory tariffs, Harley Davidson is moving some production of its iconic American motorcycle out of the US to the EU, which it says “is not the company’s preference”. Trump’s trade wars promise both immediate and longer-term economic effects. BlackRock’s CEO Larry Fink stated that intensifying trade tensions could reduce stock prices by 10 to 15 percent, spur a broad market downturn and slow down the U.S. economy. In June, investors withdrew $12.4 billion from global stocks, the fastest withdrawal since the 2008 financial crisis. That same month, the market values of US corn, soybeans, and wheat crops dropped $13 billion, about 10 percent. Reflecting a 25 percent Chinese tariff, US soybean prices fell by 16 percent to their lowest level in ten years, after having exported some $12 billion to China last year (56 percent of all US soybean exports). According to Mr. Rusty Smith, a corn and soybean farmer in Cotton Plant, Arkansas, this price drop is “like $100,000 that has disappeared into thin air. We were already in the red, and now it’s even worse.” Bloomberg Economics estimates that all these tariffs could cost the global economy $470 billion, reduce global trade by 3.7 percent, and shrink the US economy by 0.9 percent by 2020. In the US, who will be most affected? The emerging conclusion is Republican states, Trump voters, and small business people."
Dan Coats and Rod Rosenstein Speak Truth and Defy Trump
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/dan-coats-and-rod-rosenstein-defy-trump
"A lifelong Republican who is close to Vice-President Mike Pence, Coats seems to embody the struggle of serving Trump. On Monday, hours after Trump challenged the intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 election, Coats issued a public statement defending the findings. Asked by Mitchell why he issued the statement, Coats said, “I was just doing my job.” He later warned that the meddling was continuing in 2018. “It’s undeniable that the Russians are taking the lead on this,” he said. “Basically, they are the ones that are trying to undermine our basic values and divide us with our allies. They are the ones trying to wreak havoc over our election process.” Coats called Russia “by far” the U.S.’s most aggressive cyberattacker. When asked if he approved of Trump’s decision to meet alone with Putin in Helsinki, Coats replied, “I would have suggested a different way.” He added, “But that’s not my role. That’s not my job.” Coats then openly questioned two central assumptions underlying Trump’s summitry with Putin and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un. Coats said that he doubted that Putin has enough influence to pressure Iran to withdraw its forces from Syria—a goal of Trump’s summit with Putin. And Coats said that he was skeptical that North Korea would abide by an agreement to give up its nuclear arsenal. “I’m a Reagan guy,” he said. “Trust and verify.” Later that day, Rod Rosenstein, the Deputy Attorney General and the Justice Department’s chief protector of the special counsel, Robert Mueller, delivered a speech that differed dramatically from Coats’s comments in terms of style but was similarly pointed. Dressed in a navy-blue suit and a pink-striped tie, Rosenstein announced that the Justice Department would now alert the American public if a foreign government was attempting to undermine an election. Unequivocal in his language and tone, Rosenstein gave a full-throated endorsement of Coats and his warnings about Russia."
"A lifelong Republican who is close to Vice-President Mike Pence, Coats seems to embody the struggle of serving Trump. On Monday, hours after Trump challenged the intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 election, Coats issued a public statement defending the findings. Asked by Mitchell why he issued the statement, Coats said, “I was just doing my job.” He later warned that the meddling was continuing in 2018. “It’s undeniable that the Russians are taking the lead on this,” he said. “Basically, they are the ones that are trying to undermine our basic values and divide us with our allies. They are the ones trying to wreak havoc over our election process.” Coats called Russia “by far” the U.S.’s most aggressive cyberattacker. When asked if he approved of Trump’s decision to meet alone with Putin in Helsinki, Coats replied, “I would have suggested a different way.” He added, “But that’s not my role. That’s not my job.” Coats then openly questioned two central assumptions underlying Trump’s summitry with Putin and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un. Coats said that he doubted that Putin has enough influence to pressure Iran to withdraw its forces from Syria—a goal of Trump’s summit with Putin. And Coats said that he was skeptical that North Korea would abide by an agreement to give up its nuclear arsenal. “I’m a Reagan guy,” he said. “Trust and verify.” Later that day, Rod Rosenstein, the Deputy Attorney General and the Justice Department’s chief protector of the special counsel, Robert Mueller, delivered a speech that differed dramatically from Coats’s comments in terms of style but was similarly pointed. Dressed in a navy-blue suit and a pink-striped tie, Rosenstein announced that the Justice Department would now alert the American public if a foreign government was attempting to undermine an election. Unequivocal in his language and tone, Rosenstein gave a full-throated endorsement of Coats and his warnings about Russia."
The only thing the newly released FISA documents show is that Republicans have been lying for months
https://thinkprogress.org/fisa-release-gop-lying-9973e5c28101/
"On Saturday night, the New York Times published a report detailing the public disclosure of more than 400 pages of heavily redacted documents related to a FISA warrant filed in 2016 against Carter Page, an advisor for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. Page has been a key focus of the intelligence community’s investigation into Russian interference from the very beginning. And as Saturday’s disclosure reveals, the FBI presented enough probable cause suggesting Page had been recruited by Russian officials that four separate Republican-appointed judges authorized still-undisclosed surveillance measures targeting Page."
"On Saturday night, the New York Times published a report detailing the public disclosure of more than 400 pages of heavily redacted documents related to a FISA warrant filed in 2016 against Carter Page, an advisor for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. Page has been a key focus of the intelligence community’s investigation into Russian interference from the very beginning. And as Saturday’s disclosure reveals, the FBI presented enough probable cause suggesting Page had been recruited by Russian officials that four separate Republican-appointed judges authorized still-undisclosed surveillance measures targeting Page."
Here's the psychological problem that causes Trump supporters to keep getting duped
Here's the psychological problem that causes Trump supporters to keep getting duped:
"In the past, some prominent psychologists have explained President Donald Trump’s unwavering support by alluding to a well-established psychological phenomenon known as the “Dunning-Kruger effect.” The effect is a type of cognitive bias, where people with little expertise or ability assume they have superior expertise or ability. This overestimation occurs as a result of the fact that they don’t have enough knowledge to know they don’t have enough knowledge. Or, stated more harshly, they are “too dumb to know they are dumb.” This simple but loopy concept has been demonstrated dozens of times in well-controlled psychology studies and in a variety of contexts. However, until now, the effect had not been studied in one of the most obvious and important realms—political knowledge."
"In the past, some prominent psychologists have explained President Donald Trump’s unwavering support by alluding to a well-established psychological phenomenon known as the “Dunning-Kruger effect.” The effect is a type of cognitive bias, where people with little expertise or ability assume they have superior expertise or ability. This overestimation occurs as a result of the fact that they don’t have enough knowledge to know they don’t have enough knowledge. Or, stated more harshly, they are “too dumb to know they are dumb.” This simple but loopy concept has been demonstrated dozens of times in well-controlled psychology studies and in a variety of contexts. However, until now, the effect had not been studied in one of the most obvious and important realms—political knowledge."
Ex-Russian foreign minister warns Trump’s anti-American talking points came from Putin: ‘It’s an emergency situation’
Ex-Russian foreign minister warns Trump’s anti-American talking points came from Putin: ‘It’s an emergency situation’:
"While taking part in a CNN panel on President Donald Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs under President Boris Yeltsin warned that the American president appeared to repeating, almost verbatim, Putin’s talking point on a variety of topics — and warned Americans they should be worried."
"While taking part in a CNN panel on President Donald Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs under President Boris Yeltsin warned that the American president appeared to repeating, almost verbatim, Putin’s talking point on a variety of topics — and warned Americans they should be worried."
It’s official: Support for Roe v. Wade has never been higher
https://thinkprogress.org/roe-v-wade-abortion-access-poll-brett-kavanaugh-supreme-court-donald-trump-8be6bc020d83/
"Seventy-one percent of U.S. voters, including 52 percent of Republicans, do not believe the ruling should be reversed. Only 23 percent of respondents say Roe v. Wade should be overturned. Support for the ruling has risen six percentage points since 2005 and 13 percentage points since 1989."
"Seventy-one percent of U.S. voters, including 52 percent of Republicans, do not believe the ruling should be reversed. Only 23 percent of respondents say Roe v. Wade should be overturned. Support for the ruling has risen six percentage points since 2005 and 13 percentage points since 1989."
Former Trump aide Bannon sets up group to undermine EU
https://www.politicususa.com/2018/07/23/former-trump-aide-bannon-sets-up-group-to-undermine-eu.html
"LONDON (Reuters) – Former Donald Trump political strategist Steve Bannon and a top associate have created a Brussels-based political organization intended to undermine, and ultimately paralyze, the European Union, Bannon and the associate told Reuters."
"LONDON (Reuters) – Former Donald Trump political strategist Steve Bannon and a top associate have created a Brussels-based political organization intended to undermine, and ultimately paralyze, the European Union, Bannon and the associate told Reuters."
Trump biographer warns that president is deploying Soviet-style distraction tactics with his seemingly erratic tweets
Trump biographer warns that president is deploying Soviet-style distraction tactics with his seemingly erratic tweets:
"Speaking about his recent op-ed in the Boston Globe, Donald Trump biographer Michael D’Antonio explained that the president has been trying to distract and deflect, much in the way Russia does."
"Speaking about his recent op-ed in the Boston Globe, Donald Trump biographer Michael D’Antonio explained that the president has been trying to distract and deflect, much in the way Russia does."
Prosecutor: Banker Seeking Cabinet Job Knew Manafort Loan Was Fraudulent
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/steve-calk-loan-in-limine-hearing-manafort-ellis
"A banker who lent Paul Manafort $16 million — after serving on Trump’s campaign and while seeking a job in the incoming Trump administration — knew that the loan was fraudulent, a prosecutor for special counsel Robert Mueller’s team told a federal judge Monday. The bank is called “Lender D” in the court documents that led up to the Monday afternoon hearing. But based on corroborating details, it is the Chicago-based Federal Savings Bank, whose founder and CEO Steve Calk. Calk served on the Trump campaign’s economic advisory team , and, according to the Wall Street Journal, wanted to be Trump’s Army secretary. His bank issued Manafort and his family two loans, of $9.5 million and $6.5 million, in late 2016 and early 2017 respectively, after Manafort allegedly made “several materially inconsistent representations during the process of negotiating” of the loan, according to a search warrant partially unsealed last month. The accusation of the banker’s knowledge of the allegedly fraudulent loan came in questioning by U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis, who is presiding over the case against Manafort in Virginia, where trial will begin next week. Ellis was hearing a request from Manafort that evidence and arguments about Manafort’s affiliation with the Trump campaign be excluded from the trial."
"A banker who lent Paul Manafort $16 million — after serving on Trump’s campaign and while seeking a job in the incoming Trump administration — knew that the loan was fraudulent, a prosecutor for special counsel Robert Mueller’s team told a federal judge Monday. The bank is called “Lender D” in the court documents that led up to the Monday afternoon hearing. But based on corroborating details, it is the Chicago-based Federal Savings Bank, whose founder and CEO Steve Calk. Calk served on the Trump campaign’s economic advisory team , and, according to the Wall Street Journal, wanted to be Trump’s Army secretary. His bank issued Manafort and his family two loans, of $9.5 million and $6.5 million, in late 2016 and early 2017 respectively, after Manafort allegedly made “several materially inconsistent representations during the process of negotiating” of the loan, according to a search warrant partially unsealed last month. The accusation of the banker’s knowledge of the allegedly fraudulent loan came in questioning by U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis, who is presiding over the case against Manafort in Virginia, where trial will begin next week. Ellis was hearing a request from Manafort that evidence and arguments about Manafort’s affiliation with the Trump campaign be excluded from the trial."
