Trump Slams Comey's Leaked Memos Showing Putin Pimping Pros & Comey 'Comedy'
Fri, 04/20/2018 - 05:22 by Tyler Durden Large Data Base, link for full view:
Snip:
FBI Raid on Michael Cohen Part of 'Deep State's Revenge on Trump'
Trump era: Fascist dawn, or road to liberation?
- Thread starter Cosmos
- Start date
Trump Slams Comey's Leaked Memos Showing Putin Pimping Pros & Comey 'Comedy'
Fri, 04/20/2018 - 05:22 by Tyler Durden Large Data Base, link for full view:
Snip:
Nunes, Gowdy, Goodlatte Statement on Comey Memos
Nunes, Gowdy, Goodlatte Statement on Comey Memos
Washington, April 19, 2018
Washington, D.C. – Today House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Ca.), House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) issued the following statement:
"We have long argued former Director Comey's self-styled memos should be in the public domain, subject to any classification redactions. These memos are significant for both what is in them and what is not.
Former Director Comey's memos show the President made clear he wanted allegations of collusion, coordination, and conspiracy between his campaign and Russia fully investigated. The memos also made clear the ‘cloud’ President Trump wanted lifted was not the Russian interference in the 2016 election cloud, rather it was the salacious, unsubstantiated allegations related to personal conduct leveled in the dossier.
The memos also show former Director Comey never wrote that he felt obstructed or threatened. While former Director Comey went to great lengths to set dining room scenes, discuss height requirements, describe the multiple times he felt complimented, and myriad other extraneous facts, he never once mentioned the most relevant fact of all, which was whether he felt obstructed in his investigation.
The memos also make certain what has become increasingly clear of late: former Director Comey has at least two different standards in his interactions with others. He chose not to memorialize conversations with President Obama, Attorney General Lynch, Secretary Clinton, Andrew McCabe or others, but he immediately began to memorialize conversations with President Trump. It is significant former Director Comey made no effort to memorialize conversations with former Attorney General Lynch despite concerns apparently significant enough to warrant his unprecedented appropriation of the charging decision away from her and the Department of Justice in July of 2016.
These memos also lay bare the notion that former Director Comey is not motivated by animus. He was willing to work for someone he deemed morally unsuited for office, capable of lying, requiring of personal loyalty, worthy of impeachment, and sharing the traits of a mob boss. Former Director Comey was willing to overlook all of the aforementioned characteristics in order to keep his job. In his eyes, the real crime was his own firing.
The memos show Comey was blind to biases within the FBI and had terrible judgment with respect to his deputy Andrew McCabe. On multiple occasions he, in his own words, defended the character of McCabe after President Trump questioned McCabe.
Finally, former Director Comey leaked at least one of these memos for the stated purpose of spurring the appointment of Special Counsel, yet he took no steps to spur the appointment of Special Counsel when he had significant concerns about the objectivity of the Department of Justice under Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
As we have consistently said, rather than making a criminal case for obstruction or interference with an ongoing investigation, these memos would be Defense Exhibit A should such a charge be made."
Nunes, Gowdy, Goodlatte Statement on Comey Memos
Washington, April 19, 2018
Washington, D.C. – Today House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Ca.), House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) issued the following statement:
"We have long argued former Director Comey's self-styled memos should be in the public domain, subject to any classification redactions. These memos are significant for both what is in them and what is not.
Former Director Comey's memos show the President made clear he wanted allegations of collusion, coordination, and conspiracy between his campaign and Russia fully investigated. The memos also made clear the ‘cloud’ President Trump wanted lifted was not the Russian interference in the 2016 election cloud, rather it was the salacious, unsubstantiated allegations related to personal conduct leveled in the dossier.
The memos also show former Director Comey never wrote that he felt obstructed or threatened. While former Director Comey went to great lengths to set dining room scenes, discuss height requirements, describe the multiple times he felt complimented, and myriad other extraneous facts, he never once mentioned the most relevant fact of all, which was whether he felt obstructed in his investigation.
The memos also make certain what has become increasingly clear of late: former Director Comey has at least two different standards in his interactions with others. He chose not to memorialize conversations with President Obama, Attorney General Lynch, Secretary Clinton, Andrew McCabe or others, but he immediately began to memorialize conversations with President Trump. It is significant former Director Comey made no effort to memorialize conversations with former Attorney General Lynch despite concerns apparently significant enough to warrant his unprecedented appropriation of the charging decision away from her and the Department of Justice in July of 2016.
