diff --git "a/data/be000/text/00000007.txt" "b/data/be000/text/00000007.txt" new file mode 100644--- /dev/null +++ "b/data/be000/text/00000007.txt" @@ -0,0 +1,1852 @@ +YXqOlDwfcGQ-00000-00000000-00000181 1 +01_eDwP_8GU-00000-00000571-00001780 Lady Gaga appeared on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert recently to promote her new projects, but the conversation quickly turned somber as Gaga and Colbert began to discuss politics +01_eDwP_8GU-00001-00001780-00003290 Lady Gaga, a sexual assault survivor herself, offered a heartfelt and compassionate defense of Dr Christine Blasey Ford, the first of three women who have leveled allegations of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh +01_eDwP_8GU-00002-00003290-00004089 More specifically, Gaga was flabbergasted by President Donald Trump’s offensive mocking of Dr +01_eDwP_8GU-00003-00004089-00004990 Blasey Ford at a Missouri rally, where he cruelly blasted her credibility by speculating that her memories were untrustworthy +01_eDwP_8GU-00004-00004990-00005933 He also questioned the timing of her charges suggesting she coordinated the false accusations to coincide with Kavanaugh’s nomination hearing +01_eDwP_8GU-00005-00005933-00007200 Lady Gaga continued in this spectacular interview to say, “If someone is assaulted or experiences trauma, there is science and scientific proof — it’s biology — that people change +01_eDwP_8GU-00006-00007200-00008342 The brain changes. And literally what it does, is it takes the trauma and it puts it in a box and it files it away and it shuts it so that we can survive the pain +01_eDwP_8GU-00007-00008342-00009614 ”.She went on to offer the idea that Kavanaugh’s recent turn in the spotlight “triggered” the painful memories for Blasey Ford and therefore explains the 36 year wait to speak out +01_eDwP_8GU-00008-00009614-00010505 Gaga sensitively remarked, “When that box opened, she was brave enough to share it with the world to protect this country +01_eDwP_8GU-00009-00010505-00011563 ” She then went on to offer her own courageous experience of speaking out about her sexual assault saying, “I didn’t tell anyone for, I think, seven years +01_eDwP_8GU-00010-00011563-00012610 I didn’t know how to think about it. I didn’t know how to accept it. I didn’t know how not to blame myself, or think it was my fault +01_eDwP_8GU-00011-00012610-00013305 It was something that really changed my life. It changed who I was completely.” +0yzyVLTMdJk-00000-00000513-00002446 Congressional Democrats are now drilling deep into virtually every aspect of President Trump's administration and business ventures -- as well as his connections to organizations ranging from the National Rifle Association (NRA) to WikiLeaks -- with a sweeping, concerted series of multi-pronged committee investigations +0yzyVLTMdJk-00001-00002446-00003707 The newly announced probes, in turn, have prompted a fiery response from the president, who accused committee chairmen on Tuesday of going "crazy" with document requests he likened to harassment +0yzyVLTMdJk-00002-00003707-00004901 "Now that they realize the only Collusion with Russia was done by Crooked Hillary Clinton & the Democrats, Nadler, Schiff and the Dem heads of the Committees have gone stone cold CRAZY +0yzyVLTMdJk-00003-00004901-00005792 81 letter sent to innocent people to harass them. They won’t get ANYTHING done for our Country!" Trump tweeted +0yzyVLTMdJk-00004-00005792-00007145 Several other people related to the Trump Organization were sent letters, including the Trump Organization itself, Allen Weisselberg, the company's chief financial officer and Rhona Graff, Trump's longtime assistant +0yzyVLTMdJk-00005-00007145-00007850 Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump, a White House senior adviser, was not on the Judiciary panel's list +0yzyVLTMdJk-00006-00007850-00009540 Among other matters, the company officials were asked to provide documents regarding "any loan, financing transaction, or capital investment by the Russian Federation, any Russian national, any Russian business, or any other Russian entity to the Trump Organization +0yzyVLTMdJk-00007-00009540-00010867 ".Additonally, Nadler's panel requested documents from Julian Assange and his website, WikiLeaks, which published emails stolen from Democrats by Russian spies during the 2016 campaign +0yzyVLTMdJk-00008-00010867-00011526 Assange is currently living in Ecuador's embassy in London under a claim of asylum +0yzyVLTMdJk-00009-00011526-00013179 A letter to Assange, along with a document request, asks for "discussions or attempts to provide or receive election information, campaign data, or campaign communications with, to, or from foreign entities or individuals in connection with the 2016 U +0yzyVLTMdJk-00010-00013179-00015203 S. Presidential primary or general elections.".Nadler made a similar request in a letter and accompanying document request to the NRA, which sought information related to the organization's purported communications with the Trump team on everything from Russian sanctions to campaign data to the 2016 GOP platform +0yzyVLTMdJk-00011-00015203-00016230 Many of the people who received requests were asked about hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels, who alleged she had an affair with Donald Trump +0yzyVLTMdJk-00012-00016230-00017024 Trump denies the affair.The topic is currently under investigation by the Southern District of New York +0yzyVLTMdJk-00013-00017024-00018518 Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty last year to campaign finance violations for his involvement in the payments to Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal before the 2016 election +0yzyVLTMdJk-00014-00018518-00019581 Cohen received a request from the panel, as did American Media Inc., the National Enquirer's parent company, and its CEO David Pecker +0yzyVLTMdJk-00015-00019581-00020577 Pecker helped kill potentially embarrassing stories about Trump over the years by paying hush money in a practice known as "catch-and-kill +0yzyVLTMdJk-00016-00020577-00022523 ".The request asks American Media for "all documents that relate to the purchase of rights for any narrative, personal account, documentation, recording, or photograph (including but not limited to materials colloquially referred to as 'catch and kill') concerning Donald Trump from June 2015 to the present +0yzyVLTMdJk-00017-00022523-00023549 ".Meanwhile, most of the participants in a 2016 meeting in Trump Tower between Trump's campaign and a Russian lawyer received requests +0yzyVLTMdJk-00018-00023549-00025420 People attending the meeting included Trump Jr., Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, publicist Rob Goldstone, Russian-American lobbyist Rinat Akhmetshin, a translator and Ike Kaveladze, a business associate of a Moscow-based developer +0yzyVLTMdJk-00019-00025420-00026757 All of them received requests asking for any documentation related to the meeting — materials they have all already turned over to the House and Senate intelligence committees, which have both been probing the meeting for almost two years +0yzyVLTMdJk-00020-00026757-00028442 But the investigative peppering by Nadler -- who over the weekend declared that no investigation is really necessary to determine that Trump obstructed justice -- was just one of several far-reaching inquiries by Democrats, which extend far beyond the president's domain +0yzyVLTMdJk-00021-00028442-00030388 For example, three House Democratic committee chairman on Monday formally demanded interviews with any translators who witnessed Trump's communications with Russian President Vladimir Putin since Inauguration Day -- a request that comes as part of a sweeping series of inquiries virtually certain to be met with legal pushback by the White House +0yzyVLTMdJk-00022-00030388-00032538 In a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff, Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Eliot Engel, and Oversight Committee chairman Elijah Cummings said they wanted to know whether any Trump-Putin communications had led to the "reconsideration, modification, or implementation" of any aspect of American foreign policy +0yzyVLTMdJk-00023-00032538-00034857 The chairmen are specifically seeking access to all State Department employees and contractors with knowledge of Trump's communications with the Russian leader, including "linguists, translators, or interpreters who participated in [sic] attended, or in any way listened in on President Trump's in-person meetings with President Putin, as well as President Trump's phone calls with President Putin +0yzyVLTMdJk-00024-00034857-00036644 ".The top Democrats also said they were interested in knowing whether Trump or anyone acting on his behalf had "failed to create records of, or in any way destroyed, suppressed, mishandled, or otherwise withheld any federal or presidential records" contrary to federal laws +0yzyVLTMdJk-00025-00036644-00038329 The Washington Post reported in January that, following his meeting with Putin in Hamburg, Germany in 2017, Trump took possession of the notes from his own interpreter and instructed the individual not to discuss what had taken place in the meeting with other administration officials +0yzyVLTMdJk-00026-00038329-00039685 Trump attended that Putin meeting with then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who has emerged as a vocal critic of the Trump administration since his termination but who has never alleged that anything untoward happened in Hamburg +0yzyVLTMdJk-00027-00039685-00041252 The Post also reported that there are no detailed records of Trump’s private meetings with Putin over the past two years, and administration officials have not gotten a full readout from their two-hour, one-on-one meeting in Helsinki, Finland last summer +0yzyVLTMdJk-00028-00041252-00042830 California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, on the heels of The Post's report, accused Trump of having “effectively destroyed” notes from the Helsinki summit, which saw Trump and Putin meeting in private with only their translators present +0yzyVLTMdJk-00029-00042830-00044015 Trump told Fox News anchor Jeanine Pirro in January that he would be willing to release a transcript of his talks with Putin in Helsinki if he could, adding, "I don't care +0yzyVLTMdJk-00030-00044015-00044948 ".“I’m not keeping anything under wraps. I couldn't care less," Trump told Pirro. "I had a conversation like every president does +0yzyVLTMdJk-00031-00044948-00047419 You sit with the president of various countries. I do it with all countries.”.The president's reported decision to ask an interpreter not to share details of his meetings with foreign leaders with other members of the administration could have been a response to prior leaks of Trump's private conversations with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and then-Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto in 2017 +0yzyVLTMdJk-00032-00047419-00048945 Meanwhile, the head of the House Financial Services Committee, California Rep. Maxine Waters, has focused on Deutsche Bank, the German asset management firm that has loaned Trump's real estate organization millions of dollars over the years +0yzyVLTMdJk-00033-00048945-00049629 She said this past week that the bank is cooperating with requests for documents +0yzyVLTMdJk-00034-00049629-00050757 And the House Intelligence Committee is reopening and expanding an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election that the Republican majority closed last year +0yzyVLTMdJk-00035-00050757-00051852 At that time, Republicans said, over Democratic objections, that there was no evidence to show that Trump's campaign colluded or conspired with Russia +0yzyVLTMdJk-00036-00051852-00053030 The top Democrat on the committee then, Schiff, D-Calif., said Republicans had prematurely closed the matter without interviewing key witnesses and demanding important documents +0yzyVLTMdJk-00037-00053030-00054174 Schiff is now chairman, and last month he announced a broad new investigation looking not only at Russian interference, but also at Trump's foreign financial interests +0yzyVLTMdJk-00038-00054174-00056295 Schiff said the investigation will include "the scope and scale" of Russian intervention in the 2016 presidential election, the "extent of any links and/or coordination" between Russians and Trump's associates, whether foreign actors have sought to hold leverage over Trump or his family and associates, and whether anyone has sought to obstruct any of the relevant investigations +0yzyVLTMdJk-00039-00056295-00057557 Republicans, meanwhile, accused Democrats of partisan overreach.House Judiciary Committee ranking member Doug Collins, for example, told Nadler to “come back to reality” on Monday +0yzyVLTMdJk-00040-00057557-00058510 "I would say to my chairman, come back to the reality." Collins, R-Ga., said on Fox News Radio’s “Brian Kilmeade Show +0yzyVLTMdJk-00041-00058510-00059947 ”.“We’ve shown you for two years where the real problem is. Let’s have some open investigations, let’s get [Rod] Rosenstein in there… let’s actually look at what the Department of Justice became and what the people can no longer trust +0yzyVLTMdJk-00042-00059947-00061133 ”.Schiff is now chairman, and last month he announced a broad new investigation looking not only at Russian interference, but also at Trump's foreign financial interests +0yzyVLTMdJk-00043-00061133-00063254 Schiff said the investigation will include "the scope and scale" of Russian intervention in the 2016 presidential election, the "extent of any links and/or coordination" between Russians and Trump's associates, whether foreign actors have sought to hold leverage over Trump or his family and associates, and whether anyone has sought to obstruct any of the relevant investigations +0yzyVLTMdJk-00044-00063254-00064516 Republicans, meanwhile, accused Democrats of partisan overreach.House Judiciary Committee ranking member Doug Collins, for example, told Nadler to “come back to reality” on Monday +0yzyVLTMdJk-00045-00064516-00065469 "I would say to my chairman, come back to the reality." Collins, R-Ga., said on Fox News Radio’s “Brian Kilmeade Show +0yzyVLTMdJk-00046-00065469-00066906 ”.“We’ve shown you for two years where the real problem is. Let’s have some open investigations, let’s get [Rod] Rosenstein in there… let’s actually look at what the Department of Justice became and what the people can no longer trust +0yzyVLTMdJk-00047-00066906-00067006 ” +0J1aFLtgv_E-00000-00000513-00002023 Dominating headlines on Tuesday were Donald Trump’s spectacular failure to describe a 737, which probably helped prove House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s point that “He’s just not worth it” – the other dominant headline on Tuesday +0J1aFLtgv_E-00001-00002023-00002866 What didn’t rank so high in the ratings was yet another horrific story coming from this administration’s internment camps +0J1aFLtgv_E-00002-00002866-00004562 Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, who paid a visit to one of the camps in Homestead, Florida, was told by three of the detained children that staff threatened to keep misbehaving children separate from their families – further contradicting Kirstjen Nielsen’s testimony +0J1aFLtgv_E-00003-00004562-00005904 There are nearly 1,600 children at the facility Merkley visited alone. While officials swear that the Homestead facility is an orderly place, advocates have been painting a much different picture +0J1aFLtgv_E-00004-00005904-00007398 This is the same facility where allegations of child sexual abuse arose last month are were reported in the Miami New Times, where children are not allowed to have physical contact with each other, and continue to be separated from each other +0J1aFLtgv_E-00005-00007398-00008650 This is the real face of a national tragedy this administration owns – inerasable damage to human lives that their outright bigotry, xenophobia, and aspirations of autocracy can do +0J1aFLtgv_E-00006-00008650-00010653 As Speaker Pelosi said, Donald Trump isn’t worth it. Rather than covering his idiotic ramblings and tweets, a way to just amplify the number of people he can lie to, we need to put a face on the damage he is doing to America and its reputation abroad – harm that we could still be repairing years after he leaves office +0J1aFLtgv_E-00007-00010653-00013103 The focus throughout 2019 needs to be on the faces of everyday people – the families separated for months due to the racist policies of Homeland Security, the workers who suffer every time Trump shuts down the government in a tantrum, the journalists like Jamal Khashoggi, who are crucial for a functioning democracy and now face a job made more dangerous by emboldened despots throughout the world +0J1aFLtgv_E-00008-00013103-00013910 Talk about these people – not the narcissist – and before long, the country will be ready to oust Donald Trump +0gU9uHv7EP4-00000-00000513-00001683 The image was posted on the Royal Family’s Twitter account, with the Monarch dressed in a lovely white gown and joined by her daughter Princess Anne, who dazzled in an emerald dress suit +0gU9uHv7EP4-00001-00001683-00003107 The image was captioned: “The Queen, with The Princess Royal, hosted Their Majesties The King and Queen of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, @KingAbdullahII and @QueenRania, and their son The Crown Prince at Buckingham Palace +0gU9uHv7EP4-00002-00003107-00003718 ” Though fans clocked something unusual about the picture as they shuffled closer to their screens +0gU9uHv7EP4-00003-00003718-00004655 A close-up of the picture showed the 92-year-old was sporting a nasty bruise on her hand, which had turned a dark shade of purple +0gU9uHv7EP4-00004-00004655-00005387 One commenter, Tracy Edgar, said: “I love keeping up with Queen Eliabeth II but I’m concerned +0gU9uHv7EP4-00005-00005387-00006233 “Why does she have such a terrible bruise on her left hand. Did I miss something? But as always, she looks stunning!” +0gU9uHv7EP4-00006-00006233-00007176 Catherine Longstaff replied: “The lady is 92 at that age any little knock unfortunately turns into what can look severe bruises +0gU9uHv7EP4-00007-00007176-00007832 The Queen is rather fab though isn't she???”.Liam Edwards posted: “Her hand OK?” +0gU9uHv7EP4-00008-00007832-00008921 He added a close-up of her hand to show other Twitter users.Another commenter replied: “My worries exactly? She’s bruised badly for some reason +0gU9uHv7EP4-00009-00008921-00010217 ”.Another suggested she might have burned her hand and after commenting on Queen Rania of Jordan’s beautiful pink dress, added “By the way - what happened QoE’s hand - she burnt it by mistake +0gU9uHv7EP4-00010-00010217-00011144 Nasty one.”.Another commenter added: “What’s wrong with the Queen’s hands?”.A final comment read: “Look at Queen Elizabeth’s hands +0gU9uHv7EP4-00011-00011144-00013127 They look red and bruised. Like someone was trying to find an artery.”.In the image, the foursome, joined by the King and Queen of Jordan’s son, Hussein, all smiled for a photo together, which saw Queen Rania look chic in a beautiful gown and purple heels doing the family’s visit to Buckingham Palace +0gU9uHv7EP4-00012-00013127-00014187 Concerns over the Queen’s health last surfaced the previous summer when she pulled out of a morning service at St Paul's Cathedral on June 28 at the last minute +0gU9uHv7EP4-00013-00014187-00014934 Buckingham Palace said the Queen was too “under the weather” to attend the event, with it later emerging she had a cold +0gU9uHv7EP4-00014-00014934-00015347 She was back to work on July 2 +1MTr4FfHCyg-00000-00000571-00001482 Just when you thought Ivanka might escape any kind of implication into the Russia scandal, the New York Times blows a story wide open +1MTr4FfHCyg-00001-00001482-00002660 The Trump Organization was recently required to turn over a batch of emails as part of the ongoing investigation into interference with the 2016 presidential election +1MTr4FfHCyg-00002-00002660-00004016 In emails obtained by the New York Times, Felix Sater wrote to Donald Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen regarding building a “Trump Tower” in Moscow, saying: “I will get Putin in on this program and we will get Donald elected +1MTr4FfHCyg-00003-00004016-00005137 ”.Are you intrigued yet?.As Felix Sater’s name becomes increasingly recognizable to the public, one wonders whether he will prove to be the nadir of Trump’s presidency +1MTr4FfHCyg-00004-00005137-00006516 Despite Trump’s repeated attempts to disavow any knowledge of Sater — though Felix Sater helped to finance the much maligned Trump SoHo project and held an office in Trump Tower — he will not go away from the zeitgeist +1MTr4FfHCyg-00005-00006516-00007428 In particular, he is playing an increasingly troublesome role for Donald Trump, an arguably delightful role for Robert Mueller +1MTr4FfHCyg-00006-00007428-00009086 In addition to stating that somehow Vladimir Putin would be responsible for installing Donald Trump as president, the emails from the New York Times also show Sater proclaiming, “I arranged for Ivanka to sit in Putins [sic] private chair at his desk and office in the Kremlin +1MTr4FfHCyg-00007-00009086-00010108 ”.Sater continued, “If he says it we own this election. Americas most difficult adversary agreeing that Donald is a good guy to negotiate +1MTr4FfHCyg-00008-00010108-00010742 ”.This is the first instance that Ivanka Trump has been brought directly into the fray +1MTr4FfHCyg-00009-00010742-00011677 She maintains that she has never actually met with Vladmir Putin and only ever visited the Kremlin as part of a tour of Red Square +1MTr4FfHCyg-00010-00011677-00012612 Ivanka Trump claims to not remember whether she sat in Putin’s chair during the tour, although she admitted that it was possible +1YhOwpejlmQ-00000-00000513-00001597 Have you ever daydreamed about Donald Trump being hauled out of the White House in handcuffs as a stoic Robert Mueller looks on? If you have, you’re not alone +1YhOwpejlmQ-00001-00001597-00002412 But if you spend any time thinking the final endgame scenario through, you quickly realize it’s not so simple +1YhOwpejlmQ-00002-00002412-00003438 Let’s assume for a moment that Robert Mueller and the Attorney General (or the SDNY) decide to indict Donald Trump while he is in office +1YhOwpejlmQ-00003-00003438-00004214 How do they issue that indictment? Is Trump a flight risk? Most likely he is not +1YhOwpejlmQ-00004-00004214-00004922 Therefore, his lawyer would be served and he would be given some number of hours to turn himself in for processing +1YhOwpejlmQ-00005-00004922-00006228 What will he do? What if he announces a pardon for himself? That would place a burden back onto the DOJ to fight the pardon in court, and he would most likely avoid immediate arrest +1YhOwpejlmQ-00007-00009232-00010167 Even if Donald Trump is indicted, he would still most likely be the President of the United States until there are enough votes to oust him +1YhOwpejlmQ-00008-00010167-00010839 I bet these conversations have happened and are happening right now inside the DOJ +1YhOwpejlmQ-00009-00010839-00011928 Given how messy this “end-game” is likely to get, it makes some sense that the final act against the President of the United States must be robust and well planned +1YhOwpejlmQ-00010-00011928-00012341 This is not going to be clean and simple +27OSN17fOY8-00000-00000513-00001652 DURHAM, N.H. – He trounced eventual nominee Hillary Clinton in the Granite State’s 2016 Democratic primary, and a new public opinion poll indicates Sen +27OSN17fOY8-00001-00001652-00002725 Bernie Sanders has the early advantage with just under a year to go until the 2020 contest in the state that holds the first presidential primary +27OSN17fOY8-00002-00002725-00003861 Twenty-six percent of likely Democratic primary voters questioned in a University of New Hampshire survey said they’d support the independent senator from Vermont in next year’s contest +27OSN17fOY8-00003-00003861-00005027 The Granite State Poll was conducted Feb. 18-26, mostly after the Feb. 19 announcement by Sanders that he was launching a second presidential bid +27OSN17fOY8-00004-00005027-00005878 Twenty-two percent of those polled said they’d back former Vice President Joe Biden, who’s seriously considering a White House run +27OSN17fOY8-00005-00005878-00006662 Public opinion survey’s conducted this early in an election cycle are often heavily influenced by name recognition +27OSN17fOY8-00006-00006662-00007461 One in ten said they’d back Sen. Kamala Harris of California, with seven percent supporting Sen +27OSN17fOY8-00007-00007461-00008480 Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas – a likely White House hopeful – stood at five percent, with Sen +27OSN17fOY8-00008-00008480-00009190 Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota at four percent and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey at there percent +27OSN17fOY8-00009-00009190-00010086 Everyone else in the large field of 2020 Democratic contenders and potential contenders registered at one percent or less +27OSN17fOY8-00010-00010086-00011497 Fourteen percent of those questioned were undecided.UNH pollster Andrew Smith pointed out that those age 18-34 were more likely to support Sanders, with those 65 and older more likely to back Biden +27OSN17fOY8-00011-00011497-00012330 And he spotlighted that Harris has jumped seven percentage points since an August survey, with Warren dropping ten points +27OSN17fOY8-00012-00012330-00013341 When not provided a list of candidates and asked an open-ended question on whom they’d back in next February’s primary, Sanders’ lead increased +27OSN17fOY8-00013-00013341-00014401 He stood at 28 percent, with Biden at eight percent.Harris stood at six percent, with Klobuchar at three percent and Warren and Booker a point back +27OSN17fOY8-00014-00014401-00015640 “More than four in ten Democratic primary voters remain undecided or cannot provide a name when asked an open-ended question about whom they will vote for in 2020,” Smith added +27OSN17fOY8-00015-00015640-00017139 Beating Republican President Trump remains a top concern for Democratic primary voters in New Hampshire and across the nation, and the survey indicated that Granite State Democrats see Biden at the most electable in the general election +27OSN17fOY8-00016-00017139-00018072 Nearly a third of those questioned said Biden had the best chance of winning in November 2020, with Sanders ten points back at 22 percent +27OSN17fOY8-00017-00018072-00020070 Everyone else was a five percent or less.The poll also asked likely New Hampshire Democratic primary voters which candidate they would not vote for under any circumstances, with Warren topping that list at 13 percent, followed by Sanders at eight percent and former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg at six percent +27OSN17fOY8-00018-00020070-00021509 The billionaire media mogul is mulling a White House bid.Trump trounced a large field in New Hampshire’s 2016 GOP presidential primary, launching him on the way to the Republican nomination and eventually the White House +27OSN17fOY8-00019-00021509-00022439 The poll indicated that more than 80 percent of Granite State Republicans approve of the job the president’s doing steering the country +27OSN17fOY8-00020-00022439-00023487 But only 56 percent of likely GOP primary voters said they plan on voting for Trump in the 2020 New Hampshire Republican presidential primary +27OSN17fOY8-00021-00023487-00024134 Fifteen percent said they’d back another candidate, with nearly three in ten undecided +27OSN17fOY8-00022-00024134-00025412 In a hypothetical primary matchup, the poll indicates Trump’s support rises. Sixty-eight percent said they would back Trump, with 17 percent supporting former Ohio Gov +27OSN17fOY8-00023-00025412-00026908 John Kasich and three percent voting for former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld. Kasich, who came in second to Trump in the 2016 New Hampshire Republican primary, is a vocal critic of the president who’s mulling a primary challenge +27OSN17fOY8-00024-00026908-00027857 Weld, another Trump critic, last month formed a presidential exploratory committee as he seriously weighs a longshot primary challenge +27OSN17fOY8-00025-00027857-00028617 Six-hundred and four people were questioned by live operators in the University of New Hampshire Granite State poll +27OSN17fOY8-00026-00028617-00029314 The survey’s sampling error for likely Democratic primary votes is plus or minus 6 +27OSN17fOY8-00027-00029314-00030030 3 percentage points and 6.6 percentage points for likely GOP primary voters +29IqE6KqeC8-00000-00000571-00003353 With the completion and delivery of Special Counsel Robert Muller’s report containing his findings in the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections and the Trump campaign’s role in it, congressional Democrats have been loudly advocating to get a copy of the full report from Attorney General William Barr before there is any opportunity for President Trump and his cohorts to influence the redacted summary of the report that is all that Barr is required to deliver by law +29IqE6KqeC8-00001-00003353-00004917 House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler laid out the Democratic party line in his tweet that attached a copy of the official letter sent by Barr to himself and the other senior members of both parties presiding over congressional Judiciary committees +29IqE6KqeC8-00003-00008112-00009165 NBC News producer Frank Thorp V shared Senator Chuck Grassley’s (R-IA) statement in response to the Special Counsel’s completion of his probe +29IqE6KqeC8-00005-00012508-00013261 All eyes are on Attorney General Barr now to see how he decides to handle the reports’ findings +29IqE6KqeC8-00006-00013261-00015374 Since he stated in his letter to the Judiciary Committee that he “may be in a position to advise you of the Special Counsel’s principal conclusions as soon as this weekend,” stay close to your favored news sources to hear whatever details the Attorney General deems publically releasable and the inevitable speculation about what he may be holding pack from general consumption +2wDUK_gQgxM-00000-00000571-00001629 The two leaders exchanged soccer jerseys from their respective countries, as Trump recalled the greatness of legendary Brazilian soccer champion Pelé +2wDUK_gQgxM-00001-00001629-00002337 Bolsonaro gave Trump a soccer jersey with his name on the jersey bearing Pelé’s number +2wDUK_gQgxM-00002-00002337-00004079 Trump gave Bolsonaro a United States soccer team jersey as well.Trump said he was “honored” to be compared to Bolsonaro, who was described as a “Trump of the Tropics” during his conservative populist campaign that propelled him to victory, shocking the Western hemisphere +2wDUK_gQgxM-00003-00004079-00004930 The leaders expressed hopes for an improved relationship between the two countries, despite friction in the past +2wDUK_gQgxM-00004-00004930-00005777 “I think there was a lot of hostility with other presidents,” Trump said. “There’s zero hostility with me'' +2wDUK_gQgxM-00005-00005777-00006963 Bolsonaro thanked Trump for the meeting and praised his leadership.“It”s an honor to be here after decades of anti-America presidents,” Bolsonaro said +2wDUK_gQgxM-00006-00006963-00007681 Referring to Trump, he added, “He wants an American great and I want a Brazil great too'' +2dlySbfKNXE-00000-00000571-00001898 Based on his actions up to this point, there is every reason to expect that when William Barr releases a redacted version of the Mueller report this week, it’ll be disingenuously redacted in Donald Trump’s favor +2dlySbfKNXE-00001-00001898-00003209 But there are also a number of clues that suggest Barr will allow a whole lot of mid-level dirt about the Trump regime to be released, in the hope that it’ll be enough to stave off having to release the entire thing +2dlySbfKNXE-00002-00003209-00004904 Now we have our strongest clue yet.Over the past week, various leaks to the media – and even some of Donald Trump’s own tweets – have hinted that Barr will release a lot of the ugly details of Trump’s obstruction of justice antics, while keeping the worst of the collusion antics secret +2dlySbfKNXE-00003-00004904-00006111 Of course Trump’s obstruction has taken place since he took control of the White House, and much of it has directly or indirectly involved his own top current and former White House advisers +2dlySbfKNXE-00004-00006111-00007530 Robert Mueller reportedly interviewed a large number of them about Trump’s obstruction – and some of them reportedly provided significant cooperation against Trump, presumably because they feared being charged with obstruction themselves +2dlySbfKNXE-00005-00007530-00008885 NBC News now says that there is “breakdown-level anxiety” among Trump’s current and former White House people, because the redacted Mueller report is going to reveal just how thoroughly they sold Trump out to Mueller +2dlySbfKNXE-00006-00008885-00009564 Here’s the kicker. Donald Trump isn’t exactly a voracious consumer of legitimate news +2dlySbfKNXE-00007-00009564-00011126 But even he’s probably aware of the widespread media reports over the past year that everyone from Don McGahn to Reince Priebus to Sean Spicer to Steve Bannon provided Mueller with significant cooperation about Trump’s obstruction of justice +2dlySbfKNXE-00008-00011126-00012749 Most of those people have since cut ties with Trump anyway.This would suggest that the unnamed people who sold Donald Trump out to Mueller, and are now worried about Trump finding out, are closer to Trump than the names we’ve seen reported over the past year +2dlySbfKNXE-00009-00012749-00013786 It would also suggest that they sold Trump out for obstruction antics that haven’t yet been reported, and are uglier than what’s played out in public view +2dlySbfKNXE-00010-00013786-00015006 If this is the case, it’s Donald Trump who should be feeling the breakdown-level anxiety, because it looks like his current “no obstruction no collusion” mantra is about to go down in flames +2lElSWfQ1Vc-00000-00000571-00001422 Just days ago, Trump-appointed acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker went through the ringer in a confirmation hearing before congress +2lElSWfQ1Vc-00001-00001422-00002666 His smug, arrogant, attitude and smart aleck answers to many of the questions led many to compare it to the angry, entitled, sniveling Brett Kavanaugh from his hearing last fall +2lElSWfQ1Vc-00002-00002666-00003935 But there are actually lots of other reasons Whitaker is unfit for the job. For instance, his relationship with Donald Trump and the large likelihood that he would aid the corruption coming from the White House +2lElSWfQ1Vc-00003-00003935-00005179 One prime example of this is the fact that he once said that he didn’t want to live in a country where Trump’s finances would be the subject of an investigation, as uncovered by The Democratic Coalition +3LLgNgYfm-0-00000-00000513-00001492 The Judge overseeing Paul Manafort’s case recently angered the left by going against Mueller’s recommendation and handing down a lenient sentence +3LLgNgYfm-0-00001-00001492-00003397 CNN reported that Manafort learned on Thursday that he will serve almost four years in prison — far short of what had been expected and recommended — for financial fraud convictions obtained by special counsel Robert Mueller as he investigated Manafort’s alleged collusion with the Russian government in 2016 +3LLgNgYfm-0-00002-00003397-00004413 The crimes, though serious among white-collar offenses, did not relate directly to Manafort’s work as Trump’s 2016 campaign chairman +3LLgNgYfm-0-00003-00004413-00005225 Manafort spoke to the judge before his sentencing and thanked him for a fair trial and asked the court for compassion +3LLgNgYfm-0-00004-00005225-00006178 “Humiliated and shamed would be a gross understatement,” Manafort said, expressing how difficult the past two years have been for he and his family +3LLgNgYfm-0-00005-00006178-00007349 Back in 2018, Judge T.S. Ellis told prosecutors: “You don’t really care about Mr. Manafort’s bank fraud … What you really care about is what information Mr +3LLgNgYfm-0-00006-00007349-00007986 Manafort could give you that would reflect on Mr. Trump or lead to his prosecution or impeachment +3LLgNgYfm-0-00007-00007986-00009070 ”.Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was sentenced to nearly four years in prison on Thursday for concealing millions of dollars he earned overseas +3LLgNgYfm-0-00008-00009070-00010303 The surprisingly light sentence of 47 months is likely to see Manafort, who is 69 years old, released in about three years or less, as it includes nine months of time served +3LLgNgYfm-0-00009-00010303-00012016 It fell well short of federal sentencing guidelines.It represented an implicit rebuke to special counsel Robert Mueller, whose prosecutors had called for 19 to 24 years — a range that would probably have led to the long-time GOP consultant dying in jail +3LLgNgYfm-0-00010-00012016-00012986 Manafort does, however, still face sentencing in a separate case.Ellis told Manafort that he “stood convicted of very serious crimes +3LLgNgYfm-0-00011-00012986-00014339 ” Seemingly preparing for critiques of the unexpectedly lighter sentence, Ellis said: “I think what I’ve done is sufficiently punitive — and anyone who disagrees should try spending a day in a federal penitentiary +3LLgNgYfm-0-00012-00014339-00015600 And he’s spending 47 months.”.Manafort was found guilty last year of five tax fraud charges, two bank fraud charges, and one charge of hiding foreign bank accounts +3LLgNgYfm-0-00013-00015600-00017032 The charges were brought against him by special counsel Robert Mueller, who uncovered evidence of the violations as part of his sweeping investigation into President Trump’s alleged collusion with Russia to win the 2016 election +3LLgNgYfm-0-00014-00017032-00017755 Mueller’s office has spent weeks arguing against leniency for Manafort in sentencing memo filings +3LLgNgYfm-0-00015-00017755-00018897 Mueller’s office said Manafort has shown a “lack of remorse” and said Manafort ” blames everyone from the Special Counsel’s Office to his Ukrainian clients for his own criminal choices +3LLgNgYfm-0-00016-00018897-00019882 ” In court, prosecutors continued to insist that “Mr. Manafort did not provide sufficient cooperation to merit any mitigation +3LLgNgYfm-0-00017-00019882-00020712 ” And they reminded the judge that “no one conjured these crimes up” and that “a jury of his peers found him guilty +3LLgNgYfm-0-00018-00020712-00021491 ”.“Mr. Manafort fails to accept responsibility and he remains unremorseful,” prosecutors said +3LLgNgYfm-0-00019-00021491-00022222 Mueller’s office had recommended a sentence ranging from 19 to 24 years in prison +3LLgNgYfm-0-00020-00022222-00024803 When arguing for this lengthy sentence, the special counsel’s office said “Manafort’s misconduct involved more than $16 million in unreported income resulting in more than $6 million in federal taxes owed, more than $55 million hidden in foreign bank accounts, and more than $25 million secured from financial institutions through lies resulting in a fraud loss of more than $6 million +3LLgNgYfm-0-00021-00024803-00026276 ”.Manafort’s attorneys accused Mueller of “attempting to vilify Mr. Manafort as a lifelong and irredeemable felon” and claimed prosecutors had gone “beyond the pale and grossly overstated the facts before the Court +3LLgNgYfm-0-00022-00026276-00027488 ”.In court, they focused on what they believed to be the common nature of the crimes that Manafort had committed, pushing back on the idea that Manafort was a uniquely nefarious character +3LLgNgYfm-0-00023-00027488-00028627 “These are serious crimes. I understand that. No one is disputing that … Tax evasion isn’t jaywalking, but it’s also by no means narcotics trafficking +3LLgNgYfm-0-00024-00028627-00030025 ”.Explaining his decision, Ellis said that he was trying to treat this case like another tax evasion case might be handled: “There’s been a trend in the sentencing in these types of cases — and the sentences have been remarkably light +3LLgNgYfm-0-00025-00030025-00031009 And I need to take that into account. To impose a sentence of 19-24 years on Mr. Manafort would clearly be a disparity +3LLgNgYfm-0-00026-00031009-00032020 In the end, I don’t think the guidelines range is at all appropriate.” Ellis said: “This is not a mathematical calculation, it’s a judgment +3LLgNgYfm-0-00027-00032020-00033258 But it���s a judgment guided by everything that has been raised.”