How the Hospitals Serving Trump Voters Are Closing—And He’s Letting It Happen
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/07/rural-hospital-closures-trump-republicans/
"What’s more, rural communities tend to be both poorer and sicker than their urban counterparts. According to US census data from 2016, 46 percent of the country’s rural population uses a form of government insurance, compared with 36 percent of the urban population. CDC data shows that rural areas have higher death rates from cancer, heart disease, unintentional injuries, chronic lower respiratory disease, and stroke than urban areas do. Infant mortality rates are roughly 20 percent higher in rural counties than they are in large urban counties. But there’s another crisis linked to hospital closings: job losses. In many rural communities, the hospital is the largest employer. Brad Gibbens, a researcher at the University of North Dakota, estimates that when one shuts its doors, up to 25 percent of the surrounding region’s economy disappears. A cascading shortage of physicians and other health care professionals soon follows. So why are so many hospitals closing? Carole Myers, an associate professor at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville who studies health care policy, says medical facilities in rural areas have long struggled thanks to sparse populations and high poverty rates. But the situation is significantly worse in the 17 states that have not joined Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion, most of them heavily rural. Those states have a higher rate of uninsured people, which means hospitals—which can’t turn anyone away from the emergency room—have to provide more uncompensated care. According to a recent study from the Colorado School of Public Health, hospitals in states that did not expand Medicaid are six times more likely to close than hospitals in states that did, because they see more uninsured patients and provide more free care."
"What’s more, rural communities tend to be both poorer and sicker than their urban counterparts. According to US census data from 2016, 46 percent of the country’s rural population uses a form of government insurance, compared with 36 percent of the urban population. CDC data shows that rural areas have higher death rates from cancer, heart disease, unintentional injuries, chronic lower respiratory disease, and stroke than urban areas do. Infant mortality rates are roughly 20 percent higher in rural counties than they are in large urban counties. But there’s another crisis linked to hospital closings: job losses. In many rural communities, the hospital is the largest employer. Brad Gibbens, a researcher at the University of North Dakota, estimates that when one shuts its doors, up to 25 percent of the surrounding region’s economy disappears. A cascading shortage of physicians and other health care professionals soon follows. So why are so many hospitals closing? Carole Myers, an associate professor at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville who studies health care policy, says medical facilities in rural areas have long struggled thanks to sparse populations and high poverty rates. But the situation is significantly worse in the 17 states that have not joined Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion, most of them heavily rural. Those states have a higher rate of uninsured people, which means hospitals—which can’t turn anyone away from the emergency room—have to provide more uncompensated care. According to a recent study from the Colorado School of Public Health, hospitals in states that did not expand Medicaid are six times more likely to close than hospitals in states that did, because they see more uninsured patients and provide more free care."
Trump’s latest demand is straight out of the pages of ‘1984’
https://thinkprogress.org/trump-vfw-speech-kansas-city-remember-what-youre-seeing-and-what-youre-reading-is-not-whats-happening-b1a8f318d1d9/
"In George Orwell’s classic dystopian novel 1984, the “final, most essential command” of the ruling totalitarian regime is “to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears.” On Tuesday, President Trump made that same request of his supporters. Speaking to a Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) gathering in Kansas City, Trump implored his audience to forget about what they see and read — and instead just listen to him."
"In George Orwell’s classic dystopian novel 1984, the “final, most essential command” of the ruling totalitarian regime is “to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears.” On Tuesday, President Trump made that same request of his supporters. Speaking to a Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) gathering in Kansas City, Trump implored his audience to forget about what they see and read — and instead just listen to him."
Biographer David Cay Johnston reveals that Russia has amassed a 30-year trove of compromising dirt on Trump
Biographer David Cay Johnston reveals that Russia has amassed a 30-year trove of compromising dirt on Trump:
"Johnston has been following Trump’s financial dealings for many years, and wrote a biography of Trump. Johnston says that there are no shortage of compromising facts that would be revealed by looking deeply into the president’s financial dealings. “We know the Russians have been courting Donald, spending money on him and putting money in his pocket for more than 30 years,” he said. “Donald’s son, one of his sons, has said they were getting lots of money from Russians, and he’d been deeply involved with deals… with Russian gangsters.” The issue is that there is so much kompromat out there that Trump couldn’t even keep track of it all, Johnston said. There are deep ties between Trump, Russian oligarchs and Russian gangsters."
"Johnston has been following Trump’s financial dealings for many years, and wrote a biography of Trump. Johnston says that there are no shortage of compromising facts that would be revealed by looking deeply into the president’s financial dealings. “We know the Russians have been courting Donald, spending money on him and putting money in his pocket for more than 30 years,” he said. “Donald’s son, one of his sons, has said they were getting lots of money from Russians, and he’d been deeply involved with deals… with Russian gangsters.” The issue is that there is so much kompromat out there that Trump couldn’t even keep track of it all, Johnston said. There are deep ties between Trump, Russian oligarchs and Russian gangsters."
Former US attorney says Trump's lies help Mueller -- here's how
Former US attorney says Trump's lies help Mueller -- here's how:
"those lies can still be helpful, according to former federal prosecutor Chuck Rosenberg, who said that there is “no such thing as too much evidence.” “Believe it or not, lies are helpful to a prosecutor, too,” he continued. “Not just because you can charge them separately. There’s another reason why lies are helpful: people who lie, box themselves into a corner.” He explained that someone like Trump will ultimately commit himself to a story, even if he knows the truth is something different."
"those lies can still be helpful, according to former federal prosecutor Chuck Rosenberg, who said that there is “no such thing as too much evidence.” “Believe it or not, lies are helpful to a prosecutor, too,” he continued. “Not just because you can charge them separately. There’s another reason why lies are helpful: people who lie, box themselves into a corner.” He explained that someone like Trump will ultimately commit himself to a story, even if he knows the truth is something different."
The North Carolina GOP’s Plan to Deceive Voters About Its Radical Ballot Measures
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/07/north-carolina-gops-plan-to-deceive-voters-about-its-radical-ballot-measures.html
"North Carolina Republicans’ machinations do not reflect any particular political or legal philosophy. Rather, they’re the work of a party that’s desperately trying to undermine equal access to the ballot in order to entrench itself in power. When raw power is all that matters, democracy becomes dispensable. And unless voters become invested in the battle over the state constitution, North Carolina will continue its descent into one-party rule."
"North Carolina Republicans’ machinations do not reflect any particular political or legal philosophy. Rather, they’re the work of a party that’s desperately trying to undermine equal access to the ballot in order to entrench itself in power. When raw power is all that matters, democracy becomes dispensable. And unless voters become invested in the battle over the state constitution, North Carolina will continue its descent into one-party rule."
Trump Resorts to 'Pure 1984 Totalitarian Gaslighting,' Telling Supporters to Ignore News Coverage of His Policies
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/07/25/trump-resorts-pure-1984-totalitarian-gaslighting-telling-supporters-ignore-news
"Journalists and observers immediately drew comparisons to a line from Orwell's book, which reads, "The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command"."
"Journalists and observers immediately drew comparisons to a line from Orwell's book, which reads, "The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command"."
Judge rejects Trump’s request to stop Emoluments lawsuit
https://thinkprogress.org/trump-organization-hotel-lawsuit-emoluments-clause-judge-rules-can-proceed-b4b46dc9718a/
"The lawsuit filed by the attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia arguing President Donald Trump’s continuing business with foreign governments violates the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution moved forward on Wednesday."
"The lawsuit filed by the attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia arguing President Donald Trump’s continuing business with foreign governments violates the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution moved forward on Wednesday."
Saturday, July 28, 2018
Trump needs his alternate reality to survive — and he knows it
https://www.vox.com/2018/7/25/17611854/trump-alternate-reality-survival
"An important part of Donald Trump’s success has been his cultivation of a base that lives in an alternate reality — a point that was driven home in the past couple of days."
"An important part of Donald Trump’s success has been his cultivation of a base that lives in an alternate reality — a point that was driven home in the past couple of days."
The Cohen Tape Further Proves Trump's Life Has Been Defined by Deceit and Corruption
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a22549947/donald-trump-michael-cohen-tape-business-practices/
"The President* of the United States behaved like a third-rate hoodlum long before he ever heard of Vladimir Putin. This was the way he did business. This always has been the way he’s done business. At least Richard Nixon came to crimes in office by degrees. This president* has lovingly swathed his entire life in deceit and corruption. It is the stagnant water in which he swims. He feeds and grows fat on the slime and rot that exists at the bottom of America’s corporate classes. He is a successful parasite on the American dream."
"The President* of the United States behaved like a third-rate hoodlum long before he ever heard of Vladimir Putin. This was the way he did business. This always has been the way he’s done business. At least Richard Nixon came to crimes in office by degrees. This president* has lovingly swathed his entire life in deceit and corruption. It is the stagnant water in which he swims. He feeds and grows fat on the slime and rot that exists at the bottom of America’s corporate classes. He is a successful parasite on the American dream."
North Carolina Republicans Pass Yet Another Law to Throw State Supreme Court Race to a Republican
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/07/north-carolina-republicans-pass-bill-to-strip-state-supreme-court-candidate-chris-anglin-of-his-gop-affiliation.html
"How far are North Carolina Republicans willing to go to throw an upcoming state Supreme Court election? The GOP-dominated legislature has already altered state law in an effort to protect the incumbent Republican justice and thwart her Democratic challenger. But on Tuesday, the party took even more drastic action to prevent a Democratic victory: It rushed to pass a bill during a special session that will retroactively strip a judicial candidate of his party affiliation. The move is plainly designed to shield the incumbent from Republican competition that could split the GOP vote. Tuesday’s bill isn’t just another legislative coup—it’s a blatant effort by the Legislature to crush separation of powers and shatter judicial independence in the state once and for all."
"How far are North Carolina Republicans willing to go to throw an upcoming state Supreme Court election? The GOP-dominated legislature has already altered state law in an effort to protect the incumbent Republican justice and thwart her Democratic challenger. But on Tuesday, the party took even more drastic action to prevent a Democratic victory: It rushed to pass a bill during a special session that will retroactively strip a judicial candidate of his party affiliation. The move is plainly designed to shield the incumbent from Republican competition that could split the GOP vote. Tuesday’s bill isn’t just another legislative coup—it’s a blatant effort by the Legislature to crush separation of powers and shatter judicial independence in the state once and for all."
"Butina has attracted the attention of federal investigators mainly because of her connections to this shadowy intersection of powerful Russians and right-wing Americans. In fact, it was Butina’s work for Alexander Torshin, a close political ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, that made her a target of federal investigators. Torshin — not Butina — is the Russian figure whose involvement with the NRA and American conservatives brings the Trump-Russia case closer to Russian organized crime and Putin. Torshin, now a top official at the Russian central bank and a former Russian senator, has been identified by Spanish authorities as the “godfather” of Taganskaya, a Russian organized crime group. Spanish police sought to arrest Torshin in 2013 for a scheme to launder money through the purchase of hotels in Mallorca. But the police plan to catch him at a party for Alexander Romanov, another Russian organized crime figure, fell through when Torshin was apparently warned by Russian authorities not to travel to Spain, El PaÃs, a Spanish newspaper, reported. (In 2016, Romanov pleaded guilty to money laundering in a Spanish case. Torshin told El PaÃs that he knew Romanov in the 1990s, but that he “never intended to visit” him.) Shockingly, Torshin was able to travel to the United States and develop close and long-standing relationships with prominent figures in the American conservative movement for years after Spain’s failed attempt to catch and arrest him. Spanish officials have reportedly now provided information to the FBI about Torshin, and earlier this year the Treasury Department levied sanctions against him. In January, McClatchy reported that the FBI was investigating whether Torshin illegally funneled money to the NRA in order to help Trump’s campaign in 2016. But even given this recent flurry of activity, it is clear that American law enforcement officials were very late to picking up on what the Spanish knew about him."
https://theintercept.com/2018/07/21/maria-butina-indictment-russia-investigation/
"Butina has attracted the attention of federal investigators mainly because of her connections to this shadowy intersection of powerful Russians and right-wing Americans. In fact, it was Butina’s work for Alexander Torshin, a close political ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, that made her a target of federal investigators. Torshin — not Butina — is the Russian figure whose involvement with the NRA and American conservatives brings the Trump-Russia case closer to Russian organized crime and Putin. Torshin, now a top official at the Russian central bank and a former Russian senator, has been identified by Spanish authorities as the “godfather” of Taganskaya, a Russian organized crime group. Spanish police sought to arrest Torshin in 2013 for a scheme to launder money through the purchase of hotels in Mallorca. But the police plan to catch him at a party for Alexander Romanov, another Russian organized crime figure, fell through when Torshin was apparently warned by Russian authorities not to travel to Spain, El PaÃs, a Spanish newspaper, reported. (In 2016, Romanov pleaded guilty to money laundering in a Spanish case. Torshin told El PaÃs that he knew Romanov in the 1990s, but that he “never intended to visit” him.) Shockingly, Torshin was able to travel to the United States and develop close and long-standing relationships with prominent figures in the American conservative movement for years after Spain’s failed attempt to catch and arrest him. Spanish officials have reportedly now provided information to the FBI about Torshin, and earlier this year the Treasury Department levied sanctions against him. In January, McClatchy reported that the FBI was investigating whether Torshin illegally funneled money to the NRA in order to help Trump’s campaign in 2016. But even given this recent flurry of activity, it is clear that American law enforcement officials were very late to picking up on what the Spanish knew about him."