These memos also lay bare the notion that former Director Comey is not motivated by animus. He was willing to work for someone he deemed morally unsuited for office, capable of lying, requiring of personal loyalty, worthy of impeachment, and sharing the traits of a mob boss. Former Director Comey was willing to overlook all of the aforementioned characteristics in order to keep his job. In his eyes, the real crime was his own firing.
The memos show Comey was blind to biases within the FBI and had terrible judgment with respect to his deputy Andrew McCabe. On multiple occasions he, in his own words, defended the character of McCabe after President Trump questioned McCabe.
Finally, former Director Comey leaked at least one of these memos for the stated purpose of spurring the appointment of Special Counsel, yet he took no steps to spur the appointment of Special Counsel when he had significant concerns about the objectivity of the Department of Justice under Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
As we have consistently said, rather than making a criminal case for obstruction or interference with an ongoing investigation, these memos would be Defense Exhibit A should such a charge be made."
25th Amendment
Section 1 - In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.
Section 4 - Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.
Could the 25th Amendment Be Trump's Downfall? Here's How It Works
He couldn’t have put it more plainly. On April 13, 1965, in the midst of a congressional debate over the proposed 25th Amendment to the Constitution dealing with presidential succession and incapacity, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Representative Emanuel Celler of New York, dispensed with high-minded legal arguments. They were there, Celler said, to figure out what might be done if the unthinkable–a deranged American President with nuclear weapons–became thinkable. “The President may be as nutty as a fruitcake,” Celler declared on the House floor. “He may be utterly insane.” And for this reason, America needed a plan.
Could the 25th Amendment Be Trump’s Downfall? Here’s How It Works
ABC's 'Designated Survivor' Uses 25th Amendment To Remove President
On the next episode of the ABC show Designated Survivor, the president of the United States faces removal from office after the vice president convinces his cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment on the grounds of mental fitness.
The episode, titled 'Kirkman Agonistes,' is accompanied with the description: "As more content from President Kirkman’s confidential therapy sessions continues to leak out, Vice President Darby meets secretly with the entire Cabinet, resulting in attorney Ethan West (Michael J. Fox) looking into the president’s past – while playing a large role in his future as commander in chief."
Designated Survivor is about a cabinet secretary who was thrust to the presidency after a catastrophic attack on the U.S. Capitol during the State of the Union. The show is in its second season and stars Kiefer Sutherland as President Thomas Kirkman, formerly the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
On Sunday's episode of the Showtime series Homeland, the 25th Amendment was also invoked to stop an "unconstitutional" president.
ABC's 'Designated Survivor' Uses 25th Amendment To Remove President
Sooo - not too hard to see what's happening and I guess this may be the Deep State's preferrable option to impeachment? And, sorry to say, Trump's actions are giving me reason to doubt his level of sanity. Problem is, his replacement!
Worst yet - AI [Skynet?]
AI Just Defeated a Human Fighter Pilot in an Air Combat Simulator
This is getting real.
AI Just Defeated a Human Fighter Pilot in an Air Combat Simulator
And then there's 5G coming online w/ a little help from SpaceX and Bill Gates?
SpaceX launching its first test satellites to bring Internet to billions around the world
SpaceX 's next salvo in the space wars: Launching test satellites to bring the Web to billions
Bill Gates, Airbus and SoftBank invest in satellite video startup that wants to help us ‘see and understand the Earth live and unfiltered’
Bill Gates, Airbus and SoftBank invest in satellite video startup that wants to help us ‘see and understand the Earth live and unfiltered’
Don't you just love that all these technological advances are always to improve/benefit humanity?!! Yeah, Koolaid drinkers, that's what's happening - NOT! Like I said, SKYNET!
SKYNET IS A REAL NSA PROGRAM THAT MAY BE TARGETING INNOCENT PEOPLE
In 2013, Edward Snowden released a tidal wave of classified NSA documents into the public sphere before fleeing the U.S. and certain prosecution. Among the classified information revealed by Snowden were details of an NSA program entitled “SKYNET” (really), which aims to target potential terrorists using metadata and machine learning algorithms. Now, according to an interview between data scientist and executive director of the Human Rights Data Analysis Group, Patrick Ball, and tech news site Ars Technica, the SKYNET program may be targeting thousands of innocent people.
https://nerdist.com/skynet-is-a-real-nsa-program-and-it-may-be-targeting-innocent-people/
5th generation wireless systems, abbreviated 5G, are improved wireless network technologies deploying in 2018 and later.[1] The primary technologies include: Millimeter wave bands (26, 28, 38, and 60 GHz) offer performance as high as 20 gigabits per second[2]; Massive MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output - 64-256 antennas) offers performance "up to ten times current 4G networks;"[3][4][5] "Low-band 5G" and "Mid-band 5G" use frequencies from 600 MHz to 6 GHz, especially 3.5-4.2 GHz.[6][7]
And again, the 5G rollout sounds about as ominous as it gets. There won't be any hiding from this stuff!