.During Thursday’s hearing, Ellis made it clear that his decision was about the fraud and financial crimes at hand, and that “Mr +3LLgNgYfm-0-00028-00033258-00034358 Manafort is not before the court for any allegation that he or anybody under his direction collided with the Russian government in the 2016 campaign +3LLgNgYfm-0-00029-00034358-00035327 ”.Ellis did, however, remind the court that he’d previously ruled that the special counsel was authorized under the law to pursue this case +3LLgNgYfm-0-00030-00035327-00036706 Manafort pleaded guilty in a separate case in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 14, 2018 to two counts of conspiracy, including committing crimes against the United States and obstructing justice +3LLgNgYfm-0-00031-00036706-00037521 Mueller’s office later alleged that Manafort broke his plea agreement, and Judge Amy Berman Jackson agreed +3SXhG_QoOyg-00000-00000513-00001712 According to Donald Trump’s handpicked Attorney General William Barr, the still-secret Mueller report has concluded that there was no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia +3SXhG_QoOyg-00001-00001712-00003013 This is, of course, a lie. We’ve already seen Mueller spell out specific acts of collusion in his court filings, and we’ve seen members of Team Trump publicly confess to collusion +3SXhG_QoOyg-00002-00003013-00005050 So how is Barr managing to fudge this?.Democratic Congressman Denny Heck, who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, appeared on MSNBC this evening and explained how William Barr managed to misleadingly word his “summary” in order to pretend that all the collusion found by Mueller somehow isn’t in the report +3SXhG_QoOyg-00003-00005050-00006186 Heck pointed to the specific wording used by Barr.Barr claims that Mueller found no collusion between the Trump campaign and “the Russian government” as opposed to “Russia +3SXhG_QoOyg-00004-00006186-00006959 ” Why would Barr be so oddly specific in his wording? Yes, Barr appears to be quoting Mueller here +3SXhG_QoOyg-00005-00006959-00008156 But as we explored earlier this evening, Barr’s report is full of brief partial-sentence Mueller quotes, and it’s not difficult to figure out that much or all of it is out of context +3SXhG_QoOyg-00006-00008156-00009368 For all we know, Mueller said there was no collusion “directly with the Russian government” and then went on to lay out all the examples of the Trump campaign knowingly colluding indirectly with the Russian government +3SXhG_QoOyg-00007-00009368-00010705 When Donald Trump’s guy Paul Manafort gave internal polling data to Konstantin Kilimnik, Manafort wasn’t technically colluding with the Russian government, because Kilimnik is merely an alleged Russian government spy +3SXhG_QoOyg-00008-00010705-00012928 When Donald Trump Jr met with Natalia Veselnitskaya at Trump Tower, he wasn’t technically colluding with the Russian government, even though he attended the meeting with the intent of receiving dirt on Hillary Clinton, because Veselnitskaya is merely an attorney who often represents the highest levels of the Kremlin, and not technically a Kremlin employee or officer +3SXhG_QoOyg-00009-00012928-00014527 We think Congressman Heck is onto something here. William Barr says that “the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities +3SXhG_QoOyg-00010-00014527-00015721 ” That’s obviously a false statement – unless Barr is hiding behind the technicality that Kremlin operatives like Kilimnik and Veselnitskaya only unofficially represent the Kremlin +3SXhG_QoOyg-00011-00015721-00016530 For the record, Mueller criminally indicted Kilimnik and Veselnitskaya, and they’re both currently considered fugitives +3k0HSfXM9JE-00000-00000571-00001903 Ronald Reagan, Jr. appeared on MSNBC in an interview with Chris Matthews and went on record saying that he believes President Trump should be impeached or otherwise removed via the 25th Amendment +3k0HSfXM9JE-00001-00001903-00002971 Reagan works as a commentator on MSNBC and has made his opinion of President Trump – and of the Electoral College- very clear on numerous occasions +3k0HSfXM9JE-00002-00002971-00003677 He does not blame the American voter for putting Donald Trump in the White House- he blames the Electoral College +3k0HSfXM9JE-00003-00003677-00005239 The frequently referenced 25th Amendment provides procedures that could be implemented by the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to remove and replace a sitting president should he or she be found unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office +3k0HSfXM9JE-00004-00005239-00007104 Ronald Reagan, Jr has made numerous TV appearances where he has blasted President Trump on several occasions, once calling him an “imbecilic sociopath” over his tweeting habit, and another time saying that people should not compare Trump to his father, the 40th president of the United States +3k0HSfXM9JE-00005-00007104-00008368 Ronald Reagan, Jr. is the son of the late President Ronald Reagan and wife Nancy. President Reagan has long been heralded as one of the most respected and beloved presidents both in and out of the office +4vbSGWDPofU-00000-00000571-00001665 Forty-eight hours. That’s how much longer Donald Trump and William Barr have left before their attempted coverup of the Mueller report completely unravels +4vbSGWDPofU-00001-00001665-00002919 That’s because House Democrats have handed Barr a Tuesday deadline to come clean about the coverup, and even as he’s tried to drag it out longer, they’ve remained clear that they’re not budging +4vbSGWDPofU-00002-00002919-00003789 So now what?.Barr will no doubt try something on Monday or Tuesday, in the hope of convincing House Democrats to wait longer +4vbSGWDPofU-00003-00003789-00004601 But at this point, don’t look for the Democrats to budge unless Barr suddenly caves on everything, which is unlikely +4vbSGWDPofU-00004-00004601-00006114 The Democrats have already publicly staked themselves to settling for nothing less than the full Mueller report, and they have overwhelming majority support on this from the general public, so they’ll fire off everything they have once Barr misses his Tuesday deadline +4vbSGWDPofU-00005-00006114-00007127 We’ll see if the House Democrats start by subpoenaing the Mueller report, subpoenaing Mueller himself, subpoenaing Barr, or some combination of the three +4vbSGWDPofU-00006-00007127-00008211 Any path they choose will be challenged in court, so it’s a matter of choosing the most legally sound path, which is the most likely to result in a court victory +4vbSGWDPofU-00007-00008211-00009324 One big thing to keep in mind: now that Barr has tried and failed to convince the public that there’s nothing in the Mueller report that they should care about, he’s already squirming in his seat +4vbSGWDPofU-00008-00009324-00010442 This week he sent a public letter to House Democrats, insisting that his summary wasn’t actually a “summary,” and whining about the fact that everyone is referring to it as a summary +4vbSGWDPofU-00009-00010442-00011380 Barr isn’t exactly coming off like a guy who’s confident in his legal position, or with how this is playing out in the court of public opinion +4TXXnnYRQEY-00001-00004345-00005231 Robert S. Mueller III, assuming he did his job, compiled a cornucopia of evidence regarding Russian connections to Trump +4TXXnnYRQEY-00002-00005231-00006148 Contrary to the belief of many, his job was not to deliver a guilty verdict on Trump; it was his job to get to the truth +4TXXnnYRQEY-00003-00006148-00006837 Mind you, the truth and Barr’s rendition of the truth are not necessarily the same thing +4TXXnnYRQEY-00004-00006837-00007610 Taking things out of context and cherry-picking facts can bastardize the original meaning of just about anything +4TXXnnYRQEY-00005-00007610-00009295 For example, if one were to take the first, second, fourth, eighth, and thirteenth words from “Trump is not a calculating evildoer like Dick Cheney, who was once head of Halliburton,” you’d be left with a remarkably different, albeit true, sentence +4TXXnnYRQEY-00006-00009295-00010068 Games aside, Trump proclaiming “complete exoneration” is astounding for two reasons: 1 +4TXXnnYRQEY-00007-00010068-00010732 He’s seriously overlooking the fact that he’s not been exonerated of anything, and 2 +4TXXnnYRQEY-00008-00010732-00011926 I wasn’t aware he was capable of vocalizing words in excess of four syllables. The Mueller Report, as it’s been dubbed, will come to no conclusions any which way +4TXXnnYRQEY-00009-00011926-00012730 Barr and Rosenstein can claim “no obstruction” all they want, but ultimately that’s for the House of Representatives to decide +4TXXnnYRQEY-00010-00012730-00014169 The Mueller Report might have been presented to Barr, but it was surely written for the House, as a punctilious recitation of what exactly happened, which is constitutionally where presidents must be assessed by the scale of justice +4TXXnnYRQEY-00011-00014169-00014781 Just like in a court of law, the House is fed facts and decisions are rendered +4ZlI8xk6gdu-00000-00000513-00001325 Robert Mueller just announced that he has completed the Russia probe and turned in his report to the U.S. Attorney General +4ZlI8xk6gdu-00001-00001325-00002637 While it is not yet known if we will ever see the contents of the report taxpayers paid for, people immediately went crazy about the fact that Mueller is recommending no more indictments +4ZlI8xk6gdu-00002-00002637-00003550 Trump’s eldest son jumped right on his Twitter account to gloat like a moron, as if he’s not still under multiple investigations +4ZlI8xk6gdu-00003-00003550-00004562 Look at what the derp just tweeted:"Well that’s going to make it a bit harder for the MSM and Dems to spin but they’ll do it anyway" +4ZlI8xk6gdu-00004-00004562-00005874 People on Twitter immediately crazy over the ridiculous confidence this man has when he is still facing criminal charges and even prison time for the multitude of shadiness surrounding his entire family +53i8hYioDcy-00000-00000571-00002065 On Sunday, sitting president Donald Trump created yet another vacancy in his already woefully understaffed administration by accepting the – voluntary or involuntary – resignation of Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen +53i8hYioDcy-00001-00002065-00003319 As per usual, Trump announced Nielsen’s departure from the position via Twitter and then proceeded to name Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan as Acting Secretary for DHS +53i8hYioDcy-00002-00003319-00004014 As it turns out, the legality of the latter action seems to be somewhat questionable +53i8hYioDcy-00003-00004014-00005166 There is an interesting debate about this going on right now on the Twitter feed of George Conway, who – contrary to what Donald Trump has claimed – is actually a little more than just “Mr +53i8hYioDcy-00004-00005166-00007164 Kellyanne Conway.” The gist of the discussion appears to be that in keeping with 6 USC §113(g), which governs DHS succession, the position of Acting Secretary of Homeland Security should actually go to Claire Grady, the current Under Secretary for Management at DHS +53i8hYioDcy-00005-00007164-00009045 .Since we have all become used to the fact that Donald Trump is mostly unaware of and unconcerned about the rules that govern just about anything, we may be tempted to dismiss his dubious installation of McAleenan as Acting Secretary by fiat on Twitter as just another sign of his clueless and erratic leadership +53i8hYioDcy-00006-00009045-00009797 However, it may also be a sign of something that is not erratic at all but fits neatly into an overall strategy +53i8hYioDcy-00007-00009797-00011889 .If we view the new vacancy at the head of the Department of Homeland Security in the greater context of the staggering number of unoccupied key positions in the current administration, we can see an emerging pattern that is strongly reminiscent of the words of someone far less erratic and far more ideological than Trump himself: former White House strategist Steve Bannon +53i8hYioDcy-00008-00011889-00013470 . .During one of his rare public appearances at CPAC 2017, Bannon laid out the fundamental principles of Trumpism as he saw it, and one of those principles was what he called “the deconstruction of the administrative state +53i8hYioDcy-00009-00013470-00014765 ” This is a concept that has always resonated well with Republicans who frequently complain about overregulation and the loss of individual liberty and opportunity at the hands of an overly bureaucratic state +53i8hYioDcy-00010-00014765-00016408 However, Steve Bannon’s vision of the administrative state that needs to be done away with resembles more the mysterious, all-encompassing Deep State that is so often conjured up by online conspiracy theorists as the greatest threat to ordinary American citizens +53i8hYioDcy-00011-00016408-00017788 . .In turn, Trumpism, as laid out by Bannon, contains the promise of opposing and ultimately destroying the overwhelming bureaucratic institutions which are blamed for all the ills of society +53i8hYioDcy-00012-00017788-00019300 In reality, though, populist leaders have often used this argument to consolidate power away from the institutions and organizations that are part of the structure of every large and complex society in order to concentrate it in their own hands +53i8hYioDcy-00013-00019300-00021500 .If we add to this the ongoing efforts at consolidating and streamlining the media as a tool to support the current government rather than providing a critical, corrective voice, we may end up being left with the rather sobering realization that even a democratically elected president does not necessarily guarantee the continuity of a genuinely democratic state +53i8hYioDcy-00014-00021500-00021829 From Russia with love +56hGCAxCj6Y-00000-00000513-00001477 President Donald Trump tempered expectations Wednesday of an ultimate China trade deal while still offering hope the two sides would reach an agreement +56hGCAxCj6Y-00001-00001477-00002461 “I want the deal to be right,” Trump said, as he made clear that he would not rush into a trade deal with major trading partner China +56hGCAxCj6Y-00002-00002461-00003138 He made the comments to reporters in a briefing on drug trafficking at the U.S. border +56hGCAxCj6Y-00003-00003138-00003898 President Trump did give hope that a deal will still happen, saying he feels good about it happening eventually +56hGCAxCj6Y-00004-00003898-00004776 “China very much wants to make a deal,” he said, as he has many times throughout months of trade negotiations with China +56hGCAxCj6Y-00005-00004776-00005570 The president reiterated the sentiment that there is no rush, saying he’s “not in a hurry” on the trade deal +56hGCAxCj6Y-00006-00005570-00006325 “There’s always a chance” the deal could fall apart, Trump warned while adding that he was still confident the U +56hGCAxCj6Y-00007-00006325-00007398 S. will get some form of trade agreement.President Trump offered similar “no rush” language last month in denuclearization talks with the leader of North Korea +56hGCAxCj6Y-00008-00007398-00008109 “I’ve been saying very much from the beginning that speed is not that important to me,” Trump said +56hGCAxCj6Y-00009-00008109-00008757 “Again, I am in no rush”.The president broadcasted in the midst of intensive U.S +56hGCAxCj6Y-00010-00008757-00009673 -China trade negotiations in February that he would “probably” meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago in March +56hGCAxCj6Y-00011-00009673-00010311 Such a meeting is expected to happen when the two nations are ready to finalize a deal +56hGCAxCj6Y-00012-00010311-00011021 Trump further said that they would involve working out the “finer points” of a trade deal at the meeting +5IZR-6apZEy-00000-00000000-00002846 Rotation Wave 0:05 Crazy Slow Killed 0:11 Ripple Pitch 0:17 Mirror Twirl 0:22 Cold Major 0:28 +5K8iTtNWuTA-00000-00000513-00001529 Roughly a year ago, we all learned that Special Counsel Robert Mueller had given a partial immunity deal to international political operative George Nader +5K8iTtNWuTA-00001-00001529-00002861 This was a big deal, both because it was the only known immunity deal that Mueller had handed out to anyone, and because Nader appeared to be in prime position to steer Mueller toward bigger Trump-Russia fish +5K8iTtNWuTA-00002-00002861-00004285 Now that deal is reportedly toast.It’s long been reported that George Nader helped set up (and attended) the infamous transition period Seychelles meeting between Erik Prince and Kremlin higher-up Kirill Dmitriev +5K8iTtNWuTA-00003-00004285-00005230 That meeting was allegedly an attempt at establishing a backchannel between the Donald Trump regime and the Vladimir Putin regime +5K8iTtNWuTA-00004-00005230-00006071 Nader’s cooperation was extensive enough that he even testified before a Trump-Russia grand jury last year +5K8iTtNWuTA-00005-00006071-00007547 It seemed like Nader was going to be Mueller’s guy all the way.But now George Nader is reportedly no longer cooperating with Robert Mueller, according to Laura Rozen of Middle Eastern news publication Al-Monitor +5K8iTtNWuTA-00006-00007547-00008286 No one involved is willing to comment on why this has happened, or even confirm or deny that it’s happened +5K8iTtNWuTA-00007-00008286-00009114 But it’s intriguing, because it points to just how much things have changed in the investigation over the past year +5K8iTtNWuTA-00008-00009114-00010677 In fact it ties into something new we just learned yesterday.Thanks to a court filing by Michael Flynn’s former business partner Bijan Kian yesterday, we learned that during the transition period, Flynn also met with Kirill Dmitriev +5K8iTtNWuTA-00009-00010677-00011896 This means Mueller got the lowdown on Dmitriev when Flynn cut his deal in November of 2017, before he gave immunity to Nader with regard to the Prince meeting with Dmitriev +5K8iTtNWuTA-00010-00011896-00012881 There’s a lot we don’t know here, but if Nader’s original cooperation deal was a big story, then the demise of that deal is an even bigger story +6vFEhai-Gok-00000-00000571-00001349 Just yesterday Walter Shaub, the former government ethics chief, retweeted this from Kenneth P +6vFEhai-Gok-00001-00001349-00002493 Vogel: “Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg spoke by phone with TRUMP this a.m., urging him not to ground 737 Max 8s after Sunday’s crash +6vFEhai-Gok-00002-00002493-00003530 * Muilenburg has tried to cultivate Trump. He visited Mar-a-Lago after AF1 dust-up, & Boeing donated $1M to Trump inaugural +6vFEhai-Gok-00003-00003530-00005226 So the Boeing 737 Max 8 and 9 are grounded all over the world, but here, Trump has a chummy phone call with his donor, and we can all roll the dice and take our chances! Sad! Grounding was inevitable, but I do wonder at the timing of it all +6vFEhai-Gok-00004-00005226-00006155 Boeing should have taken charge of this problem, and Muilenburg should pay a very high price for that very suspicious phone call with Trump +6vFEhai-Gok-00005-00006155-00006994 We Americans flew an entire extra day on planes with software an ex-pilot described as criminally defective +6vFEhai-Gok-00006-00006994-00007872 This is a good example of cascading events. Another good example is the criminal prosecution of Paul Manafort +6vFEhai-Gok-00007-00007872-00008783 The former campaign manager sleazed his way through the federal court system, and ended up with a total of 7 1/2 years placed on his head +6vFEhai-Gok-00008-00008783-00009643 He didn’t even get back to his prison in Alexandria before he was slapped with multiple charges brought by New York State +6vFEhai-Gok-00009-00009643-00010416 Events continue to cascade. You can’t stop that process, nor know where it will end +6vFEhai-Gok-00010-00010416-00011390 The judge in the latest Manafort sentencing, Amy Berman Jackson, was crystal clear about Russian collusion not being addressed at all in the case +6vFEhai-Gok-00011-00011390-00012187 To make her point, she even condemned the defense’s insistence of “no collusion” with Russia as being a “non sequitur +6vFEhai-Gok-00012-00012187-00013260 ” When Manafort’s attorney, Kevin Downing, tried to bring it up again in his statement after sentencing, he was justifiably shouted down as a liar by the audience +6vFEhai-Gok-00013-00013260-00014261 We don’t know how this will end, but if I were Trump Jr., Kushner, Ivanka, and Eric, I wouldn’t be humming the tune, “I Love New York!” +6vVNsso3mU0-00000-00000571-00002172 “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they call you racist,” the text of the video read, featuring images of failed Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, former President Bill Clinton, former President Barack Obam, as well as CNN +6vVNsso3mU0-00001-00002172-00003536 The video features the soundtrack from The Dark Knight Rises, and follows President Trump traveling, visiting factories, giving speeches, and leading rallies, while statistics show the economy improving +6vVNsso3mU0-00002-00003536-00004604 .News stories featuring the news of no Russia collusion in the report from Special Counsel Robert Mueller also appear as well as the president meeting with storm victim +6vVNsso3mU0-00003-00004604-00005617 The video also features images of Rosie O’Donnell, Bryan Cranston, and Amy Schumer, reminding supporters that their vote “proved them all wrong +6vVNsso3mU0-00004-00005617-00006816 ”.The preview shows Trump meeting with Kim Jong-un, Sen. Lindsey Graham squaring off with Democrats over Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and the stock market rising +6vVNsso3mU0-00005-00006816-00007368 The video closes with the text,”Trump the Great Victory: 2020.” +770PYPI6PyM-00000-00000000-00001384 For of all Donald Trump’s complex neuroses, psychoses, mental defects, deranged moral failings, and just plain weird traits, one of his most easily understandable is his habit of projection +770PYPI6PyM-00001-00001384-00002536 When he’s guilty of something, he accuses his adversaries of the same thing. When he thinks something is about to happen to him, he calls for it to happen to his adversaries +770PYPI6PyM-00002-00002536-00003241 .One of Donald Trump’s biggest remaining apologists is radio host and cartoon demon Rush Limbaugh +770PYPI6PyM-00003-00003241-00004093 He appeared on Fox News today and took things so far over the line, host Chris Wallace ended up reaming him for it +770PYPI6PyM-00004-00004093-00004970 But that part didn’t matter to Trump, who was clearly watching, and who decided that this Limbaugh quote was the one that mattered: +770PYPI6PyM-00005-00004970-00006018 These guys, the investigators, ought to be in jail. What they have done, working with the Obama intelligence agencies, is simply unprecedented +770PYPI6PyM-00006-00006018-00006778 This is one of the greatest political hoaxes ever perpetrated on the people of this Country, and Mueller is a coverup +770PYPI6PyM-00007-00006778-00007624 .By tweeting this quote, Donald Trump is saying that the federal investigators in the Trump-Russia scandal should be in jail +770PYPI6PyM-00008-00007624-00009085 This means, of course, that he’s worried about people on his side going to jail. We think he’s referring to Paul Manafort, with whom he cut bait a long time ago, or Roger Stone, whom he’s recently thrown under the bus +7b1aocoXzvI-00000-00000571-00001683 President Donald Trump announced Friday that Small Business Administrator Linda McMahon was leaving his cabinet and taking a position on his 2020 political action committee +7b1aocoXzvI-00001-00001683-00002596 Trump announced the news during a short press conference on Friday at his club at Mar-a-Lago with McMahon and thanked her for her service to the country +7b1aocoXzvI-00002-00002596-00003508 “This is an outstanding woman who has done an outstanding job,” Trump said. “And Linda I want to thank you very much +7b1aocoXzvI-00003-00003508-00004621 ”.He hinted that he would appoint someone to replace McMahon “soon” and that it would be someone that was well known by the administration that would “fit beautifully” with his cabinet +7b1aocoXzvI-00004-00004621-00005633 “Our country is doing really well, we’re the hottest country in the world economically and it’s going to stay that way for a long time to come,” Trump said +8sPRZWaAohk-00000-00000571-00001414 In her 1989 hit song, “If I Could Turn Back Time,” Cher sang about how “words are like weapons +8sPRZWaAohk-00001-00001414-00002209 ” Thirty years later, the president of the United States is taking Cher’s words and attempting to weaponize them +8sPRZWaAohk-00002-00002209-00002961 “I finally agree with Cher!” he tweeted triumphantly yesterday morning as if to welcome a new convert +8sPRZWaAohk-00003-00002961-00004283 But if you actually read what Cher wrote, not to mention her subsequent clarifications, it is clear that Trump needs to keep looking for evidence if he wants us to believe that his critics are now siding with him +8sPRZWaAohk-00004-00004283-00005502 .Cher’s Sunday evening tweet that got Trump so jubilant read: “I Understand Helping struggling Immigrants,but MY CITY (Los Angeles) ISNT TAKING CARE OF ITS OWN +8sPRZWaAohk-00005-00005502-00006845 WHAT ABOUT THE 50,000+ Citizens WHO LIVE ON THE STREETS.PPL WHO LIVE BELOW POVERTY LINE,& HUNGRY? If My State Can’t Take Care of Its Own(Many Are VETS)How Can it Take Care Of More +8sPRZWaAohk-00006-00006845-00007655 ” Trump apparently read it quickly, misinterpreting it as the same sort of hateful, anti-immigrant rant that he likes to write +8sPRZWaAohk-00007-00007655-00008344 But nowhere in her tweet does Cher say that sanctuary cities should not accept immigrants +8sPRZWaAohk-00008-00008344-00009572 .On the contrary, Cher began her tweet by stating her desire to help immigrants, then criticized her city’s handling of the current homeless population, particularly when it comes to veterans +8sPRZWaAohk-00009-00009572-00010567 Cher’s tweet is simply a plea for her city to improve the way it handles its disadvantaged population (whether or not they are immigrants) +8sPRZWaAohk-00010-00010567-00011547 Hours later, after the Trump echo chamber pounced on the issue, Cher clarified her tweet through two sharp replies to a pair of Twitter users +8sPRZWaAohk-00011-00011547-00012610 First came this: “Either you can’t read, or English isnt your primary Language.I Said nothing about turning in Immigrants living in my city Over to ICE +8sPRZWaAohk-00012-00012610-00013600 We Don’t Kidnap babies & Put them in cages, Which is different than wanting trump to drop thousands of ppl who haven’t been vetted into my city +8sPRZWaAohk-00013-00013600-00014760 ” Her second reply explained further: “There must be a process.Ppl who are looking 4 asylum,& Qualify,must be given access 2 judges,&properly interviewed +8sPRZWaAohk-00014-00014760-00015538 Then They can be sent”EVENLY” 2cities .Not Just THOUSANDS Bussed 2Calif,NY,Etc 4 revenge +8sPRZWaAohk-00015-00015538-00017309 These are ppl.WE ARE SANCTUARY CITIES BECAUSE WE DONT THROW PPL 2 DOGS”.Finally, in case there was any question as to whether Cher now sides with Trump and his divisive, vengeful policies, she returned to Twitter last night to shut Trump down +8sPRZWaAohk-00016-00017309-00018861 Cher warned Democrats about being too nice when dealing with Trump, and then in all-caps (probably so that there is a chance Trump can understand it), she made her feelings clear: “HE’S IGNORANT THUG WITH LIZARD BRAIN THAT GUARANTEES HIS SURVIVAL ABOVE ALL ELSE +8sPRZWaAohk-00017-00018861-00019498 ” Trump should not expect to hear Cher singing “I Got You Babe” to him anytime soon +8HteGev0keo-00000-00000571-00001592 A lawsuit by adult film star Stormy Daniels against President Donald Trump over a non-disparagement agreement has been tossed out of federal court +8HteGev0keo-00001-00001592-00003353 US District Judge James Otero says the suit, which sought to invalidate the $130,000 agreement that kept Daniels from speaking publicly about her allegations of an affair with Trump ahead of the 2016 election, should be sent back to California Superior Court +8HteGev0keo-00002-00003353-00004531 In his ruling, Otero says the suit "lacks subject matter jurisdiction.".By remanding the case back to where it was first filed, Otero made it clear the case is over +8HteGev0keo-00003-00004531-00005811 Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, says she and Trump had an affair in 2006, after he married first lady Melania Trump and she gave birth to their son, Barron +8HteGev0keo-00004-00005811-00007096 Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels.Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, arranged the nondisclosure agreement and paid Daniels $130,000 +8HteGev0keo-00005-00007096-00008423 He admitted in federal court that "in coordination and at the direction of a candidate for federal office," he kept information that would have harmed Trump from becoming public during the 2016 election cycle +8HteGev0keo-00006-00008423-00010178 He has since said that the candidate was Trump.Cohen has since been sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to nine charges, including campaign-finance violations related to payments he arranged to silence women who claimed affairs with Trump -- including Daniels +8HteGev0keo-00007-00010178-00011221 Trump has denied having affairs with the women.During the course of the case, Cohen and Trump agreed with Daniels saying the agreement would not be enforced +8HteGev0keo-00008-00011221-00012085 But, Daniels' attorney Michael Avenatti said his client wanted the judge to rule that what Cohen and Trump did was illegal +8HteGev0keo-00009-00012085-00013720 Instead, Daniels' case was dismissed in favor of the defendants.By dismissing the case, the judge essentially gave Daniels what she wanted all along -- to be able to tell her story without the fear of being sued for millions of dollars, Avenatti said +8HteGev0keo-00010-00013720-00014679 "The court found that Ms. Daniels received everything she asked for by way of the lawsuit -- she won," Avenatti told CNN +8HteGev0keo-00011-00014679-00015478 Otero is the same judge who also dismissed Daniels' separate defamation cases against Trump and Cohen +8HteGev0keo-00012-00015478-00016416 In addition to dismissing the defamation lawsuit, Otero ordered Daniels to pay nearly $300,000 in attorney's fees +8HteGev0keo-00013-00016416-00017709 Daniels sued the President after he said in a tweet posted in April that her tale of a man threatening her not to come forward with her story of her alleged affair with Trump was "a total con job +8HteGev0keo-00014-00017709-00018129 " Trump had asked Otero to dismiss the lawsuit +91gyOHIDt6k-00000-00000571-00001373 The already sinking and broke-in-two Trumptanic just crashed into another couple of icebergs on the way to the bottom +91gyOHIDt6k-00001-00001373-00002470 Tom Barrack, Trump inaugural chairman, has decided to cooperate with the House Judiciary Committee and fork over the requested documents, according to CNBC +91gyOHIDt6k-00002-00002470-00003880 This is significant.Barrack is part of the billionaire real estate bunch. His dealings with Trump have resulted in Trump buying from him a stake in Alexander’s Department Store and the Plaza Hotel, both of which Trump lost +91gyOHIDt6k-00003-00003880-00004936 He’s also got his fingers in the Jared Kushner sinking ship of 666 Fifth Avenue. The one thing to know about Barrack is that he’s been around the block +91gyOHIDt6k-00004-00004936-00005612 He’s worked in government before and seems to have made his own money legitimately +91gyOHIDt6k-00005-00005612-00006908 It is doubtful he suffers fools unless he wants to. In Michael Wolff’s book, FIRE AND FURY, Barrack allegedly describes Trump as, “not only crazy,” but, “stupid +91gyOHIDt6k-00006-00006908-00007885 ” Barrack denies having said these these, but he’s taken no action against Wolff.Robert Mueller already interviewed Tom Barrack a year ago +91gyOHIDt6k-00007-00007885-00008697 So Barrack already knows the gist of the investigation. He’s not the kind of guy who’s willing to do time to protect Trump +91gyOHIDt6k-00008-00008697-00010003 And by all accounts, he keeps his books clean.Barrack seems to hang with the Saudis enough to know how to keep himself just on the side of legal activity (moral activity will have to be discussed at another time) +91gyOHIDt6k-00009-00010003-00011346 But the big gauge of Barrack’s future behavior centers on Paul Manafort. Barrack has been friends with Manafort since the 70s, and he reportedly recommended Manafort for the job of campaign manager +91gyOHIDt6k-00010-00011346-00012145 So Tom Barrack has got to be scared out of his mind.Tom Barrack knows he can’t pull a fast one +91gyOHIDt6k-00011-00012145-00013958 He knows he can’t lie. And he knows he can’t refuse to cooperate. He is jumping to stay out of prison, and, deliciously, his only question to any investigation, is, “how high?” The other iceberg is the investigation into the insurance broker for the Trump Organization +91gyOHIDt6k-00012-00013958-00015086 That’s gonna leave a mark, not just on Trump, but his kids. As we’ve said before, the Trumptanic is going down and now isn’t the time for Trump’s people to whine on Twitter +91gyOHIDt6k-00013-00015086-00015870 No, folks, now is the time to hire every lawyer you can afford, cooperate, and beg for mercy +9KVAEVFrLly-00000-00000513-00002388 Right on cue, everyone on the right-wing who has spent years promoting hateful anti-Muslim rhetoric and demonizing immigrants as “invaders” are falling over themselves to distance themselves from the white supremacist who murdered over 40 people last night in a mass shooting at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand +9KVAEVFrLly-00001-00002388-00003684 One of those people is Donald Trump Jr., who tried to double-dip and used his “ignore the shooter and everything he believed in” tweet to attack the mainstream media for promoting hate +9KVAEVFrLly-00002-00003684-00005781 But as professional Nazi hunter and Charlottesville community organizer Molly pointed out, Don Jr’s tweet is nothing more than a disgusting effort to cover up the role that he and his father’s virulent Islamophobia played in motivating the shooter, who specifically cited Donald Trump as a “symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose” +9KVAEVFrLly-00003-00005781-00007276 Don Jr. himself is no stranger to appallingly racist and dehumanizing statements about Muslims and immigrants, having once comparing Syrian refugees to “poisoned Skittles” and more recently compared immigrants to “caged zoo animals” +9KVAEVFrLly-00004-00007276-00009462 For him to use this as an excuse to wage his father’s disturbing war against the media is utterly despicable and beyond the pale — which means it is perfectly on-brand for Trump Jr, who seems to have abandoned any pretense of doing any work at the Trump Organization and instead has devoted himself to becoming a right-wing edgelord poster full time +9KVAEVFrLly-00005-00009462-00010293 Social media users were not impressed with his transparent attempt to protect his dad and hammered him for it +a2kQW3gXzg8-00000-00000571-00002271 It's been almost one year since first lady Melania Trump launched her official "Be Best" platform, a three-pillared program set to tackle the relatively vast topics of children's well-being, online behavior and how the opioid crisis affects kids and families +a2kQW3gXzg8-00001-00002271-00003394 Not only is it a comparatively large and complex set of issues for a presidential spouse to undertake, Trump is doing so with a skeleton crew of East Wing staff members +a2kQW3gXzg8-00002-00003394-00004810 Yet Trump, who this week embarked on her first solo domestic overnight trip to promote her initiative, has gone about building on her initiatives as she has with most other things during her tenure -- at her own pace, when she so chooses +a2kQW3gXzg8-00003-00004810-00005962 She's carried on without concern for its compatibility (or not) with President Donald Trump's agenda, or concern for how those who came before her accomplished their tasks +a2kQW3gXzg8-00004-00005962-00006806 And for much of her efforts, she's struggled to win headlines or command the media attention that followed her predecessors +a2kQW3gXzg8-00005-00006806-00007924 It's something that frustrates Trump, as she stated Tuesday in Las Vegas, where the first lady spoke and took questions at a town hall about opioids hosted by Eric Bolling +a2kQW3gXzg8-00006-00007924-00009371 "I challenge the press to devote as much time to the lives lost (by drugs) -- and the potential lives that could be saved -- by dedicating the same amount of coverage that you do to idle gossip or trivial stories," she said +a2kQW3gXzg8-00007-00009371-00010387 But will we ever see her do pushups with Jimmy Fallon or sing carpool karaoke with James Corden, like Michelle Obama? Probably not +a2kQW3gXzg8-00008-00010387-00011192 It's expected that she will continue to plug away at her passion projects, making appearances and brief remarks as she goes +a2kQW3gXzg8-00009-00011192-00012623 On Monday, the first lady was welcomed to Microsoft's Seattle executive campus to see the company's latest technological developments designed to help children stay safe online while they play games like Fortnite +a2kQW3gXzg8-00010-00012623-00013412 She watched a demonstration on how parents can control virtually every aspect of their child's Internet use +a2kQW3gXzg8-00011-00013412-00014650 "I feel that sometimes children know more than their parents. Parents need to watch what children do to make it safe," said Trump in a discussion with Microsoft President Brad Smith +a2kQW3gXzg8-00012-00014650-00016304 Smith told Seattle Times business reporter Paul Roberts after the first lady's visit that the social media behavior of the President, while concerning, is less important to the company's overall dedication to the principles Melania Trump is promoting with "Be Best'' +a2kQW3gXzg8-00013-00016304-00017077 "We've always said that we'll partner where we can, we'll stand apart where we should," said Smith +aYe7ifjks1U-00000-00000513-00002028 Left-wing parties in the U.S. and the United Kingdom are both struggling to deal with a wave of accusations of anti-Semitism within their parties -- as their bases push them increasingly to the left and toward positions more critical of Israel +aYe7ifjks1U-00001-00002028-00002780 The controversy blew up for the Democratic Party this week when Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn +aYe7ifjks1U-00002-00002780-00003559 , suggested that supporters of Israel were pushing for U.S. politicians to declare "allegiance" to Israel +aYe7ifjks1U-00003-00003559-00004543 “I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is OK for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country," Omar said +aYe7ifjks1U-00004-00004543-00005933 "I want to ask why is it OK for me to talk about the influence of the NRA, of fossil fuel industries, or big pharma, and not talk about a powerful lobbying movement that is influencing policy +aYe7ifjks1U-00005-00005933-00006772 ".It was the latest controversial statement she’d made in reference to Israel that critics said used anti-Semitic dogwhistles +aYe7ifjks1U-00006-00006772-00007725 Omar tweeted in 2012: “Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel +aYe7ifjks1U-00007-00007725-00008924 ".Last month, she got into trouble when she suggested some members of Congress were being paid by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) to support Israel +aYe7ifjks1U-00008-00008924-00010813 “It’s all about the Benjamins baby,” she tweeted.Omar apologized for those statements but has not done so for her “allegiance” comments, which ramped up pressure on Democrats to condemn her remarks -- leading ultimately to a resolution against bigotry that was voted on Friday and ultimately passed +aYe7ifjks1U-00009-00010813-00012435 Meanwhile, in the U.K., the Labour Party -- which moved to the left after the election of once-fringe left-wing MP Jeremy Corbyn as leader in 2015 -- has been wrestling with a similar crisis of its own for years, but one that has dramatically escalated in recent weeks +aYe7ifjks1U-00010-00012435-00013851 Corbyn is a longtime critic of Israel and has been criticized for his ties to extreme pro-Palestinian groups, including for a past meeting where he expressed support for members of Hamas and Hezbollah, who he called “friends +aYe7ifjks1U-00011-00013851-00014731 ” He has since said he was using “inclusive language” as he sought to bring about a peace process and that he does not support or agree with them +aYe7ifjks1U-00012-00014731-00016403 Last year a picture emerged of him attending a wreath-laying ceremony in 2014 that honored perpetrators of the 1972 Munich terror attack against Israeli athletes, although he said he was there to honor those killed in a 1985 Israeli air strike +aYe7ifjks1U-00013-00016403-00018142 Although he has repeatedly condemned anti-Semitism, Corbyn made things somewhat worse for himself when, in a 2016 speech intended to condemn anti-Semitism and distance himself from some of the controversies, he appeared to compare Israel to the Islamic State +aYe7ifjks1U-00014-00018142-00019386 "Our Jewish friends are no more responsible for the actions of Israel or the Netanyahu government than our Muslim friends are for those of various self-styled Islamic states or organizations," he said +aYe7ifjks1U-00015-00019386-00020449 But the party's pro-Corbyn left have turned those incidents into a full-blown crisis with a steady stream of anti-Israel and allegedly anti-Semitic comments +aYe7ifjks1U-00016-00020449-00022437 A high-profile moment came in 2016 when top Corbyn ally and former London Mayor Ken Livingstone -- who is often referred to as “Red Ken” for his hard-left views -- was suspended by the party in 2016 for saying that Adolf Hitler was a Zionist before he “went mad and ended up killing 6 million Jews +aYe7ifjks1U-00017-00022437-00023416 ”.Much of the controversy has focused on the failure of the party as a whole to appropriately discipline those accused of anti-Semitism +aYe7ifjks1U-00018-00023416-00025059 This week, the Times of London reported that a Corbyn ally recommended against the suspension of a Labour member who posted an image online of an alien with the Star of David on its back grasping the Statue of Liberty by the face, suggesting control over the US +aYe7ifjks1U-00019-00025059-00026640 The activist added the caption: “The most accurate photo I’ve seen all year!”.The link between a swing to the left -- including on Israel -- by parties and the rise of the anti-Semitism has been noted by both left-wing and right-wing commentators and outlets +aYe7ifjks1U-00020-00026640-00028170 In an explainer on the crisis, left-wing outlet Vox notes that the socialist left “tend to be passionately pro-Palestine” and that “such a position can lead to tensions between left-wing anti-Zionists and mainstream Jewish communities +aYe7ifjks1U-00021-00028170-00029745 “This tension has at times led to a tendency on the left to indulge in anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and tropes -- like blaming a Jewish conspiracy for Western governments’ support of Israel or equating Jews who support Israel with Nazi collaborators +aYe7ifjks1U-00022-00029745-00031159 ”.On the right, New York Times columnist Bret Stephens this week accused Omar of “bringing Corbynism to the Democratic Party” and called her a “case study in the ease with which strident criticism of Israel shades into anti-Semitism +aYe7ifjks1U-00023-00031159-00032614 ”.“It says something about the progressive movement today that it has no trouble denouncing Republican racism, real and alleged, every day of the week but has so much trouble calling out a naked anti-Semite in its own ranks,” Stephens said +aYe7ifjks1U-00024-00032614-00033463 “This is how progressivism becomes Corbynism. It’s how the left finds its own path toward legitimizing hate +aYe7ifjks1U-00025-00033463-00035223 It’s how self-declared anti-fascists develop their own forms of fascism.”.Nile Gardiner, director of the Heritage Foundation's Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, told Fox News that such ideas are not being challenged by leaders on the left as they once would have been +aYe7ifjks1U-00026-00035223-00036271 "I think that what you're seeing is the rise of the far-left on both sides of the Atlantic and part of the far-left identity is a deep-seated anti-Semitism in both the U +aYe7ifjks1U-00027-00036271-00037049 K and the U.S., and there is a lack of willingness on the part of the political leaders to do anything about it," he said +aYe7ifjks1U-00028-00037049-00038371 In the U.S., the Democrats struggled to condemn Omar for her remarks. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, was mocked for saying that Omar “has a different experience in the use of words +aYe7ifjks1U-00029-00038371-00039664 " Meanwhile, Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., defended Omar, saying that her experience as a refugee from Somalia was "more personal" than Jews whose parents survived the Holocaust +aYe7ifjks1U-00030-00039664-00040850 The resolution that passed Friday was initially intended to deal with Omar’s comments, but was eventually expanded to include all forms of bigotry including white supremacy +aYe7ifjks1U-00031-00040850-00041628 It was so broad that Omar was even able to hail it as a victory as it condemned anti-Muslim bigotry +aYe7ifjks1U-00032-00041628-00042686 “Today is historic on many fronts," Omar, along with Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Andre Carson, D-Ind +aYe7ifjks1U-00033-00042686-00043514 , said in a statement. "It’s the first time we have voted on a resolution condemning anti-Muslim bigotry in our nation’s history +aYe7ifjks1U-00034-00043514-00044815 ".“We are tremendously proud to be part of a body that has put forth a condemnation of all forms of bigotry including anti-Semitism, racism, and white supremacy," the statement continued +aYe7ifjks1U-00035-00044815-00045909 "At a time when extremism is on the rise, we must explicitly denounce religious intolerance of all kinds and acknowledge the pain felt by all communities +aYe7ifjks1U-00036-00045909-00046515 Our nation is having a difficult conversation and we believe this is great progress +aYe7ifjks1U-00037-00046515-00047568 ”.In the U.K., the controversy is overshadowing Labour’s attempt to hold Prime Minister Theresa May’s feet to the fire over her handling of Brexit +aYe7ifjks1U-00038-00047568-00048963 A number of centrist Labour MPs broke off from the party last month and, alongside some Conservative Party rebels, formed the Independent Group -- an independent party bloc with an eye to becoming a centrist party +aYe7ifjks1U-00039-00048963-00050068 The Labour rebels cited the party’s handling of the anti-Semitism as a key reason for their departure and accused Corbyn of tolerating anti-Semitism in the Labour Party ranks +aYe7ifjks1U-00040-00050068-00051196 “Over the past three years.the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn has become infected with the scourge of anti-Jewish racism,” a statement by MP Joan Ryan said +aYe7ifjks1U-00041-00051196-00052238 “This problem simply did not exist in the party before his election as leader. No previous Labour leader would have allowed this huge shame to befall the party +aYe7ifjks1U-00042-00052238-00053087 ”.It is unclear what such a breakaway group could mean for the next general election, which could come as early as this year +aYe7ifjks1U-00043-00053087-00054587 But one possibility is that it could split the left-wing vote, bringing in disenfranchised Labour centrists, giving an enormous electoral advantage for the Conservative Party due to the country's first-past-the-post electoral system +aYe7ifjks1U-00044-00054587-00055475 Meanwhile, in the U.S., the controversy is already becoming an issue for potential 2020 Democratic presidential candidates +aYe7ifjks1U-00045-00055475-00056371 President Trump has latched onto the issue, saying it is “inconceivable” that Democrats “will not act to condemn [anti-Semitism] +aYe7ifjks1U-00046-00056371-00057390 ”.Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., have backed Omar, but others have ducked the issue +aYe7ifjks1U-00047-00057390-00058831 Asked about Omar at a news conference Thursday, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., insisted he wanted to hear only "on-topic" questions about unrelated legislation -- then, receiving none, stop taking questions entirely +aYe7ifjks1U-00048-00058831-00059868 Gardiner, at the Heritage Foundation, said that the controversies could have electoral consequences in both countries: "I think most people in the U +aYe7ifjks1U-00049-00059868-00061820 K. and the U.S. fundamentally reject anti-Semitism, so it is a huge electoral liability and a real problem for the left on both sides of the Atlantic, this sort of growing tolerance by left-wing politicians of anti-Semitic statements and behavior, because that is not where the British or the American people are +aYe7ifjks1U-00050-00061820-00061920 " +b9AlF2zW66o-00000-00000571-00001660 On May 1, 2003, aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, President George W. Bush stood before a banner declaring "Mission Accomplished +b9AlF2zW66o-00001-00001660-00002438 " But he had declared victory prematurely and subsequently lost the political battle over the war in Iraq +b9AlF2zW66o-00002-00002438-00003499 From that day on, every time Americans troops suffered a setback, critics would remark something along the lines of, 'Is this really what victory really looks like?' +b9AlF2zW66o-00003-00003499-00004478 In the rush to solidify a political gain, the Bush administration violated the first rule of political communications -- under promise and over deliver +b9AlF2zW66o-00004-00004478-00005672 In fact, it violated the second rule, too -- be humble in all victories.Compare that moment with the day President Bill Clinton was acquitted on impeachment charges in the US Senate +b9AlF2zW66o-00005-00005672-00006620 Did he hold a victory rally, praise his supporters and criticize those who had opposed him? No, he took the opposite approach +b9AlF2zW66o-00006-00006620-00007433 He was somber, fully taking responsibility for his role in the painful national controversy that was ended that day +b9AlF2zW66o-00007-00007433-00008491 He used the moment to reach out to the Republican Party, calling for a new commitment to working together across party lines to get things done for the people +b9AlF2zW66o-00008-00008491-00009611 In fact, not only was there no celebrating, I, who was his press secretary at the time, declared days before that the White House would be a gloat-free zone +b9AlF2zW66o-00009-00009611-00011139 And it was.Why the somewhat random history lesson? Because, in the aftermath of Attorney General William Barr's summary letter of special counsel Robert Mueller's report, President Donald Trump is making the same mistakes as President Bush +b9AlF2zW66o-00010-00011139-00012009 And hard as it may be for them to stomach, the Trump administration could learn a thing or two from history -- particularly from Bill Clinton +b9AlF2zW66o-00011-00012009-00012895 So, how has Trump reacted? He's claimed "total exoneration," even though the full report is not out +b9AlF2zW66o-00012-00012895-00013683 He's doubled down on his attacks on his enemies, mainly the Democrats, TV pundits and the press +b9AlF2zW66o-00013-00013683-00015063 And his enemies, according to his press secretary Sarah Sanders, are not just run-of-the-mill losers who are wrong -- they are traitors who should be prosecuted for a crime -- treason -- that can be punishable by death +b9AlF2zW66o-00014-00015063-00015943 Sanders even went as far as tweeting a New York Post presidential enemies list, presented as a March Madness bracket +b9AlF2zW66o-00015-00015943-00017416 Couple that with a Trump 2020 campaign memo suggesting to television news producers the pundits they should no longer put on the air, and it's clear that the White House saw this as more about settling scores than declaring victory +b9AlF2zW66o-00016-00017416-00018806 So, what's the problem? Like with the Iraq War, it's premature to claim a "win." The Mueller report has not been released for anyone, other than perhaps Barr himself, to make an independent judgment +b9AlF2zW66o-00017-00018806-00019838 Declaring victory also significantly increases the pressure to release the report, although it's hard to imagine the pressure any higher than it already is +b9AlF2zW66o-00018-00019838-00021222 The second problem is an opportunity squandered. And a new CNN poll, released Wednesday, indicates that despite the conclusion of the Mueller investigation, the opinion of most Americans has not changed +b9AlF2zW66o-00019-00021222-00022695 In other words, the reaction from the White House has not been particularly persuasive -- Trump's conservative base is still with him, the Democrats are defiant and the middle remains offended by the high-handed nature of everything he does +b9AlF2zW66o-00020-00022695-00023518 Swing voters, I imagine, are saying he may not have colluded with the Russians, but he's still acting far from presidential +b9AlF2zW66o-00021-00023518-00024602 So, what should he have done? First and foremost, he should have identified the true enemy in this crisis (hint: it's not the media) -- the Russians +b9AlF2zW66o-00022-00024602-00025660 The President needed to state clearly that American democracy was attacked and that there is nothing more important than protecting our political viability +b9AlF2zW66o-00023-00025660-00026744 No ambiguity, no hedging and no articulating what Russian President Vladimir Putin thinks or referencing the 400-pound guy in his mother's basement +b9AlF2zW66o-00024-00026744-00027873 This was also an opportunity to bring people together. To do that, he should have started with taking responsibility for his actions, which contributed to this political crisis +b9AlF2zW66o-00025-00027873-00029484 First, he easily could have admitted to making mistakes in hiring certain people -- particularly after several of the top aides on his campaign were convicted or pleaded guilty to crimes, including Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, George Papadopoulos and others +b9AlF2zW66o-00026-00029484-00030490 Next, he could have expressed regret for the tone of his comments, particularly against the special counsel, whom he attacked repeatedly for months +b9AlF2zW66o-00027-00030490-00031605 Finally, he could have made a call for a new commitment to comity in our country by shouldering some of the blame for the current climate and calling on the Democrats to do the same +bML-1qYBEWU-00000-00000513-00001508 President Trump on Wednesday blasted California Gov. Gavin Newsom for halting executions for the state’s 737 death row inmates +bML-1qYBEWU-00001-00001508-00002461 “Defying voters, the Governor of California will halt all death penalty executions of 737 stone cold killers +bML-1qYBEWU-00002-00002461-00003321 Friends and families of the always forgotten VICTIMS are not thrilled, and neither am I!” Trump tweeted early Wednesday +bML-1qYBEWU-00003-00003321-00004530 The tweet comes hours before Newsom, a Democrat, is expected to sign an executive order that would halt all executions at San Quentin State Prison, closing a new execution chamber +bML-1qYBEWU-00004-00004530-00005416 The order would also withdraw lethal injection regulations. The order, though, would leave all convictions intact +bML-1qYBEWU-00005-00005416-00006805 “The intentional killing of another person is wrong. And as governor, I will not oversee the execution of any individual,” Newsom said in a prepared statement obtained by the Southern California News Group +bML-1qYBEWU-00006-00006805-00008148 Newsom, who has been a vocal opponent of the death penalty, said that the system is a “failure” that “has discriminated against defendants who are mentally ill, black and brown, or can’t afford legal representation +bML-1qYBEWU-00007-00008148-00008911 ” He also said that many innocent people have been wrongly convicted and sometimes put to death +bML-1qYBEWU-00008-00008911-00009799 But Newsom’s order will go against the wishes of California voters, who in 2016 backed a measure to speed up executions +bML-1qYBEWU-00009-00009799-00010752 The Association of Deputy District Attorneys blasted Newsom for “usurping” the will of the voters and “substituting his personal preferences +bML-1qYBEWU-00010-00010752-00012142 ”.But Newsom said that the death penalty is flawed because it is “irreversible and irreparable in the event of human error,” and expensive, costing California $5 billion since 1978 +bML-1qYBEWU-00011-00012142-00013053 Meanwhile, Trump has been a supporter of the death penalty. In October, Trump called for the death penalty for those who kill police officers +cKY8vbrbKzA-00000-00000571-00001571 Lanny Davis, attorney for Michael Cohen, is speaking out now and he made the shocking revelation that he believes that Donald Trump Jr +cKY8vbrbKzA-00001-00001571-00002478 should be indicted for signing a check that Cohen alleged to be hush money to keep Stormy Daniels quiet about her affair with President Donald Trump +cKY8vbrbKzA-00002-00002478-00003488 In an interview with Hill.TV’s “Rising” hosts Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti on Monday, Davis had quite a lot to say about Trump Jr +cKY8vbrbKzA-00003-00003488-00005260 .“I do suggest, respectfully, that Donald Jr, based upon signing a hush money check for his father — out of a trust fund, by the way, that was set up to prevent any money being spent that would help Donald Trump while he was president — out of that trust fund is where the Donald Jr +cKY8vbrbKzA-00004-00005260-00006323 check was written, that is a crime… He should be, in my opinion, respectfully, indicted, based upon just the signing of that check,” Davis said +cKY8vbrbKzA-00005-00006323-00008530 Lanny Davis, attorney for Michael Cohen.Cohen, who testified in February, said that he gave Daniels $130,000 in payments prior to the 2016 presidential elections and he showed two checks in the amounts of $35,000 each, one signed by President Trump, and one signed by Allen Weisselberg, CFO of the Trump Organization +cKY8vbrbKzA-00006-00008530-00009324 President Trump denies the affair and claims that the payments were NOT in violation of campaign finance laws +cKY8vbrbKzA-00007-00009324-00010304 Cohen claims they were reimbursements for the payments he gave to Ms. Daniels.Davis said in the interview, “There’s no allegation or credibility issue here +cKY8vbrbKzA-00008-00010304-00012328 Federal prosecutors found that Donald Trump directed and coordinated an illegal hush money scheme and the payment of $35,000 a month… The payment of $35,000 a month was a payoff for what was a fictitious legal services retainer agreement, which the federal government prosecutors said never existed +cKY8vbrbKzA-00009-00012328-00014224 So this is not a matter in dispute.”.That check signed by our president is a fact that cannot be denied as a felony committed by the president of the United States, which, thanks to Michael Cohen and his testimony, is now before federal prosecutors… They can’t indict a president, but they can indict Don Jr +cKY8vbrbKzA-00010-00014224-00015089 because the second check was signed by Don Jr., the same $35,000 a month installment payment for the hush money +cKY8vbrbKzA-00011-00015089-00016136 ”.Davis also disagrees with the punishment Cohen received and believes it should be reconsidered when compared to other penalties given for similar charges +cKY8vbrbKzA-00012-00016136-00017652 Cohen, who has been cooperating with Congress and the U.S. Attorney’s office, will report to prison in May to serve a three year sentence on a host of charges including lying to Congress, tax fraud, bank fraud, and more +cKY8vbrbKzA-00013-00017652-00019493 “The most important issue for me is why Mr. Cohen is serving this length of time for what, is compared to others who have not paid income taxes, a minor sum of $275,000 a year, whereas Floyd Mayweather didn’t pay $18 million a year, and got a civil penalty +cKY8vbrbKzA-00014-00019493-00019593 ” +drqWd0tfaAg-00000-00000000-00000200 rasel badboy69 +dGmNAl1nZh8-00000-00000571-00001851 Former 2016 Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush said he thinks a Republican should challenge President Donald Trump in next year's election, arguing the party "ought to be a given a choice +dGmNAl1nZh8-00001-00001851-00003282 "."I think someone should run. Just because Republicans ought to be given a choice," said Bush, who also served as the governor of Florida, in an interview with David Axelrod that will air Saturday on "The Axe Files +dGmNAl1nZh8-00002-00003282-00004241 " He added that beating Trump in 2020 will be difficult for anyone because "he has a strong, loyal base" and "it's hard to beat a sitting president +dGmNAl1nZh8-00003-00004241-00004957 "."But to have a conversation about what it is to be a conservative I think is important," he added +dGmNAl1nZh8-00004-00004957-00006189 "And our country needs to have competing ideologies that people -- that are dynamic, that focus on the world we're in and the world we're moving towards rather than revert back to a nostalgic time +dGmNAl1nZh8-00005-00006189-00007532 ".Bush's comments came as he was discussing Maryland Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, whose inauguration speech in January caused some to question whether or not he was eyeing a 2020 bid +dGmNAl1nZh8-00006-00007532-00009112 In his own speech at the inauguration, Bush lauded Hogan, regarding him as being "at the top of a list of leaders that I admire today because what's happening here in Annapolis is the antithesis of what's happening in Washington, DC, these days +dGmNAl1nZh8-00007-00009112-00010729 "."I didn't realize I was part of his pre-campaign," Bush quipped during his interview with Axelrod, adding that when he heard the speech, "I kind of got a sense that maybe this was an opening, at least, for (Hogan) to consider (a presidential run) +dGmNAl1nZh8-00008-00010729-00011826 ".In the weeks following his inauguration, Hogan, a moderate Republican, told CNN he hasn't closed the door to challenging Trump in a Republican primary +dGmNAl1nZh8-00009-00011826-00012738 "People are talking to me about it," he said at the the time. "I'm flattered people are saying that and including me in those discussions +dGmNAl1nZh8-00010-00012738-00013754 My focus, my plan right now is to stay here for four years and do the best job I can in Maryland, but I've said, 'You never say never +dGmNAl1nZh8-00011-00013754-00015692 ' Who knows what's going to happen.".Bush didn't say whether or not he's spoken to Hogan about a potential run, instead offering advice to Republicans ahead of the election by telling Axelrod that the party needs to "offer a compelling alternative" to Democratic ideas rather than just calling their ideas "bad +dGmNAl1nZh8-00012-00015692-00015792 " +eqa95vUnC8g-00000-00000571-00001634 Donald Trump and his new handpicked Attorney General William Barr are clearly desperate to keep the Mueller report suppressed, and it’s not difficult to parse why +eqa95vUnC8g-00001-00001634-00003094 Even Barr’s own glowingly misleading “summary” has given away that the report includes comprehensive evidence that Trump has committed serious crimes – and when it becomes public, House Democrats can use it as a basis for impeachment +eqa95vUnC8g-00002-00003094-00003768 Even as this plays out, Trump suddenly has a new kind of impeachable scandal on his hands +eqa95vUnC8g-00003-00003768-00004727 Earlier today, NBC News buried the lede in a lengthy online article about Donald Trump’s National Intelligence Director Dan Coats +eqa95vUnC8g-00004-00004727-00006432 Way down around the twentieth paragraph, the article reveals that whenever Coats tried to brief Trump in early 2017, Trump would use it as an opportunity to push the conspiracy theory that President Obama had somehow wiretapped Trump Tower during the election +eqa95vUnC8g-00005-00006432-00007911 But Trump took things even further.According to the NBC article, “Trump believed it was Coats’s responsibility to come up with conclusive proof he had been wiretapped, make it public and criticize the alleged eavesdropping +eqa95vUnC8g-00006-00007911-00008608 ” This was after Coats had already repeatedly told Trump that was no proof of any such thing +eqa95vUnC8g-00007-00008608-00009747 You may or may not be able to make an argument here that when Trump told Coats that he was supposed to “come up” with evidence, he was instructing Coats to manufacture such evidence +eqa95vUnC8g-00008-00009747-00010374 But whether this can be framed as an actual crime or not, it’s absolutely impeachable +eqa95vUnC8g-00009-00010374-00011304 Earlier today, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi told a gang of reporters that “Impeachment is not on the table until it is on the table +eqa95vUnC8g-00010-00011304-00012921 ” While there is every reason to expect that the Mueller report will produce a boatload of impeachable evidence against Donald Trump, these new details about Trump and Obama are a reminder that impeachment doesn’t have to hinge solely on the Mueller report, damning as it may be +eqa95vUnC8g-00011-00012921-00013921 House Democrats will continue exposing Trump’s crimes and scandals until he’s no longer politically tenable – then he’ll be gone +gsiVDIosOB0-00000-00000571-00001650 Donald Trump has said that a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un broke down over the issue of sanctions, after the talks in Vietnam ended early with no deal +gsiVDIosOB0-00001-00001650-00002245 “It was about the sanctions basically,” Trump said at a press conference in Hanoi +gsiVDIosOB0-00002-00002245-00003230 “They wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety and we couldn’t do that . Sometimes you have to walk, and this was just one of those times +gsiVDIosOB0-00003-00003230-00004724 ”.The US president said that Kim had offered to dismantle some parts of his nuclear infrastructure, including the Yongbyon nuclear complex, but was not prepared to destroy other parts of the programme, including covert uranium plants +gsiVDIosOB0-00004-00004724-00005876 “There is a gap. We have to have sanctions,” Trump said. “They were willing to denuke a large portion of the areas we wanted but we couldn’t give up all the sanctions for that'' +gsiVDIosOB0-00005-00005876-00007846 Trump said there was no plan for a third summit but made clear that the current status quo would continue, with North Korea continuing to suspend nuclear and missile tests, while the US would not take part in joint military exercises with South Korea, which the US president said he was opposed to anyway +gsiVDIosOB0-00006-00007846-00008689 “I gave that up quite a while ago because it costs us $100 million to do it. I hated to see it +gsiVDIosOB0-00007-00008689-00009416 I thought it was unfair,” Trump said, saying South Korea should shoulder more of the costs +gsiVDIosOB0-00008-00009416-00010189 “Exercising is fun and it’s nice they play their war games. I’m not saying its not necessary +gsiVDIosOB0-00009-00010189-00011610 On some levels it is. On other levels it’s not''.Although he said another summit with Kim might not happen “for a long time”, Trump remained defensive of the North Korean leader and the relationship between the two men +gsiVDIosOB0-00010-00011610-00012315 “We spent all day with Kim Jong-un,” Trump said. “He’s quite a guy and quite a character +gsiVDIosOB0-00011-00012315-00013619 And our relationship is very strong.”.He even defended Kim over the death of US student Otto Warmbier, who had been sent back home from North Korea seriously ill in June 2017 +gsiVDIosOB0-00012-00013619-00014624 “He says he didn’t know about it and I will take him at his word,” Trump said, adding that North Korea was a big country and: “Those prisons are rough +gsiVDIosOB0-00013-00014624-00015682 They’re rough places and bad things happen.”.Trump gave a detailed public account to date of the central disagreements that have dogged the negotiations +gsiVDIosOB0-00014-00015682-00016860 He confirmed that the US side had confronted the North Koreans with the existence of covert nuclear facilities outside Yongbyon and demanded they be put on the negotiating table +gsiVDIosOB0-00015-00016860-00018292 “They were surprised we knew,” he said.The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said that the breakdown of talks was partly caused by differences over the sequences of nuclear disarmament and sanctions relief +gsiVDIosOB0-00016-00018292-00019689 The press conference came after a scheduled lunch and signing ceremony for the expected joint statement were both cancelled at short notice, as Trump and Kim left the summit venue and returned to their separate Hanoi hotels +gsiVDIosOB0-00017-00019689-00020888 “The two leaders discussed various ways to advance denuclearization and economic-driven concepts,” Sarah Sanders, the White House spokeswoman, said in a written statement +gsiVDIosOB0-00018-00020888-00021688 “No agreement was reached at this time, but their respective teams look forward to meeting in the future +gsiVDIosOB0-00019-00021688-00022829 ”.A Trump media conference was brought forward two hours, and journalists accompanying the US president were told to get ready to board Air Force One for the flight back to Washington +gveLTv3-mHc-00000-00000571-00001992 President Donald Trump rose to power propelled in part by his rhetoric about invaders from the south swarming the border, and his claim that Mexico was "sending" rapists and killers, but the facts proved quite the opposite +gveLTv3-mHc-00001-00001992-00002681 The government's own figures showed the number of people crossing the border had been declining steadily +gveLTv3-mHc-00002-00002681-00004019 And in 2015, when Trump launched his campaign, a Pew Research Center analysis found that among one group of migrants, Mexicans, more people were leaving the United States for Mexico than coming across +gveLTv3-mHc-00003-00004019-00004823 After two years in office, Trump's bravado-driven policies have contributed to reversing what was a positive trend +gveLTv3-mHc-00004-00004823-00005918 How else to explain the sharp reversal in what looked like hard-won gains in a complicated, morally-wrenching problem, starting just after Trump took office? +gveLTv3-mHc-00005-00005918-00007307 Years after claiming there was one, Trump now has a real crisis.The number of border apprehensions is at the highest level in more than a decade, according to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) +gveLTv3-mHc-00006-00007307-00008376 Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen says "the system is in freefall." Trump has finally helped create the crisis he pretended existed before +gveLTv3-mHc-00007-00008376-00010011 What's Trump's solution? Every possible idea to make the problem worse. Everything he proposes, from cutting aid to Central American countries -- some $700 million in a variety of programs -- to closing the border, will exacerbate the problem +gveLTv3-mHc-00008-00010011-00011307 That is, of course, if you think the challenge is how to solve a humanitarian crisis: how to humanely manage and perhaps reduce the flow of families and individuals into the United States +gveLTv3-mHc-00009-00011307-00012124 If you think the problem is how to stoke the passions of Americans in order to win more votes, then the question looks different +gveLTv3-mHc-00010-00012124-00013018 Nationalist leaders have a thing for migrant and refugee crises. Hardly any issue is more beneficial to their hold on power +gveLTv3-mHc-00011-00013018-00014339 Whether real or imagined, the specter of outsiders "invading" the country contains the perfect elements of us-versus-them passion and fear-inducing uncertainty to rally voters around a flag-hugging strongman +gveLTv3-mHc-00012-00014339-00016385 If Trump were looking for something more than political fuel to ignite hotter fires among his staunchest supporters, he would offer a thoughtful, muscular policy, one that would invigorate Washington's efforts to improve conditions in Central America, an effort that serves US security and economic interests as much as it does that of its neighbors +gveLTv3-mHc-00013-00016385-00017542 The United States should expand, not suspend, programs aiming to attack the unlivable conditions in Central American countries with some of the world's highest murder rates +gveLTv3-mHc-00014-00017542-00018660 For many, life is so dangerous and the prospects are so dim, that they would rather risk the perilous trek and endure the cruelty they encounter in the United States than risk staying +gveLTv3-mHc-00015-00018660-00019833 Some programs in police training, rule of law, human rights standards and economic development are too new to show results, but others are already proving effective +gveLTv3-mHc-00016-00019833-00021734 Trump's chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, instead disingenuously tells an interviewer "we told you so," claiming that the lack of a giant border wall is the reason why so many people, mostly from the so-called Northern Triangle -- El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala -- are suddenly at the border +gveLTv3-mHc-00017-00021734-00022554 That's Trumpian hogwash. Don't believe it.Trump's own policies have helped bring us to this moment +gveLTv3-mHc-00018-00022554-00023712 Consider the numbers.Apprehensions at the border peaked at 1.6 million people in 2000, according to CBP data (slightly higher than in 1986) +gveLTv3-mHc-00019-00023712-00024743 The number dropped most years after that. By fiscal year 2017, it had plummeted by an amazing 82%, to 303,000 +gveLTv3-mHc-00020-00024743-00026112 At the same time, migration from Mexico had reversed, with research and data from the US and Mexican governments showing a million Mexicans voluntarily returning to their country between 2009 and 2014 +ipohVFaw-r0-00000-00000513-00001597 Donald Trump has spent today taking credit for the size of John McCain’s funeral, and criticizing McCain for not coming back from the dead to thank him for it +ipohVFaw-r0-00001-00001597-00002420 He’s also spent the day attacking George Conway, the husband of his senior adviser Kellyanne Conway +ipohVFaw-r0-00002-00002420-00003271 So could Trump possibly find a way to humiliate himself even further before the day ended? You already know the answer +ipohVFaw-r0-00003-00003271-00004932 It started at around 10pm eastern time, when Donald Trump tweeted this quote: “The reason we have the Special Counsel investigation is that James Comey (a dirty cop) leaked his memos to a friend, who leaked them to the press, on purpose +ipohVFaw-r0-00004-00004932-00006609 ” There are a couple of problems here. First, none of this is factually correct. Second, the quote came from a woman named Kennedy, who occasionally hosts a show on Fox Business Channel, and previously hosted a show on MTV +ipohVFaw-r0-00005-00006609-00007359 That’s right, Trump is now reduced to quoting someone from MTV to try to make his case +ipohVFaw-r0-00006-00007359-00008422 Then Trump tweeted this crediting it to Sean Hannity: “John Solomon: As Russia Collusion fades, Ukrainian plot to help Clinton emerges +ipohVFaw-r0-00007-00008422-00009104 ” The trouble here is that no one has any idea what this is even supposed to mean +ipohVFaw-r0-00008-00009104-00010227 With each passing day, more evidence emerges that Donald Trump and his campaign criminally conspired with the Russian government to alter the outcome of the 2016 election +ipohVFaw-r0-00009-00010227-00011481 And what’s this nonsense about Hillary and Ukraine?.It’s becoming more clear by the hour that Donald Trump is falling to pieces under the increasing pressure of his worsening criminal scandals +ipohVFaw-r0-00010-00011481-00012651 Trump picked a fight with a dead man today, and the dead man won. Then Trump tried to top it by quoting someone from MTV and making things up about Hillary Clinton +ipohVFaw-r0-00011-00012651-00013043 This just keeps getting more disturbing +je_2Ogazju4-00000-00000571-00001960 Kim Jong-un has arrived in Hanoi, after transferring from train to car for the final leg of his overland trip to Vietnam where the North Korean leader is scheduled to have a private dinner and meeting with Donald Trump on Wednesday +je_2Ogazju4-00001-00001960-00003329 Kim will meet the US president for a brief one-on-one conversation, followed by a social dinner, at which they will each be accompanied by two guests and interpreters, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said +je_2Ogazju4-00002-00003329-00004688 Their meeting comes eight months after the historic summit in Singapore, the first between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader, which failed to produce concrete results on a path to denuclearisation +je_2Ogazju4-00003-00004688-00005824 Kim arrived on Tuesday at the station in the Vietnamese town of Dong Dang after crossing into China on Saturday thousands of kilometres further north at the city of Dandong +je_2Ogazju4-00004-00005824-00006814 Vietnamese officials were on hand to receive him at the station with a red carpet and guard of honour, with North Korean and Vietnamese flags flying +je_2Ogazju4-00005-00006814-00007924 Kim was seen leaving the train in Dong Dang and getting into a Mercedes Benz for the 170km (105-mile) journey to the capital, Hanoi +je_2Ogazju4-00006-00007924-00008815 He waved to young people lining the street as the car set off, flanked by about a dozen bodyguards running alongside +je_2Ogazju4-00007-00008815-00010374 There is no real expectation the second meeting will bring a final deal on ridding North Korea of nuclear weapons that threaten the US, but there are some hopes it could lead to a declaration that the 1950-53 Korean War is at last formally over +je_2Ogazju4-00008-00010374-00011147 The world leaders will be joined US secretary of state Mike Pompeo, who also arrived on Tuesday morning +je_2Ogazju4-00009-00011147-00012485 Trump and Kim will then hold a series of official meetings on Thursday.Trump, who lands in Vietnam late on Tuesday, will have meetings with the host country’s president and prime minister on Wednesday before seeing Kim +je_2Ogazju4-00010-00012485-00013258 Before leaving Washington on Monday, Trump tweeted that he was “Looking forward to a very productive summit'' +kMipRbKZzWc-00000-00000571-00001945 President Donald Trump triggered rampant confusion among his own aides and administration officials when he said Friday he is withdrawing new sanctions aimed at North Korea that were just issued by his own administration +kMipRbKZzWc-00001-00001945-00002987 "It was announced today by the US Treasury that additional large scale Sanctions would be added to those already existing Sanctions on North Korea +kMipRbKZzWc-00002-00002987-00003697 I have today ordered the withdrawal of those additional Sanctions!" Trump tweeted on Friday +kMipRbKZzWc-00003-00003697-00004860 The tweet set off a firestorm in the administration, with aides rushing -- or waiting -- to understand what sanctions Trump was referring to and what the policy implications would be +kMipRbKZzWc-00004-00004860-00006093 Many aides quickly concluded that the President was referring to sanctions targeting two Chinese shipping companies that have allegedly helped North Korea skirt sanctions imposed by the United Nations +kMipRbKZzWc-00005-00006093-00007772 Those new actions were fulfilled under existing sanctions authority.But two sources familiar with Trump's tweet Friday afternoon said it was in fact not about those sanctions, but instead about additional large-scale sanctions targeting North Korea that have been in the works +kMipRbKZzWc-00006-00007772-00008493 It was not clear why Trump said the sanctions had been announced on Friday, as they had not +kMipRbKZzWc-00007-00008493-00009729 One source believed Trump had conflated the sanctions that were still in the works with those announced by the Treasury Department on Thursday, as the latter were the subject of news reports on Friday +kMipRbKZzWc-00008-00009729-00010941 A senior administration official said the administration will not be pursuing additional sanctions against North Korea at this time and that the actions against the Chinese shippers remain in place +kMipRbKZzWc-00009-00010941-00012738 Still, Trump's announcement amounted to a startling rebuke of policy action being undertaken by his own government, which he in fact believed had already been publicly announced, once again calling attention to the unconventional and undisciplined policy process that has often defined the Trump administration +kMipRbKZzWc-00010-00012738-00013848 The White House declined to provide details on the sudden policy shift, but said Trump was pulling back the sanctions because he "likes" North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un +kMipRbKZzWc-00011-00013848-00015144 Pressed to expand on Trump's tweet, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders offered only a brief statement, saying: "President Trump likes Chairman Kim and he doesn't think these sanctions will be necessary +kMipRbKZzWc-00012-00015144-00016460 ".She did not clarify which sanctions Trump was referring to.Several White House officials told CNN on Friday that they were confused by Trump's tweet and were unsure what he was referring to +kMipRbKZzWc-00013-00016460-00017529 In the 24 hours before Trump's tweet, top administration officials were busy publicly heralding the new designations targeting the Chinese shipping companies +kMipRbKZzWc-00014-00017529-00018333 "Important actions today from @USTreasury," Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, tweeted on Thursday +kMipRbKZzWc-00015-00018333-00018986 "The maritime industry must do more to stop North Korea's illicit shipping practices +kMipRbKZzWc-00016-00018986-00019853 Everyone should take notice and review their own activities to ensure they are not involved in North Korea's sanctions evasion +kMipRbKZzWc-00017-00019853-00021405 ".In a statement announcing the sanctions, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said that the US believes "the full implementation of North Korea-related UN Security Council resolutions is crucial to a successful outcome" of denuclearizing North Korea +kMipRbKZzWc-00018-00021405-00022886 "Treasury will continue to enforce our sanctions, and we are making it explicitly clear that shipping companies employing deceptive tactics to mask illicit trade with North Korea expose themselves to great risk," Mnuchin said +kMipRbKZzWc-00019-00022886-00024396 Trump administration officials had also hailed the sanctions as a continuation of the US pressure campaign on North Korea and an attempt to enforce existing sanctions authorities, insisting this was not aimed at widening North Korea-targeted sanctions +kMipRbKZzWc-00020-00024396-00025143 "It is really meant to be a continuous activity of the US, and it really needs to a continuous activity of +kMipRbKZzWc-00021-00025143-00026018 all of the UN members to maintain the integrity of the sanctions," a senior administration official told CNN on Thursday +kMipRbKZzWc-00022-00026018-00027640 More than two hours after the President's tweet announcing he would roll back newly imposed sanctions announced by the Treasury Department, administration officials involved in the sanctions actions were still waiting for guidance from the White House on the meaning of Trump's tweet and how to proceed +kMipRbKZzWc-00023-00027640-00028635 "We were caught off guard and people are still trying to figure out what is going on," one administration official said, nearly three hours after Trump's tweet +kMipRbKZzWc-00024-00028635-00029589 "Everyone over here is watching Twitter and the news.".These administration officials had yet to receive any guidance on the President's tweet +kMipRbKZzWc-00025-00029589-00031428 For now, they are simply in a holding pattern.Adam Mount, a nuclear expert at the Federation of American Scientists, said Trump's move will reduce the pressure on North Korea and make it more difficult for US diplomats to ensure other countries maintain the pressure campaign on North Korea +kMipRbKZzWc-00026-00031428-00032705 "The message this sends is unmistakable. After refusing to consider sanctions relief at Hanoi, Trump volunteers to loosen enforcement in order to preserve the talks," Mount said +kMipRbKZzWc-00027-00032705-00034265 "It shovels leverage to other side, assuring them their tactics could work."."Reversing the designations will make it even more difficult for US diplomats to concentrate allies + partners on sanctions enforcement, especially at sea," he added +lzmbABPeaxg-00000-00000513-00001840 As the Mueller investigation into Trump and his associates continues to rock on, the question has been if any of his children would be charged with any wrongdoing, especially his son-in-law Jared Kushner +lzmbABPeaxg-00001-00001840-00003313 Kushner serves as a senior adviser to Trump.Though we’re still waiting on the Mueller report, NYC Councilman Ritchie Torres has made some very interesting accusations against Kushner and the company he once ran +lzmbABPeaxg-00002-00003313-00005531 Torres is the chair of the New York Oversight Committee.Torres tweeted:.‘Kushner Co. uses an illegal business model that relies on operating illegal apartment buildings w. no certificates of occupancy. They are illegally operating 9 buildings throughout NYC, putting tenants at risk by ignoring the law' +lzmbABPeaxg-00003-00005531-00007929 Later on, he accused the company of harassing tenants.‘Our investigation into #KushnerCo has found that they rely on skirting the law, harassing tenants & lying to city govt in order to increase profits. We need city agencies to enforce anti-tenant harassment laws & conduct proper oversight of buildings operated by bad landlords’ +lzmbABPeaxg-00004-00007929-00009224 So, what’s the big deal behind this? According to the Washington Post, a building owner must obtain a certificate of occupancy when a building undergoes “significant renovation” +lzmbABPeaxg-00005-00009224-00009974 Changing the layout of the building or the fire exits would be considered significant renovation +lzmbABPeaxg-00006-00009974-00011076 The head of Housing Rights Initiative Aaron Carr explained further:.‘A certificate of occupancy is essentially like a driver’s license for landlords’ +lzmbABPeaxg-00007-00011076-00012565 To renew a certificate of occupancy, safety inspections would be required, which Kushner Cos. would want to avoid. If a building doesn’t have a certificate of occupancy, no one should be living on the property +lzmbABPeaxg-00008-00012565-00013997 Further complicating the matter is the fact that Kushner Cos. cannot get a certificate of occupancy due to previous fines. Torres claimed they still owe $350,000 in fines +lzmbABPeaxg-00009-00013997-00015554 'After our [last] press conference, the buildings department took action against Kushner Companies and issued $350,000 in violations. But has Kushner Companies paid those violations? No.’ +lzmbABPeaxg-00010-00015554-00017406 Of course, a spokesperson for Kushner Cos.claimed they have paid $185,000 of the fines.According to the AP, they were fined $210,000 for claiming they had “no low-paying, rent-stabilized tenants in dozens of its buildings" +lzmbABPeaxg-00011-00017406-00018994 claimed they have paid $185,000 of the fines.According to the AP, they were fined $210,000 for claiming they had “no low-paying, rent-stabilized tenants in dozens of its buildings" +lzmbABPeaxg-00012-00018994-00019822 Guess what? They had hundreds. By making this claim, they were able to skip out on inspections +lzmbABPeaxg-00013-00019822-00020509 Kushner Cos. responded to the allegations basically claiming it wasn’t their fault +lzmbABPeaxg-00014-00020509-00022139 ‘Similar to many other landlords, we inherited from prior owners certificates of occupancy with various issues.Kushner will continue the long and detailed process to work with our consultants and the Department of Buildings to correct every issue outstanding' +lzmbABPeaxg-00015-00022139-00022854 I bet they will. It’s hard to imagine that the company Kushner previously ran would operate lawfully +lzmbABPeaxg-00016-00022854-00024249 Considering Kushner married into a family headed by a man known for his unlawful real estate dealings, it’s probable that Kushner and his company would use underhanded methods to screw people out of a safe home +lzmbABPeaxg-00017-00024249-00025221 Though Kushner does not head Kushner Cos. anymore, he was the CEO when two of his building certificates of occupancy expired +lzmbABPeaxg-00018-00025221-00025819 Plus, we’re sure he gets updates on how the business is doing +l_Co_FrqKS8-00000-00000000-00001200 How to 0:00:12.160,1193:02:47.295 +lE_TY-As46g-00000-00000571-00001203 Bill O’Reilly just ended the anti-Trump media’s reign of terror with a blistering rebuke +lE_TY-As46g-00001-00001203-00002010 Bill takes on the mob by name, destroys them and exposes them as the absolute frauds that they really are +lE_TY-As46g-00002-00002010-00002979 They saw dollar signs and ratings and threw truth in the garbage and one must wonder if America will ever trust the mainstream media again +lE_TY-As46g-00003-00002979-00004539 Bill wrote:.“After the big nothing Mueller Report, there should be severe scrutiny of liberal journalists who irresponsibly and dishonestly used the Russian-collusion investigation to convict President Trump and members of his administration of a variety of crimes +lE_TY-As46g-00004-00004539-00005586 It was the usual corrupt media play – no due process, biased speculation, incredible hatred toward a person they despise; Donald Trump +lE_TY-As46g-00005-00005586-00006840 The worst offenders were CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. To say their coverage of the Mueller investigation was disgraceful is an extreme understatement +lE_TY-As46g-00006-00006840-00007845 Using anonymous sources and false assertions, these news organizations ginned up a phony narrative that divided the country and interfered with its governance +lE_TY-As46g-00007-00007845-00009222 And what price will these organizations pay? Who will hold them accountable for all the deceit and incompetence? The sad truth is that some Americans will continue to pay attention to them – that’s the sheep component +lE_TY-As46g-00008-00009222-00010084 But the fault is not only on the left. A bunch of “never-Trumpers” on the right have embarrassed themselves as well +lE_TY-As46g-00009-00010084-00010899 Journalists have the absolute obligation to cover an important story like the Mueller investigation aggressively +lE_TY-As46g-00010-00010899-00011954 That’s a given. Accusations of governmental misconduct must be vetted. But when personal or partisan emotion enter into news coverage, that’s corrupt +lE_TY-As46g-00011-00011954-00012490 And that’s what happened during the last two years with the Mueller investigation +lE_TY-As46g-00012-00012490-00013765 The situation became so extreme that Robert Mueller, himself, issued a statement saying a report that President Trump had ordered his attorney, Michael Cohen, to lie about the Russia thing was false +lE_TY-As46g-00013-00013765-00014974 That story came from the despicable website Buzzfeed and was quickly picked up by the hate-Trump media which is the game they play: disseminating unsubstantiated information from biased sources +lE_TY-As46g-00014-00014974-00016110 Now, the hate-Trump media will insinuate that the President did “something” wrong even though Mueller spent $30 million and cannot define what that “something” might be +lE_TY-As46g-00015-00016110-00017320 However, the partisan wolves will continue to howl, and jaded Americans will tune in to hear the deceitful braying, and vote for political charlatans who could not care less about truth or fairness +lE_TY-As46g-00016-00017320-00018310 This entire ordeal is terribly bad for America. Honesty in reporting has collapsed and partisan loathing is now the coin of the realm +lE_TY-As46g-00017-00018310-00018931 This is not really about President Trump, although his election lighted the fuse +lE_TY-As46g-00018-00018931-00020384 ”.Correct. Then Bill dropped the hammer:No, this is about a Republic that has granted the press the power to make billions of dollars but, under the Constitution, is not accountable to anyone on how they derive profit +lE_TY-As46g-00019-00020384-00021047 And we now know beyond any doubt exactly how many media operations are making money +lE_TY-As46g-00020-00021047-00021703 That is by peddling false narratives and rank hatred.Paging Edward R. Murrow.” +leBiDrYy6YA-00000-00000117-00000364 Beware of fake churches, pastors and prophesies +mvNu8uVv2y4-00000-00000513-00001370 Sarah Sanders sparred with CNN’s Jim Acosta during the first White House press briefing in 42 days on Monday +mvNu8uVv2y4-00001-00001370-00002811 The exchange was prompted after NBC’s Hallie Jackson initially asked Sanders if Trump truly believes that “Democrats hate Jews,” following Trump's declaration last week that Democrats are "anti-Israel" and "anti-Jewish +mvNu8uVv2y4-00002-00002811-00003692 " The White House press secretary declined to answer directly, noting that the president has laid out his position on the matter in the past +mvNu8uVv2y4-00003-00003692-00004872 “Democrats have had a number of opportunities to condemn specific comments and have refused to do that,” Sanders said, referring to the ongoing controversy surrounding Rep +mvNu8uVv2y4-00004-00004872-00006040 Ilhan Omar for making allegedly anti-Semitic remarks.Sanders eventually called on Acosta, whom she has feuded with on a regular basis during past press briefings +mvNu8uVv2y4-00005-00006040-00007017 CNN’s chief White House correspondent opened with a question about whether Trump tried to block AT&T’s merger with Time Warner +mvNu8uVv2y4-00006-00007017-00008320 After Sanders said she was not aware of any such conversation, Acosta circled back to the situation with “Democrats and Jewish people,” asking if Trump’s rhetoric is “beneath” the American people +mvNu8uVv2y4-00007-00008320-00010617 “Do you think that the president has thought, at all, going into the 2020 campaign that the rhetoric just needs to be lowered? Whether it’s talking about Democrats, the media, immigrants, or should we just plan on hearing the president use the same kind of language that we heard in 2016 and all through the first couple years of this administration?” Acosta asked +mvNu8uVv2y4-00008-00010617-00011358 Sanders responded that it’s a shame Democrats won’t come together and condemn anti-Semitic remarks +mvNu8uVv2y4-00009-00011358-00012484 “I think that is a great shame,” Sanders said. “The president has been clear on what his position is, certainly what his support is for the people and the community of Israel +mvNu8uVv2y4-00010-00012484-00013341 ”.Acosta then asked if it “drags down the rhetoric of a debate” when someone says something that is “patently untrue +mvNu8uVv2y4-00011-00013341-00014420 ” Sanders tried to answer, and the CNN correspondent continued to talk over her.“Democrats don’t hate Jewish people, that’s just silly,” Acosta said +mvNu8uVv2y4-00012-00014420-00015452 “It’s not true.”.Sanders told Acosta that Democrats should call out their members by name if they don’t want to be aligned with anti-Semitic rhetoric +mvNu8uVv2y4-00013-00015452-00016311 Acosta tried to respond, but Sanders cut him off.“Sorry, Jim,” she said before calling on the next reporter +mvNu8uVv2y4-00014-00016311-00017489 Acosta asked his question anyway, reminding Sanders that Trump once said there were “very fine people” on both sides of the violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia +mvNu8uVv2y4-00015-00017489-00018153 “Essentially suggesting that there were very fine people in the Nazis,” Acosta said +mvNu8uVv2y4-00016-00018153-00019707 Sanders fired back, “That’s not at all what the president was stating.”.