"Butina has attracted the attention of federal investigators mainly because of her connections to this shadowy intersection of powerful Russians and right-wing Americans. In fact, it was Butina’s work for Alexander Torshin, a close political ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, that made her a target of federal investigators. Torshin — not Butina — is the Russian figure whose involvement with the NRA and American conservatives brings the Trump-Russia case closer to Russian organized crime and Putin. Torshin, now a top official at the Russian central bank and a former Russian senator, has been identified by Spanish authorities as the “godfather” of Taganskaya, a Russian organized crime group. Spanish police sought to arrest Torshin in 2013 for a scheme to launder money through the purchase of hotels in Mallorca. But the police plan to catch him at a party for Alexander Romanov, another Russian organized crime figure, fell through when Torshin was apparently warned by Russian authorities not to travel to Spain, El PaÃs, a Spanish newspaper, reported. (In 2016, Romanov pleaded guilty to money laundering in a Spanish case. Torshin told El PaÃs that he knew Romanov in the 1990s, but that he “never intended to visit” him.) Shockingly, Torshin was able to travel to the United States and develop close and long-standing relationships with prominent figures in the American conservative movement for years after Spain’s failed attempt to catch and arrest him. Spanish officials have reportedly now provided information to the FBI about Torshin, and earlier this year the Treasury Department levied sanctions against him. In January, McClatchy reported that the FBI was investigating whether Torshin illegally funneled money to the NRA in order to help Trump’s campaign in 2016. But even given this recent flurry of activity, it is clear that American law enforcement officials were very late to picking up on what the Spanish knew about him."
A treasonous congressman: Conservative scholar implores Paul Ryan to expel Devin Nunes from House
https://www.salon.com/2018/07/25/devin-nunes-should-be-expelled-from-the-house_partner/
"The release of the FBI memo that established the basis for the FISA wiretaps of Trump aide Carter Page has renewed pressure on Representative Devin Nunes, R-Calif., author of a memo which attempted to spin facts to discredit American intelligence. In the wake of the revelations, which show Nunes misrepresented facts, might he become the sixth man ever expelled from the United States House of Representatives?"
"The release of the FBI memo that established the basis for the FISA wiretaps of Trump aide Carter Page has renewed pressure on Representative Devin Nunes, R-Calif., author of a memo which attempted to spin facts to discredit American intelligence. In the wake of the revelations, which show Nunes misrepresented facts, might he become the sixth man ever expelled from the United States House of Representatives?"
Mike Pence's Family Business Is Still in the Indiana Soil, Literally
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a22487247/mike-pences-family-business-indiana-pollution/
"We begin in Indiana, where the legacy of Vice-President* Mike Pence and his family business remains alive in the soil and the water, even if certain other things do not. Pence’s father got rich by helping to develop a chain of gas stations all over the Midwest. In 2004, the business went bust, but it’s still costing the taxpayers. From the AP: The collapse of Kiel Bros. Oil Co. in 2004 was widely publicized. Less known is that the state of Indiana—and, to a smaller extent, Kentucky and Illinois—are still on the hook for millions of dollars to clean up more than 85 contaminated sites across the three states, including underground tanks that leaked toxic chemicals into soil, streams and wells. Indiana alone has spent at least $21 million on the cleanup thus far, or an average of about $500,000 per site, according to an analysis of records by The Associated Press. And the work is nowhere near complete."
"We begin in Indiana, where the legacy of Vice-President* Mike Pence and his family business remains alive in the soil and the water, even if certain other things do not. Pence’s father got rich by helping to develop a chain of gas stations all over the Midwest. In 2004, the business went bust, but it’s still costing the taxpayers. From the AP: The collapse of Kiel Bros. Oil Co. in 2004 was widely publicized. Less known is that the state of Indiana—and, to a smaller extent, Kentucky and Illinois—are still on the hook for millions of dollars to clean up more than 85 contaminated sites across the three states, including underground tanks that leaked toxic chemicals into soil, streams and wells. Indiana alone has spent at least $21 million on the cleanup thus far, or an average of about $500,000 per site, according to an analysis of records by The Associated Press. And the work is nowhere near complete."
Judge Kavanaugh’s Deregulatory Agenda
Judge Kavanaugh’s Deregulatory Agenda:
"Most of us take for granted the federal regulations that make our air cleaner, our drinking water purer, our food, highways, and workplaces safer, and our economic transactions less vulnerable to fraud and abuse. And few of us realize the extent to which those protections are subject to reversal by federal courts applying legal principles prescribed by the Supreme Court. If confirmed to the Supreme Court, Judge Brett Kavanaugh would be a fervent vote against even well-established forms of regulation."
"Most of us take for granted the federal regulations that make our air cleaner, our drinking water purer, our food, highways, and workplaces safer, and our economic transactions less vulnerable to fraud and abuse. And few of us realize the extent to which those protections are subject to reversal by federal courts applying legal principles prescribed by the Supreme Court. If confirmed to the Supreme Court, Judge Brett Kavanaugh would be a fervent vote against even well-established forms of regulation."
American Racists Look for Allies in Russia
https://www.thedailybeast.com/american-racists-look-for-allies-in-russia?ref=home
"While President Donald Trump pals around with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the U.S.’s racist right is making open overtures to Russian white supremacists. One day after Trump’s disastrous summit with Putin last week, the League of the South, a neo-Confederate hate group, announced that it would launch a Russian-language site. The southern secessionist group’s crush on Russia is the latest appeal by U.S. white supremacists to Russia and Putin—an alliance that has strengthened during the Trump presidency. “Russia is our friend,” a group of torch-waving racists chanted during an October rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. “The South will rise again.” The event was headed by white nationalist Richard Spencer, who has been stumping for Russia before Trump took office."
"While President Donald Trump pals around with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the U.S.’s racist right is making open overtures to Russian white supremacists. One day after Trump’s disastrous summit with Putin last week, the League of the South, a neo-Confederate hate group, announced that it would launch a Russian-language site. The southern secessionist group’s crush on Russia is the latest appeal by U.S. white supremacists to Russia and Putin—an alliance that has strengthened during the Trump presidency. “Russia is our friend,” a group of torch-waving racists chanted during an October rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. “The South will rise again.” The event was headed by white nationalist Richard Spencer, who has been stumping for Russia before Trump took office."
Paul Ryan is helping Trump undermine the rule of law
https://www.vox.com/2018/7/27/17613404/paul-ryan-trump-mueller-rosenstein-devin-nunes-russia-investigation"Ryan genuinely believes that the cause of slashing corporate taxes and tax rates for rich Americans is worth collaborating with a reckless administration in an elaborate attempt to cover up wrongdoing. He makes that choice every day, and it should blacken his historical legacy."
Portrait of the President As a Con Man
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/07/andrew-sullivan-portrait-of-the-president-as-a-con-man.html
"Con men usually know that a con has a life span, and not a long one. At some point, it will collapse because it is, in fact, bulls**t. By then, the best con men have made the sale — think of “Trump University” — and moved on. They also know that keeping the suckers sealed off from other sources of contrary information is essential until the deal is done. You have to maintain a fiction relentlessly, dismiss or delegitimize external information that might get your marks to think differently, and constantly make the sale. You have to humor and flatter and bulls**t all the time, until you’ve sealed the deal. And Trump is really, really good at this. In fact, it’s his chief skill, along with his instinct for the easy mark and another human being’s vulnerable spot. It has worked many times before. It’s at the root of his entire shady business career. His problem now, however, is that this is the biggest of all cons, if you’re playing at a presidential level, and is also the longest. It has to be sustainable for at least four years. And that’s an extremely long time to keep it alive. This is why, it seems to me, Trump tweets so often and so aggressively. It’s his chief mechanism for keeping his dupes under his spell, for sustaining the narrative of the con while reality tugs at it. He’s making the sale every news cycle of every day because the alternative is the whole thing crashing to the ground. It’s also why he keeps holding rallies. You need that kind of mass crowd hysteria to sustain a con — “America Is Great Again!” — that might otherwise be fraying at the edges. It’s why he lambastes the media. Their role in undercutting the con — in presenting the arguments against it, in raising suspicions about the con man himself — is deeply destabilizing to the project. And it’s why he has to lie, and lie with greater and greater intensity and frequency. And sure enough, the rate of Trump’s lies is accelerating, as the con ages. All six of the last six weeks rank in the top ten most dishonest of his presidency"
"Con men usually know that a con has a life span, and not a long one. At some point, it will collapse because it is, in fact, bulls**t. By then, the best con men have made the sale — think of “Trump University” — and moved on. They also know that keeping the suckers sealed off from other sources of contrary information is essential until the deal is done. You have to maintain a fiction relentlessly, dismiss or delegitimize external information that might get your marks to think differently, and constantly make the sale. You have to humor and flatter and bulls**t all the time, until you’ve sealed the deal. And Trump is really, really good at this. In fact, it’s his chief skill, along with his instinct for the easy mark and another human being’s vulnerable spot. It has worked many times before. It’s at the root of his entire shady business career. His problem now, however, is that this is the biggest of all cons, if you’re playing at a presidential level, and is also the longest. It has to be sustainable for at least four years. And that’s an extremely long time to keep it alive. This is why, it seems to me, Trump tweets so often and so aggressively. It’s his chief mechanism for keeping his dupes under his spell, for sustaining the narrative of the con while reality tugs at it. He’s making the sale every news cycle of every day because the alternative is the whole thing crashing to the ground. It’s also why he keeps holding rallies. You need that kind of mass crowd hysteria to sustain a con — “America Is Great Again!” — that might otherwise be fraying at the edges. It’s why he lambastes the media. Their role in undercutting the con — in presenting the arguments against it, in raising suspicions about the con man himself — is deeply destabilizing to the project. And it’s why he has to lie, and lie with greater and greater intensity and frequency. And sure enough, the rate of Trump’s lies is accelerating, as the con ages. All six of the last six weeks rank in the top ten most dishonest of his presidency"
Republicans Can Not Govern Honorably
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/7/19/1781834/-Republicans-Can-Not-Govern-Honorably
"Who was the last honorable Republican president? Was it Bush Sr? Eisenhower? We are well aware that the current occupant of the White House regularly partakes in receiving emoluments, attacking federal agencies, denigrating opponents, disparaging allies, coddling dictators, and colluding with Russia. Donald Trump also has personal issues that are widely considered immoral or unethical, such as laundering money for criminals, as well as, infidelity to wives and business contracts alike. But, is Trump an aberration or a symptom of increasing malignancy? How far back do we have to go to find a Republican president who fulfilled his duties with honor? Nixon set the precedent for criminal behavior in the modern Republican party with the break in and theft of DNC materials. The criminal cover-up of those crimes led to his resignation, thanks to pressure from Republicans with a modicum of shame and honor. Reagan followed up a half decade later by negotiating for Iran to keep our hostages until he became president. Then, during his term, he either ignored or approved the illegal selling of arms to Iran and using the proceeds to illegally fund Contra rebels in Nicaragua. Now, Reagan is practically considered a saint, while members of his administration who carried out the crimes are revered among Republicans. George HW Bush might have been the most honorable of the modern lot, but he was caught up in Iran-Contra too, and later invaded Panama on dubious pretenses before starting the decades long military intervention in Iraq. George W Bush, under false pretenses, eventually invaded Iraq, which killed and hurt millions of people, and which has been a significant contributor to instability in the region to this day. Let’s also not forget the previously unacceptable torture that Bush Jr approved. Perhaps we have to go back to Eisenhower to find honor in a Republican president. Or, maybe George HW Bush was the only honorable modern Republican president."