Countering Deep State news networks and (TNYT's Carlos Slim)
Apr 19, 2018
Apr 20, 2018
'The View' Crew Denounces House GOP Letter as 'Very Petty Revenge,' Like Benghazi Probe
After Giuliani Joins Trump, Comey Admits Ordering Investigation Because of Rudy
April 21, 2018 at 8:55 (This Video was about MS-13 Ordering hits on New Police and just got scrubbed)
https://www.youtubame.com/watch?v=44_nDLyR3G8
(Found another one)
Man wearing 'MAGA' hat, Trump shirt attacks Hispanic subway rider in New York, police say abc DSN'SN
April 22, 2018
What If A Nuke Goes Off In DC: Science Mag Simulates "The Unthinkable"
Tyler Durden Sat, 04/21/2018 - 22:05
Apr 20, 2018
'The View' Crew Denounces House GOP Letter as 'Very Petty Revenge,' Like Benghazi Probe
After Giuliani Joins Trump, Comey Admits Ordering Investigation Because of Rudy
April 21, 2018 at 8:55 (This Video was about MS-13 Ordering hits on New Police and just got scrubbed)
https://www.youtubame.com/watch?v=44_nDLyR3G8
Man wearing 'MAGA' hat, Trump shirt attacks Hispanic subway rider in New York, police say abc DSN'SN
http://abcnews.go.com/US/man-wearing-maga-hat-trump-shirt-attacks-hispanic/story?id=54642028April 22, 2018
What If A Nuke Goes Off In DC: Science Mag Simulates "The Unthinkable"
Tyler Durden Sat, 04/21/2018 - 22:05
Last edited:
Trump poised for major makeover of liberal 9th Circuit court
April 24, 2018 Video / How President Trump could reshape the 9th Circuit
Published on Apr 23, 2018
Former U.S. attorney on the state of Russia Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation and democrats' recently filed lawsuit.
Edit Added:
Published on Apr 23, 2018
April 24, 2018 Video / How President Trump could reshape the 9th Circuit
Former U.S. attorney on the state of Russia Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation and democrats' recently filed lawsuit.
Edit Added:
Last edited:
I can't disagree that the onus is ultimately on the American people, however by and large, they are truly good people. They are just slow to wake up because of several factors: First of all the programming runs deep; the great experiment in freedom and democracy, land of the free, home of the brave, defender of the free world etc. Secondly, they can't grasp the true nature of western media. We're not shown the death and destruction taking place 'over there.' They really haven't understood that the narrative of world events being presented to them is pretty much 180 degrees from the truth. But as the juxtaposition between what the USA is supposed to be about and what the reality actually is grows larger, people are going to wake up. It's already happening.
I think this goes back to Haidt's work (thread) that @Pashalis already mentioned. The war issue is actually interesting, because here, the reasonable conservatives and the reasonable lefties have common ground: they both oppose imperial wars. The left/liberal types tend to argue more like you - have compassion for these poor people who are being killed, it's not fair etc. The conservatives may come at it more from a protectionist mindset (maybe because they are more loyal to their ingroup) - my country, my borders, let's make America great again instead of meddling with other countries that have nothing to do with us. And certainly don't kill our soldiers in needless wars. I don't think these conservative reasons are "worse" than the liberal reasons that focus more on compassion - these are different perspectives and both deliver valid reasons against imperial wars!
What's also interesting is that both these mindsets, both these "moral taste-buds" can be manipulated. For the liberals, it's the concept of "humanitarian intervention" - they just show dead babies on TV for days, blame some "evil dictator" and the libs go "bomb this monster!". For the conservatives, it's more as we have seen after 9/11 - these foreign, Muslim bastards are out to get you hard-working Americans and destroy your culture, we need to defend our heritage! So, off we go to another war.
At this point though, as far as I can see, it's not so much the conservative manipulation at play, but the liberal one - it's always the brutal dictator slaughtering children that needs to be stopped. Interesting to note that it seemed easy for Hillary to use this trick with Libya, yet Trump seems to have a harder time selling this stuff to his conservative supporters. Maybe because they are very different from the libs and lack this single-minded focus on compassion with all and everything that can be easily manipulated?