“The president has been incredibly clear in consistently and repeatedly condemning hatred, bigotry and racism in all of its forms, whether it’s in America or anywhere else +mvNu8uVv2y4-00017-00019707-00020992 To say otherwise is simply untrue,” Sanders said.Last year, Acosta was briefly banned from the White House after he engaged in a contentious back-and-forth with Trump during a Nov +mvNu8uVv2y4-00018-00020992-00021888 7 press conference. During the now-infamous moment, Acosta refused to pass the microphone to a female White House aide +mvNu8uVv2y4-00019-00021888-00023024 Acosta’s press pass was restored on Nov. 19 after CNN argued that keeping him out of the White House violated the network and Acosta’s First and Fifth Amendment rights +mvNu8uVv2y4-00020-00023024-00024030 To coincide with Acosta being allowed to return to the White House, Sanders implemented a series of rules to govern White House press conferences going forward +mvNu8uVv2y4-00021-00024030-00025030 Last month, Acosta was scolded by Trump during a Rose Garden announcement and was subsequently confronted by angel moms in attendance +mdjm3h0V2tu-00000-00000513-00002007 As special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation is reportedly coming to an end, elderly and sick Americans are trying to hold on to their lives so they can read the highly-anticipated report that has been nearly two years in the making +mdjm3h0V2tu-00001-00002007-00003350 World War II veteran Mitchell Tendler—a man who survived numerous historic milestones, including the Korean War, Vietnam, Watergate and President BIll Clinton’s impeachment—fell sick on Dec +mdjm3h0V2tu-00002-00003350-00004810 29, at 93 years old, reported NPR."I got a call at 11 o'clock. My mom said, 'Well, Dad's not feeling well—he really can't stand,'" Tendler's son, Walter, recalled +mdjm3h0V2tu-00003-00004810-00005541 "Within a couple of hours they called 911 and got him into the ER because it wasn't getting any better +mdjm3h0V2tu-00004-00005541-00006364 ".Tendler survived two implantable defibrillators throughout his life. But while on his third, he started to fade +mdjm3h0V2tu-00005-00006364-00008467 After he was provided painkillers by doctors, Tendler voiced his final thoughts."It just was quiet for a little while," Walter Tendler told the news outlet, "and then he just sits up in bed halfway and looks at me and he goes, 'S***, I'm not going to see the Mueller report, am I?' And that was really the last coherent thing that he said +mdjm3h0V2tu-00006-00008467-00009300 ".Richard Armstrong, a 94-year-old currently in hospice care in New Jersey, related to Tendler’s sentiments +mdjm3h0V2tu-00007-00009300-00010321 "I know exactly how he feels. I feel the same way. I've been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer," Armstrong told NPR +mdjm3h0V2tu-00008-00010321-00011181 "I was hoping to live to see the outcome of what I think it should be—justice. I'll be surprised and disappointed if it isn't +mdjm3h0V2tu-00009-00011181-00012678 ”.After seeing Tendler’s words—shared on Twitter by Benjamin Wittes, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution—Kristina Makansi, who lives in Arizona, thought about her mother who passed away at the age of 94 in January +mdjm3h0V2tu-00010-00012678-00013806 "When I saw that tweet about the Mueller report and the old man on his deathbed, I thought, Oh my gosh, that's the kind of thing that my mother would say," she said +mdjm3h0V2tu-00011-00013806-00014801 "I think she really wanted to see that justice was done. and that the investigation was allowed to proceed without any shenanigans and obstruction +mdjm3h0V2tu-00012-00014801-00016159 ".Amid reports that Mueller’s investigation is nearing its end, former White House lawyer Ty Cobb called Mueller an “American hero” this week during an interview on ABC News’ The Investigation podcast +mdjm3h0V2tu-00013-00016159-00017021 “I don’t feel the investigation is a witch hunt,” Cobb said, adding that he hoped the probe “had happened on a quicker time frame +mdjm3h0V2tu-00014-00017021-00017121 ” +met1MCt7gzg-00000-00000571-00002156 Former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach says President Trump’s delivery of wage hikes through stricter immigration enforcement in the interior of the United States has been a “massive accomplishment” for America’s blue-collar and working-class communities +met1MCt7gzg-00001-00002156-00003287 During a debate for IntelligenceSquared, Kobach touted Trump’s “Hire American” economy, which has delivered increased blue-collar and working-class wages by between 3 +met1MCt7gzg-00002-00003287-00004489 4 percent and four percent in the last 12 months.“By reducing illegal immigration, you drive up wages, especially in unskilled labor categories,” Kobach said +met1MCt7gzg-00003-00004489-00005103 “Therefore, [blue-collar workers] have seen those wage gains, and [Trump] has delivered +met1MCt7gzg-00004-00005103-00006014 ”.Kobach said:.In terms of wages, in the last 12 months, we’ve seen a 3.4 percent increase in nominal wages +met1MCt7gzg-00005-00006014-00007574 That’s extraordinary, the largest wage gains in the last 12 years. It is a massive achievement for the working, blue-collar voter, and that’s why blue-collar voters in exit polls voted 66 percent for Donald Trump in the last election +met1MCt7gzg-00006-00007574-00008896 He’s the only one that can pull it off again. [Emphasis added].[The wage gains are] a direct result of his positions and his policies on his signature campaign issue, which of course is immigration +met1MCt7gzg-00007-00008896-00009974 President Trump has done what no other presidential candidate has done in recent years, made that a centerpiece issue and has governed with that as a centerpiece issue +met1MCt7gzg-00008-00009974-00010800 He has recognized that illegal immigration really does affect all of us. Every state is a border state now +met1MCt7gzg-00009-00010800-00012649 [Emphasis added].Those wage hikes for America’s working and lower middle class and a populist-nationalist agenda are what must continue for Trump to capture states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan — as he did in 2016 — in the upcoming 2020 presidential election +met1MCt7gzg-00010-00012649-00013835 “I don’t know if any Republican can do what Trump did in those blue-collar states [of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin] and break through the Rust Belt,” Kobach said +met1MCt7gzg-00011-00013835-00014752 “The party, after Trump, we may be toast if we don’t find somebody who has his special sauce who can connect with voters in those three states +met1MCt7gzg-00012-00014752-00015831 ”.Wage hikes for blue-collar and working-class Americans, though, are increasingly threatened by the record levels of illegal immigration coming across the U +met1MCt7gzg-00013-00015831-00017069 S.-Mexico border, as well as the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) mass release of border crossers and illegal aliens into the interior of the country in recent months +mn5s3h8sIS0-00000-00000571-00001796 President Trump and Kim Jong-un prematurely concluded their summit in Vietnam on Thursday after reaching an impasse related to the lifting of existing international sanctions against North Korea +mn5s3h8sIS0-00001-00001796-00002449 “Sometimes you have to walk,” Trump said during a press conference in Hanoi Thursday afternoon +mn5s3h8sIS0-00002-00002449-00004024 Trump went on to explain that negotiations collapsed after Kim demanded that all international sanctions be lifted immediately in exchange for the closure of one major North Korean nuclear facility, but not an end to the nuclear program in its entirety +mn5s3h8sIS0-00003-00004024-00004941 “It was about the sanctions,” Trump explained. “Basically they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, but we couldn’t do that'' +mn5s3h8sIS0-00004-00004941-00006448 Negotiations have remained stalled since the last time the two leaders met in Singapore in June 2018 for a summit that produced a communique rife with vague commitments, but lacking in timelines and specific, verifiable action items +mn5s3h8sIS0-00005-00006448-00007885 The US continues to demand the complete shutdown of North Korea’s nuclear facilities as well as it its warhead and missile programs, while Kim continues to demand the US act first by working to lift US and UN sanctions +mn5s3h8sIS0-00006-00007885-00009405 7 .Though Trump failed to secure additional commitments from Kim, he said Thursday that Kim agreed to continue the moratorium he imposed last year on nuclear and ballistic missile testing, and emphasized that the two remain friendly +mn5s3h8sIS0-00007-00009405-00010123 “This wasn’t a walkaway like you get up and walk out,” he said. “No, this was very friendly +mn5s3h8sIS0-00008-00010123-00010766 We shook hands''.“There’s a warmth that we have and I hope that stays,” he added +mn5s3h8sIS0-00009-00010766-00011991 South Korean president Moon Jae-in, who has been working aggressively in the last year to improve relations with his neighbor to the north, praised the two leaders for their attempt at negotiations +mn5s3h8sIS0-00010-00011991-00012829 “It is regrettable that they could not reach a complete agreement,” Kim Eui-kyeom, a spokesman for Mr Moon, said Thursday +mn5s3h8sIS0-00011-00012829-00013472 “But it also seems clear that both sides have made more significant progress than ever +mn5s3h8sIS0-00012-00013472-00013572 ” +nRJCBsYrx5y-00000-00000571-00001250 They thought they could block him – but Donald pulled the rug out from under the Democrats +nRJCBsYrx5y-00001-00001250-00002143 The 9th Circuit Court is notoriously liberal. The California court was a big adversary to Trump’s America first agenda +nRJCBsYrx5y-00002-00002143-00002901 Emphasis on “was.”.Because recently, Trump has taken steps to balance this crooked court +nRJCBsYrx5y-00003-00002901-00003606 And despite strong opposition by Democrats, he just got a big win this week. From Fox News: +nRJCBsYrx5y-00004-00003606-00005461 ANOTHER OF PRESIDENT TRUMP’S NOMINEES TO THE SAN FRANCISCO-BASED 9TH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS CLEARED A KEY PROCEDURAL HURDLE IN THE SENATE ON MONDAY, AS THE WHITE HOUSE CONTINUES ITS PUSH TO TRANSFORM THE KEY LEFT-LEANING APPELLATE COURT THAT THE PRESIDENT REPEATEDLY HAS DERIDED AS HOPELESSLY BIASED AND “DISGRACEFUL +nRJCBsYrx5y-00005-00005461-00006714 ”.You get ’em, Donald!.A 77-20 Senate vote ended the debate on Trump’s nomination of Arizona-based Magistrate Judge Bridget Bade to the court, clearing the way to appoint her +nRJCBsYrx5y-00006-00006714-00007958 Trump has 51 more judges to confirm on federal courts across the country.The Supreme Court might be the big one, but there are many appeals courts that decide the fate of our country +nRJCBsYrx5y-00007-00007958-00008971 They rule on some cases that never make it to the Supreme Court. Obama and Democrats have stacked these courts with radicals who will sit on them for their entire lives +nRJCBsYrx5y-00008-00008971-00010288 Thus, giving far-left Democrats an advantage for decades to come.Not anymore.Trump has seen through their scheme and has been appointing conservative, Constitutional judges at a record pace +nRJCBsYrx5y-00009-00010288-00011205 Thanks to support in the Senate, these judges are getting speedy appointments.The age of judicial activism is quickly coming to an end +nRJCBsYrx5y-00010-00011205-00011826 Democrats won’t be able to reshape our society through the tyranny of radical judges +nRJCBsYrx5y-00011-00011826-00012563 In the future, Trump’s lawful authority will not be undermined by a judge who has an ax to grind +nRJCBsYrx5y-00012-00012563-00013072 All thanks to your support of the President, he’s getting it done +oNwC-mOQR28-00000-00000571-00001226 People associated with the current president of the United States are now wishing they’d never met him +oNwC-mOQR28-00001-00001226-00002211 From Roger Stone to Paul Manafort, people are finding out quickly that doing business with Donald Trump will get them one place in life +oNwC-mOQR28-00002-00002211-00003018 Federal prison. That hasn’t stopped these weasels from trying to save their pathetic hides in any way possible +oNwC-mOQR28-00003-00003018-00004356 Exhibit A: Paul Manafort. Manafort, as well as Stone, are living on a prayer that the president will pardon them of their many crimes, and up until now, a pardon has been floated as a possibility +oNwC-mOQR28-00004-00004356-00006014 That’s all over now, however.According to Bloomberg:.“New York state prosecutors have put together a criminal case against Paul Manafort that they could file quickly if the former chairman of Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign receives a presidential pardon +oNwC-mOQR28-00005-00006014-00007532 ”New York County District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. has compiled enough evidence of even more Manafort crimes, and is prepared to use that evidence against Manafort if the president tries to pardon him from the crimes of which he’s already been convicted +oNwC-mOQR28-00006-00007532-00008551 The report reads:.“Manafort was convicted of eight felonies, pleaded guilty to two more and is scheduled to be sentenced next month for those federal crimes +oNwC-mOQR28-00007-00008551-00009721 Prosecutors working for Special Counsel Robert Mueller have recommended as long as 24 years, a virtual life sentence, for the 69-year-old political consultant +oNwC-mOQR28-00008-00009721-00010544 ”“The president, who has bemoaned Manafort’s treatment at the hands of Mueller, said in November that he has not ruled out a pardon +oNwC-mOQR28-00009-00010544-00011502 He has frequently talked of his broad pardon power, possibly extending even to himself, and acted to liberate two political allies previously +oNwC-mOQR28-00010-00011502-00012756 ”.Vance’s office, as well as Manafort’s people have refused to comment on the Bloomberg report, but many on the inside say this will end very badly for the white-collar criminal +oNwC-mOQR28-00011-00012756-00013519 Vance has been investigating Manafort’s crimes even before Robert Mueller brought charges against him +oNwC-mOQR28-00012-00013519-00014582 The crimes that Vance is investigating include evasion of taxes in New York, and violating laws that require businesses to keep accurate records +oNwC-mOQR28-00013-00014582-00015230 “Much of the evidence against Manafort has emerged through Mueller’s prosecutions +oNwC-mOQR28-00014-00015230-00015925 But Vance’s office can’t cut and paste Mueller’s charges into a state indictment +oNwC-mOQR28-00015-00015925-00017103 It must avoid New York’s double jeopardy law, which provides protections for defendants even stronger than those guaranteed by the US. Constitution’s Fifth Amendment.”. +oNwC-mOQR28-00016-00017103-00018445 These concerns are apparently not new, as former NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman worked last year to get NY’s double jeopardy laws adjusted to allow someone pardoned by the president to be charged +oNwC-mOQR28-00017-00018445-00019487 Unfortunately, it didn’t work.However, Vance believes there is still plenty of opportunity to charge Manafort without violating double jeopardy laws +oNwC-mOQR28-00018-00019487-00020668 As the report states, “New York law allows defendants who have already been convicted of evading federal taxes to be charged with the same conduct as it applies to state taxes +oNwC-mOQR28-00019-00020668-00022147 As a part-time resident of New York, Manafort has some exposure.”.“While Mueller charged bank fraud based on this conduct, Vance could hit Manafort with state charges of falsifying books and records, according to one of the people +oNwC-mOQR28-00020-00022147-00022841 ”.Attorney John Moscow has been putting away money launderers in NY for quite some time +oNwC-mOQR28-00021-00022841-00023915 He had this to say about what Vance is doing:.“My suggestion is to change the double jeopardy statute in New York to permit prosecutions with this kind of conduct in mind +oNwC-mOQR28-00022-00023915-00024500 As interpreted, the statute is too broad and needs to be rethought.” +oVVivyz4pD0-00000-00000571-00001694 Los Angeles artist and photographer Sam Morrison, 27, has always liked to create thought provoking art and now he’s taken that passion to a whole new level +oVVivyz4pD0-00001-00001694-00003042 In September 2017, Morrison decided to use President Trump’s flip-flopping on serious issues as inspiration for his next project: actual flip-flops based on Trump’s famous contradictory tweets +oVVivyz4pD0-00002-00003042-00005761 Morrison began in high school, where he made secret compartment silk-screen shirts but he has evolved since then and has relied on a newer digital medium for most of his projects in recent years, untMorrison began in high school, where he made secret compartment silk-screen shirts but he has evolved since then and has relied on a newer digital medium for most of his projects in recent years, until he had the idea to make the brilliant Presidential flip-flops +oVVivyz4pD0-00003-00005761-00006777 il he had the idea to make the brilliant Presidential flip-flops.Morrison told Business Insider the idea came to him from scrolling through Twitter +oVVivyz4pD0-00004-00006777-00007767 “Take a scroll through Donald Trump’s 40,000 tweets, and you’re sure to catch some contradicting opinions… I wanted to highlight this hypocrisy +oVVivyz4pD0-00005-00007767-00009416 ”Sam Morrison.Morrison said that although the flip-flops, which retailed for around $30 a pair, sold out to customers all over the US in under a month, this was a one time venture because of the time and effort it took to create such a project +oVVivyz4pD0-00006-00009416-00010053 He donated 10% of every purchase to the American Civil Liberties Union +q60P74RGoA4-00000-00000571-00001396 President Donald Trump has banked his North Korea policy on selling Kim Jong Un a future of prosperity and riches +q60P74RGoA4-00001-00001396-00002603 But legislation Trump signed bars companies from investing in the country because of its abysmal record on human rights, an issue the president has given scant attention in talks with Pyongyang +q60P74RGoA4-00002-00002603-00003703 Heading into his second meeting with the North Korean leader, the president is planning to pitch him on a vision of North Korean modernization, White House officials have said +q60P74RGoA4-00003-00003703-00004946 Trump dangled the prospect of material wealth for Kim’s impoverished homeland on Monday, telling reporters, “I think he’ll have a country that will set a lot of records for speed in terms of an economy'' +q60P74RGoA4-00004-00004946-00005557 It’s not clear how the president is proposing to help Kim realize his economic goals +q60P74RGoA4-00005-00005557-00006889 A provision Trump signed into law as a part of a 2017 sanctions bill cracking down on Iran, Russia and North Korea could prove a crippling obstacle to any American overture, experts said +q60P74RGoA4-00006-00006889-00007937 The law prohibits imports of anything produced or manufactured by a North Korean citizen — and it would fall on Congress, not the president, to repeal the measure +q60P74RGoA4-00007-00007937-00009507 “Because of US. law today, the general counsel of any U.S. company is not going to recommend going into North Korea because of human rights abuses,” said Victor Cha, who served as President George WBush’s top adviser on North Korea +q60P74RGoA4-00008-00009507-00010361 The Trump administration, he said, “needs to talk about human rights if they’re going to achieve what they want to achieve'' +q60P74RGoA4-00009-00010361-00012226 That means Trump could ink a nuclear deal with North Korea that lifts some sanctions in exchange for Kim’s promise to give up his nation’s nuclear weapons, but he would have to rely on Congress to repeal the 2017 law in order for any American company to significantly invest in North Korea +q60P74RGoA4-00010-00012226-00012853 That’s unlikely, barring a deal that addresses human rights in a substantive manner +qpbGTBTqUkY-00000-00000571-00002553 Donald Trump is making money from the government. It’s not speculation anymore. Story after story of the Trump brand colliding with the government in ways that benefit Trump personally are released on a regular basis, which continues to bring the Emoluments Clause and other conflicts of interest further into question +qpbGTBTqUkY-00001-00002553-00003465 Reuters has released a report, again busting Trump for personally profiting from the government: Public pension funds in at least seven U +qpbGTBTqUkY-00002-00003465-00004687 S. states have invested millions of dollars in an investment fund that owns a New York hotel and pays one of President Donald Trump’s companies to run it, according to a Reuters review of public records +qpbGTBTqUkY-00003-00004687-00005435 That arrangement could put Trump at risk of violating an obscure constitutional clause, some legal experts say +qpbGTBTqUkY-00004-00005435-00007164 The funds in the states of California, New York, Texas, Arizona, Montana, Michigan and Missouri have more than 5 million members, including state lawmakers in California, teachers in Texas, and police officers in New York, just to name a few +qpbGTBTqUkY-00005-00007164-00008010 The fund also includes the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the largest public pension fund in the nation +qpbGTBTqUkY-00006-00008010-00008995 Jed Shugerman, a law professor at Fordham University explains how Trump is in violation of the constitutions’ Emoluments Clause: +qpbGTBTqUkY-00007-00008995-00010502 The report point out, “it could put Trump at risk of falling foul of a little-known constitutional rule prohibiting the flow of money from states to the pockets of a sitting president, five ethics and constitutional law experts interviewed by Reuters said +qpbGTBTqUkY-00008-00010502-00010602 ” +qUL9GMs7L7u-00000-00000571-00001898 The United States has by far the most relaxed gun laws in the developed worlds. The United States also has by far the most mass shootings and deaths as a result of gun crime among all developed countries +qUL9GMs7L7u-00001-00001898-00003366 It is therefore perfectly obvious to anyone with even an ounce of common sense that the solution hear is to regulate the arms trade more strictly like the rest of the developed worlds, and possibly even ban guns altogether +qUL9GMs7L7u-00002-00003366-00005764 However, President Donald Trump and the rest of the crony Republicans who somehow still run the United States government cannot hear the sound of that basic logic over the sound of all that raw cash pouring into their bank accounts from the NRA and various other gun lobbies which portray themselves as fighting for rights and freedoms for ordinary people, but really just want to carry on making as much many as possible from selling guns +qUL9GMs7L7u-00003-00005764-00007219 .That is why we are in the totally ridiculous situation where the President of the United States and leader of the free world is seriously and repeatedly suggesting that the solution to this problem is not less but more guns +qUL9GMs7L7u-00004-00007219-00008141 He has claimed time and time again that the way to tackle school shootings is to bung a whole load more deadly weapons in schools up and down the country +qUL9GMs7L7u-00005-00008141-00009230 And his latest defense of this argument is possibly the most ridiculous yet. Here is what Donald Trump said to news reporters on the issue of gun rights recently: +qUL9GMs7L7u-00006-00009230-00010035 “Unless we have an offensive capability, it’s going to happen again and again. You can’t hire enough security guards +qUL9GMs7L7u-00007-00010035-00010873 These would be people that actually would want them. And it would be a small percentage, but it would be a lot of people +qUL9GMs7L7u-00008-00010873-00011636 And once you do this, you will have a situation where all of a sudden this horrible plague will stop +qUL9GMs7L7u-00009-00011636-00012184 I want my schools protected just like I want my banks protected'' +rsVqsoWuh5M-00000-00000571-00001360 President Donald Trump has spent his entire life telling the world that he is the best deal maker ever to have lived +rsVqsoWuh5M-00001-00001360-00002101 He literally has his own reality TV show in which people compete for the privilege of making a deal with him +rsVqsoWuh5M-00002-00002101-00004559 He has a huge amount of money and power even before he was elected President of the United States and leader of the free world, all of which was thanks to the business empire he inherited from his father and the very low level business tricks he employed to keep on making money such as declaring bankruptcy several times and refusing to release his tax returns so that we cannot see how he has been fiddling his finances to dodge costs +rsVqsoWuh5M-00003-00004559-00006440 It should perhaps come as no surprise then that the greatest deal maker the world has ever seen is actually shockingly bad at managing his staff, to the point that the sheer volume of people who have resigned or been fired from his administration is genuinely incredible and almost unprecedented +rsVqsoWuh5M-00004-00006440-00007652 Considering that most of his senior White House staff is made up of members of his own family, it is quite amazing that the President manages to have such a high turnover rate among his staff +rsVqsoWuh5M-00005-00007652-00009465 The latest to go, of course, was Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen who, despite being the very person who presided over the placing of migrants children into cages away from their families, decided that Trump had become “unhinged” and that she could no longer work for him in good conscience +rsVqsoWuh5M-00006-00009465-00010434 .Nielsen is just the latest in a very, very long line of people who have turned their back on the Trump administration over the past two and a bit years +rsVqsoWuh5M-00007-00010434-00011597 All the way back at the beginning of 2016, Deputy White House Chief of Staff Katie Walsh resigned after just nine weeks in the job, which must be some kind of record +rsVqsoWuh5M-00008-00011597-00012793 One thing that stands out in the list of people who have quite the Trump administration is the amazing number who have one on to be indicted or associated with some extremely troubling allegations +rsVqsoWuh5M-00009-00012793-00013906 Take, for example, former White House National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who fell foul of the investigation into Russian collusion led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller +rsVqsoWuh5M-00010-00013906-00014684 Or former adviser Steve Bannon, who has since become a sort of leader of the European far right movement +rsVqsoWuh5M-00011-00014684-00015321 And those are just the people who quit on this President; plenty still remain in his employ +rvSsvNIg9kg-00000-00000571-00002083 President Trump’s incessant and effortless mendacity is a thing of legend at this point, but every so often he utters a lie so outrageous that it sends a shockwave through the blogosphere and leaves viewers stunned with the breathtaking preposterousness of it all +rvSsvNIg9kg-00001-00002083-00003031 Today, that lie was the idea that the daughter that he has an extremely uncomfortable obsession with has created “millions of jobs'' +rvSsvNIg9kg-00002-00003031-00004152 On every conceivable level, the idea is absolutely ridiculous. Since becoming a “Senior Adviser to the President,” Ivanka Trump has accomplished…nothing +rvSsvNIg9kg-00003-00004152-00006048 Ever since abandoning the one major policy idea she wanted to push at the first roadblock (a paid family leave plan with Marco Rubio), Ivanka has remained in the shadows, plotting with her husband Jared Kushner and playing at palace intrigue power struggles against the rest of the jackals on the President’s staff +rvSsvNIg9kg-00004-00006048-00008313 It’s true that her “fashion company” did create many jobs in Chinese and Indonesian sweatshops, but seeing as the poor workers were treated to inhumane conditions and forced to work long hours for appallingly little pay, but since she’s shuttered her company over tanking sales, she can’t even claim that as part of her alleged incredible, record-breaking job creation streak +rvSsvNIg9kg-00005-00008313-00009494 It appears that the President may have been referring to his executive order last year that created the National Council for the American Worker, which is co-chaired by Ivanka Trump +rvSsvNIg9kg-00006-00009494-00011317 The NCAW asked over 200 companies to pledge to “committing to expand programs that educate, train, and reskill American workers from high-school age to near-retirement,” which in no way translates to actual jobs created, as pointed out by the fact-checkers at CNN +rvSsvNIg9kg-00007-00011317-00012613 No matter how you spin it, this is an insane assertion that it would be comical if it wasn’t such a regular occurrence in the administration of the biggest liar to ever darken the White House halls +sruiNrVG--c-00000-00000513-00001944 President Trump on Friday claimed that he was “misinterpreted” when he said he took Kim Jong Un “at his word” when the dictator denied knowing what happened to US college student Otto Warmbier’s while he was in a North Korean prison +sruiNrVG--c-00001-00001944-00002691 “I never like being misinterpreted, but especially when it comes to Otto Warmbier and his great family +sruiNrVG--c-00002-00002691-00004091 Remember, I got Otto out along with three others. The previous Administration did nothing, and he was taken on their watch,” Trump wrote on Twitter after increasing criticism of his acceptance of Kim’s denial +sruiNrVG--c-00003-00004091-00005029 “Of course I hold North Korea responsible for Otto’s mistreatment and death. Most important, Otto Warmbier will not have died in vain +sruiNrVG--c-00004-00005029-00005928 Otto and his family have become a tremendous symbol of strong passion and strength, which will last for many years into the future +sruiNrVG--c-00005-00005928-00006641 I love Otto and think of him often!” he continued, without mentioning Kim or his denial +sruiNrVG--c-00006-00006641-00007451 Earlier Friday, Warmbier’s parents directly blamed Kim for their son’s death and blasted his “evil regime +sruiNrVG--c-00007-00007451-00009023 ”.“We have been respectful during this summit process. Now we must speak out. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son Otto,” Fred and Cindy Warmbier said in a scathing statement that rebuked Trump’s assertion +sruiNrVG--c-00008-00009023-00010413 “Kim and his evil regime are responsible for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity. No excuses or lavish praise can change that,” added the couple, who were Trump’s guests at his 2018 State of the Union address +sruiNrVG--c-00009-00010413-00011727 The president drew criticism when he praised Kim’s leadership and said he believed the despot’s claims that he was unaware of how the 22-year-old college student from Ohio had been treated in a North Korean prison +sruiNrVG--c-00010-00011727-00013153 “Some really bad things happened to Otto — some really, really bad things. But he tells me that he didn’t know about it, and I will take him at his word,” Trump said during a press conference after his summit with Kim broke down +sruiNrVG--c-00011-00013153-00013997 “I really don’t think it was in his interest at all,” he said, adding that Kim felt “very badly” about the young man’s death +sG3cssqlxsg-00000-00000571-00001877 President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign has implemented a variety of precedent-setting rigorous ethics standards for a presidential campaign’s staff and consultants, Breitbart News has learned exclusively +sG3cssqlxsg-00001-00001877-00004001 Most importantly, the employee manual that all campaign employees, vendors, volunteers, and consultants agree to before signing on to officially help Trump’s re-election chances bars them from any financial benefits from outside vendors, lobbyists, or Political Action Committees (PACs) without the approval of the campaign treasurer +sG3cssqlxsg-00002-00004001-00005416 .The campaign confirmed the new standards to Breitbart News in a number of exclusive statements and by providing an excerpt from the Trump campaign staff employee manual that has not been previously publicly reported +sG3cssqlxsg-00003-00005416-00007903 They are part of a larger effort by President Trump to “drain the swamp,” his campaign’s national spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said, and fit with the president’s ethics pledge executive order for executive branch employees that he signed at the beginning of the administration—and with the fact that the president does not take a salary from the taxpayers but, instead, donates it back to a different part of the government every quarter +sG3cssqlxsg-00004-00007903-00008608 “As a candidate, Donald Trump promised to drain the swamp,” McEnany told Breitbart News +sG3cssqlxsg-00005-00008608-00009481 “As president, he has done just that, setting new precedents for how both government and presidential campaigns should operate +sG3cssqlxsg-00006-00009481-00011155 ”. .The employee manual excerpt, provided to Breitbart News exclusively this week, specifically bars campaign staff, consultants, vendors, and volunteers from receiving payment or financial benefit from lobbyists, PACs, and outside vendors +sG3cssqlxsg-00007-00011155-00012832 “No Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. employee, consultant, staff, or volunteer shall accept payment or other financial benefit from a vendor, lobbyist, or Political Action Committee without approval from the Campaign Treasurer,” the manual reads +sG3cssqlxsg-00008-00012832-00014713 “Without limiting this policy, no employee, consultant, staff, or volunteer shall accept compensation of any kind, whether money, fees, commissions, credits, or gifts, for the purpose of influencing the award of a contract or other business relationship with the Campaign +sG3cssqlxsg-00009-00014713-00015972 ”.Perhaps the biggest-name staffer who has led the way on these standards is Trump’s re-election campaign manager Brad Parscale—who made the choice to forgo getting a cut of digital ad buys +sG3cssqlxsg-00010-00015972-00017158 Parscale decided he would not be taking a percentage of the ad buys, and to facilitate that decision, the campaign created American Made Media Consultants (AMMC) +sG3cssqlxsg-00011-00017158-00019297 AMMC handles digital media buys for the Trump campaign—the Trump campaign has already made a significant amount of media buys through it, and next week’s Federal Election Commission (FEC) reports are likely to show more—but Parscale has no financial stake in it whatsoever and receives no kickback whenever the campaign does so +sG3cssqlxsg-00012-00019297-00020841 AMMC has an independent managing board. .Notably, Parscale would forgo taking a cut from the ad buys because he comes from the digital world—the first-ever presidential campaign manager from a digital marketing background +sG3cssqlxsg-00013-00020841-00021959 “As President Trump’s campaign manager, I wanted to set a high mark, and the best start was to remove myself from accepting a percentage,” Parscale told Breitbart News +sG3cssqlxsg-00014-00021959-00023001 “As the first digital media campaign manager, I set a precedent. I don’t do this for a percentage; I do this for my country and for President Trump +sG3cssqlxsg-00015-00023001-00024224 ”.Barring the financial benefits and payments to campaign staffers is not the only new standard that the Trump campaign has implemented per the employee manual excerpts provided to Breitbart News +sG3cssqlxsg-00016-00024224-00025352 The campaign also requires disclosure of conflicts of interest and requires staff to push for maximum value of each dollar when making decisions with campaign cash +sG3cssqlxsg-00017-00025352-00026695 “In addition, all Campaign employees, consultants, staff, and volunteers shall disclose any conflict of interest that may exist with the Campaign,” the Trump employee manual reads, continuing: +sG3cssqlxsg-00018-00026695-00028735 Other than a consulting company with which the Campaign contracts explicitly for the services of a principal in that company, Campaign employees, consultants, staff, and volunteers agree to disclose any financial interest they may have in a transaction between the Campaign and a vendor prior to requesting a transaction with that vendor +sG3cssqlxsg-00019-00028735-00030535 All Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. Campaign employees, consultants, staff, and volunteers are expected to strive to obtain the maximum value for each dollar of expenditure and decline personal gifts or gratuities which might affect their decision-making process +sG3cssqlxsg-00020-00030535-00031546 All are expected to conduct business with potential and current suppliers in an atmosphere of good faith and devoid of intentional misrepresentation +sG3cssqlxsg-00021-00031546-00033157 Michael Glassner, the chief operating officer (COO) of the Trump re-election campaign and a veteran of six different presidential campaigns, added in a statement that he believes these new ethics standards are the “highest possible” that a campaign has implemented +sG3cssqlxsg-00022-00033157-00034278 “Having worked on six presidential campaigns, I can attest to the fact that the Trump campaign has the highest possible ethical standards,” Glassner told Breitbart News +sG3cssqlxsg-00023-00034278-00035190 .These new ethics standards for the Trump campaign come as part of a bigger push by the president and his team for a cleaner Washington, D +sG3cssqlxsg-00024-00035190-00036874 C. At the beginning of his presidency, Trump penned an executive order requiring all executive branch appointees to sign an ethics pledge banning lobbying for five years after leaving the federal government—and banning appointees from ever lobbying for a foreign government +sG3cssqlxsg-00025-00036874-00038852 The ethics pledge that federal appointees must sign, thanks to Trump’s executive order, also includes a ban on accepting gifts from registered lobbyists and lobbying organizations during the appointees’ time in government and stipulates that hiring decisions and other decisions must be made on merit, not for other reasons +sG3cssqlxsg-00026-00038852-00039910 In addition to the ethics pledge for federal employees and the Trump campaign ethics guidelines, President Trump does not take a salary from the taxpayers +sG3cssqlxsg-00027-00039910-00040552 According to Reuters, he is only the third president in history not to take a salary +sG3cssqlxsg-00028-00040552-00041495 Presidents John F. Kennedy and Herbert Hoover, who were both, like Trump, independently wealthy, also refused salaries +sG3cssqlxsg-00029-00041495-00042932 While Trump takes the $1 nominal salary he is legally required to take, he donates the rest of the presidential $400,000 annual salary in quarterly installments back to the Treasury to fund different departments and agencies +sIZy8CS-NGA-00000-00000571-00001650 On Tuesday, the Washington Post reported that North Korea has begun rebuilding a satellite launch site, either right before the summit that “President” Donald J +sIZy8CS-NGA-00001-00001650-00002608 Trump attended, or just after. There was a photo that was an overhead satellite image showing such developments in the story +sIZy8CS-NGA-00002-00002608-00003736 However, Trump, who has told his Cult 45 followers not to believe what they see or hear, but trust him only, has now stated that he does not believe such reports +sIZy8CS-NGA-00003-00003736-00005126 According to Kaitlin Collins on Twitter, citing pool reporter Peter Baker, we have a president who is once again denying that one of his BDFF (Best Dictator Friends Forever) is doing something that is wrong +sIZy8CS-NGA-00004-00005126-00006310 Asked about the report of North Korea rebuilding missile test facilities, President Trump said he would “be very disappointed if that is happening,” but added, “It’s a very early report +sIZy8CS-NGA-00005-00006310-00007057 ” Per pooler.Trump: “I would be very disappointed in Chairman Kim but I don’t think I will be'' +sIZy8CS-NGA-00006-00007057-00008499 Why Trump refers to it as “a very early report” is beyond comprehension. Not only is the Washington Post reporting from sources who have reviewed the activities, but they literally have a satellite photo showing there has been activity +sIZy8CS-NGA-00007-00008499-00010194 For example, Jeffrey Lewis, a scholar quoted in the referenced article, noted that some imagery that was “low-resolution imagery” showed some activity in the period between February 18 and February 22, but that the satellite images make clear what was happening +sIZy8CS-NGA-00008-00010194-00010951 Lewis stated, “It’s not great news. They may have known the summit was not going to go well'' +sIZy8CS-NGA-00009-00010951-00012931 Again, we have Donald Trump arguing that what we see is not what is happening, presumably because his BDFF Kim Jong-Un told him so and what reason would he have to lie? We continue to be under the leadership of a dangerous man who apparently will not believe calamity is about to hit until too late to address +t5QCmjNlbd0-00000-00000513-00002038 A Democratic congressman said Monday he disagrees with his party's decision to not hold 2020 presidential primary debates on Fox News, arguing that it's important for the candidates to share their views with the network's audience +t5QCmjNlbd0-00001-00002038-00002973 "Well, with all due respect to the (Democratic National Committee), no, I don't think it was the right decision," Connecticut Rep +t5QCmjNlbd0-00002-00002973-00005202 Jim Himes said to CNN's John Berman on "New Day.".Last week, the DNC announced that "Fox News will not serve as a media partner for the 2020 Democratic primary debates," citing recent reporting in The New Yorker about the mutually beneficial relationship between Fox and the Trump administration, which DNC chair Tom Perez called "inappropriate +t5QCmjNlbd0-00003-00005202-00006275 "."You know, look, it's no surprise to anybody, including Fox News watchers, that Fox is largely an instrument of the right wing -- of the Republican Party +t5QCmjNlbd0-00004-00006275-00007811 It's a propaganda arm for the White House," Himes said, adding that he makes appearances on the network because he believes if you put Democratic ideas "against whatever the nonsense is on the other side," Democrats "will have the appealing ideas +t5QCmjNlbd0-00005-00007811-00008963 ".The first debate of the Democratic primary season will take place in June with NBC, MSNBC and Telemundo, while the second will air in July on CNN +t5QCmjNlbd0-00006-00008963-00009778 Himes told Berman that "a debate is a very highly structured moment."."It is, in some senses, fair +t5QCmjNlbd0-00007-00009778-00010627 It's not like, you know, (Fox News host) Sean Hannity can jump in and challenge Bernie Sanders," he said +t5QCmjNlbd0-00008-00010627-00011358 "As they say, 'You don't need to persuade your friends, you need to persuade people who disagree with you +t5QCmjNlbd0-00009-00011358-00011766 ' So I would've made a different decision," Himes said +ts6FIV6MBdu-00000-00000513-00001649 Meghan Markle had a luxury New York baby shower in February and is reported to have told friends she is due to have a baby boy, according to a Mail on Sunday source +ts6FIV6MBdu-00001-00001649-00002401 The Duchess could have told friends the gender for two reasons, according to royal expert Melanie Bromley +ts6FIV6MBdu-00002-00002401-00003890 The E! News royal correspondent said Meghan could have, firstly, revealed the gender to find out which friends are leaking information about her to the media, and, secondly, because she has decided to break from royal tradition +ts6FIV6MBdu-00003-00003890-00004629 Ms Bromley said: “Traditionally, the royals don’t really find out the sex of their baby +ts6FIV6MBdu-00004-00004629-00005802 “But obviously Meghan is just changing things up. And I can definitely see her saying to Harry ‘I would like to know because I want to decorate the nursery in a certain way’ +ts6FIV6MBdu-00005-00005802-00007320 It could be that.“It could be that she has told people to see who the leaks are.“But as I have said before, I do think that Meghan knows her friends are talking to the press and I think that is a very unusual position that the Royal Family haven’t had before +ts6FIV6MBdu-00006-00007320-00008380 A source who is familiar with one of those that attended the baby shower allegedly told The Mail On Sunday that Meghan was telling guests the sex of her unborn baby +ts6FIV6MBdu-00007-00008380-00009232 “She was talking openly about it,” said the source.Meghan has previously said that she does not want to know the baby’s gender +ts6FIV6MBdu-00008-00009232-00009911 She was seen at the high-end store Bonpoint and enjoying lunch in the city on Saturday +ts6FIV6MBdu-00009-00009911-00011008 Despite a Hollywood guest list at the lavish baby shower, the lavish event was "an intimate gathering" of her closest friends who have helped her through her first year of royal life +ts6FIV6MBdu-00010-00011008-00012252 Meghan’s longtime friend and wedding make-up artist Daniel Martin said the party was all baby talk and she was getting lots of advice from her friends during the event which took place on February 20 +ts6FIV6MBdu-00011-00012252-00013268 Mr Martin told People magazine: “It was exactly what she needed, and was a reunion for us, too, who hadn’t seen each other since the wedding +ts6FIV6MBdu-00012-00013268-00014077 "Snow was falling outside, and it was so cosy - we all sat on couches or on the floor and told stories and caught up +ts6FIV6MBdu-00013-00014077-00015488 “It was like a family reunion. The baby is going to be loved by us all.".Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are expected to welcome their first child sometime in April, with the Duchess of Sussex preparing to enter her eighth month +tLLO2jL3v6u-00000-00000571-00001446 Omar is once again making headlines after President Donald Trump blasted her anti-Semitism to the GOP Jewish Coalition +tLLO2jL3v6u-00001-00001446-00002206 “Special thanks to Rep. Omar of Minnesota,” the president said. “Oh, I almost forgot +tLLO2jL3v6u-00002-00002206-00003274 She doesn’t like Israel … I’m so sorry!” Well, that caused Omar to cite Islamic texts toward the president, and it made Americans angry +tLLO2jL3v6u-00003-00003274-00004021 You don’t want to miss this.The mainstream media is outraged that President Trump alluded to Rep +tLLO2jL3v6u-00004-00004021-00005158 Omar’s blatant anti-Semitism on Saturday. Last month, she was criticized for hurling the ugly stereotype that Jews have an “allegiance to a foreign country +tLLO2jL3v6u-00005-00005158-00006589 ”.And earlier this year, she tweeted that U.S support for Israel was “all about the Benjamins, baby” — money in the form of $100 bills — and that AIPAC was paying policymakers to support the Jewish state +tLLO2jL3v6u-00006-00006589-00007428 These aren’t the only anti-Semitic remarks she has made.The Minnesota Congresswoman’s anti-Semitism goes back years +tLLO2jL3v6u-00007-00007428-00009857 “Last year, before she was elected to the House of Representatives, before she emerged from a crowded Democratic field in Minnesota’s liberal 5th Congressional District, leaders of Minneapolis’ Jewish community fashioned what could be described as an anti-Semitic intervention of Omar, a rising star of the left whose remarks had made many fellow Democrats in the Jewish community uncomfortable,” reports TwinCities +tLLO2jL3v6u-00008-00009857-00011200 com.So, while she was a state representative, Omar had already made a name for herself as a raging anti-Semite, so perverse was she that the local Jewish community stepped in and tried to educate her +tLLO2jL3v6u-00009-00011200-00011874 But, Omar’s hatred of all things Jewish isn’t a lack of education, it’s indoctrination +tLLO2jL3v6u-00010-00011874-00013180 .The 37-year-old is a far-left Islamic extremist. However, it’s President Trump making her anti-Semitism a lighthearted joke that is causing Omar to play the victim card +tLLO2jL3v6u-00011-00013180-00013984 Speaking before the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual convention in Las Vegas on Saturday, Trump mockingly thanks Rep +tLLO2jL3v6u-00012-00013984-00014337 Omar in front of the Jewish crowd +uBYFeW521IQ-00000-00000571-00001757 President Donald Trump is not a man of great moral upstanding. He does not believe in any principles, even basic ones like democracy, freedom and the rule of law +uBYFeW521IQ-00001-00001757-00002885 All of that is perfectly obvious from his track record across the two and a bit years that he has spent so far in the high office of President of the United States and leader of the free world +uBYFeW521IQ-00002-00002885-00004492 Nothing is too low for him. However, recent reports suggest that he has now taken this to a whole new level by beginning to encourage his officials to break the law to achieve things that are convenient to him, and promising to pardon them if they get caught: +uBYFeW521IQ-00003-00004492-00006231 President Donald Trump told Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan he would grant McAleenan a pardon if he were sent to jail for having border agents block asylum seekers from entering the US in defiance of US law, senior administration officials tell CNN +uBYFeW521IQ-00004-00006231-00007012 Trump reportedly made the comment during a visit to the border at Calexico, California, a week ago +uBYFeW521IQ-00005-00007012-00008969 It was not clear if the comment was a joke. Two officials briefed on the exchange say the President told McAleenan, since named the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, that he “would pardon him if he ever went to jail for denying US entry to migrants,” as one of the officials paraphrased +uBYFeW521IQ-00006-00008969-00010317 .This is incredible to see. This is the man who rules over us from the Oval Office, and here he is saying that the law does not matter at all and that breaking it is fine, because he can pardon his friends +uBYFeW521IQ-00007-00010317-00011526 Perhaps this should not be a huge surprise for someone who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, this particular spoon being the multi billion dollar business empire he inherited from his father +uBYFeW521IQ-00008-00011526-00012325 Trump seems to find it impossible to think of anyone but himself, even when it comes to breaking the law +uBYFeW521IQ-00009-00012325-00013449 The President has, of course, tried to deny these allegations. But in keeping with his character, he has done it in a way that makes him look much more guilty than innocent +uBYFeW521IQ-00010-00013449-00014958 Taking to Twitter, he blasted the issue as “a fake story” and instead of offering any evidence in his favor, he simply laid into journalists and incited more violence against them by alleging that the entire mainstream media is corrupt against him +uTY3vWNJlUI-00000-00000571-00002292 Attorney General William Barr’s self-serving and shortsighted answers to the questions asked of him during his public testimony on Wednesday were predictably favorable to Donald Trump, but might have served an unintended purpose – unchaining the inner mounting wrath of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi +uTY3vWNJlUI-00001-00002292-00004100 .Nancy Pelosi said this to reporters on Wednesday: “How very, very dismaying and disappointing that the chief law enforcement officer of our country is going off the rails,” likely a response to Barr’s bizarre echoing of a Trump fantasy that the Obama administration had spied on the Trump team +uTY3vWNJlUI-00002-00004100-00005210 As though he believed his blind monarchical loyalty insufficient in cementing his manifestly partisan stance, he admitted that he had no evidence to corroborate this claim +uTY3vWNJlUI-00003-00005210-00006127 Now that there’s no shadow of a doubt that our Attorney General is an utter stooge, where in the system do we look for a check on his bias? +uTY3vWNJlUI-00004-00006127-00007822 . .Nancy Pelosi is not withholding her thoughts on the situation. On Wednesday she also said “I don’t trust Barr, I trust Mueller,” which is a firm comment from someone whose political acumen and clout cannot be ignored in the context of this statement +uTY3vWNJlUI-00005-00007822-00008901 Pelosi isn’t saying these things just to solidify her opposition to Trump’s gaggle of buffoons; she’s saying it because she’s preparing a substantive countermove +uTY3vWNJlUI-00006-00008901-00009731 How exactly this takes shape is anyone’s guess, but there’s a good chance it’ll have nothing to do with Bill Barr directly +uTY3vWNJlUI-00007-00009731-00011787 There’s been chatter about House Democrats subpoenaing Robert Mueller, for example, a move that would likely not come until after Barr’s latent redacted report is released, but a move that would illuminate Barr’s corrupt agenda and would result in his reputation as the top law enforcement official heavily bruised, if not mortally wounded +uTY3vWNJlUI-00008-00011787-00013368 Pelosi is demonstrably sick of these schmucks.Nancy Pelosi’s next moves will be useful in forecasting the House Democrats’ near-future direction in handling the Trump ordeal, and will perhaps be enough to understand their endgame strategy +uTY3vWNJlUI-00009-00013368-00014462 Trump is presently in the deepest shit of his life for what seems like an unending laundry list of reasons and he’s consequently panicking, stumbling, and weakening +uTY3vWNJlUI-00010-00014462-00015194 Trump might not be at his power nadir yet, but now is a great time to push him along that trajectory +uTY3vWNJlUI-00011-00015194-00015773 The best part? Nancy Pelosi is keenly aware of it +vqiNoSoVDwA-00000-00000571-00002164 In a recent report from The Wall Street Journal, we have learned that Michael Cohen, former personal attorney to President Donald Trump, hired a small polling company prior to the 2016 presidential election to rig two online polls in the president’s favor +vqiNoSoVDwA-00001-00002164-00004936 And then he stiffed the company he hired out of most of the money he owed them.Jon Gauger, owner and director of RedFinch Solutions, LLC and also Chief Information Officer for Liberty University, told the newspaper that he was owed approximately $50,000 for the job but when he arrived at Trump Towers to collect the money, he was given just over $12,000 in a plastic Walmart shopping bag and “randomly, a boxing glove that Mr +vqiNoSoVDwA-00002-00004936-00005816 Cohen said had been worn by a Brazilian mixed-martial arts fighter''.It was also during this bizarre exchange that Cohen asked Mr +vqiNoSoVDwA-00003-00005816-00006733 Gauger to create the @WomenForCohen Twitter account, which is still active today, to paint Cohen as a staunch supporter and booster for Mr +vqiNoSoVDwA-00004-00006733-00007843 Trump and moreover, to encourage his standing as a “sex symbol”. The account has the following description in its Twitter bio: “Women who love and support Michael Cohen +vqiNoSoVDwA-00005-00007843-00008637 Strong, pit bull, sex symbol, no nonsense, business oriented, and ready to make a difference!” +vqiNoSoVDwA-00006-00008637-00010021 Of course, since the time of this deal, Cohen has been sentenced to three years in prison for various financial crimes, including tax fraud, false statements to a bank, campaign finance violations and more +vqiNoSoVDwA-00007-00010021-00011139 Surely there is no surprise that yet another one-time close ally to President Trump is involved in so many underhanded and seedy business interactions +vIT8b5vVXiY-00000-00000571-00002188 Bullies always reveal themselves to be cowards in the end. Roger Stone, who is essentially Donald Trump with more proverbial clown paint and less real clown paint, spent forty years corruptly running roughshod across the American political landscape +vIT8b5vVXiY-00001-00002188-00002867 Yet there he was yesterday, a pathetic and broken man, begging a federal judge for mercy +vIT8b5vVXiY-00002-00002867-00004243 It’s a roadmap for where Donald Trump is heading.We still don’t know how accurate these major media reports are about Special Counsel Robert Mueller issuing a report next week about Donald Trump’s crime spree +vIT8b5vVXiY-00003-00004243-00004954 We don’t know precisely how quickly thereafter House Democrats will initiate the impeachment process +vIT8b5vVXiY-00004-00004954-00006069 We still don’t know the exact timetable in which entities like SDNY and the Attorney General of New York might move on Trump’s kids in relation to this report +vIT8b5vVXiY-00005-00006069-00006816 But it’s becoming more clear by the day that these things are all happening sooner rather than later +vIT8b5vVXiY-00006-00006816-00007428 This is the part where Trump cracks.Trump thinks he can throw down with the best of them +vIT8b5vVXiY-00007-00007428-00009024 But all he really does is try to isolate his adversaries so he can very publicly pick on them one at a time, either because they have a particular vulnerability he thinks he can exploit, or because they’re in a position where they can’t publicly fight back +vIT8b5vVXiY-00008-00009024-00010019 Trump’s approach is that of a coward. He never even tries to fight all of his adversaries at once, because, well, he’s never had to +vIT8b5vVXiY-00009-00010019-00011139 That’s about to change wholesale.Donald Trump is the kind of attention deficit brute force bully who can just barely manage to focus on one simplistic tactic at a time +vIT8b5vVXiY-00010-00011139-00012425 How do you take down the big dumb ogre? You attack him from all sides, all at once, not simply to overpower him, but to leave him confused and thus unequipped to properly fight back at all +vIT8b5vVXiY-00011-00012425-00013420 That attack is coming soon. In the end, Trump will be just another Roger Stone: broken, pathetic, and begging for mercy +vIT8b5vVXiY-00012-00013420-00013660 Bring it on +vRP4qQT1Rt0-00000-00000000-00000200 д8щб 0 +vRP4qQT1Rt0-00001-00000200-00000400 ж68 +vRP4qQT1Rt0-00002-00000400-00000600 6ж +vRP4qQT1Rt0-00003-00000600-00000800 76ж +vRP4qQT1Rt0-00004-00000800-00001000 жюш7н +vRP4qQT1Rt0-00005-00001000-00001200 6 ме +vRP4qQT1Rt0-00007-00001400-00001600 6юже +vRP4qQT1Rt0-00009-00001800-00002000 ю6ж +vRP4qQT1Rt0-00010-00002000-00002200 егжщ +vRP4qQT1Rt0-00011-00002200-00002400 юпгшн.ш +vRP4qQT1Rt0-00012-00002400-00002600 ню +vRP4qQT1Rt0-00015-00003000-00003200 ш +vRP4qQT1Rt0-00019-00003800-00004000 ро.г +wQBvy-Y_kgU-00000-00000571-00001845 Michael Cohen's attorney Tuesday clarified his client's public testimony that he didn't ask for a pardon from President Donald Trump, arguing that Cohen's statement was true even if it could have been clearer +wQBvy-Y_kgU-00001-00001845-00003609 Cohen has been under fire from Republicans and Trump for testifying that he had "never asked for, nor would I accept" a pardon from the President, amid reports that Cohen's attorneys discussed the prospect of a pardon with Trump's legal team while Cohen was still a part of the Trump joint defense agreement +wQBvy-Y_kgU-00002-00003609-00004452 "In retrospect, while the sentence could have been clearer regarding the time frames, the sentence is true, and Mr +wQBvy-Y_kgU-00003-00004452-00005547 Cohen stands by his statement," wrote Michael Monico, Cohen's attorney, in a letter to House Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings that was obtained by CNN +wQBvy-Y_kgU-00004-00005547-00006195 Monico argued in the letter that Cohen's statement was written "in the context of Mr +wQBvy-Y_kgU-00005-00006195-00007127 Cohen's decision in June 2018" to leave the joint defense agreement, and not the discussions that occurred about pardons beforehand +wQBvy-Y_kgU-00006-00007127-00007963 "At no time did Mr. Cohen personally ask President Trump for a pardon or did the President offer Mr +wQBvy-Y_kgU-00007-00007963-00009188 Cohen the same," Monico wrote.But the new letter from Monico is unlikely to satisfy Republicans, who have charged Cohen may have committed perjury in his testimony +xyk8zCHqve4-00000-00000571-00001313 There are so many Democrats trying to take Trump’s job, it’s becoming a joke—but the joke’s on them +xyk8zCHqve4-00001-00001313-00002250 Seriously, the Democratic Primary is shaping up to be one of those clown cars. Open the door and watch them all tumble out! +xyk8zCHqve4-00002-00002250-00002982 The first poll about the 2020 race has come out. Looks like the clowns are in big trouble +xyk8zCHqve4-00003-00002982-00004136 Boom – looks like Americans aren’t feeling the Bern!.Bernie may be leading the other Democrats, but according to Rasmussen, Trump is beating Sanders with 47% +xyk8zCHqve4-00004-00004136-00005220 What’s even more amazing? Bernie is only getting 74% of his own party! Trump is actually scoring 19% support from Democrats +xyk8zCHqve4-00005-00005220-00006367 That’s 1 in 5!.I mean, how bad can you be that you can’t get three-quarters of your own party’s support? Trump is enjoying a nice fat Republican lead of 83% +xyk8zCHqve4-00006-00006367-00007534 Biden seems to have a better chance, but wait! In a matchup with Trump, Donald apparently loses 49% to 44%, but there’s one big problem: +xyk8zCHqve4-00007-00007534-00008603 Democrats have spent the last few weeks trying to sabotage Biden’s chances. They were the ones who came out with all those touchy, feely accusations +xyk8zCHqve4-00008-00008603-00009298 Looks like Democrats are throwing overboard the only guy who might have a chance against ‘The Donald +xyk8zCHqve4-00009-00009298-00010371 ”.Ouch. See you later, Creepy Uncle Joe!.With 18 (and counting) Democrats running for the top spot, the money is getting spread thin +xyk8zCHqve4-00010-00010371-00011356 And former Starbucks CEO Schultz is running as a moderate Independent, probably stealing even more votes from left-wing Democrats +xyk8zCHqve4-00011-00011356-00012020 Democrats in a very weak starting position—and they only have themselves to blame +xyk8zCHqve4-00012-00012020-00012733 Meanwhile, Trump and the GOP are rocking the fundraising with millions coming in from regular Americans +xyk8zCHqve4-00013-00012733-00013872 But Trump needs everyone’s help – he needs them to show up and get out the vote if they really want 4 more years of the Trump Train (and not the Democrat clown car!) +y1Jed88NZig-00000-00000571-00002122 We could all see it coming…During the second presidential debate way back in the fall of 2016, Anderson Cooper pressed Trump on his braggartly claim that he sexually assaulted women, and that his celebrity status gave him the entitlement to do so +y1Jed88NZig-00001-00002122-00003000 Trump eventually said that the brag was nothing but locker-room talk, and that no such assaults ever took place +y1Jed88NZig-00002-00003000-00003818 .Maybe if he had never told that lie, the women he actually did assault wouldn’t have started lining up to tell the truth +y1Jed88NZig-00003-00003818-00004570 Because they have.The New York Times broke a damning story of two such women on recently +y1Jed88NZig-00004-00004570-00005829 It told the creepy details of a egomaniac who lived out the stories he told to Howard Stern and Billy Bush, and reflected the disgusting fantasies he helped create in a number of Playboy videos +y1Jed88NZig-00005-00005829-00007122 You can read the original story in the New York Times here.Being the bully Trump is, however, he thought he could strong-arm the NY Times into retracting the story by threatening a yuuuge lawsuit +y1Jed88NZig-00006-00007122-00008637 According to the Times, “Donald J. Trump threatened to sue The New York Times for libel…in response to an article that featured two women accusing him of touching them inappropriately years ago, but the newspaper defended its reporting and told Mr +y1Jed88NZig-00007-00008637-00009243 Trump’s lawyer that “we welcome the opportunity to have a court set him straight +y1Jed88NZig-00008-00009243-00010249 ”.The Times was going to have none of his bullying tactics, and shot back with one of the most powerful responses to a lawsuit threat we have ever heard +y1Jed88NZig-00009-00010249-00011461 “The Times stood by the article… ”We stand by the story, which falls clearly into the realm of public service journalism,” Eileen Murphy, a spokeswoman for The Times, said in a statement +y1Jed88NZig-00010-00011461-00012281 David McCraw, vice president and assistant general counsel of The New York Times, followed up in a letter to Mr +y1Jed88NZig-00011-00012281-00013386 Kasowitz and said that the article would not be retracted. “The women quoted in our story spoke out on an issue of national importance – indeed, an issue that Mr +y1Jed88NZig-00012-00013386-00014070 Trump himself discussed with the whole nation watching during Sunday night’s presidential debate,” Mr +y1Jed88NZig-00013-00014070-00014964 McCraw wrote. “It would have been a disservice not just to our readers but to democracy itself to silence their voices +y1Jed88NZig-00014-00014964-00015758 ” Mr. McCraw also made the case that the crux of a libel claim is that a person’s reputation has been damaged +y1Jed88NZig-00015-00015758-00016583 However, Mr. Trump has repeatedly boasted in public about his “non-consensual sexual touching of women,” Mr +y1Jed88NZig-00016-00016583-00018433 McCraw said.”.If that’s not clear, let me summarize: The Times said that libel could not possibly be a factor in this situation, because Trump’s reputation was already down the toilet! Brilliant come back, and kudos to the New York Times for having the guts to stand up to such nonsense! +ytGX0pMV80y-00000-00000513-00001986 Several media outlets got their way today when they successfully forced the SDNY to publicly release a partially redacted copy of the search warrant that was used for the year-ago raid of Michael Cohen’s residence and office +ytGX0pMV80y-00001-00001986-00002960 Various parts of the document seem to spell out bad news for Donald Trump. But one part in particular should truly scare him +ytGX0pMV80y-00002-00002960-00004123 It’s not the revelation that Robert Mueller appears to have been investigating everyone in Donald Trump’s inner circle a year before the Michael Cohen raid, though that’s pretty ugly +ytGX0pMV80y-00003-00004123-00005243 It’s not even that during the election, foreign money was paid into the hush money account that Trump and Cohen were using to pay off Trump’s mistresses, though that’s really ugly +ytGX0pMV80y-00004-00005243-00006717 Instead, it’s a different stretch of the documentation entirely.CNBC pointed out that when it comes to the documents that were used to obtain the search warrant, it’s a big deal that nineteen pages are blacked out +ytGX0pMV80y-00005-00006717-00007362 We agree that it’s a big deal, and not simply due to the generic fear of the unknown +ytGX0pMV80y-00006-00007362-00008746 These pages are blacked out because they relate to an ongoing SDNY criminal investigation, a year after the Cohen raid, and several months after the case against Cohen was fully put to bed +ytGX0pMV80y-00007-00008746-00009446 Multi-tier criminal investigations like this tend to only progress sideways and/or upward +ytGX0pMV80y-00008-00009446-00010428 So those nineteen blacked out pages are almost certainly evidence against a fish who is equal to, or bigger than, Michael Cohen +ytGX0pMV80y-00009-00010428-00011450 Some of it could theoretically be about the likes of Elliott Broidy, as we just learned this week that his office was raided a couple months after the Cohen raid +ytGX0pMV80y-00010-00011450-00012529 But really, the blacked out parts are most likely about Donald Trump – and that would mean that the SDNY is building a massive criminal case against him +zxIU_DIg-IA-00000-00000513-00001834 Rudy Giuliani has spent the past year operating under the assumption that acting as Donald Trump’s criminal defense attorney would somehow shield him from the numerous criminal scandals that have his own fingerprints all over them +zxIU_DIg-IA-00001-00001834-00003383 But apart from Rudy’s own admission last summer that the DOJ Inspector General was investigating how he knew the FBI’s actions in advance during the election, we haven’t had any proof that Rudy is under investigation – until now +zxIU_DIg-IA-00002-00003383-00005016 Now that the House Judiciary Committee has finished sending its initial round of document requests, which it said were merely an effort to catch up with similar requests that have already been made by other investigators, the committee is launching into its next round +zxIU_DIg-IA-00003-00005016-00006022 That’ll include subpoenas for those who failed to comply with the first round. It’ll also include some new names, including Rudy Giuliani +zxIU_DIg-IA-00004-00006022-00007597 This is according to the Wall Street Journal, which says that the committee is about to request documents from Rudy Giuliani and others who are alleged to have been involved in Donald Trump’s plot to dangle a pardon at Michael Cohen, in an effort to keep Cohen from cooperating +zxIU_DIg-IA-00005-00007597-00008587 We think this is significant for two reasons. First, the committee clearly isn’t worried about the fact that Rudy is Trump’s attorney +zxIU_DIg-IA-00006-00008587-00009509 Nor should they be, as dangling a pardon to keep someone from testifying is an act of felony obstruction of justice +zxIU_DIg-IA-00007-00009509-00010316 When an attorney and client conspire together to commit a crime, it isn’t covered by attorney-client privilege +zxIU_DIg-IA-00008-00010316-00011429 Second, this means the House Judiciary Committee plans to publicly make a big deal out of the fact that Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani conspired together to commit crimes +zxIU_DIg-IA-00009-00011429-00012207 We won’t be shocked if the committee ends up forcing Rudy to testify in front of the TV cameras +zxIU_DIg-IA-00010-00012207-00013208 Rudy doesn’t appear to be taking the news well, as he tweeted last night that the investigation was a “Witchunt.” Wait, what? +Zcfs8-mfaay-00000-00000006-00000100 Песня жартаўлівая +Zcfs8-mfaay-00001-00000160-00000313 не біцца пасля канцэрту +Zcfs8-mfaay-00002-00000340-00000722 Беларускі мужчына прыходзіць на свет у камарыных укусах замест радзімак +Zcfs8-mfaay-00003-00000722-00001014 і таму добра ведае: дзе больш балотаў, там больш радзімы. +Zcfs8-mfaay-00004-00001066-00001688 Беларускі мужчына ўмее апынуцца ў такой багне, што адтуль ні халеры ня выцягнеш, але беларускі мужчына цягне. +Zcfs8-mfaay-00005-00001688-00002600 Беларускі мужчына выдатна ведае дзесяць бульбяных страваў і сто дзесяць адмазак ня чысціць бульбы, бо мае шмат іншых справаў. +Zcfs8-mfaay-00006-00002600-00003468 Беларускі мужчына жыве ў самым цэнтры Еўропы, калі верыць мапе: ў гэтым цэнтры стаіць канапа і беларускі мужчына ляжыць на канапе. +Zcfs8-mfaay-00007-00003468-00003952 Яго дзед перажыў калгас і меліярацыю. Яго бацька — крызіс сярэдняга веку і гіперінфляцыю. +Zcfs8-mfaay-00008-00003952-00004744 Яго дом перажыў рамонт. Яго кот перажыў кастрацыю. Ён гаворыць, што можа быць горай, — і мае рацыю. +Zcfs8-mfaay-00009-00004744-00004982 Камон! Чык-чырык! +Zcfs8-mfaay-00010-00005192-00005540 Камон! Чык-чырык! +Zcfs8-mfaay-00011-00005766-00006352 Беларускі мужчына прывозіць машыну, прыгнаную з ФРГ, і другую палову жыцця шчасліва жыве з ёй у гаражы. +Zcfs8-mfaay-00012-00006380-00007306 Беларускі мужчына — футбольны, хакейны, біятлонны фанат. Калі раптам, алілуя, заб’юць мазілы, шматкватэрны дом патрасаюць пякельныя сілы. +Zcfs8-mfaay-00013-00007306-00008042 Беларускі мужчына ня чуў пра паліткарэктнасць ніколі і таму жартуе так смешна, што лепей ня слухаць без алкаголю. +Zcfs8-mfaay-00014-00008042-00009174 Кожны трэці п’е піва, другі кожны трэці — гарэлку, а трэці трэці разумее: гарэлка бяз піва — грошы на вецер. +Zcfs8-mfaay-00015-00009436-00009930 Яго дзед перажыў калгас і меліярацыю. Яго бацька — крызіс сярэдняга веку і гіперінфляцыю. +Zcfs8-mfaay-00016-00009930-00010568 Яго дом перажыў рамонт. Яго кот перажыў кастрацыю. Ён гаворыць, што можа быць горай, — і мае рацыю. +Zcfs8-mfaay-00017-00010568-00010802 Камон, е! Чык-чырык! +Zcfs8-mfaay-00018-00011050-00011444 Камон! Чык-чырык! +Zcfs8-mfaay-00019-00011604-00012472 Беларускі мужчына падасць жанчыне руку і набудзе кветак, і аднойчы паабяцае не раскідваць па доме шкарпэтак! +Zcfs8-mfaay-00020-00012486-00013430 Беларускі мужчына аматар праводзіць выходныя дома. Часам выйдзе на дзесяць хвілін і вяртаецца ўночы. Дзе быў, невядома. +Zcfs8-mfaay-00021-00013434-00014728 Засынае ў таксоўцы, што едзе дамоў, прачынаецца ў незнаёмым трамваі... І нікому , ня ясна, за што яго жонка трывае, выбачае футбол, хакей, біятлон, гараж і буханне? +Zcfs8-mfaay-00022-00014728-00014919 Беларускі мужчына... +Zcfs8-mfaay-00023-00014919-00015313 (у цэнтры Баранавіч - расцяжка, уявілі сабе, бдыыышшч!) +Zcfs8-mfaay-00024-00015341-00015594 ...чысты аб’ект кахання. +Zcfs8-mfaay-00025-00015634-00015742 Чык-чырык +Zcfs8-mfaay-00026-00015996-00016152 Камон! Чык-чырык! +Zcfs8-mfaay-00027-00016728-00016894 Чык-чырык, чык-чык +Zcfs8-mfaay-00028-00017418-00017524 Дзякуй +Zcfs8-mfaay-00029-00017542-00017960 (апладысменты) +-iuEcGqVZo8-00000-00000571-00002209 Political scientists from the University of North Texas have published a shocking study in The Washington Post which revealed that counties across the United States where President Donald Trump held campaign rallies saw a 226% increase in hate crimes +-iuEcGqVZo8-00001-00002209-00003431 The study was conducted by two professors from University of North Texas, Regina Branton and Valerie Martinez-Ebers, and another political scientist, PhD candidate Ayal Feinberg +-iuEcGqVZo8-00002-00003431-00004920 Among the alarming details was one finding that many have feared and suspected for so long- that the hateful and divisive rhetoric Trump used during his 2016 campaign speeches “may encourage hate crimes” in areas where they were given +-iuEcGqVZo8-00003-00004920-00006132 The carefully conducted study took many factors into account when making the correlation between acts of violence in counties that HOSTED Trump rallies versus counties that did NOT host rallies +-iuEcGqVZo8-00004-00006132-00007145 It was important that they chose to compare counties which had similar characteristics such as location, minority population, and active hate groups +-iuEcGqVZo8-00005-00007145-00008726 Since many would like to argue that some hate crimes are “fake” or “exaggerated”, the scientists also made it a top priority to ensure that all hate crimes reported were true and factual and in no instance were they fake or speculated events +-iuEcGqVZo8-00006-00008726-00009862 They even found that in many instances, the number of hate crimes committed could actually be HIGHER than previously thought because of a tendency to not report them as such +-iuEcGqVZo8-00007-00009862-00011176 Although Democrats and many others have long speculated that Trump’s rhetoric is not only harmful but is also guilty of inciting violence in many forms, Trump continually brushes the charges off as nonsense +-iuEcGqVZo8-00008-00011176-00013002 Trump vehemently denies any study or report that suggests that white nationalism is a rising and real threat, even as evidence mounts, even as hate crimes continue, even as people – such as the 50 New Zealanders that lost their lives in the Christchurch shooting earlier this month- continue to die +-iuEcGqVZo8-00009-00013002-00014371 Trump continues to deny. The evidence pours in about the very real damage that far-right extremists are doing, and it pours in just the same about white supremacy groups, yet Trump continues to deny +_FLA0VasmnQ-00000-00000571-00002339 During a rally in Lima, Ohio on Wednesday, President Trump called on the United Auto Workers (UAW) and General Motors (GM) to work together immediately to reopen the corporation’s Lordstown, Ohio assembly plant +_FLA0VasmnQ-00001-00002339-00003300 This month, GM closed the first of four American plants it is expected to shutter this year while ramping up production in China +_FLA0VasmnQ-00002-00003300-00004915 The closure of the Lordstown assembly plant resulted in the immediate layoff of about 1,600 American workers and since 2017, about 4,500 American workers have been laid off by GM in Ohio +_FLA0VasmnQ-00003-00004915-00006748 The closing of the Ohio plant, economists reveal, is likely to result in regional economic devastation for the working and middle class communities in Lordstown and the surrounding areas, with more than 8,000 US workers expected to lose their jobs due to the plant closure +_FLA0VasmnQ-00004-00006748-00008250 While speaking to a packed crowd, Trump called on GM and the UAW to hold negotiations as soon as possible to either reopen the Lordstown assembly plant or to sell the site to another automaker who can reopen the facility +_FLA0VasmnQ-00005-00008250-00009259 Trump said:''You’ve got to get over to a place that I like a lot, Lordstown what’s going on with General Motors? We have the best economy we’ve ever had +_FLA0VasmnQ-00006-00009259-00010045 We have the lowest unemployment that we’ve ever had in 50 years — soon will be the record, all time +_FLA0VasmnQ-00007-00010045-00010836 And what’s going on with General Motors. Get that plant open or sell it to somebody and they’ll open it +_FLA0VasmnQ-00008-00010836-00011544 Everybody wants it. Sell it to somebody or open it yourselves. Get it going now'' +_FLA0VasmnQ-00009-00011544-00012459 And the UAW will help you. The UAW, you’re going to help. The UAW just promised they’re going to help +_FLA0VasmnQ-00010-00012459-00013240 Get it open now, don’t wait. They said they have discussions coming up in September, October +_FLA0VasmnQ-00011-00013240-00014206 I said ‘Why not tomorrow?’ Why not on Monday? What do you have to wait months for? Get the discussions going +_FLA0VasmnQ-00012-00014206-00015925 Get it open. Lordstown, it’s a great area.Most recently, the UAW voiced their support for Trump being involved in negotiations with GM CEO Mary Barra to reopen the Ohio plant, writing online, “Thank you, Mr +_FLA0VasmnQ-00013-00015925-00016902 President, for fighting alongside the UAW against GM. We will leave no stone unturned to keep the plants open!” +_H0vMAaxS4k-00000-00000571-00001655 Donald Trump’s longtime personal attorney and self-described fixer, Michael Cohen, is set to testify before the Democratically led House for three days +_H0vMAaxS4k-00001-00001655-00002331 The president appears to be very worried about what Cohen has to say, and he should be +_H0vMAaxS4k-00002-00002331-00003585 After all, the fixer knows the president’s darkest secrets.Reportedly, Cohen will testify under oath and before the public that POTUS was criminally active, even after he took office +_H0vMAaxS4k-00003-00003585-00004249 When the judge sentenced Cohen Trump tweeted, throwing his long-time employee under the bus: +_H0vMAaxS4k-00004-00004249-00005003 ‘I never directed Michael Cohen to break the law. He was a lawyer and he is supposed to know the law +_H0vMAaxS4k-00005-00005003-00005688 It is called “advice of counsel,” and a lawyer has great liability if a mistake is made +_H0vMAaxS4k-00006-00005688-00006874 That is why they get paid.’The attorney, who has been scheduled to go to prison in two months, will provide evidence to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform about that criminal activity +_H0vMAaxS4k-00007-00006874-00008313 Cohen will tell the committee that POTUS paid him $35,000 a month to make Trump’s hush money payments to adult-entertainment actor and director Stormy Daniels immediately before the 2016 presidential election +_H0vMAaxS4k-00008-00008313-00008987 She alleged that she had an affair with the president just months after Melania gave birth to their son +_H0vMAaxS4k-00009-00008987-00009755 In fact, Cohen will go into “granular detail” about Trump’s involvement in the criminal activity +_H0vMAaxS4k-00010-00009755-00010907 The personal attorney pled guilt to federal campaign finance charges and lying to Congress in 2017 about the dates around the president’s Moscow Trump Tower plan +_H0vMAaxS4k-00011-00010907-00011570 The prosecutors identified Trump as “Individual 1” in the documents filed in Cohen’s case +_H0vMAaxS4k-00012-00011570-00012349 In addition, the attorney accused the commander-in-chief of making racists statements and lying/cheating in business +_H0vMAaxS4k-00013-00012349-00013049 Cohen reported that during the presidential campaign Trump said, according to The New York Times: +_H0vMAaxS4k-00014-00013049-00014548 ‘Black people are too stupid to vote for me.’.Cohen also claimed that the man currently sitting in the Oval Office inflated and devalued his net worth depending up whether he was doing his taxes or a real estate deal +_H0vMAaxS4k-00015-00014548-00015316 As a result of Cohen’s testimony, Trump has called his former employee “a rat” and “a weak person +_H0vMAaxS4k-00016-00015316-00016084 ” The president has been trying to discredit Cohen, claiming he was testifying to get a softer sentence +_H0vMAaxS4k-00017-00016084-00017563 Mueller’s investigators interviewed Cohen for over 70 hours. The special counsel has been investigating Russia’s attack on the 2016 presidential campaign and the Trump campaign’s conspiracy with Moscow +_H0vMAaxS4k-00018-00017563-00018320 Cohen has also worked with Southern District of New York (SDNY) investigators, too +_H0vMAaxS4k-00019-00018320-00019767 Although, Mueller’s people agreed that the information Cohen provided was accurate and very helpful, the SDNY was not satisfied that the attorney had confessed to every single crime he or his family or friends committee +_H0vMAaxS4k-00020-00019767-00020564 The result was a three-year sentence.Cohen will testify behind closed doors with the Senate Intelligence Committee +_H0vMAaxS4k-00021-00020564-00021606 Then on Wednesday, he will testify openly before the Oversight Committee. Republicans will probably join the president in attacking Cohen’s credibility +_H0vMAaxS4k-00022-00021606-00022944 They will point out that he lied before Congress previously.Perhaps, Trump planned his trip to Vietnam to meet with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un to take some of the attention away from Cohen’s testimony +_NoErs3tIFg-00000-00000571-00001712 The ongoing slow-motion implosion of the Trump administration saw major sparks last week with the bombshell 60 Minutes interview of former Acting Director of the FBI Andrew McCabe +_NoErs3tIFg-00001-00001712-00003154 Amongst other stunning revelations, McCabe recounted a disturbing incident in which Trump refused to believe the American intelligence community when they explained to him that North Korean missile launches posed a direct threat to the United States +_NoErs3tIFg-00002-00003154-00004155 Instead, Trump insisted that Korean weapons could not reach the United States because Russian President Vladimir Putin had told him so +_NoErs3tIFg-00003-00004155-00005223 That is to say, the President of the United States decided to trust one of our nation’s avowed adversaries over the men and women sworn to keep us safe +_NoErs3tIFg-00004-00005223-00006769 If true, and there is really no reason to distrust a lifelong public servant like McCabe, it would constitute a shocking dereliction of duty on the part of Trump, and shows that he directly endangered the country he is entrusted with safeguarding +_NoErs3tIFg-00005-00006769-00008600 Understandably, the news has been met with widespread disbelief and outrage. Now, MSNBC host and former White House Communications Director for George W Bush has addressed the McCabe story and delivered a dire warning to Republicans: get off the Trump train immediately +_NoErs3tIFg-00006-00008600-00010097 She condemned the members of the GOP who still refuse to stand up to Trump even as it becomes increasingly clear that he isn’t working in the interests of the United States and is instead working solely to save his own political career +_NoErs3tIFg-00007-00010097-00010915 In particular, she took aim at Fox News, which continues to shill for Trump despite his growing resume of scandals +_NoErs3tIFg-00008-00010915-00011730 “This seems to me to be the off-ramp for anybody in the right-wing propaganda operation that says, ‘I’ve done enough +_NoErs3tIFg-00009-00011730-00012678 I’ve gone along with the lunacy around the wall. Now he’s doing something authoritarian in nature, usurping the power of Congress +_NoErs3tIFg-00010-00012678-00013438 I’ve done enough for this guy,’” Wallace said.She went on to bash Trump for his attacks on Andrew McCabe +_NoErs3tIFg-00011-00013438-00014410 “Now he’s taking a lifelong Republican, who if he had done any of the things Donald Trump accused him of doing, he would have been treated differently +_NoErs3tIFg-00012-00014410-00015549 He’s out of work because he’s allegedly lied to the inspector general, not because of any of thinks conduct around the Russia question or Russia investigation,” Wallace said +_NoErs3tIFg-00013-00015549-00016928 She then put the current dilemma facing the GOP into stark terms and urged Republicans to disavow Trump and separate themselves from the MAGA movement, comparing it to survivors jumping off a sinking ship +A2EvpEZR71I-00000-00000513-00001855 Donald Trump is claiming tonight that the Mueller report has exonerated him, even after Trump’s handpicked puppet William Barr was forced to specifically admit that the report was unable to exonerate him +A2EvpEZR71I-00001-00001855-00002924 Trump’s fans are dancing in the streets because they think they’ve won, but these are the same people who declare victory every time Trump tweets or grunts +A2EvpEZR71I-00002-00002924-00003551 Back in the real world, the question is whether this was a good day for Team Trump or not +A2EvpEZR71I-00003-00003551-00005074 Sure, if you’re in the Resistance, today was a disaster for you – if you think Robert Mueller such a complete idiot that he didn’t foresee Barr doing exactly what we all knew he might do, and that Mueller didn’t bother to come up with any sort of workaround +A2EvpEZR71I-00004-00005074-00006552 If you’re in the Resistance, today was a calamity for you – if you think Nancy Pelosi and the House Democrats are too incompetent and stupid to use their majority status and subpoena power to work around Barr’s stunt today +A2EvpEZR71I-00005-00006552-00007722 So do you think Mueller is a hapless idiot? He’s the guy who managed to take down John Gotti and the leaders of Enron, all of whom were more creative than Donald Trump and William Barr +A2EvpEZR71I-00006-00007722-00009924 Do you think Mueller just kept getting lucky throughout his career? Do you think Mueller is such a lazy simpleton that he never came up with a Plan B for if he submitted his report, and Team Trump tried to lie about what it said? Do you really think Nancy Pelosi is a stooge? Do you think she keeps getting the better of Donald Trump for no particular reason? +A2EvpEZR71I-00007-00009924-00011562 Come on now, we all know better. You should be outraged by what transpired today. Donald Trump and William Barr conspired to try to mislead the public about the crimes and scandals that a duly appointed Special Counsel uncovered about Trump and his campaign +A2EvpEZR71I-00008-00011562-00012419 But unless you think Mueller and Pelosi have no idea what they’re doing, today’s Barr stunt won’t get Trump anywhere +A2EvpEZR71I-00009-00012419-00013268 Give them a few days to see what they’ve each had up their sleeves all along, in preparation for just this scenario +BcR6mpBDQ_g-00000-00000513-00001785 White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders and the Trump Campaign both issued statements Monday night responding to the announcement of the House Democrats broad investigations into Trump’s world +BcR6mpBDQ_g-00001-00001785-00003587 Sanders called the whole thing “disgraceful” and “abusive.”.“Today, Chairman Nadler opened up a disgraceful and abusive investigation into tired, false allegations already investigated by the Special Counsel and committees in both Chambers of Congress” Sanders’ statement read +BcR6mpBDQ_g-00002-00003587-00005374 Then, after calling it a fishing expedition, Sanders added: “Democrats are harassing the President to distract from their radical agenda of making America a socialist country, killing babies after they’re born, and pushing a ‘green new deal’ that would destroy jobs and bankrupt America +BcR6mpBDQ_g-00003-00005374-00006416 ”.In a separate statement, 2020 National Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany likewise panned the Democrat’s probe, calling it a “desperate witch hunt +BcR6mpBDQ_g-00004-00006416-00007696 ”.“This is a dramatic overreach by House Democrats, who cannot control their zeal to overturn President Trump’s lawful and legitimate election by any means and process necessary,” the statement read +BcR6mpBDQ_g-00005-00007696-00009101 The campaign’s statement continued on: “They will stop at nothing, including destroying the lives and reputations of many innocent Americans who only have sought to serve their country honorably, but who hold different political views than their own +BcR6mpBDQ_g-00006-00009101-00009977 This is abuse of power in the extreme and a reckless use of the solemn authority granted to Congress by the people of this nation +BcR6mpBDQ_g-00007-00009977-00011528 These desperate Democrats know they cannot beat President in 2020, so instead they have embarked on a disgraceful witch hunt with one singular aim: topple the will of the American people and seize the power that they have zero chance at winning legitimately +BcR6mpBDQ_g-00008-00011528-00011628 ” +C3FJqgTuoe4-00000-00000571-00001856 Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s sentencing memo against Paul Manafort was publicly released today in redacted form, and with all the attachments, it totaled more than eight hundred pages +C3FJqgTuoe4-00001-00001856-00002499 There’s terrible news in there for Donald Trump, but you have to read between the lines to find it +C3FJqgTuoe4-00002-00002499-00003447 When we say “read between the lines” we’re not talking about the voluminous black redaction bars, though some of them are intriguing in their own right +C3FJqgTuoe4-00003-00003447-00004682 Instead, we’re talking about something that isn’t in Mueller’s court filing at all: any mention of the Donald Trump campaign colluding with the Russian government to alter the outcome of the election +C3FJqgTuoe4-00004-00004682-00005429 Trump’s fans are seeing this as a victory, and the pessimists in the Resistance are wringing their hands over it +C3FJqgTuoe4-00005-00005429-00006934 But that’s not how anything works.There is Trump-Russia election collusion. We know this based solely on the numerous and systemic instances of Trump-Russia election collusion that have been reported by so many different major media outlets +C3FJqgTuoe4-00006-00006934-00007898 Donald Trump’s delusions aside, it’s not all merely “fake news.” It’s just a matter of how Mueller is going to make that evidence public +C9m3m-aQG48-00000-00000571-00002566 This weekend is the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, this year being held in National Harbor, Maryland, and it looks an awful lot like previous years’ conferences: Populated by guests and speakers from the extreme right, and featuring speeches full of some of the most ridiculous hyperbole anyone has ever heard +C9m3m-aQG48-00001-00002566-00004850 It’s like a Fox News bender without all the pretty blonde anchors.But along with the conservatives at CPAC, there have to be those there covering the event, and for some, it’s almost a “shortest straw” type of endeavor — they’re guaranteed to be harassed if anyone knows they’re from the “liberal media” and even moreso in the age of Fake News as decreed by Donald Trump +C9m3m-aQG48-00002-00004850-00005743 One faithful reporter who covers literally everything that Trump does, Daniel Dale of the Toronto Star, called it like he saw it +C9m3m-aQG48-00003-00005743-00006665 By all accounts, Trump spoke at CPAC today for the longest time since he actually began running for President in 2015 +C9m3m-aQG48-00004-00006665-00008956 And boy, did the President have a lot to say. He went through his greatest hits about trade with China, global warming being a hoax, a demonstration of his inability to understand how tariffs work, some made-up stories and statistics about the US-Mexico border, and of course fake news, but it was when he got to the Russia probe that his desperation really started to show +C9m3m-aQG48-00005-00008956-00010267 The southern accent with which Trump mocked former Attorney General Jeff Sessions was icing on the cake for a speech that was truly indicative of a man who is desperate to get out from under the scrutiny of the special counsel +CgMG-h5x3wk-00000-00000571-00002060 President Trump on Thursday endorsed Kim Jong-un’s denial of responsibility for the brutal death of Otto Warmbier, the American college student who died in 2017 after being released from a North Korean labor camp in a coma +CgMG-h5x3wk-00001-00002060-00003460 “Some really bad things happened to Otto — some really really bad things. But [Kim] tells me that he didn’t know about it and I will take him at his word,” Trump said during a press conference in Hanoi, Vietnam +CgMG-h5x3wk-00002-00003460-00004745 Warmbier, 22, spent 17 months in captivity after being sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for stealing a propaganda poster from a Pyongyang hotel in January 2016 +CgMG-h5x3wk-00003-00004745-00005722 He died in June 2017, days after being returned to the U.S. in a coma. His exact cause of death remains unknown +CgMG-h5x3wk-00004-00005722-00007049 Trump added that Kim “felt really bad about” the situation but was unaware of Otto’s treatment in the labor camp, where, Trump speculated, he could have been assaulted by another inmate or otherwise harmed +CgMG-h5x3wk-00005-00007049-00007898 “I really don’t think it was in his interest at all,” Trump said, suggesting Kim had nothing to gain by killing Warmbier +CgMG-h5x3wk-00006-00007898-00008893 The comments came after the long-planned nuclear summit between Trump and Kim collapsed due to an impasse over Kim’s demand that the U +CgMG-h5x3wk-00007-00008893-00009742 S immediately lift international sanctions in exchange for the closure of one of North Korea’s major nuclear facilities +DBed-uflKhQ-00000-00000513-00001808 Mark Cuban won’t rule out taking a shot in 2020.The billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner told Fox News it isn’t a slam dunk that he will get in the race, but it is something he is considering +DBed-uflKhQ-00001-00001808-00002527 “I said I’m not ruling it out,” Cuban said via email. “But the tea leaves would have to align perfectly +DBed-uflKhQ-00002-00002527-00003527 ”.The comments came after the “Shark Tank” star spoke to the New York Daily News following the Mavs game against the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night +DBed-uflKhQ-00003-00003527-00004342 When asked if he was going to get off the bench and enter the political game, Cuban said: “I haven’t decided anything yet +DBed-uflKhQ-00004-00004342-00005868 We’ll see what happens. It all comes down to how things play out.