"Who was the last honorable Republican president? Was it Bush Sr? Eisenhower? We are well aware that the current occupant of the White House regularly partakes in receiving emoluments, attacking federal agencies, denigrating opponents, disparaging allies, coddling dictators, and colluding with Russia. Donald Trump also has personal issues that are widely considered immoral or unethical, such as laundering money for criminals, as well as, infidelity to wives and business contracts alike. But, is Trump an aberration or a symptom of increasing malignancy? How far back do we have to go to find a Republican president who fulfilled his duties with honor? Nixon set the precedent for criminal behavior in the modern Republican party with the break in and theft of DNC materials. The criminal cover-up of those crimes led to his resignation, thanks to pressure from Republicans with a modicum of shame and honor. Reagan followed up a half decade later by negotiating for Iran to keep our hostages until he became president. Then, during his term, he either ignored or approved the illegal selling of arms to Iran and using the proceeds to illegally fund Contra rebels in Nicaragua. Now, Reagan is practically considered a saint, while members of his administration who carried out the crimes are revered among Republicans. George HW Bush might have been the most honorable of the modern lot, but he was caught up in Iran-Contra too, and later invaded Panama on dubious pretenses before starting the decades long military intervention in Iraq. George W Bush, under false pretenses, eventually invaded Iraq, which killed and hurt millions of people, and which has been a significant contributor to instability in the region to this day. Let’s also not forget the previously unacceptable torture that Bush Jr approved. Perhaps we have to go back to Eisenhower to find honor in a Republican president. Or, maybe George HW Bush was the only honorable modern Republican president."
'God, guns and ... Russia?' is no longer a question
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/7/22/1781740/--God-guns-and-Russia-is-no-longer-a-question
"Putin, known for playing the long game, has been wooing the religious right for some time."
"Putin, known for playing the long game, has been wooing the religious right for some time."
How low can Trump go?
https://www.salon.com/2018/07/21/how-low-can-trump-go/
"He admitted on tape to abusing women and grabbing them “by the pu**y.” “They let you do it,” he bragged. “You can do anything.” He paid $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels to shut her up about the affair they had before the election in 2016. He spoke approvingly of neo-Nazis and white supremacists in Charlottesville after their torch-lit march supporting statues of Confederate generals. One of them killed a young woman by driving his car at high speed into a crowd at a demonstration, and Trump said there were “very fine people on both sides,” pointedly including the neo-Nazis. He developed and instituted a policy on our border with Mexico whereby children as young as three months were seized from undocumented parents seeking asylum. He ordered them held in hastily constructed camps and temporary shelters including wire cages in former Walmart buildings. He conducted a campaign for president that conspired with Russian nationals, including at least 12 agents working for Russian military intelligence, to steal the election of 2016. He disparaged our longtime allies in NATO as “foes,” claimed that the media reporting on his trips to Brussels, Great Britain and Helsinki are “enemies of the people,” and at least temporarily seemed to have agreed with Vladimir Putin to turn over American citizens for questioning by Russian prosecutors. He supported and signed a tax cut for billionaires that will saddle American taxpayers with a deficit of at least $1 trillion a year for the foreseeable future. He tried to pass a law that would have canceled the Affordable Care Act, and having failed that, now supports changes to the law that would put people with pre-existing health conditions at risk of being able to get affordable health insurance. He put in place trade policies that will cost hundreds of thousands if not millions of American jobs and raise prices for consumers."
"He admitted on tape to abusing women and grabbing them “by the pu**y.” “They let you do it,” he bragged. “You can do anything.” He paid $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels to shut her up about the affair they had before the election in 2016. He spoke approvingly of neo-Nazis and white supremacists in Charlottesville after their torch-lit march supporting statues of Confederate generals. One of them killed a young woman by driving his car at high speed into a crowd at a demonstration, and Trump said there were “very fine people on both sides,” pointedly including the neo-Nazis. He developed and instituted a policy on our border with Mexico whereby children as young as three months were seized from undocumented parents seeking asylum. He ordered them held in hastily constructed camps and temporary shelters including wire cages in former Walmart buildings. He conducted a campaign for president that conspired with Russian nationals, including at least 12 agents working for Russian military intelligence, to steal the election of 2016. He disparaged our longtime allies in NATO as “foes,” claimed that the media reporting on his trips to Brussels, Great Britain and Helsinki are “enemies of the people,” and at least temporarily seemed to have agreed with Vladimir Putin to turn over American citizens for questioning by Russian prosecutors. He supported and signed a tax cut for billionaires that will saddle American taxpayers with a deficit of at least $1 trillion a year for the foreseeable future. He tried to pass a law that would have canceled the Affordable Care Act, and having failed that, now supports changes to the law that would put people with pre-existing health conditions at risk of being able to get affordable health insurance. He put in place trade policies that will cost hundreds of thousands if not millions of American jobs and raise prices for consumers."
WATCH: Virginia GOP US Senate candidate drowned out by debate audience laughter for saying Trump is 'standing up to Russians'
WATCH: Virginia GOP US Senate candidate drowned out by debate audience laughter for saying Trump is 'standing up to Russians':
"The Republican U.S. Senate candidate running to take the seat of Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) had to make an awkward pause during a debate response on Friday night as the audience drowned him out in laughter for saying President Donald Trump is standing up to Vladimir Putin. In the video uploaded to Twitter, candidate Corey Stewart — who has been dogged by his own racist comments and advocacy for the Confederacy — was speaking up for the Republican president when he went a bit too far for the audience."
"The Republican U.S. Senate candidate running to take the seat of Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) had to make an awkward pause during a debate response on Friday night as the audience drowned him out in laughter for saying President Donald Trump is standing up to Vladimir Putin. In the video uploaded to Twitter, candidate Corey Stewart — who has been dogged by his own racist comments and advocacy for the Confederacy — was speaking up for the Republican president when he went a bit too far for the audience."
NRA’s Wayne LaPierre ‘shaking in his boots waiting for Mueller to come knocking’: Ex-DOJ official
NRA’s Wayne LaPierre ‘shaking in his boots waiting for Mueller to come knocking’: Ex-DOJ official: "Two former top Department of Justice officials predicted that Maria Butina was not the only Russian operative to penetrate conservative political organizations with close ties to the Republican Party during a Wednesday panel with MSNBC anchor Katy Tur. Butina was indicted on Sunday for being an unregistered foreign agent. A crack shot, Butina had a very close relationship with the National Rifle Association. “Katy, this is a wild, wild story with the potential to send shockwaves not just into Trump campaign officials, but throughout the Republican Party,” explained former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Harry Litman. The indictment could quickly spill over into special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigations of Donald Trump. “And anyone who was in Paul Erickson’s rolodex, including Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) and Wayne LaPierre and Scott Walker (R-WI) is right now shaking in his boots waiting for Mueller to come knocking,” Litman explained."
Thursday, July 26, 2018
Bombshell report: Donald Trump was shown definitive proof Putin ordered cyber attacks on the U.S.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/7/19/1781882/-Bombshell-report-Donald-Trump-was-shown-definitive-proof-Putin-ordered-cyber-attacks-on-the-U-S
"Donald Trump has seen definitive proof from U.S. Intelligence agencies that Russia was actively (and successfully) working to subvert our election but he has done absolutely nothing about it, still choosing to side with a foreign enemy over our own intelligence agencies."
"Donald Trump has seen definitive proof from U.S. Intelligence agencies that Russia was actively (and successfully) working to subvert our election but he has done absolutely nothing about it, still choosing to side with a foreign enemy over our own intelligence agencies."
Trump Is Selling Out America, and His Supporters Love It
Trump Is Selling Out America, and His Supporters Love It:
"The president of the United States wants to entertain, in the White House, the man U.S. intelligence services say intervened in the election that ultimately landed Trump in the Oval Office. If Putin accepts, he will arrive as an investigation of the election matter by Special Counsel Robert Mueller is ongoing. A Putin visit would no doubt please the evangelical foot soldiers of the Trump base. And it would elate the white supremacists who form the leading edge of support for Trump’s racialized policies on immigration and law enforcement. Of course, the mere fact of the invitation surely pleases Vladimir Putin, patron of the Quisling from Queens. Whatever Putin has on Trump is endangering the republic. It’s a weakness that allows his manipulation by Putin, who has long wished to destroy both the EU and NATO. Congressional leaders surely know this, but other than paying lip service to the obvious fact that Vladimir Putin is not our friend, they’ve yet to rein in the president. After all, the midterms are only months away, and Trump is popular with the Republican base—the people who show up at the polls for midterm elections. Any responsible member of Congress, regardless of party, should be willing to censure this president for his egregious behavior in Helsinki. No read-out or comprehensive statement about what the president and Putin discussed at the closed-door summit has been issued by the White House. Yet, according to the Russians, agreements were made. Meanwhile, something worth contemplating is the $1 billion lent to Donald Trump by a bank with some shady practices. Justin Kennedy, the bank official who made the loan, is the son of the Supreme Court justice who just stepped down in time to give Trump a nomination to make just ahead of the mid-terms. Justin Kennedy made that astonishingly large loan when he was an executive at Deutsche Bank, which has been sanctioned by the U.S. for laundering the money of Russian oligarchs. Maybe there’s something in that billion-dollar loan that Putin has on Trump."
"The president of the United States wants to entertain, in the White House, the man U.S. intelligence services say intervened in the election that ultimately landed Trump in the Oval Office. If Putin accepts, he will arrive as an investigation of the election matter by Special Counsel Robert Mueller is ongoing. A Putin visit would no doubt please the evangelical foot soldiers of the Trump base. And it would elate the white supremacists who form the leading edge of support for Trump’s racialized policies on immigration and law enforcement. Of course, the mere fact of the invitation surely pleases Vladimir Putin, patron of the Quisling from Queens. Whatever Putin has on Trump is endangering the republic. It’s a weakness that allows his manipulation by Putin, who has long wished to destroy both the EU and NATO. Congressional leaders surely know this, but other than paying lip service to the obvious fact that Vladimir Putin is not our friend, they’ve yet to rein in the president. After all, the midterms are only months away, and Trump is popular with the Republican base—the people who show up at the polls for midterm elections. Any responsible member of Congress, regardless of party, should be willing to censure this president for his egregious behavior in Helsinki. No read-out or comprehensive statement about what the president and Putin discussed at the closed-door summit has been issued by the White House. Yet, according to the Russians, agreements were made. Meanwhile, something worth contemplating is the $1 billion lent to Donald Trump by a bank with some shady practices. Justin Kennedy, the bank official who made the loan, is the son of the Supreme Court justice who just stepped down in time to give Trump a nomination to make just ahead of the mid-terms. Justin Kennedy made that astonishingly large loan when he was an executive at Deutsche Bank, which has been sanctioned by the U.S. for laundering the money of Russian oligarchs. Maybe there’s something in that billion-dollar loan that Putin has on Trump."
Monday, July 23, 2018
McConnell Admits He Knew About 2016 Russian Hack, Did Nothing
McConnell Admits He Knew About 2016 Russian Hack, Did Nothing:
"Turn the clock back, back, back with me to December, 2016 when reports of Russian attacks on the 2016 election were oozing out. In particular, let us recall together what active measures Senator Mitch McConnell took to make sure we, the people, had no clue about what they were doing. Please compare and contrast McConnell's 2016 behavior with his 2018 behavior: The Democratic leaders in the room unanimously agreed on the need to take the threat seriously. Republicans, however, were divided, with at least two GOP lawmakers reluctant to accede to the White House requests. According to several officials, McConnell raised doubts about the underlying intelligence and made clear to the administration that he would consider any effort by the White House to challenge the Russians publicly an act of partisan politics."
"Turn the clock back, back, back with me to December, 2016 when reports of Russian attacks on the 2016 election were oozing out. In particular, let us recall together what active measures Senator Mitch McConnell took to make sure we, the people, had no clue about what they were doing. Please compare and contrast McConnell's 2016 behavior with his 2018 behavior: The Democratic leaders in the room unanimously agreed on the need to take the threat seriously. Republicans, however, were divided, with at least two GOP lawmakers reluctant to accede to the White House requests. According to several officials, McConnell raised doubts about the underlying intelligence and made clear to the administration that he would consider any effort by the White House to challenge the Russians publicly an act of partisan politics."
Which Putin-Friendly Russian Oligarch Funded the Alleged Spy Who Penetrated the NRA?
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/07/maria-butina-nra-putin-russian-oligarch/
"Maria Butina—the 29-year-old Russian who penetrated the NRA and other conservative groups and who this week was arrested and accused of functioning as a spy for Moscow—allegedly had help from from some well-connected and extremely wealthy men in her motherland. According to a filing submitted in court by federal prosecutors on Wednesday, Butina “has ties to the Russian oligarchy.” The document notes that her private tweets, emails, and chats “refer to a known Russian businessman with deep ties to the Russian Presidential Administration.” In other words, a businessman who is close to Vladimir Putin. All of which prompts an important question: Who exactly was this Putin-friendly Russian billionaire who was allegedly assisting Butina? The document doesn’t identify the Russian moneybags. It only includes this description: “This person often travels to the United States and has also been referred to as her ‘funder’ throughout her correspondence; he was listed in Forbes as having a real-time net worth of $1.2 billion as of 2018.” That latter piece of information is a rather specific clue. But if you turn to the Forbeslist, you will find there are 12 Russians listed at the $1.2 billion mark. There are, however, two in this group known to have a close relationship with Putin."
"Maria Butina—the 29-year-old Russian who penetrated the NRA and other conservative groups and who this week was arrested and accused of functioning as a spy for Moscow—allegedly had help from from some well-connected and extremely wealthy men in her motherland. According to a filing submitted in court by federal prosecutors on Wednesday, Butina “has ties to the Russian oligarchy.” The document notes that her private tweets, emails, and chats “refer to a known Russian businessman with deep ties to the Russian Presidential Administration.” In other words, a businessman who is close to Vladimir Putin. All of which prompts an important question: Who exactly was this Putin-friendly Russian billionaire who was allegedly assisting Butina? The document doesn’t identify the Russian moneybags. It only includes this description: “This person often travels to the United States and has also been referred to as her ‘funder’ throughout her correspondence; he was listed in Forbes as having a real-time net worth of $1.2 billion as of 2018.” That latter piece of information is a rather specific clue. But if you turn to the Forbeslist, you will find there are 12 Russians listed at the $1.2 billion mark. There are, however, two in this group known to have a close relationship with Putin."
This Was Among the Most Disgraceful Moments in the Modern History of the American Presidency
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a22164229/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-press-conference-disgrace/
"We have just witnessed one of the most disgraceful moments in the modern history of the United States presidency. Donald Trump, American president, held a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin and sided, over and over again, with the thuggish authoritarian leader of a geopolitical adversary who engineered an attack on U.S. democracy. He lined up against his own intelligence community, his domestic political opponents, and the free press."
"We have just witnessed one of the most disgraceful moments in the modern history of the United States presidency. Donald Trump, American president, held a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin and sided, over and over again, with the thuggish authoritarian leader of a geopolitical adversary who engineered an attack on U.S. democracy. He lined up against his own intelligence community, his domestic political opponents, and the free press."
INFOGRAPHIC: Alleged Russian Agent Mariia Butina’s Influence Operation
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/maria-butina-web-connections-republican-party
"The 29-year-old essentially made her very own “Where’s Waldo?” series out of the 2016 GOP presidential campaign. Butina was captured on camera at a 2015 Las Vegas libertarian convention asking then-candidate Donald Trump about U.S. sanctions. She popped up at NRA events throughout the Midwest and at the National Prayer Breakfast in D.C. On the day of President Trump’s inauguration, Butina even sent a selfie to her alleged handler, Russian Central Bank official Alexander Torshin, of her beaming near the U.S. Capitol building. Many of those interactions, like her run-ins with short-lived GOP candidates Bobby Jindal and Rick Santorum, were just embarrassing photo ops for those politicians she was allegedly targeting. But some of the connections—like her intimate relationship with GOP operative Paul Erickson and her association with former NRA president David Keene—were involved and forged over years."
"The 29-year-old essentially made her very own “Where’s Waldo?” series out of the 2016 GOP presidential campaign. Butina was captured on camera at a 2015 Las Vegas libertarian convention asking then-candidate Donald Trump about U.S. sanctions. She popped up at NRA events throughout the Midwest and at the National Prayer Breakfast in D.C. On the day of President Trump’s inauguration, Butina even sent a selfie to her alleged handler, Russian Central Bank official Alexander Torshin, of her beaming near the U.S. Capitol building. Many of those interactions, like her run-ins with short-lived GOP candidates Bobby Jindal and Rick Santorum, were just embarrassing photo ops for those politicians she was allegedly targeting. But some of the connections—like her intimate relationship with GOP operative Paul Erickson and her association with former NRA president David Keene—were involved and forged over years."
Trump Just Nominated a Pesticide Exec to Oversee Science at the USDA
https://www.motherjones.com/food/2018/07/trump-just-nominated-a-pesticide-exec-to-oversee-science-at-usda/
"If approved by the Senate, Scott Hutchins will be the third major player from Dow Chemical’s pesticide/seed division—now known as Corteva, after Dow’s 2017 merger with DuPont—to hold a high post in Trump’s USDA. Back in April, the administration tapped Ken Isley, a 30-year Dow Agroscience/Corteva veteran, to lead the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service. In October 2017, another former Dow man, Ted Mckinney, was confirmed by the Senate as undersecretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs. McKinney had served for 19 years on Dow Agroscience’s government affairs (read: lobbying) team."
"If approved by the Senate, Scott Hutchins will be the third major player from Dow Chemical’s pesticide/seed division—now known as Corteva, after Dow’s 2017 merger with DuPont—to hold a high post in Trump’s USDA. Back in April, the administration tapped Ken Isley, a 30-year Dow Agroscience/Corteva veteran, to lead the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service. In October 2017, another former Dow man, Ted Mckinney, was confirmed by the Senate as undersecretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs. McKinney had served for 19 years on Dow Agroscience’s government affairs (read: lobbying) team."
Trump’s recent behavior is too ridiculous even for Russian state TV
https://thinkprogress.org/donald-trump-russia-state-media-helsinki-vladimir-putin-fox-news-bde2b707a577/
"According to reporter and Russian media analyst Julia Davis, Russia’s state television accused the President of the United States of “licking Putin’s boots” during Monday’s press conference"
"According to reporter and Russian media analyst Julia Davis, Russia’s state television accused the President of the United States of “licking Putin’s boots” during Monday’s press conference"
Prosecutors Say Arrested Russian Gun Rights Activist Was a Spy
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/07/prosecutors-say-arrested-russian-guns-rights-activist-was-a-spy/
"Maria Butina, the 29-year-old Russian gun rights activist indicted this week for acting as an unregistered foreign agent, was involved with suspected Russian intelligence officials and used sex to gain access to conservative power players, according to a court filing submitted by federal prosecutors Wednesday."
"Maria Butina, the 29-year-old Russian gun rights activist indicted this week for acting as an unregistered foreign agent, was involved with suspected Russian intelligence officials and used sex to gain access to conservative power players, according to a court filing submitted by federal prosecutors Wednesday."
In Helsinki, Trump Shows He Is Indeed Guilty of Collusion
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/07/in-helsinki-trump-shows-he-is-indeed-guilty-of-collusion/
"Trump working with Putin, in the open, to make the Russian attack on the United States disappear. Trump himself has proven the case."
"Trump working with Putin, in the open, to make the Russian attack on the United States disappear. Trump himself has proven the case."
Scott Pruitt Can’t Escape His Investigations Just Because He Resigned
https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2018/07/scott-pruitt-cant-escape-his-investigations-just-because-he-resigned/
"Scott Pruitt may be out at the Environmental Protection Agency, but he left in the midst of more than a dozen federal investigations into his conduct."
"Scott Pruitt may be out at the Environmental Protection Agency, but he left in the midst of more than a dozen federal investigations into his conduct."
Trump Kills Regulation That Would Have Shed Light On Union-Busting By Employers
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-kills-regulation-that-would-have-shed-light-on-union-busting-by-employers_us_5b4f6b6fe4b0fd5c73c160ea
"The Trump administration has officially killed a regulation that would have required employers to publicly disclose more information about the union-busting consultants they hire."
"The Trump administration has officially killed a regulation that would have required employers to publicly disclose more information about the union-busting consultants they hire."
Sunday, July 22, 2018
Trump Ends NATO Summit by Announcing a Diplomatic Breakthrough That Did Not Happen
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/07/nato-summit-trump-fabricates-agreement-on-defense-spending.html
"By now, it is beyond cliché to say that Donald Trump approaches his presidency (and/or entire existence) as though it were a reality-television show. But like Trump’s political career itself, that analogy is forever forcing its way into one’s consciousness, no matter how tired and irritating it has become."
"By now, it is beyond cliché to say that Donald Trump approaches his presidency (and/or entire existence) as though it were a reality-television show. But like Trump’s political career itself, that analogy is forever forcing its way into one’s consciousness, no matter how tired and irritating it has become."
On The Seven Republican Senators Who Just Betrayed Us In Moscow
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/7/6/1778407/-On-The-Seven-Republican-Senators-Who-Just-Betrayed-Us-In-Moscow
"The whole point of the trip was to assure the Russian that the Republican Party were their best buds, with plenty of money to be made on both sides. And, by the way, that the Russians had nothing really to worry about if they chose to mess with our Democracy again, in say, three months or so, as long as they stay on the right side. By a remarkable coincidence, none of these GOP Senators were up for re-election this year, so it would be a pretty safe bet that no one would remember this little soiree by 2020."
"The whole point of the trip was to assure the Russian that the Republican Party were their best buds, with plenty of money to be made on both sides. And, by the way, that the Russians had nothing really to worry about if they chose to mess with our Democracy again, in say, three months or so, as long as they stay on the right side. By a remarkable coincidence, none of these GOP Senators were up for re-election this year, so it would be a pretty safe bet that no one would remember this little soiree by 2020."
House Republicans Are Trying to Thwart Dem Russia Probe
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/07/house-republicans-are-trying-to-thwart-dem-russia-probe.html
"Nunes is blocking Democrats from sharing what they’ve learned in witness interviews with Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the committee, tells CNN that some of the witnesses interviewed by House may have lied and he wants to tell Mueller all about it, but he can’t do so without Nunes’s help."
"Nunes is blocking Democrats from sharing what they’ve learned in witness interviews with Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the committee, tells CNN that some of the witnesses interviewed by House may have lied and he wants to tell Mueller all about it, but he can’t do so without Nunes’s help."
The NRA Has Deep Ties to Accused Russian Spy Maria Butina
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/07/nra-maria-butina-spying-charges-trump-campaign/
"After Trump won the presidential election, according to the court documents made public this week, Butina contacted Torshin. “I am ready for further orders,” she told him."
"After Trump won the presidential election, according to the court documents made public this week, Butina contacted Torshin. “I am ready for further orders,” she told him."
There's a clear and present danger to our elections, and Republicans refuse to act
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/7/19/1781955/-There-s-a-clear-and-present-danger-to-our-elections-and-Republican-refuse-to-act
"Lost somewhat in the fall-out of the Surrender Summit between Russian asset Donald Trump and his primary handler Vladimir Putin was a truly alarming report about just how vulnerable our elections systems are to hacking, whether from Russians or just your run-of-the-mill larcenous Republican group. The nation's leading voting machine maker admitted to Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden that for six years it sold systems to a number of states that had software allowing remote access."