“There’s a lot of uncertainty with what’s going on with the Mueller report, there’s a lot of things that have to be figured out before we know how 2020 is going to play out +DBed-uflKhQ-00005-00005868-00007440 ”.Cuban, who told Fox News’ “Objectified” in 2017 that he would “probably” run for office as a Republican, offered up some insight on whether or not it would make sense to run as an independent or third-party candidate +DBed-uflKhQ-00006-00007440-00008610 “The idea of just starting a third party, that has been tried time and time for 200 years, and so that defeats the purpose and actually makes things worse and not better,” he said +DBed-uflKhQ-00007-00008610-00009078 “Just adding one more party does not change that.“ +DPA75sqSMdY-00000-00000571-00002248 Burch, who is from Texas and has been an employee for years of the Yemeni Safer oil company, was taken captive by Houthi rebels in broad daylight near Sana’a, Yemen’s capital in September 2017, after dropping his children off at a school event +DPA75sqSMdY-00001-00002248-00003233 The Houthis are backed by Iran, and have been fighting U.S. and Saudi-backed forces in Yemen since civil war engulfed the country in 2015 +DPA75sqSMdY-00002-00003233-00004270 Details of why Burch was kidnapped are still unclear, but it is known that in January, he was flown to Oman along with members of Houthi leadership +DPA75sqSMdY-00003-00004270-00005429 The State Department confirmed Burch’s return, but said that, “out of respect for the family’s privacy and for their security, we will not comment on their current condition or location'' +DPA75sqSMdY-00004-00005429-00006252 Burch “is safe and secure, and is reunited with his wife and children,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement +DPA75sqSMdY-00005-00006252-00007300 “The family has asked for privacy as they recover from this ordeal''.Trump also thanked the United Arab Emirates for its help in securing Burch’s release +DPA75sqSMdY-00006-00007300-00007942 “We work every day to bring Americans home,” read a statement from the White House +DPA75sqSMdY-00007-00007942-00008585 It added that recovering American hostages is a “priority” of the administration +DZuOhTQ1T6c-00000-00000571-00001535 Donald Trump has a lot of problems right now, to say the least. He’s fending off too many congressional and criminal investigations to count +DZuOhTQ1T6c-00001-00001535-00002274 His foreign policy agenda has failed. His domestic policy agenda no longer exists +DZuOhTQ1T6c-00002-00002274-00003010 His kids are being targeted by prosecutors. You name it, everything is going wrong for Trump +DZuOhTQ1T6c-00003-00003010-00003825 But now he has a larger problem, which speaks directly to how much longer he can hold off before he’s ousted +DZuOhTQ1T6c-00004-00003825-00004604 I always caution Palmer Report readers never to treat one new poll as if it were the only poll +DZuOhTQ1T6c-00005-00004604-00006396 For instance the media keeps focusing on Donald Trump’s top outlier approval rating poll one week, then his bottom outlier approval rating poll the next week, dishonestly getting people worked up over it all, even as his approval rating has largely remained steady for the past year +DZuOhTQ1T6c-00006-00006396-00007096 But last night we got a very different kind of poll, and it tells us where this is headed +DZuOhTQ1T6c-00007-00007096-00008465 The new Quinnipiac poll tells us that fifty percent of Americans believe Michael Cohen over Donald Trump, while only thirty-five percent of Americans believe Trump over Cohen, with the rest the people unsure +DZuOhTQ1T6c-00008-00008465-00009227 Again, this is just one poll, but it’s the first of its kind, so it’s all we have to work with +DZuOhTQ1T6c-00009-00009227-00010217 Because the margin here is so large, unless this poll is off by a whopping fifteen points, we now know that more Americans believe Cohen than Trump +DZuOhTQ1T6c-00010-00010217-00010844 That’s remarkable, considering that everyone knows Cohen is a liar and a criminal +DZuOhTQ1T6c-00011-00010844-00011829 What’s more, this is based solely on first impressions of Michael Cohen’s testimony, and the smattering of physical evidence he brought with him +DZuOhTQ1T6c-00012-00011829-00012654 This is before more influential Trump people like Allen Weisselberg take the stand, and bring far more evidence +DZuOhTQ1T6c-00013-00012654-00013898 This is before Robert Mueller reveals the incriminating evidence that Michael Flynn, Rick Gates, Don McGahn, Steve Bannon, and other cooperators have provided against Trump +ECxK5hK4RDY-00000-00000571-00001234 Do you know what happens when Democrats rule the roost?.Massive, bloated government +ECxK5hK4RDY-00001-00001234-00001924 And when someone like Barack Obama is in charge, big government balloons overnight +ECxK5hK4RDY-00002-00001924-00002660 Who do you think pays for thousands of unnecessary, overpaid government jobs? You do +ECxK5hK4RDY-00003-00002660-00003402 The American taxpayer.But Donald Trump is doing something that hasn’t been done since World War II +ECxK5hK4RDY-00004-00003402-00004013 He’s taking an ax to the Washington swamp—and saving taxpayers a mountain of cash +ECxK5hK4RDY-00005-00004013-00005346 From The Hill:.“President Trump is moving to dismantle the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), The Washington Post reported Wednesday… the OPM’s responsibilities would be shifted to three other departments +ECxK5hK4RDY-00006-00005346-00006213 ”.Trump is cutting, cutting, cutting—thank you, Mr. President?.But why is he getting rid of the OPM? +ECxK5hK4RDY-00007-00006213-00006866 “…the administration views the agency as an example of inefficient, slow moving government +ECxK5hK4RDY-00008-00006866-00007644 ”.I mean, who likes “inefficient, slow moving government,” right?.Oh, yeah—Democrats +ECxK5hK4RDY-00009-00007644-00008666 And that’s why the American people put TRUMP in charge. He’s “committed to reforming the federal government,” and that includes making it “efficient” and “effective +ECxK5hK4RDY-00010-00008666-00010162 ”.And he’s putting more money in the pockets of American taxpayers.Of course, The American Federation of Government Employees (which has an insane 750,000 members), calls Trump’s plan to abolish OPM “dangerous +ECxK5hK4RDY-00011-00010162-00011092 ”.No, Big Union. Here’s what’s dangerous:.Having a federal government with a union three-quarters-of-a-million strong +ECxK5hK4RDY-00012-00011092-00012393 THAT tells me our government is way too big.And really, how many people at OPM could tell you what they even do? How many could argue effectively for the necessity of that department? +ECxK5hK4RDY-00013-00012393-00013425 Probably ZERO. And that’s why it needs to go.Instead of a bloated government program, we get efficiency and more money back in taxpayer hands +ECxK5hK4RDY-00014-00013425-00013853 That’s precisely what America needs! +EHzyiVpRa6k-00000-00000571-00001882 Sunday on CNN’s “Reliable Sources,” former “CBS Evening News” anchor Dan Rather discussed President Donald Trump’s ability to use all types of media in promoting his administration’s message +EHzyiVpRa6k-00001-00001882-00002809 Rather called it the “most powerful platform for propaganda” in human history. .“[L]ook, we have to deal with reality,” Rather said +EHzyiVpRa6k-00002-00002809-00003737 “This is a whole new age. And the president has the strongest, the most powerful platform for propaganda that humans have ever had +EHzyiVpRa6k-00003-00003737-00004667 No president has ever had this kind of reach, the combination of television, radio, the internet, social media, tweets +EHzyiVpRa6k-00004-00004667-00005495 ”.Rather went on to take a shot at Trump for being “anti-science” and decried Trump’s “unrelenting” use of social media +EHzyiVpRa6k-00005-00005495-00006260 “With all respect, I don’t think his age, 72, is an excuse for not keeping up,” Rather added +EHzyiVpRa6k-00006-00006260-00007830 “He’s basically anti-science. When you talk about what he says about climate change, that’s in a wider context of actually this administration led by the president is downgrading science at the very time we need to be leaping forward, keeping up with science +EHzyiVpRa6k-00007-00007830-00009428 They’re cutting research and that sort of thing.”. .“But, you know, with Twitter, much of the time, not all the time, much of the time, I sense the public has a sense that they’re facing a manure spreader in a windstorm,” he continued +EHzyiVpRa6k-00008-00009428-00010113 “It just keeps coming and coming and coming at you. It’s ridiculous, but it’s unrelenting +EHzyiVpRa6k-00009-00010113-00011155 And he understands the value of that. But for the rest of us, and for the public at large, it’s time to take a deep breath, say to yourself, stay steady +EHzyiVpRa6k-00010-00011155-00012040 Keep in mind that this is a tremendous tool for propaganda. See it in that context and do the best we can +EHzyiVpRa6k-00011-00012040-00012140 ” +EQK7ICZh3Lg-00000-00000513-00001824 Trump refuses to see his own incompetence and that’s why he continues to trash others who are far more capable, intelligent, and experienced than himself – like Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg +EQK7ICZh3Lg-00001-00001824-00003472 Let’s not forget the epic moment when Ginsburg totally ruined Trump’s dream that she might retire by announcing that she’d hired clerks through 2020, signaling that she’d be around to ruin things for Trump if he happened to win the 2020 election (shudder) +EQK7ICZh3Lg-00002-00003472-00004752 It was Trump’s worst nightmare, and the president knew she’d give him hell. Trump actually ordered her to resign after she criticized him for his 2016 campaign, stating that her “mind is shot +EQK7ICZh3Lg-00003-00004752-00005612 ” Trump tweeted:"Justice Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court has embarrassed all by making very dumb political statements about me +EQK7ICZh3Lg-00004-00005612-00006390 Her mind is shot – resign!”.While Ginsburg apologized, she has yet to stop criticizing Trump +EQK7ICZh3Lg-00005-00006390-00007200 In response to the president’s disgusting tweet, she had this to say about the president:"We’re not experiencing the best of times +EQK7ICZh3Lg-00006-00007200-00008689 ”.Once again, Trump gets put in his place by a woman — which is something he absolutely can’t stand! Ginsburg might have planned to retire, but the president only has himself to thank for her decision to stay on past 2020 +EQK7ICZh3Lg-00007-00008689-00009637 With his antics, it’s never been more clear that we need Justices like Ginsburg to save this country and keep the president in line +EQK7ICZh3Lg-00008-00009637-00010530 Ginsburg has made it perfectly clear that Trump will have to deal with her for the rest of his presidency, which hopefully won’t be much longer +EQK7ICZh3Lg-00009-00010530-00011209 But in case he does win a second term, he will have to answer to the Notorious RBG! +F2xCgQJeKro-00000-00000103-00000509 Сёння ў Леаніда Судаленкі дзень нараджэння. +F2xCgQJeKro-00001-00000509-00000654 Яму спаўняецца 55. +F2xCgQJeKro-00002-00000734-00001214 Але ён не зможа адсвяткаваць яго з сябрамі і калегамі. +F2xCgQJeKro-00003-00001258-00001674 Таму што ён, як і шмат якія іншыя беларусы, сядзіць у турме. +F2xCgQJeKro-00004-00001765-00002170 Упершыню я сустрэлася з Леанідам у 2007 годзе ў Вільні. +F2xCgQJeKro-00005-00002227-00002427 І мне было вельмі цікава сачыць за ім, +F2xCgQJeKro-00006-00002427-00002968 каб пабачыць, як ён укараняў міжнародныя стандарты ў Беларусі. +F2xCgQJeKro-00007-00003000-00003338 Ён мае асаблівую прагу да справядлівасці. +F2xCgQJeKro-00008-00003405-00003848 Але зараз ён вось ужо больш за 8 месяцаў знаходзіцца ў зняволенні +F2xCgQJeKro-00009-00003848-00004048 за сваю праваабарончую дзейнасць, +F2xCgQJeKro-00010-00004048-00004578 за тое, што ён быў юрыстам, пастаянна абараняючы іншых актывістаў, журналістаў +F2xCgQJeKro-00011-00004578-00005042 у сваім родным рэгіёне ад імя ПЦ "Вясна". +F2xCgQJeKro-00012-00005144-00005778 І ў гэтыя дні ён сам на лаве падсудных. +F2xCgQJeKro-00013-00005778-00006423 Ён напісаў у лісце, што "цёмныя справы робяцца за зачыненымі дзвярыма". +F2xCgQJeKro-00014-00006634-00007152 Я зрабіла некалькі паштовак +F2xCgQJeKro-00015-00007152-00007468 і буду працягваць дасылаць паштоўкі Леаніду. +F2xCgQJeKro-00016-00007638-00007838 Я раблю гэта, каб ён помніў +F2xCgQJeKro-00017-00007879-00008111 і разумеў, што мы не забыліся пра яго, +F2xCgQJeKro-00018-00008305-00008559 што яго праца мае значэнне. +F2xCgQJeKro-00019-00008868-00008985 Дарагі Леанід! +F2xCgQJeKro-00020-00009172-00009419 Ад мяне і Фонду дамоў правоў чалавека, +F2xCgQJeKro-00021-00009436-00009580 віншую цябе з днём нараджэння! +F2xCgQJeKro-00022-00009664-00009766 Мы з вамі! +F2xCgQJeKro-00023-00009827-00010000 Да хуткай сустрэчы! +GGXv2RA_Tpo-00000-00000571-00001825 Former Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI) told Breitbart News that President Donald Trump’s positions on international trade have reshaped the Republican Party’s voter base +GGXv2RA_Tpo-00001-00001825-00002796 He offered his analysis last Thursday in an interview on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Tonight with hosts Rebecca Mansour and Joel Pollak +GGXv2RA_Tpo-00002-00002796-00003428 McCotter approved of the Trump administration’s challenges to China’s hegemonic ambitions +GGXv2RA_Tpo-00003-00003428-00004361 “The agenda, in trade — which I think the president is right on — is challenging communist China, who is not our friend,” said McCotter +GGXv2RA_Tpo-00004-00004361-00005528 He described China as “a mercantilist state gutting [America’s] manufacturing industry and putting our people out of work” while violating “the rules of international trade +GGXv2RA_Tpo-00005-00005528-00006960 ”.president is right on that, but those types of policies were advocated year-in and year-out by many Republicans, not only for the effect on Michigan workers but throughout the entire Midwest and anyone in manufacturing +GGXv2RA_Tpo-00006-00006960-00008177 ”.He added, “The Republican Party with President Trump’s coalition is so hard for establishment Republicans to understand, and good, if you can’t understand, there’s nothing you can do about that +GGXv2RA_Tpo-00007-00008177-00008966 ”.McCotter continued, “The Never Trumpers are Never Trumpers, and that’s fine. Real people get it +GGXv2RA_Tpo-00008-00008966-00010361 They understand what this administration — what this president — is trying to do to make America great again, and it revolves around empowering people to make their own decisions in an economy that allows them to do so +GGXv2RA_Tpo-00009-00010361-00011210 ”.Trump’s prioritization of American workers has driven a partisan political realignment, assessed McCotter +GGXv2RA_Tpo-00010-00011210-00012673 .“It’s nice to have any president to be able to sit there and prioritize American workers, to prioritize American citizens, and I think that’s what has, in many ways, been missing to a large degree,” remarked McCotter +GGXv2RA_Tpo-00011-00012673-00013532 McCotter added, “American workers are willing to compete with anyone as long as the playing field is level, and it hasn’t been +GGXv2RA_Tpo-00012-00013532-00014357 A lot of people got rich in a lot of countries, including ours, by making sure that playing field was not leveled,” +GGXv2RA_Tpo-00013-00014357-00017155 McCotter continued, “So to see the President of the United States — who represents all the people of the United States — to be able to take on those interests, and to be able to try to make the playing field acceptable — make the playing field equitable — for all Americans so we can compete, I think that’s very crucial and it’s been something that’s been lacking, and again, it explains why his coalition defies so many Republicans’ understanding of what constitutes a winning coalition +GGXv2RA_Tpo-00014-00017155-00018302 ”.Mansour asked McCotter about predictions of economic hardship befalling Americans via Trump’s imposition of tariffs on some China exports from the Trump administration’s critics +GGXv2RA_Tpo-00015-00018302-00020499 “No, the scaremongering hasn’t worked,” replied McCotter. “If you look in the larger context, we’re dealing with countries like communist China that are a mercantilist-based economy that will steal and counterfeit and do everything they possibly can that are outside the rules and traditional norms of countries in their international trade relations +GGXv2RA_Tpo-00016-00020499-00022063 So when you apply tariffs to countries like that, it’s applied to them not because you’re punishing the Americans, but because you’re trying to prevent the harm to the American workers that the unconscionable actions of that communist regime have placed upon your citizens +GGXv2RA_Tpo-00017-00022063-00022962 That’s what that’s about.”.McCotter added, “So when people do not understand that, there’s nothing you can do with people like that +GGXv2RA_Tpo-00018-00022962-00024036 Either they have a vested interest or else they’re just beyond reasonable comprehension at this point of what’s happening between our relations between the two countries +GGXv2RA_Tpo-00019-00024036-00024898 ”.Americans are broadly aware of rising economic tides via the Trump administration’s policies, said McCotter +GGXv2RA_Tpo-00020-00024898-00025551 “Who are you going to believe, the media or your own eyes?” he asked. “Believe your own eyes +GGXv2RA_Tpo-00021-00025551-00026449 You’re either working or not. You’re either good or you’re not, and you’ll know that, and no one’s going to convince you any differently +GGXv2RA_Tpo-00022-00026449-00027262 If it’s bad, it’s going to feel bad and you’re going to know it, and no amount of talking points is going to change your mind +GGXv2RA_Tpo-00023-00027262-00027721 If things are good, you’re going to know that too.” +GmbhVkAQRZ4-00000-00000571-00001354 This isn't the first time Trump has used penalties on a Chinese company as a tool to advance his trade agenda +GmbhVkAQRZ4-00001-00001354-00002786 President Donald Trump on Friday suggested that criminal charges against Chinese telecom giant Huawei and one of its top executives could be used as a bargaining chip in his administration's ongoing trade negotiations with China +GmbhVkAQRZ4-00002-00002786-00003583 “We’re going to be discussing all of that during the course of the next couple of weeks," Trump told reporters at the White House +GmbhVkAQRZ4-00003-00003583-00004236 "We’ll be talking to the U.S. attorneys. We’ll be talking to the attorney general +GmbhVkAQRZ4-00004-00004236-00005852 We’ll be making that decision. Right now, it’s not something we’ve discussed.".Chinese officials have been in Washington this week trying to hammer out a deal that would eliminate the tariffs Trump has imposed on billions of dollars worth of Chinese imports +GmbhVkAQRZ4-00005-00005852-00006717 In January, the Justice Department accused Huawei and its chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, of violating U +GmbhVkAQRZ4-00006-00006717-00008287 S. sanctions against Iran and stealing intellectual property from U.S. companies. Meng, the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, is residing in Vancouver while the Canadian government decides whether to authorize her extradition to the U +GmbhVkAQRZ4-00007-00008287-00009572 S.The prospect of the U.S. retreating on Huawei drew swift pushback from lawmakers of both parties who have repeatedly warned the company could be used as a spying tool for the Chinese government +GmbhVkAQRZ4-00008-00009572-00010883 Huawei is the world's largest provider of telecommunications equipment, and U.S. officials have been crossing the globe warning other countries to steer clear of Huawei and another Chinese telecom firm, ZTE +GmbhVkAQRZ4-00009-00010883-00011936 “Huawei and ZTE pose a serious national security threat," Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) said in a statement following Trump's comments +GmbhVkAQRZ4-00010-00011936-00012879 "They’re Trojan Horses for the Chinese Communist Party, and the free world should stand together in blocking them from our critical infrastructure +GmbhVkAQRZ4-00011-00012879-00014057 ”.“It would be a major mistake for President Trump to agree to any deal that fails to hold China accountable for its trade abuses and theft of American intellectual property," said Sen +GmbhVkAQRZ4-00012-00014057-00015037 Mark Warner (D-Va.).This isn't the first time Trump has used penalties on a Chinese company as a tool to advance his trade agenda +GmbhVkAQRZ4-00013-00015037-00016142 Last year, the administration lifted a ban on ZTE for violating sanctions against Iran, after Trump said he and Chinese President Xi Jinping wanted a solution +GmbhVkAQRZ4-00014-00016142-00017158 "President Xi of China, and I, are working together to give massive Chinese phone company, ZTE, a way to get back into business, fast +GmbhVkAQRZ4-00015-00017158-00018009 Too many jobs in China lost. Commerce Department has been instructed to get it done!" Trump tweeted in May +GmbhVkAQRZ4-00016-00018009-00019046 Republicans and Democrats criticized the administration's decision on ZTE, saying it put Trump's trade agenda above national security concerns +GmbhVkAQRZ4-00017-00019046-00020010 But Trump has touted the deal to lift the ban on ZTE in return for the company paying a $1 billion fine and replacing its management team +GmbhVkAQRZ4-00018-00020010-00021570 The Trump administration has separately been considering an executive order that would impose harsh penalties on Huawei, POLITICO and other media outlets have reported, but the president said Friday that he would prefer not to block Chinese companies from the U +GmbhVkAQRZ4-00019-00021570-00022528 S. market."I want competition with China, fair competition. I don't want to block out anybody if we can help it," Trump said +GmbhVkAQRZ4-00020-00022528-00023171 "Now, if there's going to be a security reason or something that we have no choice +GmbhVkAQRZ4-00021-00023171-00023845 But that is one of the things we'll be discussing today. We want to have open competition +GmbhVkAQRZ4-00022-00023845-00024892 We've always done very well in open competition.".Canada's relationship with China, a key trading partner, has been poisoned by Meng's arrest +GmbhVkAQRZ4-00023-00024892-00025830 Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei called it "politically motivated," and the Chinese government has pressured Canada to release her immediately +GmbhVkAQRZ4-00024-00025830-00027261 A senior adviser to the Chinese Communist Party predicted this week that Meng's arrest could be linked to the trade talks and that she could be released from house arrest as early as April, the South China Morning Post reported +HzzmWjtuMay-00000-00000571-00001754 Joy Behar led a discussion on “The View” regarding all the Democratic investigations currently open which are all hoping to trap President Donald Trump in some wrongdoing so great he’ll have to resign +HzzmWjtuMay-00001-00001754-00002854 Talking about how former President Bill Clinton’s impeachment backfired, Behar declared Clinton “was with one woman,” whereas Trump is “screwing the whole country +HzzmWjtuMay-00002-00002854-00004356 ” Well, she was made to regret it big time. You’ll love this.Joy Behar and the shrews of The View were overjoyed as they discussed all the idiotic Democratic investigations going on right now as they hope to impeach President Trump +HzzmWjtuMay-00003-00004356-00005189 Nevermind it’s a complete waste of taxpayer money to hold these investigations when we haven’t even ended the Special Counsel +HzzmWjtuMay-00004-00005189-00006341 Even Megahan McCain, who has turned into a rabid Never Trumper, was praising Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who is making a big deal out of getting Trump’s tax documents +HzzmWjtuMay-00005-00006341-00007373 McCain also is brainwashed into believing the president “colluded” with Russians to win the election, but then she told the audience, “But, collusion isn’t a crime +HzzmWjtuMay-00006-00007373-00008399 ” Anyone who has done research knows Trump didn’t collude with anyone to win the election, and McCain once again proves she has gone completely over to the dark side +HzzmWjtuMay-00007-00008399-00009141 Well, that brings us to big mouth Behar and her idiotic comparison of Bill Clinton and President Trump +HzzmWjtuMay-00008-00009141-00010620 Joy Behar said a possible impeachment of President Donald Trump would be different than the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton because she maintained the former president “was with one woman,” whereas Trump was “screwing the whole country'' +HzzmWjtuMay-00009-00010620-00011341 Behar said, “If you look at history, follow the money got Nixon, and it got Al Capone +HzzmWjtuMay-00010-00011341-00013287 ” Isn’t it rich Behar skips over the fact that Bill Clinton has been accused of rape by Juanita Broaddrick? That Katheleen Willey alleges Clinton “hit-men” killed her cat and terrorized her for years? Or, what about Monica Lewinsky who was called a “liar” and a “bimbo” by Hillary Clinton and her band of sycophants? +HzzmWjtuMay-00011-00013287-00015243 How come not one of the shrews brings up Bill’s alleged sexual assaults? Aren’t they suppose to be advocating for the #MeToo movement? Or is it their hatred of President Trump eclipses their so-called feminist stances? Sunny Hostin, the so-called attorney on The View, proved this is about their Trump hatred +IyjdG5eMgjg-00000-00000571-00001266 It’s the tape that everyone wants to see surface, but no one wants to actually watch +IyjdG5eMgjg-00001-00001266-00002018 It’s the “Pee Pee Tape” involving Donald Trump, Russian prostitutes, and acts not even worth spelling out +IyjdG5eMgjg-00002-00002018-00003003 According to the much debated Christopher Steele Trump-Russia dossier, it exists, and Vladimir Putin is using it to blackmail Trump +IyjdG5eMgjg-00003-00003003-00004228 But is this a real thing? We’re suddenly much closer to getting there.Awhile back, one of the people named in the dossier decided to sue BuzzFeed, who originally published the dossier +IyjdG5eMgjg-00004-00004228-00004949 The dossier accused this guy of conspiring with Russian hackers to alter the outcome of the election +IyjdG5eMgjg-00005-00004949-00005774 Not only did BuzzFeed prevail in that suit, the evidence in the suit has just been released publicly tonight +IyjdG5eMgjg-00006-00005774-00006430 It confirms that the allegations in the dossier about Russian hackers are indeed legitimate +IyjdG5eMgjg-00007-00006430-00007569 This is, by far, the biggest concrete step yet when it comes to proving that the Trump-Russia dossier is indeed a work of fact and not a work of fiction +IyjdG5eMgjg-00008-00007569-00008407 Considering how much of the dossier has now been proven, it means the Pee Pee Tape is also very probably real +IyjdG5eMgjg-00009-00008407-00009750 That puts us a lot closer to seeing it come to light.After all, once the public gets confirmation of what material a blackmailer is holding over an asset’s head, that material starts to become useless +IyjdG5eMgjg-00010-00009750-00010802 At that point, the blackmailer will sometimes simply release the material publicly, under the calculation that it’s better to finish off the now useless asset +IyjdG5eMgjg-00011-00010802-00011048 Stay tuned +ISY3KEItP-4-00000-00000571-00001297 President Trump gave Mexico plenty of heat this week over the border—and it’s finally coming to a head +ISY3KEItP-4-00001-00001297-00002167 He threatened to hit Mexico with heavy tariffs if they didn’t deal with border jumpers, and he even promised to close the border +ISY3KEItP-4-00002-00002167-00002841 In just a few days, it looks like Mexico’s taken the hint—now they’re rushing to fix it +ISY3KEItP-4-00003-00002841-00003588 And it looks like we have Trump’s masterful negotiating skills to thank. From NBC News +ISY3KEItP-4-00004-00003588-00004468 “They’re apprehending everybody. Yesterday they apprehended 1,400 people, the day before a thousand +ISY3KEItP-4-00005-00004468-00005223 If they apprehend people at their southern border, where they don’t have to walk through, that’s a big home run +ISY3KEItP-4-00006-00005223-00006085 We can handle it from there. It’s really good,” he said.Home run! Great job, Mr. President +ISY3KEItP-4-00007-00006085-00006976 Trump is getting Mexico to catch thousands of border jumpers at their Southern border before they get a chance to cross ours +ISY3KEItP-4-00008-00006976-00007694 That’s genius.The caravans from Central America are a problem, but they can’t reach the U +ISY3KEItP-4-00009-00007694-00008462 S. unless they can get through Mexico.In the past, we watched as Mexico just let them through +ISY3KEItP-4-00010-00008462-00009374 In some cases, they’re even provided with transportation.But it looks like Trump finally got Mexico to do their part +ISY3KEItP-4-00011-00009374-00010528 All it took was threatening to pull the great new trade deal he made for them.Now that they’re starting to do their part, the crisis at our southern border should slowly subside +ISY3KEItP-4-00012-00010528-00011461 That’s all Trump has been asking for all along.But of course, this story was buried—the media is not reporting this as they should be +ISY3KEItP-4-00013-00011461-00012124 It takes readers like you to get this story out to thank Trump for the amazing work he’s doing +Lpp5ksTXq-A-00000-00000571-00001845 Donald Trump just found a whole new way to lose.Last week ended with a trio of legal setbacks for Trump in New York that would take over the news cycle in any normal presidency +Lpp5ksTXq-A-00001-00001845-00002606 With Trump, these developments are just raindrops in a growing thunderstorm of bad news +Lpp5ksTXq-A-00002-00002606-00003588 On Thursday, a New York appeals court gave Summer Zervos the green light to proceed with her defamation lawsuit against Trump +Lpp5ksTXq-A-00003-00003588-00004369 A former contestant on The Apprentice, Zervos claimed that Trump groped and kissed her without her consent +Lpp5ksTXq-A-00004-00004369-00005824 Trump denied the allegations, calling them “100% false” and a “hoax.” Zervos then sued Trump under New York law for defamation, claiming that he damaged her reputation by falsely painting her as a liar +Lpp5ksTXq-A-00005-00005824-00006479 Trump loves to trample on the Constitution except when he thinks it might protect him +Lpp5ksTXq-A-00006-00006479-00007582 In this instance, Trump tried to hide behind the Constitution’s supremacy clause, which prevents states from interfering with the federal government’s powers +Lpp5ksTXq-A-00007-00007582-00008470 His lawyers argued that the Constitution bars Zervos from bringing the claim because he is the President of the United States +Lpp5ksTXq-A-00008-00008470-00009457 But the court agreed with Zervos, ruling 3-2 that even presidents are not immune from state level defamation lawsuits +Lpp5ksTXq-A-00009-00009457-00010463 Also on Thursday, New York Attorney General Letitia James made a new filing in the state’s lawsuit against the Donald J +Lpp5ksTXq-A-00010-00010463-00011325 Trump Foundation. Her office already succeeded in getting a court-supervised takedown of the Foundation in December +Lpp5ksTXq-A-00011-00011325-00012132 But now she is asking a judge to order Trump to pay a $5.6 million penalty and $2 +Lpp5ksTXq-A-00012-00012132-00013159 8 million in restitution, and to ban Trump, Don Jr., Ivanka, and Eric from running any New York charity for the next decade +Lpp5ksTXq-A-00013-00013159-00015522 The filing reveals that James is armed with a wealth of “uncontroverted evidence” establishing that Trump “used Foundation funds to, among other things, pay for portraits of himself; make political donations, pay for advertising for Trump hotels, settle lawsuits involving the Trump Organization, and to improperly intervene in the 2016 election +Lpp5ksTXq-A-00014-00015522-00016513 ”.Finally, on Friday, a federal judge in New York ruled against the Trump administration in a class-action lawsuit on immigration +Lpp5ksTXq-A-00015-00016513-00017631 Under federal law, migrants who prove they were “abused, abandoned, or neglected” by their parents are entitled to a pathway to lawful permanent residence +Lpp5ksTXq-A-00016-00017631-00019010 But in a blow to Trump’s hardline immigration aspirations, a judge ruled that the Trump administration wildly misconstrued the law and illegally denied this special status to thousands of qualified people +Lpp5ksTXq-A-00017-00019010-00019900 Donald Trump’s new legal setbacks were no doubt one ingredient in the stew that led to his Twitter hysteria over the weekend +Lpp5ksTXq-A-00018-00019900-00021016 Trump attacked the late Senator John McCain, threatened Saturday Night Live with a federal investigation after it aired a rerun, and barked orders at Fox News +Lpp5ksTXq-A-00019-00021016-00021886 This all reflects Trump’s growing desperation, as the “president” who is obsessed with winning continues losing bigly +LWqAnEKQbAE-00000-00000101-00000437 Вясна - самая вядомая беларуская праваабарончая арганізацыя, +LWqAnEKQbAE-00001-00000437-00000655 якая дзейнічае 25 гадоў, +LWqAnEKQbAE-00002-00000697-00000979 нястомна абараняючы ахвяр парушэнняў правоў чалавека +LWqAnEKQbAE-00003-00000979-00001287 і змагаючыся за вяршэнства права і асноўныя свабоды ў краіне. +LWqAnEKQbAE-00004-00001321-00001703 Цяпер прыйшоў час стаць на іх абарону. +LWqAnEKQbAE-00005-00001790-00002117 Некалькі супрацоўнікаў і валанцёраў "Вясны" знаходзяцца пад вартай, +LWqAnEKQbAE-00006-00002117-00002535 а іншыя пад следствам па сфабрыкаваных абвінавачваннях. +LWqAnEKQbAE-00007-00002623-00002983 У офісах «Вясны» і дамах супрацоўнікаў неаднаразова праводзіліся ператрусы, +LWqAnEKQbAE-00008-00002983-00003183 якія відавочна імкнуліся здушыць праваабарончую дзейнасць «Вясны». +LWqAnEKQbAE-00009-00003216-00003553 Ініцыятыва TrialWatch Фонду Клуні «За справядлівасць» +LWqAnEKQbAE-00010-00003553-00004292 раней крытыкавала рэпрэсіі супраць беларускіх журналістаў і праваабаронцаў, +LWqAnEKQbAE-00011-00004292-00004704 у тым ліку незаконныя затрыманні і крымінальны пераслед па палітычных матывах. +LWqAnEKQbAE-00012-00004740-00005314 Мы заклікаем улады Беларусі неадкладна вызваліць незаконна затрыманых, +LWqAnEKQbAE-00013-00005314-00005520 зняць усе неабгрунтаваныя абвінавачванні +LWqAnEKQbAE-00014-00005520-00005926 і дазволіць "Вясне" выконваць сваю жыццёва важную працу. +MC0n6GUEDJ0-00000-00000571-00001213 The Hillary Clinton email controversy has lived on now for literally years at this point +MC0n6GUEDJ0-00001-00001213-00002337 However, the reality of the controversy is that it was an attempt by Trump supporters and campaign team members to disrupt Clinton’s presidential hope and eventually cost her votes +MC0n6GUEDJ0-00002-00002337-00003089 The actions of Trump’s team simply dd one thing – helped Trump win the U.S. Presidential election +MC0n6GUEDJ0-00003-00003089-00004084 But the move was underhanded and quite possibly illegal.At the center of information regarding Clinton’s emails was one specific U +MC0n6GUEDJ0-00004-00004084-00005683 S. government employee – Brian McCauley. As an official employee of the FBI, McCauley was manipulated by Michael Flynn – former Trump campaign adviser and eventual Trump appointee to the position of National Security Adviser +MC0n6GUEDJ0-00005-00005683-00006688 Flynn resigned shortly after his appointment as National Security Adviser due to his relationships with foreign governments before and during the Trump campaign +MC0n6GUEDJ0-00006-00006688-00007631 McCauley was being paid by Flynn, acting on behalf of the Trump campaign team. But, initially none of this came to light +MC0n6GUEDJ0-00007-00007631-00008757 What did come to light was McCauley’s statements that the UState Department was seeking to classify certain Clinton emails in order to bury them from the eyes of the American public +MC0n6GUEDJ0-00008-00008757-00009551 The emails in question were specifically related to issues involving events that took place in Benghazi +MC0n6GUEDJ0-00009-00009551-00010998 According to the information McCauley released, information was sun to make it seem as though the State Department and Clinton were trying to cover-up information, events, and correspondence which could have been detrimental in Clinton’s presidential run +MC0n6GUEDJ0-00010-00010998-00012647 Once the American conservative media caught wind of this theory, they ran with it and began to relentlessly report that Clinton and State Department officials were orchestrating a massive cover-up to hide Clinton’s knowledge and negligence in the events that took place at Benghazi +MC0n6GUEDJ0-00011-00012647-00013435 But nothing could have been further from the truth. Eventually, the cover-up theory was found to be false +MC0n6GUEDJ0-00012-00013435-00014352 In fact, McCauley even addressed the idea that there was “collusion” between the State Department and the FBI in regards to a cover-up +MC0n6GUEDJ0-00013-00014352-00015251 McCauley stated in an interview with the New York Times, “Listen, there was no collusion, there was absolutely no collusion +MC0n6GUEDJ0-00014-00015251-00016074 That’s illegal. Something that was underhanded, illegal, I would not do it. No one in the FBI would do it +MC0n6GUEDJ0-00015-00016074-00017484 It’s a matter of integrity.”.So why was MCauley on Flynn’s payroll. As an agent for Trump’s campaign, Flynn was trying to stir the pot to “create” information that would be severely damaging to Clinton +MC0n6GUEDJ0-00016-00017484-00018320 Therefore, he utilized information from McCauley and created and issue of negative impact directed at Clinton +MC0n6GUEDJ0-00017-00018320-00019720 The interesting fact is that Flynn was under contract for services by foreign governments while working on Trump’s campaign – and those foreign governments could be (or at least be linked back to)…Russia +MC0n6GUEDJ0-00018-00019720-00021625 Another fail on the part of Trump and his team, in the long run. As more information and investigation has continued into his campaign ties to Russia, more information has come out as to how his team used underhanded tactics and manipulation of information to cost Clinton a fair shot at the Presidency +MC0n6GUEDJ0-00019-00021625-00022515 If anyone, or any group, should be under fire for a cover-up or illegal use of information, it should be Team Trump +MEvsiAHd45E-00000-00000571-00001686 Democrats wanted Donald to stay silent – here he comes.After 2 years, the Mueller “hunt” is finally over and the Attorney General has his verdict for the nation +MEvsiAHd45E-00001-00001686-00002655 He is refusing to release the full report for now, although Democrats like Bernie Sanders are begging for the full text to parse every detail +MEvsiAHd45E-00002-00002655-00003340 Fat chance of that.I couldn’t wait to see what Barr said—we’ve all been waiting for two years +MEvsiAHd45E-00003-00003340-00006119 Turns out it was even better than I imagined.Check it out! From Fox News:.Attorney General William Barr on Sunday released… a bombshell four-page letter… which stated definitively that Mueller did not establish evidence that President Trump’s team or any associates of the Trump campaign had conspired with Russia to sway the 2016 election — “despite multiple offers from Russian-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump campaign +MEvsiAHd45E-00004-00006119-00006926 ”.Can you believe it?.The Russians even offered to help Trump win, and they couldn’t find anything on him or his team +MEvsiAHd45E-00005-00006926-00008462 And the only thing I was more excited to hear about? Donald’s reaction.President Trump was surprisingly quiet over the weekend, but when Barr’s report came out, he was quick to blast out a triumphant tweet—and keep it on a positive note +MEvsiAHd45E-00006-00008462-00009175 For those who need the quote: No Collusion, No Obstruction, Complete and Total EXONERATION +MEvsiAHd45E-00007-00009175-00009975 KEEP AMERICA GREAT!.Donald Trump should feel like he’s on the top of the world. I definitely would +MEvsiAHd45E-00008-00009975-00010938 It’s over.All these years, all the drama, Trump called them out but also patiently waited because he knew there was nothing to find +MEvsiAHd45E-00009-00010938-00011633 And now the Democrats want to call for further investigations because they didn’t get what they want +MEvsiAHd45E-00010-00011633-00012610 And that would probably only hurt their case more.You know what I think? President Trump’s chances for re-election just went through +MEvsiAHd45E-00011-00012610-00013582 the. ROOF. With a strong economy, the incumbent President just knocked down the biggest roadblock to another 4 years +MEvsiAHd45E-00012-00013582-00014230 I’m sure he’s ready to get back to work this week for us, the American people +MGg1GhDHDB4-00000-00000571-00001375 It’s only Spring 2019, but America already has its first prediction for the 2020 Presidential Election +MGg1GhDHDB4-00001-00001375-00002099 But it’s not just any person’s opinion – believe me, I wouldn’t trust the pundits any more than you would +MGg1GhDHDB4-00002-00002099-00003172 They are saying it is based on factual evidence we can all consider.And the cold, hard facts are pointing to one outcome: a historic landslide +MGg1GhDHDB4-00003-00003172-00004494 From Politico:If the election were held today, [Trump would] likely ride to a second term in a huge landslide, according to multiple economic models with strong track records of picking presidential winners and losses +MGg1GhDHDB4-00004-00004494-00005215 The report goes on to claim that Trump’s success in 3 key areas are propelling him towards a landslide: +MGg1GhDHDB4-00005-00005215-00006610 The BOOMING economy.Low unemployment and rising wages.Low gas prices.Even if these numbers weren’t so great, incumbent presidents always enjoy a significant advantage +MGg1GhDHDB4-00006-00006610-00007456 The last three presidents easily won re-election.Incumbency + a hot economy? Should equal a historic victory +MGg1GhDHDB4-00007-00007456-00008078 But….Democrats are using the power they have to find something else to bring Trump down +MGg1GhDHDB4-00008-00008078-00008927 Why are Democrats are launching investigations? Because they know how hard it will be to beat Trump at the ballot box +MGg1GhDHDB4-00009-00008927-00009922 His approval rating among Republicans is sky-high—Trump recently tweeted out 93%.93% – that’s amazing! +MGg1GhDHDB4-00010-00009922-00010578 And he continues to be popular in the crucial swing states that he stole from the Democrats +MGg1GhDHDB4-00011-00010578-00011314 One liberal PAC even admitted they’ve all but given up on Ohio, the state that “decides” elections! +MGg1GhDHDB4-00012-00011314-00012108 Thanks to Trump’s influence and rallies, supposed Blue Wave in 2018 turned into the Blue Puddle +MGg1GhDHDB4-00013-00012108-00013338 And he wasn’t even running.But a Trump victory will never come easily. He will ONLY get a landslide win if his supporters remain active and vigilant—we have to get to the polls +MIg5F9jRLk0-00000-00000513-00001756 While his team continues to face serious legal challenges and domestic and foreign policy issues keep spiraling, President Donald Trump keeps desperately trying to change the subject +MIg5F9jRLk0-00001-00001756-00003154 This Wednesday at the Army Tank Plant in Lima, Ohio, Trump launched into yet another angry tirade about former Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), who died last year from brain cancer +MIg5F9jRLk0-00002-00003154-00004402 He blasted the fallen political figure as supposedly trafficking in falsehoods while propping himself up as some kind of saint for keeping the bare minimum associated with McCain’s funeral on track +MIg5F9jRLk0-00003-00004402-00005337 That’s right — in the hands of Donald Trump, John McCain’s funeral is now a political hot potato that he should get credit for +MIg5F9jRLk0-00004-00005337-00006834 He told the crowd:.