"Lost somewhat in the fall-out of the Surrender Summit between Russian asset Donald Trump and his primary handler Vladimir Putin was a truly alarming report about just how vulnerable our elections systems are to hacking, whether from Russians or just your run-of-the-mill larcenous Republican group. The nation's leading voting machine maker admitted to Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden that for six years it sold systems to a number of states that had software allowing remote access."
Trump, Treasonous Traitor
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/15/opinion/trump-russia-investigation-putin.html
"America’s commander wants to be chummy with the enemy who committed the crime. Trump is more concerned with protecting his presidency and validating his election than he is in protecting this country."
"America’s commander wants to be chummy with the enemy who committed the crime. Trump is more concerned with protecting his presidency and validating his election than he is in protecting this country."
Trump Lied About Supporting U.S. Intelligence and No One Seems to Care
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-lied-about-supporting-u-s-intelligence-and-no-one-seems-to-care-700580/
"Trump is deep within the pocket of a manipulative, authoritarian leader determined to drive a wedge between the United States and its closest allies, at the same time compromising America’s democratic process with little recourse."
"Trump is deep within the pocket of a manipulative, authoritarian leader determined to drive a wedge between the United States and its closest allies, at the same time compromising America’s democratic process with little recourse."
Russian Tied To NRA Charged With ‘Infiltrating’ US Political Organizations
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/maria-butina-charged-conspiracy-infiltrate-us-organizations-russia
"A Russian woman with close ties to the National Rifle Association was arrested Sunday and charged with “conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government,” according to a criminal complaint unsealed Monday. Mariia Butina is accused of acting as an unregistered agent on Russia’s behalf between 2015 and 2017, in collaboration with “others known and unknown, including an official of the Russian Federation,” according to the complaint. Butina is a former assistant of Alexander Torshin, a top official at the Russian Central Bank who is reportedly under investigation by the FBI for channeling money to the NRA to benefit Trump’s 2016 campaign. The pair have been under scrutiny by journalists and investigators for months, thanks to a bombshell January report in McClatchy that first revealed the FBI’s financial probe. Butina and Torshin have close ties to the NRA, which is not named in the criminal complaint or supporting affidavit but is referred to as a “Gun Rights Organization"."
"A Russian woman with close ties to the National Rifle Association was arrested Sunday and charged with “conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government,” according to a criminal complaint unsealed Monday. Mariia Butina is accused of acting as an unregistered agent on Russia’s behalf between 2015 and 2017, in collaboration with “others known and unknown, including an official of the Russian Federation,” according to the complaint. Butina is a former assistant of Alexander Torshin, a top official at the Russian Central Bank who is reportedly under investigation by the FBI for channeling money to the NRA to benefit Trump’s 2016 campaign. The pair have been under scrutiny by journalists and investigators for months, thanks to a bombshell January report in McClatchy that first revealed the FBI’s financial probe. Butina and Torshin have close ties to the NRA, which is not named in the criminal complaint or supporting affidavit but is referred to as a “Gun Rights Organization"."
The Crisis Is Upon Us
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a22165304/donald-trump-press-conference-vladimir-putin-renegade-presidency/
"Putin finds the president* laughable. He has more reason than most to feel that way. He sees him as a particularly intriguing play-toy. Trump deserves Putin's contempt. In fact, these two men deserve each other. Unfortunately, nobody else on planet Earth does."
"Putin finds the president* laughable. He has more reason than most to feel that way. He sees him as a particularly intriguing play-toy. Trump deserves Putin's contempt. In fact, these two men deserve each other. Unfortunately, nobody else on planet Earth does."
Brett Kavanaugh’s Record on the Rule of Law Is Much Worse Than His Defenders Contend
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/07/brett-kavanaughs-record-on-the-rule-of-law-is-much-worse-than-his-defenders-contend.html
"Rule-of-law controversies have virtually defined this administration as the president demands “loyalty” from senior law enforcement officials, insists on immunity from obstruction of justice charges, and boasts of the “absolute” power to pardon anyone for any reason, including himself. He has aggressively staked out these positions, with full support from his legal team, in the context of an unprecedented investigation into a foreign power’s intervention on his behalf in the last election."
"Rule-of-law controversies have virtually defined this administration as the president demands “loyalty” from senior law enforcement officials, insists on immunity from obstruction of justice charges, and boasts of the “absolute” power to pardon anyone for any reason, including himself. He has aggressively staked out these positions, with full support from his legal team, in the context of an unprecedented investigation into a foreign power’s intervention on his behalf in the last election."
Mueller Has the Goods—All of the Goods
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a22143324/russia-indictments-robert-mueller-collusion-donald-trump/
"There's so much more coming. You can feel the hoofbeats of the horseman and the baying of the hounds behind every syllable of this indictment."
"There's so much more coming. You can feel the hoofbeats of the horseman and the baying of the hounds behind every syllable of this indictment."
Corporations Invested Their Tax Cuts Into Stock Buybacks That Didn’t Even Work
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/07/corporations-are-investing-in-stock-buybacks-that-dont-pay.html
"In the first six months after the Trump tax cuts were passed, corporate investment in equipment declined, America’s projected long-term deficit swelled by nearly $2 trillion, and wages for the vast majority of American workers fell on an inflation-adjusted basis. And there is no sign that reality will start comporting with the GOP’s predictions any time soon. As the Washington Post’s Heather Long notes, Morgan Stanley reported last month that America’s businesses are planning less future capital spending now than they were a few months ago. And that finding is bolstered by a recent survey of 393 businesses from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the audit firm RSM, which found that only 38 percent of those firms plan to increase investment over the next three years. Instead of channeling their profits into productive investment, S&P 500 companies are on pace to plow a record-setting $800 billion into buying back their own stocks. The point of such “stock buybacks” is to increase a firm’s share price (and thus, in many cases, the performance-based pay of its CEO) by reducing the supply of shares on the market."
"In the first six months after the Trump tax cuts were passed, corporate investment in equipment declined, America’s projected long-term deficit swelled by nearly $2 trillion, and wages for the vast majority of American workers fell on an inflation-adjusted basis. And there is no sign that reality will start comporting with the GOP’s predictions any time soon. As the Washington Post’s Heather Long notes, Morgan Stanley reported last month that America’s businesses are planning less future capital spending now than they were a few months ago. And that finding is bolstered by a recent survey of 393 businesses from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the audit firm RSM, which found that only 38 percent of those firms plan to increase investment over the next three years. Instead of channeling their profits into productive investment, S&P 500 companies are on pace to plow a record-setting $800 billion into buying back their own stocks. The point of such “stock buybacks” is to increase a firm’s share price (and thus, in many cases, the performance-based pay of its CEO) by reducing the supply of shares on the market."
Brits Don't Mince Words: The Most Irreverent and Radical Signs From UK's Historic Anti-Trump Protest
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/07/13/brits-dont-mince-words-most-irreverent-and-radical-signs-uks-historic-anti-trump
"the disgust hundreds of thousands of Britons feel toward Donald Trump and Trumpism could not be suppressed as they took to the streets en masse to show their opposition to the U.S. president's hate-filled policies."
"the disgust hundreds of thousands of Britons feel toward Donald Trump and Trumpism could not be suppressed as they took to the streets en masse to show their opposition to the U.S. president's hate-filled policies."
Russian Asbestos Company Puts Trump's Face, Seal of Approval, on Pallets of Its Products
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/07/11/russian-asbestos-company-puts-trumps-face-seal-approval-pallets-its-products
"Praising the Trump administration's new asbestos policies, which were announced last month, the company's post thanked the president for supporting recently-resigned Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt, "who declared that his agency would no longer deal with matters related to side effects potentially caused by asbestos," according to a translation by Guardian."
"Praising the Trump administration's new asbestos policies, which were announced last month, the company's post thanked the president for supporting recently-resigned Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt, "who declared that his agency would no longer deal with matters related to side effects potentially caused by asbestos," according to a translation by Guardian."
Wis Sen Ron Johnson wants to jam through SCOTUS nom, because he's also caught up in #TrumpRussia
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/7/10/1779547/-Wis-Sen-Ron-Johnson-wants-to-jam-through-SCOTUS-nom-because-he-s-also-caught-up-in-TrumpRussia
"I’m becoming pretty confident that Donald Trump isn’t the only Republican that would want GOP hack Brett Kavanaugh installed on the Supreme Court to cover up his crimes"
"I’m becoming pretty confident that Donald Trump isn’t the only Republican that would want GOP hack Brett Kavanaugh installed on the Supreme Court to cover up his crimes"
Brett Kavanaugh, Who Has Ruled Against Campaign Finance Regulations, Could Bring an Avalanche of Big Money to Elections
https://theintercept.com/2018/07/12/brett-kavanaugh-supreme-court-donor-disclosure/
"In recent years, the Supreme Court has swiftly remade the landscape of American politics, gutting 1960s-era civil rights laws restricting voter suppression, sharply weakening labor unions, and deregulating the campaign finance system to allow for wealthy individuals and corporations to exercise greater influence over elected representatives. With President Donald Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court, that influence is poised to grow. Kavanaugh’s appellate court decisions and public comments suggest that he will accelerate the trend toward a political system dominated by wealthy elites — often operating in the shadows, without any form of disclosure."
"In recent years, the Supreme Court has swiftly remade the landscape of American politics, gutting 1960s-era civil rights laws restricting voter suppression, sharply weakening labor unions, and deregulating the campaign finance system to allow for wealthy individuals and corporations to exercise greater influence over elected representatives. With President Donald Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court, that influence is poised to grow. Kavanaugh’s appellate court decisions and public comments suggest that he will accelerate the trend toward a political system dominated by wealthy elites — often operating in the shadows, without any form of disclosure."
This Ought to Run in Campaign Ads from Now Through Eternity
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a22063027/republican-senators-russia-4th-of-july/
"The entire Wisconsin Republican Party should be made to drag Johnson around as a deadweight around its ankles. The same should be true of all the Republican senators who made this little junket to visit the Volga Bagmen on this country’s 242nd birthday, and that especially includes Richard Shelby (R-Easy Mark), Republican of Alabama. From the WaPo: Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.) told Russia’s foreign minister that while Russia and the United States were competitors, “we don’t necessarily need to be adversaries.” Later on at the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, members attending a plenary session greeted the Americans with applause. “I’m not here today to accuse Russia of this or that or so forth,” Shelby told Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin. “I’m saying that we should all strive for a better relationship.” Dude, we are adversaries. You become an adversary when you ratfck our elections. You become an adversary when you ship nerve agents overseas to kill someone living in peace under the protection of one of our allies. We are adversaries because Vladimir Putin stands in proud opposition to everything we were supposed to be celebrating here while you passel of hopeless marks were going to the ballet in St. Petersburg and having your geopolitical pockets picked."
"The entire Wisconsin Republican Party should be made to drag Johnson around as a deadweight around its ankles. The same should be true of all the Republican senators who made this little junket to visit the Volga Bagmen on this country’s 242nd birthday, and that especially includes Richard Shelby (R-Easy Mark), Republican of Alabama. From the WaPo: Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.) told Russia’s foreign minister that while Russia and the United States were competitors, “we don’t necessarily need to be adversaries.” Later on at the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, members attending a plenary session greeted the Americans with applause. “I’m not here today to accuse Russia of this or that or so forth,” Shelby told Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin. “I’m saying that we should all strive for a better relationship.” Dude, we are adversaries. You become an adversary when you ratfck our elections. You become an adversary when you ship nerve agents overseas to kill someone living in peace under the protection of one of our allies. We are adversaries because Vladimir Putin stands in proud opposition to everything we were supposed to be celebrating here while you passel of hopeless marks were going to the ballet in St. Petersburg and having your geopolitical pockets picked."
You Are Paying for the Trump Brothers to Travel the World on Trump Organization Business
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/07/you-are-paying-for-the-trump-brothers-to-travel-the-world-on-trump-organization-business/
"It’s not cheap to live like a Trump, and American taxpayers are finding out the hard way. Wherever Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump go, they are accompanied by an entourage of Secret Service agents. Taxpayers don’t pay for the Trumps to travel, but they do foot the bill for their protective details. These trips often include stays in high-priced, luxury hotels, such as the One&Only Royal Mirage in Dubai, where the Trump brothers jetted in February 2017 to meet with Hussain Sajwani, their business partner in a Dubai golf resort. On this trip alone, which included a side visit to the Maldives with Sajwani and his family, the Secret Service racked up $230,000 in travel costs. The eye-popping expenses are contained in documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Extensive details of the Dubai trip’s itinerary—including arrangements for a seaplane to take the brothers and their protective entourage to private islands in the Maldives—are included in the records, which were released by CREW on Wednesday. The Dubai visit was perhaps the most lavish trip the Trump have taken with taxpayer-funded protection, though it was hardly the only one. In January 2017, the Secret Service spent roughly $30,000 to accompany Eric Trump to the Dominican Republic, where he met with his father’s former business partners to explore reviving a collapsed resort project—despite a pledge from the president that his company would engage in no new foreign deals while he was in office. According to the documents obtained by CREW, taxpayers shelled out more than $50,000 for a visit the brothers made to Vancouver, Canada in early February 2017 for the opening of a new Trump hotel there. More than half of those charges were paid to the Trump hotel. The documents also detail a trip to Uruguay by Eric Trump in January 2017, which cost taxpayers at least $97,000."
"It’s not cheap to live like a Trump, and American taxpayers are finding out the hard way. Wherever Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump go, they are accompanied by an entourage of Secret Service agents. Taxpayers don’t pay for the Trumps to travel, but they do foot the bill for their protective details. These trips often include stays in high-priced, luxury hotels, such as the One&Only Royal Mirage in Dubai, where the Trump brothers jetted in February 2017 to meet with Hussain Sajwani, their business partner in a Dubai golf resort. On this trip alone, which included a side visit to the Maldives with Sajwani and his family, the Secret Service racked up $230,000 in travel costs. The eye-popping expenses are contained in documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Extensive details of the Dubai trip’s itinerary—including arrangements for a seaplane to take the brothers and their protective entourage to private islands in the Maldives—are included in the records, which were released by CREW on Wednesday. The Dubai visit was perhaps the most lavish trip the Trump have taken with taxpayer-funded protection, though it was hardly the only one. In January 2017, the Secret Service spent roughly $30,000 to accompany Eric Trump to the Dominican Republic, where he met with his father’s former business partners to explore reviving a collapsed resort project—despite a pledge from the president that his company would engage in no new foreign deals while he was in office. According to the documents obtained by CREW, taxpayers shelled out more than $50,000 for a visit the brothers made to Vancouver, Canada in early February 2017 for the opening of a new Trump hotel there. More than half of those charges were paid to the Trump hotel. The documents also detail a trip to Uruguay by Eric Trump in January 2017, which cost taxpayers at least $97,000."
Trial runs for fascism are in full flow
https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/fintan-o-toole-trial-runs-for-fascism-are-in-full-flow-1.3543375
"Fascism doesn’t arise suddenly in an existing democracy. It is not easy to get people to give up their ideas of freedom and civility. You have to do trial runs that, if they are done well, serve two purposes. They get people used to something they may initially recoil from; and they allow you to refine and calibrate. This is what is happening now and we would be fools not to see it. One of the basic tools of fascism is the rigging of elections – we’ve seen that trialled in the election of Trump, in the Brexit referendum and (less successfully) in the French presidential elections. Another is the generation of tribal identities, the division of society into mutually exclusive polarities. Fascism does not need a majority – it typically comes to power with about 40 per cent support and then uses control and intimidation to consolidate that power. So it doesn’t matter if most people hate you, as long as your 40 per cent is fanatically committed. That’s been tested out too. And fascism of course needs a propaganda machine so effective that it creates for its followers a universe of “alternative facts” impervious to unwanted realities. Again, the testing for this is very far advanced. But when you’ve done all this, there is a crucial next step, usually the trickiest of all. You have to undermine moral boundaries, inure people to the acceptance of acts of extreme cruelty. Like hounds, people have to be blooded. They have to be given the taste for savagery. Fascism does this by building up the sense of threat from a despised out-group. This allows the members of that group to be dehumanised. Once that has been achieved, you can gradually up the ante, working through the stages from breaking windows to extermination. It is this next step that is being test-marketed now."
"Fascism doesn’t arise suddenly in an existing democracy. It is not easy to get people to give up their ideas of freedom and civility. You have to do trial runs that, if they are done well, serve two purposes. They get people used to something they may initially recoil from; and they allow you to refine and calibrate. This is what is happening now and we would be fools not to see it. One of the basic tools of fascism is the rigging of elections – we’ve seen that trialled in the election of Trump, in the Brexit referendum and (less successfully) in the French presidential elections. Another is the generation of tribal identities, the division of society into mutually exclusive polarities. Fascism does not need a majority – it typically comes to power with about 40 per cent support and then uses control and intimidation to consolidate that power. So it doesn’t matter if most people hate you, as long as your 40 per cent is fanatically committed. That’s been tested out too. And fascism of course needs a propaganda machine so effective that it creates for its followers a universe of “alternative facts” impervious to unwanted realities. Again, the testing for this is very far advanced. But when you’ve done all this, there is a crucial next step, usually the trickiest of all. You have to undermine moral boundaries, inure people to the acceptance of acts of extreme cruelty. Like hounds, people have to be blooded. They have to be given the taste for savagery. Fascism does this by building up the sense of threat from a despised out-group. This allows the members of that group to be dehumanised. Once that has been achieved, you can gradually up the ante, working through the stages from breaking windows to extermination. It is this next step that is being test-marketed now."
Russian bots are back: #WalkAway attack on Democrats is a likely Kremlin operation
https://www.salon.com/2018/07/09/russian-bots-are-back-walkaway-attack-on-democrats-is-a-likely-kremlin-operation/
"To be clear: This isn’t being circulated by earnest yet misguided voters who formerly identified as Democrats. This is clearly being circulated by trolls connected to the Russian influence operations."
"To be clear: This isn’t being circulated by earnest yet misguided voters who formerly identified as Democrats. This is clearly being circulated by trolls connected to the Russian influence operations."
In Kavanaugh, Trump Found Another Judge Who Will Kiss the Ring
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/07/will-brett-kavanaugh-do-what-donald-trump-wants.html
"In his writings on and off the bench, he has embraced an unfettered view of executive power, supreme over strictures that may protect the government from itself, if not wholly from any meaningful judicial review. “Kavanaugh has been the creature and servant of political power all his days,” Garrett Epps, a constitutional scholar, wrote in The Atlantic. “It would be the height of folly to expect that, having attained his lifetime’s ambition of a seat on the Supreme Court, he will become anything else"."
"In his writings on and off the bench, he has embraced an unfettered view of executive power, supreme over strictures that may protect the government from itself, if not wholly from any meaningful judicial review. “Kavanaugh has been the creature and servant of political power all his days,” Garrett Epps, a constitutional scholar, wrote in The Atlantic. “It would be the height of folly to expect that, having attained his lifetime’s ambition of a seat on the Supreme Court, he will become anything else"."
Senate Confirms Trump Court Pick With Record Of Attacking Voting Rights
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-court-pick-restrict-voting-rights_us_5b4f5bc7e4b0fd5c73c143c7
"More than 200 civil rights groups opposed Andrew Oldham, but every Republican voted to make him a lifetime federal judge."
"More than 200 civil rights groups opposed Andrew Oldham, but every Republican voted to make him a lifetime federal judge."
The White House Press Room Should Just Be Empty
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a22145043/sarah-sanders-john-kelly-breakfast-lie/
"The daily briefings are now something beyond worthless; they are acts of complicity in a gangster presidency. No journalist with any self-respect ever should appear in that room again."
"The daily briefings are now something beyond worthless; they are acts of complicity in a gangster presidency. No journalist with any self-respect ever should appear in that room again."
Fox's Ed Henry Gushes Over Getting The Last 'Trump-Putin Helsinki 2018' Hat
Fox's Ed Henry Gushes Over Getting The Last 'Trump-Putin Helsinki 2018' Hat:
"Trump's BFFs on state-run TV were thrilled to death to get the last 'Trump-Putin Helsinki 2018' hat during their coverage of his summit in Finland."
"Trump's BFFs on state-run TV were thrilled to death to get the last 'Trump-Putin Helsinki 2018' hat during their coverage of his summit in Finland."
The CIA Still Doesn’t Trust Jared Kushner With Its Most Sensitive Intelligence
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/07/the-cia-still-doesnt-trust-jared-kushner-with-its-intel.html
"During his first year in the White House, Jared Kushner enjoyed unfettered access to Uncle Sam’s deepest secrets — but only because the White House had allowed him to use an interim security clearance as though it were a permanent one. This was because the FBI declined to officially declare Kushner fit to access “top secret” intelligence for months on end. In February 2018 — when the Rob Porter scandal brought public attention to the White House’s profligate abuse of interim security clearances — Kushner still hadn’t secured the bureau’s seal of approval. This fed suspicion that the president’s son-in-law was a subject of the special counsel’s investigation — a concern buttressed by his real-estate company’s sketchy solicitations of giant loans from foreign governments in the aftermath of the 2016 election. Amid public outcry, Kushner’s clearance was downgraded. Three months later, however, it was restored; and this time, his clearance was of the “permanent” variety. Kushner’s allies celebrated this apparent testament to his safety from Robert Mueller’s probe. Finally, the White House’s resident “Middle East expert” had won the right to review sensitive geopolitical information, thereby clearing the only significant obstacle to a peace agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians. Or so it seemed. On Thursday night, the Washington Post revealed that the CIA still has not signed off on letting Kushner look at “sensitive compartmented information” — the government’s most sensitive category of secrets, which “primarily involves U.S. intelligence sources and surveillance methods.” It is unclear whether the CIA’s reluctance has anything to do with Kushner’s sketchy real-estate dealings, or discussions with Russian officials about a “secret back channel” during the presidential transition, or anything else that could put the senior White House adviser in legal jeopardy."
"During his first year in the White House, Jared Kushner enjoyed unfettered access to Uncle Sam’s deepest secrets — but only because the White House had allowed him to use an interim security clearance as though it were a permanent one. This was because the FBI declined to officially declare Kushner fit to access “top secret” intelligence for months on end. In February 2018 — when the Rob Porter scandal brought public attention to the White House’s profligate abuse of interim security clearances — Kushner still hadn’t secured the bureau’s seal of approval. This fed suspicion that the president’s son-in-law was a subject of the special counsel’s investigation — a concern buttressed by his real-estate company’s sketchy solicitations of giant loans from foreign governments in the aftermath of the 2016 election. Amid public outcry, Kushner’s clearance was downgraded. Three months later, however, it was restored; and this time, his clearance was of the “permanent” variety. Kushner’s allies celebrated this apparent testament to his safety from Robert Mueller’s probe. Finally, the White House’s resident “Middle East expert” had won the right to review sensitive geopolitical information, thereby clearing the only significant obstacle to a peace agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians. Or so it seemed. On Thursday night, the Washington Post revealed that the CIA still has not signed off on letting Kushner look at “sensitive compartmented information” — the government’s most sensitive category of secrets, which “primarily involves U.S. intelligence sources and surveillance methods.” It is unclear whether the CIA’s reluctance has anything to do with Kushner’s sketchy real-estate dealings, or discussions with Russian officials about a “secret back channel” during the presidential transition, or anything else that could put the senior White House adviser in legal jeopardy."