‘A lot of people are asking because they love me and they ask me about a man named John McCain, so I have to be honest — I’ve never liked him much, hasn’t been for me. I really probably never will.’. +MIg5F9jRLk0-00005-00006834-00009394 Before going any further — why on earth is this what’s on the top of the president’s agenda? Just last week, 50 people were killed by a white nationalist terrorist in New Zealand operating under allegiance to ideologies spread across the world, and Trump says that white nationalism is probably not a rising threat.But a war hero who died more than six months ago? To Trump, he’s a threat. +MIg5F9jRLk0-00006-00009394-00011212 Trump continued: ‘John McCain received a fake and phony dossier — did you hear about the dossier? It was paid for by Crooked Hillary Clinton, and John McCain got it, and what did he do? He didn’t call me — he turned it over to the FBI hoping to put me in jeopardy’ +MIg5F9jRLk0-00007-00011212-00013399 At least he’s got his story at least a little more straight this time. Trump claimed in recent days that McCain shared the infamous dossier compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele with the media in an effort to get it published before the 2016 elections — despite the fact that he didn’t get it until after the election and never shared it with the media +MIg5F9jRLk0-00008-00013399-00015959 The Steele dossier chronicles allegations of Trump team ties to Russia.Does Trump seriously think that McCain should have run the issue by him before he shared info with federal authorities about an apparent wide-ranging foreign effort to infiltrate the American electoral system? Does he realize he’s operating in the real world and not his fantasies where he’s a mob boss people have to look out for and up to? +MIg5F9jRLk0-00009-00015959-00017280 That’s really about the only response available to the outlandish suggestion that a U.S. Senator should have asked a player in a possible global conspiracy if it was alright with them to alert authorities +MIg5F9jRLk0-00010-00017280-00018900 Trump went on, whining about McCain’s refusal to go along with the GOP’s attempt to ram healthcare reform through Congress and his support of military intervention in the Middle East — which apparently McCain is personally responsible for or something +MIg5F9jRLk0-00011-00018900-00020222 Trump asserted he “gave him the kind of funeral that he wanted” — although even as he noted right then and there, it was his responsibility to sign off on the state funeral arrangements since he’s president +MIg5F9jRLk0-00012-00020222-00021240 In other words, Trump apparently wants us to thank him for not making a scene when it came time for McCain to be buried.The egotism just never ends with him +MfPO6P_PvYQ-00000-00000571-00001699 Bill Shine, President Donald Trump’s White House deputy chief of staff and communications director has stepped down, press secretary Sarah Sanders announced in a statement Friday +MfPO6P_PvYQ-00001-00001699-00002773 A former Fox News executive, Shine joined the White House in July 2018, the sixth person to fill or be tapped for the top communications role +MfPO6P_PvYQ-00002-00002773-00003556 Jason Miller, Sean Spicer, Mike Dubke, Anthony Scaramucci and Hope Hicks all came before him +MfPO6P_PvYQ-00003-00003556-00004562 Shine’s effectiveness inside the West Wing came with mixed results and it was unclear how much he was able to change the White House’s communications strategy +MfPO6P_PvYQ-00004-00004562-00005756 .One source close to the White House told CNN that Trump had questioned Shine’s judgment on a number of issues in recent months, from the midterm election to the government shutdown +MfPO6P_PvYQ-00005-00005756-00006811 He offered his resignation to President Donald Trump on Thursday.“Serving President Trump and this country has been the most rewarding experience of my entire life +MfPO6P_PvYQ-00006-00006811-00007501 To be a small part of all this President has done for the American people has truly been an honor +MfPO6P_PvYQ-00007-00007501-00008478 I’m looking forward to working on President Trump’s re-election campaign and spending more time with my family,” Shine said in a statement +MfPO6P_PvYQ-00008-00008478-00009658 Shine had been slated to travel with Trump to Vietnam for the second North Korea summit but unexpectedly dropped off the trip two days before, according to an administration official +MfPO6P_PvYQ-00009-00009658-00010520 While administration officials were in Hanoi, Shine was wandering the halls of the Conservative Political Action Conference +MfPO6P_PvYQ-00010-00010520-00011873 Asked why he was there, he declined to answer.According to White House sources, Trump had been increasingly disappointed in Shine for at least a few months, believing him ineffective and not what he’d hoped for when he hired him +MfPO6P_PvYQ-00011-00011873-00012999 Shine’s role basically became the person who adjusted the lighting and focused the cameras, and he showed no ability to shape a narrative or communications strategy +MfPO6P_PvYQ-00012-00012999-00014781 Months into his tenure, Shine’s contribution had largely consisted of phoning Fox News hosts and booking officials on the shows so they can defend the President on a network whose audience largely already favors him — something that had caused some unease inside and outside the West Wing +MfPO6P_PvYQ-00013-00014781-00016016 Trump, who often has unrealistic expectations of what his staff can accomplish, had complained about Shine privately at times, noting he hadn’t received better coverage since he hired him +NUtNHh4EaQc-00000-00000571-00001323 This evening the House passed a resolution to reject “president” Donald Trump’s “emergency” declaration +NUtNHh4EaQc-00001-00001323-00002488 What will happen with this resolution in the Senate? If the resolution receives 51 votes in the Senate, it goes to Trump’s desk, where we all know he will immediately veto it +NUtNHh4EaQc-00002-00002488-00003316 It is unlikely that enough votes will be secured to override Trump’s veto, but for him, the damage will be done +NUtNHh4EaQc-00003-00003316-00004168 As reported earlier, both Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski have indicated that they will vote for the resolution to pass +NUtNHh4EaQc-00004-00004168-00005471 On Monday, Thom Tillis (R-NC) indicated that he will join Collins and Murkowski, leaving only one more Senate Republican vote needed to thoroughly rebuke and embarrass Trump +NUtNHh4EaQc-00005-00005471-00006244 Interestingly, Tillis is using President Obama’s time in office to vote against the resolution +NUtNHh4EaQc-00006-00006244-00007639 According to Politico, he said “There is no intellectual honesty in now turning around and arguing that there’s an imaginary asterisk attached to executive overreach – that it’s acceptable for my party but not thy party +NUtNHh4EaQc-00007-00007639-00008734 ” Wow. An honest Republican — at least one unlike Mitch McConnell, who seems to have forgotten all the blocking he did when President Obama was in office +NUtNHh4EaQc-00008-00008734-00009818 While Tillis has been willing to publicly support his rebuke of “president” Trump, some others continue to waffle, even though they disagree with Trump’s declaration +NUtNHh4EaQc-00009-00009818-00011589 Those who spoke out publicly against the declaration prior to it being made are Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Mitt Romney (R-UT), and Roger Wicker (R-MS), who thinks the “emergency” is “bad law” according to the Huffington Post +NUtNHh4EaQc-00010-00011589-00012856 None of them have said yet if they will support the resolution. Of course, the die-hard Trump bootlickers stand firm, including John Cornyn of Texas and Chuck Grassley of Iowa +NUtNHh4EaQc-00011-00012856-00014026 Either way this goes, I find it very interesting that some of the Republican Senators appear to be growing some you-know-whats and are speaking up for their constituencies (for a change) +NUtNHh4EaQc-00012-00014026-00014783 Even if this is a short-lived bipartisan endeavor, the ramifications could loom large for Trump +NUtNHh4EaQc-00013-00014783-00015799 This should signal to him that not everyone is willing to just silently go along with his nonsense, and he does not have control over his party members +NU_qumT1arc-00000-00000000-00000200 Klasky Csupo +O-Pqk8NFLDQ-00000-00000513-00001155 During President Trump’s visit to Alabama he signed bibles for the victims and his supporters +O-Pqk8NFLDQ-00001-00001155-00002268 Slate reported that President Donald Trump traveled to Alabama on Friday to comfort those who had been devastated by the tornado outbreak last weekend that killed 23 people +O-Pqk8NFLDQ-00002-00002268-00003057 During the trip, the president raised eyebrows for what appeared to be an unusual gesture as he signed some Bibles +O-Pqk8NFLDQ-00003-00003057-00004441 However, as you can imagine, the left is losing their minds over it.President Donald Trump signed a handful of Bibles while visiting tornado-ravaged Lee County, Alabama, and the critics were quick to pounce +O-Pqk8NFLDQ-00004-00004441-00005152 MSNBC kicked off Saturday morning with a segment that was highly critical of the move +O-Pqk8NFLDQ-00005-00005152-00006278 Joe Watkins, former White House aide to President George H.W. Bush — who also happens to be a pastor — said he would “not be inclined to sign someone’s holy book +O-Pqk8NFLDQ-00006-00006278-00007108 ” He did, however, note that the people asking Trump to sign their Bibles did not appear to be bothered by it +O-Pqk8NFLDQ-00007-00007108-00007947 Former Obama White House aide Will Jawando added, “I’m of the opinion that only Jesus should be signing a Bible +O-Pqk8NFLDQ-00008-00007947-00008926 ”.MoveOn.org senior advisor Karine Jean-Pierre argued that the move was unprecedented and even “bizarre,” saying, “I’ve never seen that +O-Pqk8NFLDQ-00009-00008926-00009647 I don’t think any of us has ever heard of a president signing a Bible.”.And they weren’t alone +O-Pqk8NFLDQ-00010-00009647-00011204 Politico called the move “an unusual gesture.”.And it only got worse from there.Conservative commentator Michelle Malkin rained on their parade with a single tweet, reminding them that a president signing Bibles wasn’t exactly a new phenomenon +O-Pqk8NFLDQ-00011-00011204-00012306 Malkin listed Truman, Clinton, Gore, Carter and Mondale among the presidents, vice presidents, and candidates who had signed Bibles or Psalms books +Oj24pBtsZbA-00000-00000571-00001584 Donald Trump would make a spectacularly bad poker player. Apart from his tendency to cheat at everything, he constantly flashes his hand to the world +Oj24pBtsZbA-00001-00001584-00002491 The latest big Trump flashes have been interesting in that what they imply falls in line with what we’ve been gathering since the Mueller Report was submitted +Oj24pBtsZbA-00002-00002491-00003948 .Specifically, Trump has become cagey. We know this because of his late night tweetarrhea and newly found defensiveness about releasing the Mueller Report, the release of which he initially said “wouldn’t bother me at all +Oj24pBtsZbA-00003-00003948-00004821 ” We’ve come a long way. It’s worth noting that, allegedly, the White House has not yet seen the Mueller Report +Oj24pBtsZbA-00004-00004821-00005826 However, at some point, they must have gotten wind of what really lies within, which is to say a damning account of the many misdoings by Trump & Co +Oj24pBtsZbA-00005-00005826-00007422 But there’s actually more to it than this. . .Immediately after Trump proclaimed complete exoneration, he announced that there will be a new effort to gut the Affordable Care Act, something virtually no one wants, regardless of political persuasion +Oj24pBtsZbA-00006-00007422-00008229 This week, he backed down and said we’ll have to stay tuned until his second term to get a better health care deal +Oj24pBtsZbA-00007-00008229-00009423 He also partially backed down from his threat of closing the US-Mexico border, which would have been the economic equivalent of sticking his tongue in a mousetrap just to lick the cheese +Oj24pBtsZbA-00008-00009423-00010444 He backed down again after his administration came under fire for defunding the Special Olympics, a move only an asshole of biblical proportions would attempt +Oj24pBtsZbA-00009-00010444-00012200 . .Trump has a history of backing down from his KFC-induced fever dream policies, but backing down from three big ones in quick succession at this particular time sure makes it seem like he got wind of what’s really in the Mueller Report and he knows his power is dwindling +Oj24pBtsZbA-00010-00012200-00013835 He’s rolling awfully close to lame-duck territory. But wait, there’s more. .House Democrats in the Judiciary Committee just approved a subpoena of the Mueller Report, which is something Attorney General William Barr must legally comply with once issued +Oj24pBtsZbA-00011-00013835-00014462 Expect more panicked Trump behavior. Don’t let the diversions get the better of you +Oj24pBtsZbA-00012-00014462-00015836 Justice is going to bring him and his moribund presidency down, but the speed at which this happens is going to depend on just how well the Democrats play their cards, and just how much Trump keeps on flashing his +P6yH-Y680WQ-00000-00000513-00001667 The Trump administration is headed for a budget clash with Congress, with calls for deep domestic spending cuts that lawmakers are likely to ignore as the nation's debt reaches record levels +P6yH-Y680WQ-00001-00001667-00004044 On Monday, President Donald Trump is set to deliver his budget roadmap with a promise to balance the budget in 15 years, marking the first time he'll unveil a spending proposal under a divided government with Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the helm of a Democratic-controlled House, and he is expected to face fierce resistance to severe proposed cuts on education, health and environmental protections +P6yH-Y680WQ-00002-00004044-00006137 The White House is proposing $2.7 trillion in spending cuts, according to new details released Sunday evening, following a directive by the President to reduce spending by 5% across federal agencies, except for defense spending, as part of its budget plan for fiscal year 2020, which begins on October 1 +P6yH-Y680WQ-00003-00006137-00007143 The proposed cuts come just as Congress will need to decide -- yet again this year -- whether to lift spending caps put into place by law in 2011 +P6yH-Y680WQ-00004-00007143-00008650 "Our national debt nearly doubled under the previous administration and now stands at more than $22 trillion," said Russell Vought, acting director of the Office of Budget and Management, in a statement previewing the President's budget details +P6yH-Y680WQ-00005-00008650-00009723 "This budget shows that we can return to fiscal sanity without halting our economic resurgence while continuing to invest in critical priorities +P6yH-Y680WQ-00006-00009723-00010875 ".Long term policy projections, according to the White House, show that policy proposals in the budget would put the US on track to balance the budget by 2034 +P6yH-Y680WQ-00007-00010875-00011954 Earlier on Sunday, a White House official confirmed Trump will ask for $8.6 billion for a border wall, and an additional $3 +P6yH-Y680WQ-00008-00011954-00013028 6 billion in military construction funds to pay back monies that the administration hopes will be spent this year that the President redirected by executive authority +P6yH-Y680WQ-00009-00013028-00013767 Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday that Trump will not get the $8 +P6yH-Y680WQ-00010-00013767-00015410 6 billion he plans to request for the wall."President Trump hurt millions of Americans and caused widespread chaos when he recklessly shut down the government to try to get his expensive and ineffective wall, which he promised would be paid for by Mexico +P6yH-Y680WQ-00011-00015410-00016173 Congress refused to fund his wall and he was forced to admit defeat and reopen the government +P6yH-Y680WQ-00012-00016173-00017095 The same thing will repeat itself if he tries this again. We hope he learned his lesson," the two said in a joint statement +P6yH-Y680WQ-00013-00017095-00018357 Kentucky Democratic Rep. John Yarmuth, chairman of the House Budget Committee, said Sunday evening in a statement to CNN that the President's budget has "no chance in the House +P6yH-Y680WQ-00014-00018357-00019691 "."President Trump added nearly $2 trillion to our deficits with tax cuts for the wealthy and large corporations, and now it appears his budget asks the American people to pay the price," said Yarmuth +P6yH-Y680WQ-00015-00019691-00020754 "With severe cuts to essential programs and services that would leave our nation less safe and secure, the Trump budget is as dangerous as it is predictable +P6yH-Y680WQ-00016-00020754-00021912 ".Congress holds the purse strings of what the government is willing to spend, and Democrats demonstrated their ability to stay unified during the partial government shutdown +P6yH-Y680WQ-00017-00021912-00023738 House Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters, a California Democrat, said at a hearing last week that she would fight to ensure robust funding for critical programs overseen by the committee, including reversing steps by the administration to weaken the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau +P6yH-Y680WQ-00018-00023738-00024850 "The Trump administration has also consistently put forth budget proposals that make massive cuts to programs that protect the nation's most vulnerable families," Waters said +P6yH-Y680WQ-00019-00024850-00026710 The President's new budget will prioritize funding for ending the opioid epidemic, a top priority for the Trump administration, investing in students to receive a high-quality education, modernizing the federal government's antiquated technology along with $80 billion for veteran care +P6yH-Y680WQ-00020-00026710-00028024 Trump has previously proposed deep spending cuts on domestic programs as well as entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security every year of his presidency, and each time Congress has ignored them +P6yH-Y680WQ-00021-00028024-00029529 The White House official notes that the forthcoming request for wall funding is different than in previous years when the White House asked for wall money from just one funding source: the Department of Homeland Security (more specifically, CBP) +P6yH-Y680WQ-00022-00029529-00030472 This year, the White House will ask for $5 billion from Customs and Border Protection, but will also request $3 +P6yH-Y680WQ-00023-00030472-00031443 6 billion in military construction funds from the Pentagon.In addition, the budget contains a request for another $3 +P6yH-Y680WQ-00024-00031443-00032491 6 billion in military construction funds -- but these would be used to "backfill" what the administration hopes to spend this year as a result of the emergency declaration +P6yH-Y680WQ-00025-00032491-00033975 In other words, the White House is requesting money to pay back the funds that Trump redirected with executive authority, and officials are not counting that sum in the topline number they say they're requesting for the wall (at least $8 +P6yH-Y680WQ-00026-00033975-00035464 6 billion).The amount of the wall request was first reported by Reuters.Traditionally, the White House releases its budget proposal to Congress by the first Monday in February, but it was delayed this year due to the shutdown +P6yH-Y680WQ-00027-00035464-00036916 In late February, Trump's acting budget chief Vought previewed in an op-ed "historic" cuts in discretionary spending and rolled out plans to employ a war contingency fund as a maneuver to get around the defense budget limit +P6yH-Y680WQ-00028-00036916-00037822 "The level of borrowing is unsustainable, and is one of the largest threats to our nation's economic future," Vought wrote in the op-ed +P6yH-Y680WQ-00029-00037822-00038961 It's been unclear whether the 5% cut would be in addition to a 9% cut that would be forced by the budget caps set to kick in for the 2020 fiscal year +P6yH-Y680WQ-00030-00038961-00040414 Mick Mulvaney, the former chief at the Office of Management Budget who is now the White House acting chief of staff, was a major opponent of what's known as the Overseas Contingency Operations to make up for the cuts to the base defense budget +P6yH-Y680WQ-00031-00040414-00041584 Mulvaney, a self-proclaimed deficit hawk, has more recently relented when it comes to efforts by the administration to balance the budget ad crack down on federal spending +P6yH-Y680WQ-00032-00041584-00042300 Instead, the administration has pledged to balance the budget within a 10-year budget window +P6yH-Y680WQ-00033-00042300-00043781 During his 2017 confirmation hearing for the OMB role, Mulvaney told lawmakers "he look(ed) forward to having an opportunity to explain to the President why I think it is not a good way to spend American taxpayer dollars +P6yH-Y680WQ-00034-00043781-00044980 ".Democrats have already denounced the administration's maneuver as a budget "gimmick" that would obscure the true costs of the military operations and shortchange other national priorities +P6yH-Y680WQ-00035-00044980-00046808 "Rather than being honest and responsible about his budgeting, the President is choosing to deceive the American public yet again," said Yarmuth, chairman of the House Budget Committee, and House Armed Services Chairman Adam Smith, a Washington Democrat, in a joint statement in response to Vought's op-ed +P6yH-Y680WQ-00036-00046808-00047939 The President's budget is also expected to include a $100 million for the Women's Global Development and Prosperity Initiative, a White House official told CNN +P6yH-Y680WQ-00037-00047939-00048652 The President's daughter, Ivanka Trump, led the creation of the initiative, which was announced last month +P6yH-Y680WQ-00038-00048652-00049731 The debate on spending and budget caps will also inevitably intertwine with negotiations to raise the debt ceiling, which kicked back in on March 2 +P6yH-Y680WQ-00039-00049731-00050546 The federal borrowing limit set by Congress now stands roughly over $22 trillion, a record high +P6yH-Y680WQ-00040-00050546-00051656 Treasury has already begun to use "extraordinary measures," a tactic both Democratic and Republican administrations have used to continue to pay the country's IOUs +P6yH-Y680WQ-00041-00051656-00052766 The ceiling was initially intended to control spending by the federal government, but instead Congress has continued to approve increases to accommodate continued borrowing +P6yH-Y680WQ-00042-00052766-00053757 And even though the country reached its debt limit, the Congressional Budget Office estimates Treasury will be able to pay its bills through the fall of 2019 +P6yH-Y680WQ-00043-00053757-00054869 Democrats for the last two years have blasted Trump's tax cuts for increasing the federal deficit, which the CBO projects will surpass $1 trillion by 2020 +P6yH-Y680WQ-00044-00054869-00055671 Critics of the President's backed tax cut say it will add an additional $1.9 trillion to the nation's debt +P6yH-Y680WQ-00045-00055671-00056946 Last year, Trump also reluctantly signed a massive $1.3 trillion spending bill after Democrats pushed for bigger budgets for health and education in exchange for a boost in military spending +P6yH-Y680WQ-00046-00056946-00058398 The White House has claimed that the tax cuts will pay for themselves and have been a driving factor in boosting the US economy, and blamed Democrats for the rising deficit after pushing for spending increases last year +P6yH-Y680WQ-00047-00058398-00059255 Trump's budget proposal also comes ahead of yet another major fiscal issue that Congress will have to face this year +P6yH-Y680WQ-00048-00059255-00060109 Lawmakers will need to decide how to resolve the remaining years of spending caps required under the Budget Control Act of 2011 +P6yH-Y680WQ-00049-00060109-00061536 The law set caps on the government's discretionary spending for a 10-year period. It also included separate limits on defense and non-defense spending that would be triggered by automatic, across-the-board spending cuts +P6yH-Y680WQ-00050-00061536-00062941 Unless Congress acts to raise them this year, the $647 billion limit on regular defense spending will drop by $71 billion, or an 11% cut, before adjusting for inflation +P6yH-Y680WQ-00051-00062941-00064547 The non-discretionary spending cap would fall to $542 billion, or 9% percent.Lawmakers have repeatedly -- in 2013, 2015 and 2018 -- chosen to raise the caps on spending in two-year increments +P6yH-Y680WQ-00052-00064547-00065294 "This is not sustainable or responsible," said Yarmuth at a House Budget hearing earlier this week +P6yH-Y680WQ-00053-00065294-00066358 "We need to raise the caps, for both defense and non-defense spending, to ensure that every American family has the chance to build a better future +P6yH-Y680WQ-00054-00066358-00066458 " +PQ2Wh8azX80-00000-00000513-00001628 President Donald Trump claimed Friday that his former lawyer Michael Cohen "directly asked" him for a pardon and lied under oath when testifying before Congress last week +PQ2Wh8azX80-00001-00001628-00002360 "Bad lawyer and fraudster Michael Cohen said under sworn testimony that he never asked for a Pardon +PQ2Wh8azX80-00002-00002360-00003180 His lawyers totally contradicted him. He lied! Additionally, he directly asked me for a pardon +PQ2Wh8azX80-00003-00003180-00004334 I said NO. He lied again! He also badly wanted to work at the White House. He lied!" Trump tweeted Friday, while aboard Air Force One +PQ2Wh8azX80-00004-00004334-00005019 Cohen said in his open testimony before the House that he "never" asked for a pardon +PQ2Wh8azX80-00005-00005019-00005899 "I have never asked for it, nor would I accept a pardon from President Trump," Cohen said before the House Intelligence Committee +PQ2Wh8azX80-00006-00005899-00006701 He responded to Trump Friday, tweeting: "Just another set of lies by @POTUS @realdonaldtrump +PQ2Wh8azX80-00007-00006701-00007827 ".The prospect of a Cohen pardon was raised more than once between Cohen's lawyer and attorneys representing the President, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter +PQ2Wh8azX80-00008-00007827-00008947 The depth of those discussions -- including whether a pardon was truly on the table in exchange for Cohen's cooperation -- is being disputed publicly among the different factions +PQ2Wh8azX80-00009-00008947-00010199 Cohen told Congress over the past week that his former attorney spoke separately with two attorneys for the President, Rudy Giuilani and Jay Sekulow, about the prospect of a pardon, the sources said +PQ2Wh8azX80-00010-00010199-00011115 Cohen also testified to Congress that he spoke directly to Sekulow about pardons, according to the sources, which Sekulow denies +PnG1ya9AEgo-00000-00000571-00002018 President Donald Trump touted the end of Robert Mueller's investigation during his about 90-minute long speech, his first appearance before supporters since its completion during a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Thursday night +PnG1ya9AEgo-00001-00002018-00003050 The raucous rally follows a chaotic week in Washington, precipitated by Attorney General Bill Barr's letter to Congress on the special counsel's report +PnG1ya9AEgo-00002-00003050-00003854 Trump and the White House have touted Barr's summary as a political victory, claiming that the report exonerated him entirely +PnG1ya9AEgo-00003-00003854-00004708 "The collusion delusion is over. The special counsel completed its report and found no collusion and no obstruction +PnG1ya9AEgo-00004-00004708-00005766 Coulda told you that two and a half years ago very easily," Trump said, calling the report's findings "total exoneration" and "complete vindication +PnG1ya9AEgo-00005-00005766-00007208 ".Trump is correct that Barr's letter to Congress said Mueller's team of investigators "did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities +PnG1ya9AEgo-00006-00007208-00009073 ".However, Trump falsely claimed that the report said there was no obstruction. Barr's letter, directly quoting the Mueller report, clearly states that "while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him" on questions of obstruction +PnG1ya9AEgo-00007-00009073-00010246 Mueller said he had thoroughly investigated the obstruction question, though he didn't interview Trump in person and the written questions he submitted to the President did not address obstruction +PnG1ya9AEgo-00008-00010246-00011630 Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein chose not to prosecute. They decided that they couldn't press a case against Trump because they determined his actions did not meet the standards for prosecuting such a case +PnG1ya9AEgo-00009-00011630-00012926 Trump also lambasted Democrats and the media for the investigation Thursday."You know it's interesting, Robert Mueller was a god to the Democrats, was a god to them until he said there was no collusion +PnG1ya9AEgo-00010-00012926-00014621 They don't like him so much right now. The crazy attempt by the Democrat Party and the fake news media right back there and the deep state to overturn the results of the 2016 election have failed," Trump said, later referring to Democrats as "mega losers +PnG1ya9AEgo-00011-00014621-00015849 ".He called the special counsel's investigation into interference in the 2016 election a "sinister effort to undermine our historic election victory and to sabotage the will of the American people +PnG1ya9AEgo-00012-00015849-00016688 ".The President also addressed themes familiar to his rally audiences -- the economy, health care and immigration +PnG1ya9AEgo-00013-00016688-00018589 He touted jobs several auto companies are bringing to the United States and told rallygoers in the heart of auto country that he speaking with General Motors and the United Automobile Workers union to re-open a plant in Lordstown, Ohio -- the closure of which led to a very public spat between the groups +PnG1ya9AEgo-00014-00018589-00020138 On Monday night, the Justice Department reversed its approach on court action on the Affordable Care Act, saying in a filing with a federal appeals court that former President Barack Obama's signature domestic legislation should be entirely struck down +PnG1ya9AEgo-00015-00020138-00021322 Though Republicans haven't presented a clear, viable alternative to Obamacare, Trump has this week touted his administration's push to make health care the center of the national political debate +PnG1ya9AEgo-00016-00021322-00022212 "We're going to get rid of Obamacare. And I said the other day, the Republican Party will become the party of great health care +PnG1ya9AEgo-00017-00022212-00023555 It's good. It's important," Trump said at his Grand Rapids rally.The President also spoke at length on immigration, at one point mocking the legitimacy of the claims of asylum seekers +PnG1ya9AEgo-00018-00023555-00024738 "You have people coming, you know they're all met by the lawyers . And they come out, and they're met by the lawyers, and they say, 'Say the following phrase: I am very afraid for my life +PnG1ya9AEgo-00019-00024738-00025618 I am afraid for my life.' OK," Trump said. "And then I look at the guy. He looks like he just got out of the ring +PnG1ya9AEgo-00020-00025618-00026655 He's a heavyweight champion of the world. It's a big fat con job.".Trump also appeared to reverse course on funding the cleanup of the Great Lakes +PnG1ya9AEgo-00021-00026655-00027369 "We have some breaking news. I support the Great Lakes. They are beautiful they are big very deep +PnG1ya9AEgo-00022-00027369-00028604 Record deepness, right? I am going to get fuller funding of 300 million dollars for the restoration of the Great Lakes, which they've been trying to get for over 30 years," he said +PnG1ya9AEgo-00023-00028604-00030083 Two weeks ago Ohio lawmakers complained that the administration was actually gutting federal funding for cleanup of toxic pollutants and removal of invasive species in the Great Lakes region, according to the Toledo Blade +PnG1ya9AEgo-00024-00030083-00031146 Trump also said his administration is "very close to getting started on the Soo Locks," which he said, "people have wanted to build for a very, very long time +PnG1ya9AEgo-00025-00031146-00032287 ".The project, which would add a second lock and allow larger ships to access the Great Lakes, is expected to bring much needed construction jobs to the Upper Peninsula region +Q1gcANqSH_g-00000-00000571-00003246 In a sign that the pressure of multiple investigations into allegations of decades of illegal activities by the Trump Organization — the company still owned by the president and operated by his two eldest sons — are beginning to take their toll, the company is attempting a hail mary pass to prevent the now Democrat-led House Judiciary Committee from conducting “any and all” investigations into its operations and deals, The Washington Post reported today +Q1gcANqSH_g-00001-00003246-00005121 A lawyer for the Trump Organization, Alan S Futerfas, sent a letter today to House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) claiming that the committee’s investigation has been “tainted” because it had hired an outside attorney who once worked for a firm that did legal work for the company +Q1gcANqSH_g-00002-00005121-00006469 The outside attorney in question, Berry H Berke of the law firm of Kramer Levin, was hired two weeks ago and described as “a nationally prominent expert on federal criminal law, including public corruption'' +Q1gcANqSH_g-00003-00006469-00008682 It’s little wonder that the Trump Organization would object to having such an experienced hand on deck in the investigation into the shady dealings that have leaked out in multiple indictments and press reports, particularly after both Michael Cohen, the president’s longtime personal fixer, and Allen Weisselberg, the company’s CFO, have agreed to cooperate with prosecutors +Q1gcANqSH_g-00004-00008682-00010505 Berke’s firm, Kramer Levin, dismissed the Trump Organization attorney’s accusations as “baseless,” saying that his consultation for the Judiciary Committee “complies fully with all applicable ethical rules, does not pose any conflicts of interest and respects any obligations the firm may have'' +Q1gcANqSH_g-00005-00010505-00012153 The law firm said that Berke was consulting with the Judiciary Committee in a personal capacity rather than as a partner in the firm and that the company would therefore not receive any money as a result of his work nor provide any external support to his efforts with the committee +QCFn5eDBlpo-00000-00000571-00002023 It does not take a genius to figure out that President Donald Trump definitely harbors some level of xenophobia and racism, to the point that he is willing to separate migrant children from their families at the border for no good reason +QCFn5eDBlpo-00001-00002023-00003003 However, recent reports suggest that the Trump administration’s reign of terror on immigration issues might be about to come to a swift end +QCFn5eDBlpo-00002-00003003-00004014 Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland is the chairman of the powerful House Oversight Committee, and he has Trump and his immigration policy in his sights +QCFn5eDBlpo-00003-00004014-00005139 The Oversight Committee has the power to compel the heads of the Committees for Justice, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services to deliver documents to lawmakers +QCFn5eDBlpo-00004-00005139-00006310 So Cummings is in an excellent position to get things moving on this. And the House just voted to confirm the sending of a subpoena to the Trump administration over the family separations +QCFn5eDBlpo-00005-00006310-00007064 Cummings was delighted by that development. .“I believe this is a true natonal emergency,” he said +QCFn5eDBlpo-00006-00007064-00008101 “When our own government rips children from the arms of their mothers and fathers with no plans to reunite them – that is government-sponsored child abuse'' +QCFn5eDBlpo-00007-00008101-00008864 Trump does still have some people fighting his corner in Congress. For instance, GOP Rep +QCFn5eDBlpo-00008-00008864-00011341 Jim Jordan of Ohio – who is the highest ranking Republican on the Oversight committee – sent a letter to Cummings, essentially pleading with him not to send the subpoenas out, arguing that they would not be necessary because, incredibly, the administration is apparently going to voluntarily give up the documents in question (which begs the question, why then do they care about the subpoena at all?) He wrote +QCFn5eDBlpo-00009-00011341-00012179 “We should not rush to compel documents from the departments, especially when they have sought to comply with your request voluntarily'' +QCFn5eDBlpo-00010-00012179-00013096 It was not long before Cummings fired back.“The information we got was not one name, not one number,” Cummings said +QCFn5eDBlpo-00011-00013096-00014713 “Zilch''.This is a man who is clearly not going to take no for an answer, and the administration has been backed into a corner, to the point that they sent a spokesperson out to point out all the documents they have already shared (which is totally irrelevant, of course) +QCFn5eDBlpo-00012-00014713-00015324 Caitlin Oakley, spokeswoman for the department of Health and Human Services, said +QCFn5eDBlpo-00013-00015324-00016157 “Additionally, we have transparently provided 792 pages of documents related to the committee’s request'' +QCFn5eDBlpo-00014-00016157-00016904 The clock is ticking. Soon, they will have no choice but to comply, and then the truth will come out +QOsf3fz_u04-00000-00000571-00002182 How yet another shocking week in Washington came to an end.House Democrats have filed their “resolution of disapproval” challenging Donald Trump‘s decision to call a national emergency in order to build a wall on the US southern border with Mexico +QOsf3fz_u04-00001-00002182-00003515 While the president has claimed there is a "crisis" of illegal immigration in the United States, Democrats have questioned his motives — and noted that Mr Trump himself has suggested that he did not need to declare the emergency +QOsf3fz_u04-00002-00003515-00004340 The president on Thursday touted the contributions of African Americans during an event to honour Black History Month +QOsf3fz_u04-00003-00004340-00005688 Meanwhile Ahmed Ali Muthana, the father of Alabama Isis bride Hoda Muthana, announced he is suing the administration for its “unlawful attempt” to rescind her citizenship and block a return to the US +QOsf3fz_u04-00004-00005688-00006532 Lawyers have told The Independent that an executive effort to revoke citizenship amounts to the act of an "authoritarian" +QOsf3fz_u04-00005-00006532-00007859 In Syria, the US has rowed back on its decision for a full withdrawal of troops following the apparent defeat of the Islamist militants and will now leave around 200 soldiers behind to safeguard the region +QOsf3fz_u04-00006-00007859-00009154 Mr Trump on Friday weighed in on several issues, including the charges brought against his friend and billionaire owner of the New England Patriots Robert Kraft over prostitution allegations +QOsf3fz_u04-00007-00009154-00009860 He called those charges "shocking", but noted that Mr Kraft had denied the charges against him +QOsf3fz_u04-00008-00009860-00010886 The president also suggested that he might extend a deadline for trade negotiations with China, saying that the negotiators have been having success +QOsf3fz_u04-00009-00010886-00012318 Next week, Mr Trump is scheduled to travel to Vietnam for a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, where he and his administration say that they hope he can build on the previous summit with Mr Kim last year in Singapore +QQhNxSGodDk-00000-00000571-00001464 President Donald Trump expressed his interest in America winning the implementation of 5G networks at a White House event on Friday +QQhNxSGodDk-00001-00001464-00002261 “The race to 5G is a race that American must win,” Trump said. “It’s a race that we will win +QQhNxSGodDk-00002-00002261-00003118 ”. .Trump emphasized that the success of 5G networks would be up to private companies, not the government +QQhNxSGodDk-00003-00003118-00004497 “As you probably heard, we had another alternative of doing it, that would be through government investment, and leading through the government, we don’t want to do that because it won’t be nearly as good, nearly as fast,” Trump said +QQhNxSGodDk-00004-00004497-00005377 But Trump noted that the government would act to free up wireless spectrum and reduce regulations to help speed up the process +QQhNxSGodDk-00005-00005377-00006020 “We want to be the leader in this,” Trump said, making it a priority of his administration +QQhNxSGodDk-00006-00006020-00006842 Trump said the 5G networks should both secure and also deployed to everyone in the country including rural communities +QQhNxSGodDk-00007-00006842-00007754 .FCC chairman Ajit Pai joined the president for the event, announcing the biggest auction of wireless spectrum in history by December +QQhNxSGodDk-00008-00007754-00008391 “We want Americans to be the first to benefit from this digital revolution,” he said +QQhNxSGodDk-00009-00008391-00009556 Pai said that the FCC would not only auction off more bandwidth but reduce regulatory obstacles of fiber and wireless infrastructure proposed by the Obama administration +QQhNxSGodDk-00010-00009556-00010651 “Mr. President … I am pleased to report that America is now well positioned to win the race to fast and secure and reliable 5G,” he said +QQhNxSGodDk-00011-00010651-00011698 .He also announced that the FCC would create a $20 billion program to bring more wireless and digital infrastructure to rural communities +QfTRAk43b0A-00000-00000513-00002109 The Republican Party, a veritable black hole when it comes to political and social equitability, is once again abusing its powers by moving to limit the voting rights of over a million people in the swingiest of swing-states, Florida +QfTRAk43b0A-00001-00002109-00003415 What the people of Florida did: 64.6% of Florida voters approved Amendment 4, Voting Rights Restoration for Felons Initiative to re-enfranchise around 1 +QfTRAk43b0A-00002-00003415-00004799 5 million former felons. What Florida Republicans are now trying to do: The Republican-controlled Florida Legislature is moving to pass a bill that would limit the voting rights of these former felons +QfTRAk43b0A-00003-00004799-00005797 Florida and Ohio are consistent members of a small contingent of states that are considered by many to be the deciders of the presidency +QfTRAk43b0A-00004-00005797-00006497 There’s also a chance that Florida is a consistent member in your Bush-Gore-themed nightmares +QfTRAk43b0A-00005-00006497-00008354 We’re talking about a state with a population of over 21 million that is often decided by tens of thousands of people, and suddenly Republicans want to roll back the voting rights of around a million and a half re-enfranchised voters, almost 45% of whom are black +QfTRAk43b0A-00006-00008354-00009161 As they say; you do the math.Say it with me: the Republicans are good-for-nothing, racist cheaters +QfTRAk43b0A-00007-00009161-00010765 They gerrymander to take a disproportionate number of seats in the House of Representatives, they enact laws with excessively punitive punishments targeted at poor people and people of color so that they can’t vote, and sometimes they steal ballots +QfTRAk43b0A-00008-00010765-00011716 They know how unappealing they are, so they cheat, demagogue, and manipulate against the best interests of this beautiful country and her people +QfTRAk43b0A-00009-00011716-00012949 We cannot let this pending constitutional travesty go on in Florida. The more people talk about it and call the Republicans out for it, the more pressure gets put on them to do the right thing +QfTRAk43b0A-00010-00012949-00014211 Almost two-thirds of the people of Florida voted for Amendment 4, and doing anything but restoring the voting rights for these people is patently against the will of the people at large +QfTRAk43b0A-00011-00014211-00015389 Yes, the Amendment needs to be clearly defined because it hasn’t been yet, but defining it to limit the rights it intended to restore is ethically unsound and undemocratic +QfTRAk43b0A-00012-00015389-00016123 Florida can decide who gets the presidency. When people vote in big numbers, the Democrats win +QfTRAk43b0A-00013-00016123-00017131 Adding 1.5 million more eligible voters to the state would be huge. Putting these things together, the Republicans know they’re in trouble +QfTRAk43b0A-00014-00017131-00019007 They’re trying to make sure that democracy is stifled so that they can win. Share this or any article you can to make sure this gets as much attention as possible, because the outcome of this issue could mean the difference between a Democratic victory in 2020 and an unthinkable loss +R055vJXFoTg-00000-00000513-00001466 I am a veteran who proudly served the United States Army for more than thirteen years, with two tours to Afghanistan under my belt +R055vJXFoTg-00001-00001466-00002245 I believe no matter what, veterans should stick together, even with our disagreements in politics +R055vJXFoTg-00002-00002245-00003613 Now I am calling for all veterans to come together and demand that President Trump show the recently departed Senator John McCain some respect and dignity, especially for his honorable service to our country +R055vJXFoTg-00003-00003613-00004436 .It’s no surprise to me now that Trump has no respect for veterans. His worship of our flag doesn’t cut it +R055vJXFoTg-00004-00004436-00005463 He wanted a parade that was supposed to support the military and veterans, but in reality it was there to boost his ego, which shows no respect to veterans +R055vJXFoTg-00005-00005463-00006335 And most of all, dodging the draft five times brings no honor to Trump and his fake love for the military +R055vJXFoTg-00006-00006335-00007513 The list goes on, but this is about Senator John McCain. It’s okay to respectfully state your opinion on how he did as a Senator, but these personal attacks go on and on +R055vJXFoTg-00007-00007513-00008623 This incitement of hate from Trump encourages his supporters to bring that hate towards McCain’s family, particularly his daughter Meghan, and his wife Cindy +R055vJXFoTg-00008-00008623-00009462 As stressful as losing family members can be, they don’t need to be trolled with hateful messages, tweets or articles +R055vJXFoTg-00009-00009462-00010277 I have learned in Chaplain Assistant School that one of our primary roles in the Chaplain Corps is to honor the dead +R055vJXFoTg-00010-00010277-00011113 I am calling on all veterans to come together and demand that Trump stop these hateful attacks on John McCain +R055vJXFoTg-00011-00011113-00011891 These attacks are a disgrace to the Oval Office, to our military and veterans and to our country +R5KpzbF3-9k-00000-00000513-00001965 In response to President Trump’s recent declaration of national emergency at the US-Mexico border, Democrats have increasingly and publicly mulled the possibility of using such a declaration to enact sweeping gun control measures +R5KpzbF3-9k-00001-00001965-00003250 The thinly-veiled threat has prompted varied responses from Republicans, and has been echoed by Democrats seeking the White House in the upcoming 2020 election, such as Kamala Harris and Julian Castro +R5KpzbF3-9k-00002-00003250-00004888 Following Trump’s declaration, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, widely seen as solely holding the reigns of the Democratic Party, issued an ominous warning implying a future Democrat president could implement an emergency declaration to confiscate firearms from citizens +R5KpzbF3-9k-00003-00004888-00006066 Other Democrats, including Elizabeth Warren, Chris Murphy, Sherrod Brown, John Hickenlooper, and others, have espoused similar anti-gun sentiments +RtGEtxYfKPc-00000-00000571-00001370 The ACLU filed a suit against President Donald Trump, his commission, and Vice President Mike Pence +RtGEtxYfKPc-00001-00001370-00002412 The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a legal and civil rights nonprofit, filed a separate suit against multiple members of the administration and commission +RtGEtxYfKPc-00002-00002412-00003564 Both groups filed lawsuits against the Trump administration in federal court, alleging that his election commission violated federal law by operating without transparency +RtGEtxYfKPc-00003-00003564-00004737 .Just after becoming president in January, Trump claimed that 3 to 5 million people voted illegally and vowed to create a commission on the integrity of the voting system +RtGEtxYfKPc-00004-00004737-00005696 This was ostensibly to prove his unfounded claims of mass fraud. In May, Trump signed an executive order creating this commission +RtGEtxYfKPc-00005-00005696-00006427 Vice President Mike Pence is the group’s chair and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is vice chair +RtGEtxYfKPc-00006-00006427-00007482 In June, the commission caused outrage when Kobach sent letters to all 50 states requesting extensive personal information from states’ voter files +RtGEtxYfKPc-00007-00007482-00009063 So far, 44 states have refused to comply with the request.Theresa Lee, an attorney with with the ACLU Voting Rights Project said in a press release, “The commission held its first meeting without notice or making it open to the public +RtGEtxYfKPc-00008-00009063-00009768 This process is cloaked in secrecy, raising serious concerns about its credibility and intent +RtGEtxYfKPc-00009-00009768-00011189 What are they trying to hide?”