HHS Plans to Delete 20 Years of Critical Medical Guidelines Next Week
https://www.thedailybeast.com/hhs-plans-to-delete-20-years-of-critical-medical-guidelines-next-week?ref=home?ref=home
"The Trump Administration is planning to eliminate a vast trove of medical guidelines that for nearly 20 years has been a critical resource for doctors, researchers and others in the medical community. Maintained by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality [AHRQ], part of the Department of Health and Human Services, the database is known as the National Guideline Clearinghouse [NGC], and it’s scheduled to “go dark,” in the words of an official there, on July 16. Medical guidelines like those compiled by AHRQ aren’t something laypeople spend much time thinking about, but experts like Valerie King, a professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Director of Research at the Center for Evidence-based Policy at Oregon Health & Science University, said the NGC is perhaps the most important repository of evidence-based research available. “Guideline.gov was our go-to source, and there is nothing else like it in the world,” King said, referring to the URL at which the database is hosted, which the agency says receives about 200,000 visitors per month. “It is a singular resource,” King added."
"The Trump Administration is planning to eliminate a vast trove of medical guidelines that for nearly 20 years has been a critical resource for doctors, researchers and others in the medical community. Maintained by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality [AHRQ], part of the Department of Health and Human Services, the database is known as the National Guideline Clearinghouse [NGC], and it’s scheduled to “go dark,” in the words of an official there, on July 16. Medical guidelines like those compiled by AHRQ aren’t something laypeople spend much time thinking about, but experts like Valerie King, a professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Director of Research at the Center for Evidence-based Policy at Oregon Health & Science University, said the NGC is perhaps the most important repository of evidence-based research available. “Guideline.gov was our go-to source, and there is nothing else like it in the world,” King said, referring to the URL at which the database is hosted, which the agency says receives about 200,000 visitors per month. “It is a singular resource,” King added."
Now Trump's Cabinet Will Pick Their Own Political Judges All Over the Government
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a22115786/administrative-law-judges-donald-trump-supreme-court/
"It’s been looking for a while like the Republicans are preparing for a possible Democratic shockwave in the November elections by doing all they can to consolidate the gains they’ve made for themselves and for their donor class during their period of controlling the entire government. ( The president* is cooperating in this effort because he knows nothing about anything, and because, winning!) The unseemly haste with which they’re trying to lard up the federal judiciary with embryonic Scalias is the most obvious example. But, as with all things these days, it’s best to keep your eye on the sparrow as well. On June 21, in a case called Lucia v. SEC, and by a resounding 7-2 margin, the Supreme Court ruled that administrative law judges (ALJs)—who preside over quasi-legal proceedings within the various executive agencies—are what are called “inferior officers” of the United States and, as such, can be appointed only by the president or by the head of the agency in question. (The case challenged the bona fides of an ALJ who worked for the Securities and Exchange Commission and who had been appointed, as was customary at the time, from off a master list maintained by the Office of Personnel Management.) These people are more important than they appear to be. Administrative law judges preside over hearings within the agencies. These hearings adjudicate disputes over claims and benefits, as well as cases involving actions taken by the agencies. In the case of the SEC, for example, the agency could choose to take action to enforce financial regulations through the administrative procedures rather than going to court. Now, thanks to the Supreme Court, hundreds of administrative actions likely are now open to review. To repeat, because of the Lucia decision, administrative law judges now can be appointed only by the president or the head of the agency. You can see where this is headed, right?"
"It’s been looking for a while like the Republicans are preparing for a possible Democratic shockwave in the November elections by doing all they can to consolidate the gains they’ve made for themselves and for their donor class during their period of controlling the entire government. ( The president* is cooperating in this effort because he knows nothing about anything, and because, winning!) The unseemly haste with which they’re trying to lard up the federal judiciary with embryonic Scalias is the most obvious example. But, as with all things these days, it’s best to keep your eye on the sparrow as well. On June 21, in a case called Lucia v. SEC, and by a resounding 7-2 margin, the Supreme Court ruled that administrative law judges (ALJs)—who preside over quasi-legal proceedings within the various executive agencies—are what are called “inferior officers” of the United States and, as such, can be appointed only by the president or by the head of the agency in question. (The case challenged the bona fides of an ALJ who worked for the Securities and Exchange Commission and who had been appointed, as was customary at the time, from off a master list maintained by the Office of Personnel Management.) These people are more important than they appear to be. Administrative law judges preside over hearings within the agencies. These hearings adjudicate disputes over claims and benefits, as well as cases involving actions taken by the agencies. In the case of the SEC, for example, the agency could choose to take action to enforce financial regulations through the administrative procedures rather than going to court. Now, thanks to the Supreme Court, hundreds of administrative actions likely are now open to review. To repeat, because of the Lucia decision, administrative law judges now can be appointed only by the president or the head of the agency. You can see where this is headed, right?"
Someone Should Go to Jail for This
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a22108183/trump-administration-separated-children-court-order/
"Try this sometime. You’re in court and the judge gives you a deadline to do something by Day X. Then, when Day X arrives, tell the judge that you’ve only been able to do four percent of what the judge demanded that you do. See where you’re eating dinner that night. This whole thing is preposterous now. The administration* never had a plan to do anything except separate these families and hold the children hostage. It certainly had no plan to reunite the children with their parents. As far as I can tell, it had no plan beyond the phrase, “zero-tolerance.” Now, it’s trying to cobble a policy together as fast as it’s trying to cobble together facilities in which to warehouse terrified toddlers. And all it’s got left is a president* who believes that he doesn’t have to listen to people like federal judges."
"Try this sometime. You’re in court and the judge gives you a deadline to do something by Day X. Then, when Day X arrives, tell the judge that you’ve only been able to do four percent of what the judge demanded that you do. See where you’re eating dinner that night. This whole thing is preposterous now. The administration* never had a plan to do anything except separate these families and hold the children hostage. It certainly had no plan to reunite the children with their parents. As far as I can tell, it had no plan beyond the phrase, “zero-tolerance.” Now, it’s trying to cobble a policy together as fast as it’s trying to cobble together facilities in which to warehouse terrified toddlers. And all it’s got left is a president* who believes that he doesn’t have to listen to people like federal judges."
American Conservatives Played A Secret Role In The Macedonian Fake News Boom Ahead Of 2016
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/american-conservatives-fake-news-macedonia-paris-wade-libert
"it was launched by a well-known Macedonian media attorney, Trajche Arsov — who worked closely with two high-profile American partners for at least six months during a period that overlapped with Election Day. One of those Americans, Paris Wade, is now running for office in Nevada. Arsov also employed other American and British writers, including at least one who currently works for US right-wing conspiracy site the Gateway Pundit. The investigation also reveals that at least one member of Russia’s “troll factory,” who has been indicted by US special counsel Robert Mueller for alleged interference in the election, was in Macedonia just three months before the web domain for the country’s first US-focused politics site was registered. Reporters did not find any evidence connecting the Russian, Anna Bogacheva, to the Veles sites. Arsov denies any links to Russia. But now Macedonian security agencies are cooperating with law enforcement in the United States and at least two Western European countries to probe possible links between Russians, US citizens, and the pro-Trump “fake news” websites, two senior Macedonian officials said. Bogacheva and Arsov are among more than 20 people being looked at in two overlapping investigations in Macedonia, according to the two officials, who hail from different agencies in the country and were interviewed separately."
"it was launched by a well-known Macedonian media attorney, Trajche Arsov — who worked closely with two high-profile American partners for at least six months during a period that overlapped with Election Day. One of those Americans, Paris Wade, is now running for office in Nevada. Arsov also employed other American and British writers, including at least one who currently works for US right-wing conspiracy site the Gateway Pundit. The investigation also reveals that at least one member of Russia’s “troll factory,” who has been indicted by US special counsel Robert Mueller for alleged interference in the election, was in Macedonia just three months before the web domain for the country’s first US-focused politics site was registered. Reporters did not find any evidence connecting the Russian, Anna Bogacheva, to the Veles sites. Arsov denies any links to Russia. But now Macedonian security agencies are cooperating with law enforcement in the United States and at least two Western European countries to probe possible links between Russians, US citizens, and the pro-Trump “fake news” websites, two senior Macedonian officials said. Bogacheva and Arsov are among more than 20 people being looked at in two overlapping investigations in Macedonia, according to the two officials, who hail from different agencies in the country and were interviewed separately."
So Long, Scott Pruitt. We Knew You All Too Well.
https://theintercept.com/2018/07/06/epa-scott-pruitt-resignation-andrew-wheeler/
"In Oklahoma, where he sided with poultry companies in Arkansas to subvert environmental protections for a river in his own state and suppressed a report on corruption at a Superfund site, what he wanted was the political support of a wealthy industry. In Washington, where he had recently expressed interest in Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s job, he wanted the approval of the president. (Pruitt’s resignation letter even seemed to be aimed for the president’s good side: “Truly, your confidence in me has blessed me personally,” he wrote, adding that he believed God “brought me into your service.”) For his part, Trump didn’t care about Pruitt’s scandals as long as he was doing the bidding of industry, which is why it took so long for his tenure to end. When it did, Democrats and environmentalists rejoiced as if the house had fallen on the wicked witch. “Finally,” was the headline quote of a press release from Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., who, just hours before, had called for a criminal investigation into Pruitt’s secret calendar. A Washington, D.C., restaurant whipped up a special cocktail for the occasion. Even Republicans joined in the post-Pruitt celebration. The party will be brief. The president has another loyal industry servant primed for service. Former coal lobbyist and current EPA deputy administrator Andrew Wheeler will take over as the agency’s acting director on Monday. His views on climate change, the rollback of the Clean Power Plan, and the ongoing evisceration of other environmental protections are virtually indistinguishable from Pruitt’s. In several ways, Wheeler is a more daunting adversary. He has more experience working to undermine environmental regulations and deeper ties to industry than his predecessor."
"In Oklahoma, where he sided with poultry companies in Arkansas to subvert environmental protections for a river in his own state and suppressed a report on corruption at a Superfund site, what he wanted was the political support of a wealthy industry. In Washington, where he had recently expressed interest in Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s job, he wanted the approval of the president. (Pruitt’s resignation letter even seemed to be aimed for the president’s good side: “Truly, your confidence in me has blessed me personally,” he wrote, adding that he believed God “brought me into your service.”) For his part, Trump didn’t care about Pruitt’s scandals as long as he was doing the bidding of industry, which is why it took so long for his tenure to end. When it did, Democrats and environmentalists rejoiced as if the house had fallen on the wicked witch. “Finally,” was the headline quote of a press release from Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., who, just hours before, had called for a criminal investigation into Pruitt’s secret calendar. A Washington, D.C., restaurant whipped up a special cocktail for the occasion. Even Republicans joined in the post-Pruitt celebration. The party will be brief. The president has another loyal industry servant primed for service. Former coal lobbyist and current EPA deputy administrator Andrew Wheeler will take over as the agency’s acting director on Monday. His views on climate change, the rollback of the Clean Power Plan, and the ongoing evisceration of other environmental protections are virtually indistinguishable from Pruitt’s. In several ways, Wheeler is a more daunting adversary. He has more experience working to undermine environmental regulations and deeper ties to industry than his predecessor."
GOP-Controlled House Passes Bill to Eviscerate Nation's Marine Ecosystems, Fisheries
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/07/12/gop-controlled-house-passes-bill-eviscerate-nations-marine-ecosystems-fisheries
"Conservations, scientists, and members of fishing communities and industry expressed outrage and disappointment after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday that experts warn will set the nation's fishing industry back decades by eviscerating protections that have made U.S. fisheries more sustainable and undermining the health of marine ecosystems as well as the communities that live off the ocean."
"Conservations, scientists, and members of fishing communities and industry expressed outrage and disappointment after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday that experts warn will set the nation's fishing industry back decades by eviscerating protections that have made U.S. fisheries more sustainable and undermining the health of marine ecosystems as well as the communities that live off the ocean."
'Putin Is the Puppet Master': British Reporter Says the Russian President Is Making Trump 'Dance' @alternet
'Putin Is the Puppet Master': British Reporter Says the Russian President Is Making Trump 'Dance' @alternet:
"He added: "It feels like Putin is the puppet master and he is making Donald trump dance around in front of the world to his Russian tune"."
"He added: "It feels like Putin is the puppet master and he is making Donald trump dance around in front of the world to his Russian tune"."
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