.Both suits complain that the creation of the commission, the secrecy of meetings and procedures, and even commission membership, all run counter to The Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) +RtGEtxYfKPc-00010-00011189-00011623 Guess what — Trump shut down the commission +RcgfkiboKbU-00000-00000000-00000747 Donald Trump is livid after he watched CBS’ 60 Minutes interview with Andrew McCabe +RcgfkiboKbU-00001-00000747-00001815 The FBI director whom he hired to replace John Comey has written a tell-all book, The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump +RcgfkiboKbU-00002-00001815-00002578 Yet, it was the televised interview that caused Trump to be spitting fire in his morning tweets +RcgfkiboKbU-00003-00002578-00003278 McCabe made a good case for the president of these United States being a Russian operative +RcgfkiboKbU-00004-00003278-00003931 He let us inside of a conversation he had with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein +RcgfkiboKbU-00005-00003931-00004748 The deputy AG was seriously rattled after Trump fired Comey, and he said he could wear a wire to get evidence on the president: +RcgfkiboKbU-00006-00004748-00005926 ‘“After two years and interviewing more than two hundred witnesses, the Senate Intelligence Committee has NOT discovered any direct evidence of a conspiracy between the Trump Campaign and Russia +RcgfkiboKbU-00007-00005926-00007016 ” Ken Dilanian @NBCNews’.That hit a sore spot with the commander-in-chief. He tweeted that the Senate Intelligence committee had no evidence of a Russia conspiracy +RcgfkiboKbU-00008-00007016-00008048 Although, that committee is far from done. Then, Trump tried to discredit McCabe, Rosenstein, and former attorney general Jeff Session: +RcgfkiboKbU-00009-00008048-00009100 ‘Wow, so many lies by now disgraced acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe. He was fired for lying, and now his story gets even more deranged +RcgfkiboKbU-00010-00009100-00010080 He and Rod Rosenstein, who was hired by Jeff Sessions (another beauty), look like they were planning a very illegal act, and got caught… +RcgfkiboKbU-00011-00010080-00011057 ’That hit a sore spot with the commander-in-chief. He tweeted that the Senate Intelligence committee had no evidence of a Russia conspiracy +RcgfkiboKbU-00012-00011057-00012088 Although, that committee is far from done. Then, Trump tried to discredit McCabe, Rosenstein, and former attorney general Jeff Session: +RcgfkiboKbU-00013-00012088-00013141 ‘Wow, so many lies by now disgraced acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe. He was fired for lying, and now his story gets even more deranged +RcgfkiboKbU-00014-00013141-00014121 He and Rod Rosenstein, who was hired by Jeff Sessions (another beauty), look like they were planning a very illegal act, and got caught… +RcgfkiboKbU-00015-00014121-00015351 ’Then, 45 had an after thought as he continued to watch Fox & Friends. Trump media’s Dan Bongino called the discussion between McCabe and Rosenstein “an illegal coup attempt:” +RcgfkiboKbU-00016-00015351-00016236 ‘“This was an illegal coup attempt on the President of the United States.” Dan Bongino on @foxandfriends True!’ +S9cadm6zLo4-00000-00000571-00001250 “President” Donald Trump took to Twitter this past weekend to complain about Saturday Night Live +S9cadm6zLo4-00001-00001250-00001864 He suggested that SNL should be investigated for “collusion with the Democrats and Russia +S9cadm6zLo4-00002-00001864-00002854 ” He wondered why SNL mocks him since he has a “52%” approval rating and “93%” approval with Republicans +S9cadm6zLo4-00003-00002854-00003969 It’s hard to believe that he has either approval rating, but especially hard to believe that overall he has 52%, so a little investigation is in order +S9cadm6zLo4-00004-00003969-00005638 According to Gallup, Trump’s current approval rating is 39% (March 1-10, 2019). The highest he has ever been in this survey is 45% (January 20-29, 2017 and June 11-17, 2018) +S9cadm6zLo4-00005-00005638-00006417 Trump has never had a rating at Gallup above 50%. Gallup takes these numbers one step further +S9cadm6zLo4-00006-00006417-00007485 They examined the presidencies of Obama, G.W. Bush, Clinton, GHW Bush, Reagan, Carter, Nixon, Kennedy, and Eisenhower +S9cadm6zLo4-00007-00007485-00008538 The lowest of all presidents in January of the third year belongs to Reagan at 41%, with the highest being Eisenhower at 69% +S9cadm6zLo4-00008-00008538-00010155 Trump can’t even beat Nixon, whose approval rating was 50%. Amazingly, Trump’s Republican support stands at 90%, with his lowest rating from Republicans at 77% (December 11-17, 2017) +S9cadm6zLo4-00009-00010155-00010839 It’s frankly puzzling that Republicans continue to support this clown in such numbers +S9cadm6zLo4-00010-00010839-00011664 Trump loves to brag and inflate numbers to placate his base. Trump is a failure in the land of the lucid +S9cadm6zLo4-00011-00011664-00013684 He attempts to mask his failure with hateful rhetoric, lies, and intimidation. In this instance as reported by MSNBC, he asked via tweet: “Should Federal Election Commission and/or FCC look into this?” Really, Trump? It’s sad that this man doesn’t know the difference between a news outlet and a comedy show +S9cadm6zLo4-00012-00013684-00014890 If Trump doesn’t like being mocked, he should stop acting like an idiot. Trump’s tweetfest doesn’t help to prove otherwise; the show on Saturday night was a rerun from Christmas +S9cadm6zLo4-00013-00014890-00015763 As MSNBC pointed out, “entertainment programming mocking newsworthy figures is protected as free speech +S9cadm6zLo4-00014-00015763-00016570 ” Trump further claims that SNL is “like advertising without consequences” and “a boost to help Democrats +S9cadm6zLo4-00015-00016570-00018135 ” MSNBC analyzed Trump’s comments and clarified: Trump seems to be referring to the ‘equal time rule’ which mandates that US broadcast TV stations give equal air-time opportunities to opposing political candidates in prime-time if requested +S9cadm6zLo4-00016-00018135-00018882 But Trump is president, not a candidate, and SNL is in late-night and, again, parody +S9cadm6zLo4-00017-00018882-00019908 There’s also FCC’s ‘fairness doctrine,’ a regulation that required networks to give balanced coverage to matters of public controversy +S9cadm6zLo4-00018-00019908-00021011 The FCC eliminated the policy in 1987.” Trump doesn’t even bother to research anything before he speaks, not that it should surprise anyone +S9cadm6zLo4-00019-00021011-00022163 Donald Trump needs to try doing his job, which is apparently all but impossible for him; it’s much easier for him to start conflicts to cover for his failures +S9cadm6zLo4-00020-00022163-00023153 He does absolutely nothing for our country but continue to tout numbers that don’t exist, claim accolades that are not his and divide the country +S9cadm6zLo4-00021-00023153-00023759 That division is the one thing he does well. He should start claiming that instead +Tv3TJ9AHZJ4-00000-00000513-00001733 House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Monday if President Donald Trump vetoes the resolution blocking his national emergency declaration, Democrats will respond in Congress and in court +Tv3TJ9AHZJ4-00001-00001733-00002712 "We'll fight him in the Congress, we'll fight him in the courts and we'll fight him in the court of public opinion," Pelosi told reporters at an event in Texas +Tv3TJ9AHZJ4-00002-00002712-00003976 "What he's doing is wrong and the Republicans know it.".The Senate likely has enough votes to pass a measure blocking Trump's efforts to build a wall on the US southern border through emergency powers +Tv3TJ9AHZJ4-00003-00003976-00004977 With Republicans controlling 53 seats in the chamber, Senate Democrats need four GOP votes for the measure to pass, and Republican Sens +Tv3TJ9AHZJ4-00004-00004977-00006158 Rand Paul of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Thom Tillis of North Carolina have indicated they will vote in favor of the resolution +Tv3TJ9AHZJ4-00005-00006158-00007221 Trump has vowed to veto the measure, which was introduced in the House and passed the chamber last week, with 13 Republicans voting with Democrats +Tv3TJ9AHZJ4-00006-00007221-00008579 Pelosi's comments show Democrats have no plans to back down from the fight against allocating billions of dollars for the border wall, which Trump has pursued in fervor as his top domestic priority +Tv3TJ9AHZJ4-00007-00008579-00010010 "Hopefully the President won't veto it -- or maybe he'll just withdraw it, as some of his Republican, the Republican senators are asking him to do because they know that it undermines the Constitution of the United States," Pelosi said +Tv3TJ9AHZJ4-00008-00010010-00010946 Pelosi said Trump is "asking us to ignore the oath of office that we take to protect and defend the Constitution by this declaration +Tv3TJ9AHZJ4-00009-00010946-00012280 " She said she anticipates the resolution will pass the Senate.If the President vetoes the measure, Congress would need two-thirds of its members in both chambers to overrule the veto, which is unlikely +Tv3TJ9AHZJ4-00010-00012280-00013678 "I think it's very hard to have a veto," Pelosi said.The President signed a spending bill in January that ended the longest government shutdown in US history in January, which did not include the $5 +Tv3TJ9AHZJ4-00011-00013678-00014558 7 billion he had been demanding for his border wall. It did include $1.375 billion for a wall +Tv3TJ9AHZJ4-00012-00014558-00015522 The President then quickly declared a national emergency, bypassing Congress, to unlock billions in federal funds to build his wall +Tv3TJ9AHZJ4-00013-00015522-00016486 Pelosi said Trump's declaration is "undermining our system of checks and balances," which she described as the "wisdom of our Constitution +Tv3TJ9AHZJ4-00014-00016486-00016586 " +TxiqID29l_M-00000-00000571-00002553 The Trump administration pressured the Department of Homeland Security to release immigrants detained at the southern border into so-called sanctuary cities in part to retaliate against Democrats who oppose President Donald Trump's plans for a border wall, a source familiar with the discussions told CNN on Thursday +TxiqID29l_M-00001-00002553-00003415 Trump personally pushed Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to follow through on the plan, the source said +TxiqID29l_M-00002-00003415-00004505 Nielsen resisted and the DHS legal team eventually produced an analysis that killed the plan, which was first reported by The Washington Post +TxiqID29l_M-00003-00004505-00005662 The proposal is another example of Trump's willingness to enact hardline immigration policies to deliver on border security, a key issue for his political base +TxiqID29l_M-00004-00005662-00006874 Thursday's reports come as the President has amplified his rhetoric on illegal immigration in recent weeks, even threatening to close the southern border if Congress and Mexico don't take action +TxiqID29l_M-00005-00006874-00007702 White House senior adviser Stephen Miller urged senior DHS officials to make the plan a reality, the source said +TxiqID29l_M-00006-00007702-00008480 The plan finally died after Miller and other White House officials pushed it in February, according to the source +TxiqID29l_M-00007-00008480-00009538 Miller was angered that DHS lawyers refused to produce legal guidance that would make the plan viable, saying the proposal would likely be illegal +TxiqID29l_M-00008-00009538-00010766 DHS officials believe that the legal standoff is one reason why Miller has pushed for the firing of John Mitnick, the general counsel for DHS, who is still with the department +TxiqID29l_M-00009-00010766-00011724 A separate DHS official confirmed there was such a proposal. "These are human beings, not game pieces," the official said +TxiqID29l_M-00010-00011724-00012725 Asked to comment, a DHS spokesperson said, "This was a suggestion that was floated and rejected, which ended any further discussion +TxiqID29l_M-00011-00012725-00013373 " Another DHS official briefed on the matter disputed that the proposal reached Nielsen +TxiqID29l_M-00012-00013373-00014948 Nielsen left DHS this week after she was forced to resign."Sanctuary city" is a broad term applied to jurisdictions that have policies in place designed to limit cooperation with or involvement in federal immigration enforcement actions +TxiqID29l_M-00013-00014948-00015885 Cities, counties and some states have a range of informal policies as well as laws that qualify as "sanctuary" positions +TxiqID29l_M-00014-00015885-00016622 Most of the policies center on not cooperating with federal law enforcement on immigration policies +TxiqID29l_M-00015-00016622-00017659 Many of the largest cities in the country have forms of such policies.A spokeswoman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ripped Trump over the Thursday night reports +TxiqID29l_M-00016-00017659-00018401 "The extent of this administration's cynicism and cruelty cannot be overstated," Ashley Etienne said in a statement +TxiqID29l_M-00017-00018401-00019537 "Using human beings — including little children — as pawns in their warped game to perpetuate fear and demonize immigrants is despicable, and in some cases, criminal +TxiqID29l_M-00018-00019537-00020890 The American people have resoundingly rejected this Administration's toxic anti-immigrant policies, and Democrats will continue to advance immigration policies that keep us safe and honor our values +TxiqID29l_M-00019-00020890-00020990 " +TlGyW2ptJRy-00000-00000513-00002012 President Donald Trump has claimed that he loves Otto Warmbier and thinks “of him often” after he was slammed for accepting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s claim he was unaware of the deceased student’s mistreatment by the regime +TlGyW2ptJRy-00001-00002012-00003326 Following a meeting with Kim in Vietnam on Thursday, Trump commented of the North Korean leader’s knowledge of the mistreatment of 22-year-old student Warmbier: “He tells me he didn't know about it, and I take him at his word +TlGyW2ptJRy-00002-00003326-00004120 I don't believe he would have allowed that to happen…It just wasn't to his advantage to allow that to happen +TlGyW2ptJRy-00003-00004120-00005442 ”.But Trump’s comments were widely panned by commentators, while Warmbier’s family said no “excuses or lavish praise” could change the fact that Kim and the regime were responsible for their son’s death +TlGyW2ptJRy-00004-00005442-00006790 Taking to Twitter on Friday night to defend the comments he made, Trump urged people to remember that Warmbier was returned to the US under his watch, adding that the Obama administration “did nothing” for the student +TlGyW2ptJRy-00005-00006790-00007537 “I never like being misinterpreted, but especially when it comes to Otto Warmbier and his great family +TlGyW2ptJRy-00006-00007537-00008391 Remember, I got Otto out along with three others. The previous Administration did nothing, and he was taken on their watch +TlGyW2ptJRy-00007-00008391-00009169 Of course I hold North Korea responsible for Otto’s mistreatment and death,” Trump wrote late on Friday evening +TlGyW2ptJRy-00008-00009169-00010400 “Most important, Otto Warmbier will not have died in vain. Otto and his family have become a tremendous symbol of strong passion and strength, which will last for many years into the future +TlGyW2ptJRy-00009-00010400-00011883 I love Otto and think of him often!” he added.College student Warmbier was returned to the US in a vegetative state in June 2017 after being imprisoned there in 2016, and died less than a week after his return +TlGyW2ptJRy-00010-00011883-00013338 .Warmbier’s parents, Fred and Cindy, who in 2018 sued the North Korean government over its treatment of their son, on Friday added their voices to the chorus of people criticizing President Trump over his comments +TlGyW2ptJRy-00011-00013338-00014352 ."We have been respectful during this summit process. Now we must speak out. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son Otto +TlGyW2ptJRy-00012-00014352-00015337 Kim and his evil regime are responsible for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity. No excuses or lavish praise can change that +TlGyW2ptJRy-00013-00015337-00015904 Thank you," Warmbier’s parents said in a statement, CNN reported +UKLS5HwS62A-00000-00000513-00001401 Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., delivered a fiery speech on Sunday to a crowd gathered inside a Selma, Ala +UKLS5HwS62A-00001-00001401-00002566 church to commemorate the civil rights march that came to be known as "Bloody Sunday," telling the hundreds gathered that it was a time to recommit to the fight for justice in America +UKLS5HwS62A-00002-00002566-00003464 "It's time for us to defend the dream," the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate said at the Brown Chapel AME Church +UKLS5HwS62A-00003-00003464-00004159 "It's time that we dare to dream again in America. That is what it takes to make America great +UKLS5HwS62A-00004-00004159-00005946 It is up to us to do the work that makes the dream real.".Booker, who delivered the keynote remarks at the church that was the starting point of the 1965 march, was one of a number of Democratic presidential hopefuls in Selma to commemorate the 54th anniversary of the march +UKLS5HwS62A-00005-00005946-00006790 This year's commemoration comes in the early days of a Democratic primary that has focused heavily on issues of race +UKLS5HwS62A-00006-00006790-00007863 Several candidates have called President Donald Trump a racist while others have voiced support for the idea of reparations for the descendants of enslaved black Americans +UKLS5HwS62A-00007-00007863-00008757 Booker has spoken of himself as a direct beneficiary of the civil rights era after his family was denied housing in a white neighborhood +UKLS5HwS62A-00008-00008757-00009885 In January, Booker traveled through Georgia with Georgia Rep. John Lewis, an Alabama native and civil rights leader who was nearly killed in Selma 54 years ago +UKLS5HwS62A-00009-00009885-00010953 On March 7, 1965, peaceful demonstrators were beaten back by Alabama state troopers as they attempted to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge +UKLS5HwS62A-00010-00010953-00011659 It was a moment that galvanized support for the passage of the Voting Rights Act later that year +UKLS5HwS62A-00011-00011659-00012643 Also in Selma was Sen. Bernie Sanders, who attended the 1963 March on Washington where Lewis spoke and the Rev +UKLS5HwS62A-00012-00012643-00014678 Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "I Have A Dream" speech. Sanders has highlighted his civil rights and activist background as a young man at the University of Chicago, while working to reset his relationship with black voters, with whom he struggled to connect in the 2016 Democratic primary that Hillary Clinton won +UKLS5HwS62A-00013-00014678-00015684 Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, who is mulling a White House run, also went through Selma as part of a "Dignity of Work" tour inspired by King +UKLS5HwS62A-00014-00015684-00016627 It’s the fifth time the Democratic senator has come to Selma and he frequently draws connections between civil rights and workers' rights +UKLS5HwS62A-00015-00016627-00017473 A former secretary of state in Ohio, Brown also has a reputation as a leader on expanding voter participation +UKLS5HwS62A-00016-00017473-00019054 The backdrop of Selma provides a spotlight on voting rights. Advocates say the gains achieved as a result of "Bloody Sunday" have been threatened in recent years, particularly by the 2013 Supreme Court decision gutting the landmark Voting Rights Act +UKLS5HwS62A-00017-00019054-00020428 Voter suppression emerged as a key issue in the 2018 midterm elections in states such as Georgia and North Carolina, where a Republican congressional candidate was accused of rigging the contest there through absentee ballots +UKLS5HwS62A-00018-00020428-00021608 House Democrats signaled they plan to make ballot access a priority in the new Congress, introducing legislation aimed at protecting voting rights in 2020 and beyond +UOIfu_6snXu-00000-00000513-00001636 During this speech at CPAC, President Trump announced he would punish colleges that banned conservative speakers and did not allow free speech by cutting federal funding to them +UOIfu_6snXu-00001-00001636-00003104 The announcement was met with rousing applause.President Trump announced Saturday he intends to sign an executive order mandating colleges and universities take steps to guarantee free speech to attain federal research grants +UOIfu_6snXu-00002-00003104-00004282 “We reject oppressive speech codes, censorship, political correctness and every other attempt by the hard left to stop people from challenging ridiculous and dangerous ideas +UOIfu_6snXu-00003-00004282-00005178 These ideas are dangerous,” Trump said. “Instead we believe in free speech, including online and including on campus +UOIfu_6snXu-00004-00005178-00006380 ”.“Today I’m proud to announce that I will be very soon signing an executive order requiring colleges and universities to support free speech if they want federal research grants +UOIfu_6snXu-00005-00006380-00007195 ”.The announcement came after he brought Hayden Williams on stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference +UOIfu_6snXu-00006-00007195-00008467 Williams is a conservative activist who was punched in the face at the University of California at Berkeley last month while assisting the university’s chapter of the right-wing group Turning Point USA +UOIfu_6snXu-00007-00008467-00009266 Trump threatened that refusing to abide by the executive order would impose a heavy cost on their budgets +UOIfu_6snXu-00008-00009266-00010308 “If they want our dollars, and we give it to them by the billions, they’ve got to allow people like Hayden and many other great young people and old people to speak +UOIfu_6snXu-00009-00010308-00011630 Free speech. If they don’t, it will be very costly,” he warned.The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill seeking additional guidance on the executive order +UOIfu_6snXu-00010-00011630-00013210 Free speech has emerged as a chief motivator for conservatives in recent years, particularly after several prominent conservative speakers, such as right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos, had events canceled at campuses across the country +UOIfu_6snXu-00011-00013210-00015081 “If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view – NO FEDERAL FUNDS?” Trump tweeted in February 2017 after an event with Yiannopoulos was canceled following clashes resulting from his invitation +UP0BPBvuEEQ-00000-00000513-00001965 Multiple investigations by House Democrats into President Donald Trump are pushing beyond the bounds of the “legitimate function of Congress,” Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz told Fox News host Sean Hannity on his show Tuesday +UP0BPBvuEEQ-00001-00001965-00003227 Democrats, who control the House, have opened up several wide-ranging investigations into Trump, his family, allies, campaign, finances, and conduct in office +UP0BPBvuEEQ-00002-00003227-00003974 Committees are demanding to see documents and witnesses, threatening to use subpoenas to get what they want +UP0BPBvuEEQ-00003-00003974-00004726 “Congress has a legitimate oversight function to perform,” Dershowitz, a prominent attorney, told Hannity +UP0BPBvuEEQ-00004-00004726-00006440 “But it has to make sure it doesn’t go too far. It can’t use that oversight function, which is really designed to help get legislation, in order to really prevent a president from finishing out his terms and acting, and they’re interfering with the executive branch if they do so +UP0BPBvuEEQ-00005-00006440-00007268 “The framers didn’t intend for Congress to become yet another prosecutorial branch, yet another investigative branch +UP0BPBvuEEQ-00006-00007268-00007986 They’re supposed to pass laws. And so it seems to me these investigations look like they’re going too far +UP0BPBvuEEQ-00007-00007986-00009028 ”.On Monday, the House Judiciary Committee announced that it is opening another investigation into President Trump, probing alleged corruption and abuses of power +UP0BPBvuEEQ-00008-00009028-00010123 The committee sent document requests—a precursor to potential subpoenas if the targets do not comply—to 81 individuals and entities linked to Trump +UP0BPBvuEEQ-00009-00010123-00011403 Chairman Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat, said in a statement that Trump had “evaded accountability for his near-daily attacks on our basic legal, ethical and constitutional rules and norms +UP0BPBvuEEQ-00010-00011403-00012231 Investigating these threats to the rule of law is an obligation of Congress and a core function of the House Judiciary Committee +UP0BPBvuEEQ-00011-00012231-00013106 ”.Nadler said his committee had requested documents that were already shared with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation +UP0BPBvuEEQ-00012-00013106-00014234 This is in order to “begin building the public record” amid concerns that Justice Department officials “may conceal the work of the special counsel’s investigation,” Nadler said +UP0BPBvuEEQ-00013-00014234-00015230 Dershowitz told Hannity that there is “legal recourse” for targets of document requests and subpoenas if they do not wish to comply +UP0BPBvuEEQ-00014-00015230-00016653 “If you go back to the cases in the 1950s, the courts sometimes did say, look Congress you’ve gone too far, this is not within your legitimate function,” Dershowitz said, referring back to the anti-communist McCarthy era +UP0BPBvuEEQ-00015-00016653-00017842 “And so if I were one of the people who got a letter or a subpoena, I would at least think about the possibility of bringing a lawsuit and suggesting that Congress is abusing its oversight function +UP0BPBvuEEQ-00016-00017842-00019137 ”.During the discussion, Trump ally Hannity spoke of “criminalizing political differences” and said the current situation is “worse than I’ve ever seen it” thanks of the Democrats’ investigations into Trump +UP0BPBvuEEQ-00017-00019137-00020365 “It’s not worse than I’ve ever seen it,” Dershowitz replied. “I lived through the McCarthy period when Congress misused its oversight function to go after people, some innocent, some guilty +UP0BPBvuEEQ-00018-00020365-00020465 ” +UXg3C-QAn4Y-00000-00000513-00002252 New reports indicate that the 2020 budget is set to be released by the White House next week, which is said to include $750 billion dollars in defense funding, including around $6 billion for his proposed physical barrier at the US-Mexico border +UXg3C-QAn4Y-00001-00002252-00003274 President Trump’s 2020 budget request is also reportedly geared towards balancing the country’s budget at the federal level over the next 15 years +UXg3C-QAn4Y-00002-00003274-00004789 The issue of border security has remained a major point of contention for both Republicans and Democrats, leaving DC fractured along partisan lines as the president and his administration continue their efforts at bolstering border security +UXg3C-QAn4Y-00003-00004789-00006236 On Saturday, President Trump took to Twitter, where he discussed the Border Patrol and other law enforcement agencies’ attempts to combat the ongoing issue of illegal immigration, and touted the importance of his border wall +UXg3C-QAn4Y-00004-00006236-00007200 From The Washington Examiner:.President Trump plans to include a significant request for border wall funding in his budget, according to a new report +UXg3C-QAn4Y-00005-00007200-00009021 The Associated Press reported that the White House budget that will be released next week will include the request, along with $750 billion in defense spending and cuts to non-defense discretionary spending by 5 percent that will keep the budget under strict statutory spending caps +UXg3C-QAn4Y-00006-00009021-00010368 Trump had said in October that he would request $700 billion for defense, $16 billion less than his previous budget, and asked Cabinet members to cut their budgets by 5 percent +UXg3C-QAn4Y-00007-00010368-00011769 However, a showdown with congressional Democrats in December over more than $5 billion in appropriations for border security, including a wall, led to the longest partial government shutdown in U +UXg3C-QAn4Y-00008-00011769-00013046 S. history.The president declared a national emergency over border security in February, which will allow him to divert $8 billion of previously appropriated money for the wall +UXg3C-QAn4Y-00009-00013046-00013921 Approximately $6 billion of that would come from military construction and the Defense Department’s drug interdiction program +V19F-bI9eUo-00000-00000571-00002159 A triumphant President Donald Trump emerged Sunday to claim "complete and total exoneration" after special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation found no evidence Trump or his campaign associates conspired with Russia to win the presidential election +V19F-bI9eUo-00001-00002159-00003470 The report itself was more circumspect: in a letter to Congress, Attorney General William Barr said Mueller did not have enough evidence to prosecute Trump on obstruction charges, but did not exonerate him +V19F-bI9eUo-00002-00003470-00004398 But the absence of clear evidence of wrongdoing was enough for Trump to boast of vindication after the nearly two-year cloud of the probe has lifted +V19F-bI9eUo-00003-00004398-00005398 His remarks foreshadow what advisers say will be an unsparing effort to cast the entire Mueller probe as a pointless and expensive folly +V19F-bI9eUo-00004-00005398-00006041 "It was just announced there was no collusion with Russia, the most ridiculous thing I ever heard +V19F-bI9eUo-00005-00006041-00007078 There was no collusion with Russia. There was no obstruction, none whatsoever," Trump said, calling Mueller's investigation "an illegal takedown that failed +V19F-bI9eUo-00006-00007078-00007950 ".Speaking to reporters on a tarmac before boarding Air Force One in Florida, Trump declared outright victory +V19F-bI9eUo-00007-00007950-00008982 "It's a shame that our country had to go through this. To be honest, it's a shame your President had to go through since before I was even elected," he said +V19F-bI9eUo-00008-00008982-00010319 Instead of calling for the country to move forward, Trump insisted investigators now turn their attention to alleged misdeeds committed by Democrats, though he did not specify any particular targets +V19F-bI9eUo-00009-00010319-00011388 "It began illegally, and hopefully somebody's going to look at the other side," he said implying the formation of Mueller's special investigation could now be subject to scrutiny +V19F-bI9eUo-00010-00011388-00012694 People close to the President told CNN he has remained singularly fixated in the last several weeks — that he and his allies were harassed by investigators and that nothing similar should ever happen to another president +V19F-bI9eUo-00011-00012694-00013571 These people believe Trump could potentially push for an investigation into how the Russia investigation began now that it has ended +V19F-bI9eUo-00012-00013571-00014713 Whether that happens or not remains an open question; a spokesman said Sunday there aren't currently any plans for Trump to ask the attorney general to investigate Democrats +V19F-bI9eUo-00013-00014713-00015703 But for now, the President appears content to use Mueller's conclusion that neither he nor his aides cooperated with Russia as a political bludgeon +V19F-bI9eUo-00014-00015703-00016740 Until a tweet moments before his planeside comments, Trump had remained entirely silent this weekend -- at least in public -- about the conclusion of Mueller's report +V19F-bI9eUo-00015-00016740-00017910 While he was cheered by news on Friday that Mueller would not issue any further indictments, he spent the weekend expressing cautious optimism while surrounded by his attorneys +V19F-bI9eUo-00016-00017910-00018621 He tweeted only twice, and privately told people he did not know what Barr's next move was +V19F-bI9eUo-00017-00018621-00020298 His caution turned to cheerfulness after he was briefed by his legal team Sunday that the attorney general was set to release findings from the special counsel's investigation, which said it did not find that his campaign colluded with Russia, sources told CNN +V19F-bI9eUo-00018-00020298-00021241 When Barr's chief-of-staff phoned Trump lawyer Emmet Flood to provide a readout of the report, the mood at Mar-a-Lago improved immediately +V19F-bI9eUo-00019-00021241-00021946 "This is very good," Trump said upon hearing the news inside his private quarters, according to a spokesman +V19F-bI9eUo-00020-00021946-00022706 He was in high spirits at his Florida club the rest of Sunday afternoon, people familiar with the matter said +V19F-bI9eUo-00021-00022706-00023858 "Everyone was -- is -- thrilled," a senior administration official said.The White House has not yet seen Mueller's full confidential report, the White House said Sunday evening +V19F-bI9eUo-00022-00023858-00024921 Much of Trump's legal team -- including Flood and White House counsel Pat Cipollone -- traveled with the President to Florida, as did a large coterie of senior aides +V19F-bI9eUo-00023-00024921-00026141 A person familiar with the matter said the group hoped to help shape Trump's response to the investigation's conclusion, conscious the moment would become an inflection point of Trump's presidency +V19F-bI9eUo-00024-00026141-00027241 That is part of the reason Trump avoided any mention of the report on Twitter for much of the weekend, sending only two tweets between Friday afternoon and Sunday evening +V19F-bI9eUo-00025-00027241-00028740 One wished his followers: "Have a great day!".That was in contrast to the more-than 50 tweets he issued last weekend, a stream of anger and vitriol that some aides speculated was pent-up frustration at the then-ongoing Mueller probe +V19F-bI9eUo-00026-00028740-00030051 The mood on Air Force One back to Washington was jovial, one person told CNN. The President spent the flight watching television, making telephone calls and conversing with staff members +V19F-bI9eUo-00027-00030051-00030866 "I just want to tell you that America is the greatest place on Earth," he told reporters as he walked inside the White House +V19F-bI9eUo-00028-00030866-00032266 Still, even as Trump's rode high on perceived victory, some of his associates who were ensnared in the investigation fumed Sunday as they reflected on how much they spent on legal fees, two people told CNN +V19F-bI9eUo-00029-00032266-00033262 Several current and former Trump officials from his campaign and administration retained personal lawyers to help them respond to questions throughout the probe +V19F-bI9eUo-00030-00033262-00034367 It is those expenses, along with the tarnished reputations of several one-time Trump allies, which the President has cast as the unintended victims of the Mueller investigation +V19F-bI9eUo-00031-00034367-00036553 "So many people have been so badly hurt," Trump said Sunday.As the messaging wars over the special counsel investigation begin, some of Trump's advisers have expressed private concerns the President could overreach during the upcoming victory lap, making an extreme case when, for now, simply pointing to the no collusion finding would suffice +V19F-bI9eUo-00032-00036553-00038381 But those concerns were minor Sunday as Trump's associates celebrated."This is like Geraldo Rivera and Al Capone's vault all over again," one said, a reference to Rivera's ill-fated live television event unveiling the discovery of the notorious gangster's vault -- which ended up being empty +VUyhLEJlpuu-00000-00000571-00001213 In a recent conversation with the Congressional Black Caucus about welfare reform, Mr +VUyhLEJlpuu-00001-00001213-00002125 Trump gave us a prime example when he seemed legitimately surprised to learn that not all welfare beneficiaries are black +VUyhLEJlpuu-00002-00002125-00003384 .During the discussion, after one member noted that welfare reform would harm her constituents, “not all of whom are black”, an astonished Trump reportedly replied, “Really? Then what are they?” +VUyhLEJlpuu-00003-00003384-00005124 .It was also at this meeting where Trump asked the elected officials if they personally knew Ben Carson (the only black member of his Cabinet) and found it surprising when he learned that they did not, even though Carson had NEVER served in Congress and spent his career as a surgeon +VUyhLEJlpuu-00004-00005124-00006192 President Trump has spent a significant portion of his life in the public eye which means we’ve had plenty of opportunities to hear his ‘thoughts’ on… well, nearly everything +VUyhLEJlpuu-00005-00006192-00007519 The topic of race and racism has come up on more than several occasions and Mr. Trump even has a standard go-to response when asked about his questionable views: “I am the least racist person you’ve ever encountered +VUyhLEJlpuu-00006-00007519-00008436 ” Beyond the unfortunate meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus, there are many MORE times that this sentiment fails to seem sincere +VUyhLEJlpuu-00007-00008436-00010131 From the 1970s and his refusal to rent properties in NYC based on race and ethnicity to the 1980s and ’90s with his frequent off the wall and very public disparaging comments about blacks and Latinos, Trump set the tone for his current behavior +VUyhLEJlpuu-00008-00010131-00012425 Since he has been in the political arena, there are no shortage of abhorrent racial slurs here either; he openly called Haiti and other African countries as “shithole countries”, he has often referred to Mexicans as “rapists” and “bad hombres”, he has frequently denigrated Native Americans, he has publicly befriended white nationalists, and unfortunately this list could go on and on +X6anizp3aFo-00000-00000571-00002271 When it was announced that Michael Cohen would be testifying against Donald Trump for three congressional committees this week, one of them in public, Palmer Report pointed out that there had to be unknown evidence involved, and it would have to surface by the time of Cohen’s testimony +X6anizp3aFo-00001-00002271-00003925 Now we’re getting answers on how that’s going to happen.Our concern was that because Michael Cohen is a frequent liar who has already pleaded guilty to lying to Congress, his testimony this week won’t be given much credibility unless there’s evidence to support what he’s saying +X6anizp3aFo-00002-00003925-00005502 We pointed out that there was no possible way Robert Mueller and/or SDNY would feed Cohen to the wolves by having him walk into his testimony empty handed; we just didn’t know how they’d supply the evidence to make his testimony credible +X6anizp3aFo-00003-00005502-00006688 Now we do.Ken Dilanian reported on MSNBC this morning that Michael Cohen will be bringing documents with him to the hearings that will support his testimony +X6anizp3aFo-00004-00006688-00007616 These documents are apparently going to provide evidence of the sordid and “chilling” stories that Cohen is going to tell about Donald Trump’s life of crime +X6anizp3aFo-00005-00007616-00008854 Here’s what stands out.We can’t imagine a scenario in which Michael Cohen is playing lone ranger here by printing out a few documents from his laptop at random, which wouldn’t help him much +X6anizp3aFo-00006-00008854-00009922 It sounds like Mueller and/or SDNY is coordinating with him on this, and has provided him with the kind of official documents that’ll prove what he’s saying +X6anizp3aFo-00007-00009922-00010601 In other words, we’re in for some real fireworks – and Cohen is bringing the receipts +X9zmarhPU8u-00000-00000571-00001388 The tale of Donald Trump, Deutsche Bank, the Kremlin, and the Buffalo Bills football team continues to grow stranger +X9zmarhPU8u-00001-00001388-00002436 Weeks ago, Michael Cohen publicly accused Trump of lying to the bank about his financial situation, in the hope of convincing it to loan him the money to buy the team +X9zmarhPU8u-00002-00002436-00003131 Now it turns out the bank knew Trump was lying, but was willing to loan him the money anyway +X9zmarhPU8u-00003-00003131-00004209 Wait, what?.This isn’t something that banks do, period. Even corrupt banks don’t do this kind of thing, because there’s nothing to be gained here +X9zmarhPU8u-00004-00004209-00005252 If Donald Trump had managed to buy the Buffalo Bills, his crippled financial situation would have prevented him from being able to keep the team operational +X9zmarhPU8u-00005-00005252-00005949 So he would have had to either dump the team in a fire sale or declare yet another bankruptcy +X9zmarhPU8u-00006-00005949-00006866 Either way, Deutsche Bank would have lost its shirt on the deal.This leads us back to the central question of Donald Trump and Deutsche Bank +X9zmarhPU8u-00007-00006866-00008496 Why would a major bank keep putting itself in financial peril by continuing to make bad loans to a broke criminal who wasn’t paying the money back? The answer keeps coming back to Deutsche Bank’s status during this same timeframe as a massive launderer of Russian money +X9zmarhPU8u-00008-00008496-00009407 It’s not difficult to surmise that Vladimir Putin has been using Deutsche Bank to funnel money to Donald Trump, as a way of controlling him +X9zmarhPU8u-00009-00009407-00010988 The “loans” were never intended to be paid back. So when Deutsche Bank agreed to put itself in a bad financial situation by knowingly loaning Trump the money to buy a Buffalo Bills team he couldn’t afford to keep afloat, it had to have been at Putin’s behest +X9zmarhPU8u-00010-00010988-00011693 On some direct or indirect level, Putin was trying to use Trump to buy an NFL football team