Kanye Fires Manager, Tweets His Way Through "Meltdown" As Trump Thanks For "Dragon Energy" Tweet
by Tyler Durden Wed, 04/25/2018 - 15:50
Ever since rapper Kanye West praised a conservative black woman and reaffirmed his support for Donald Trump to his nearly 28 million Twitter followers, the knives have been out for the beleaguered impresario - as his mostly liberal, mostly millennial base struggles to reconcile one of their favorite safe space poets supporting a president they've been programmed to hate. His subreddit, for example, is a trainwreck of fans not knowing which emotion to register.
Less than a week after West's nearly year-long break from Twitter, the controversial hip-hop star who endorsed Donald Trump in the 2016 election tweeted his support on Saturday for black pro-Trump conservative, Candace Owens
MEDIA987696355341553665
Owens is the director of urban engagement for Turning Point USA, and feels that black Americans are "slaves on the Democratic Party plantation."
He’s had huge blow-ups with Kris. She sees how erratic he’s acting and is most concerned about her daughter’s brand. She’s also trying to be a good mother-in-law, so he’s having explosive issues with her too,” a source close to the situation tells PEOPLE exclusively. “Everyone is really, really worried.” -People
MEDIA988926261194964992
People magazine. Watch how you speak my name. You would love a pair of Yeezys. Don't play yourself.
7:45 AM - 25 Apr 2018
[B][SIZE=3]Based Monitored [/SIZE][/B][B]🇺🇸[/B][B]🇮🇪[/B] @[B]BasedMonitored[/B]
.
MEDIA989180979985166338
Then there's Page Six reporting "Fears for Kanye's health emerge" after West tweeted that he fired his manager, Scooter Braun. Check out how this little hit piece begins:
Kanye West canceled 21 tour dates in 2016 after suffering a “nervous breakdown,” but there are new fears for his health after he abruptly fired manager Scooter Braun and a “friend” claimed West had been addicted to opioids. -Page Six
That "friend," was none other than Hot 97 host Ebro Darden - who told listeners he had spoken with West, who allegedly told him "Nobody really showed love for me when I was addicted to opioids and in the hospital."Then Page Six notes that West could be in legal trouble if the 21 canceled tour dates were a result of drug use - as the rapper filed and won a 2017 lawsuit against Lloyd's of London for $10 million to cover the canceled tour.
Buried in the article, "a source close to West tells Page Six they were “doubtful” he was hospitalized for opioid use and “disappointed” Darden made those claims on-air."
In response to Ebro's claim, West called into the show and told the host "I love you."
Kanye West Calls Into Ebro In The Morning; Tells Ebro 'I Love You'
In response to one of West's most recent tweets stating "You don't have to agree with trump but the mob can't make me not love him. We are both dragon energy. He is my brother. I love everyone. I don't agree with everything anyone does. That's what makes us individuals. And we have the right to independent thought.," Trump replied "Thank you Kanye, very cool!"
At the end of the day, West may be an unfiltered artist with a giant ego who fires off grandiose edicts over Twitter. That said, it's been interesting to watch how the MSM and their various tentacles try their best to cast him into irrelevancy.
Malcolm X Quote:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DbWcCzhWkAAc76h.jpg
angelburst29
The Living Force
April 23, 2018 - William Shakespeare and the New World Order: “Hell is Empty and all the Devils are Here”
https://www.globalresearch.ca/willi...ll-is-empty-and-all-the-devils-are-here/30493
Today is Shakespeare’s birthday: 23 April.
William Shakespeare, born 23 April 1564 (unconfirmed), baptised 26 April 1564, died 23 April 1616. It is also the 402nd anniversary of his death.
We celebrate the 454th anniversary of the birth of of William Shakespeare. who taught us never to despair in our resolve to Seek the Truth and Confront the Lie.
“And thus I clothe my naked villany, … And seem a saint, when most I play the devil.” (Shakespeare, in the words of King Richard III)
Those committed to “security by military means” have taken charge of the Nobel Peace Prize…
Realities are turned upside down.
War becomes Peace.
“Humanitarian wars” are waged with the most advanced weapons systems to come to the rescue of those who suffer oppression.
“The international community” is the repository of the “Truth”, which can no longer be challenged. The American inquisition prevails.
An unbinding political consensus is imposed.
Those who dare oppose “Peace” and NATO’s “Responsibility to Protect” (R2P) are branded as terrorists.
Bad guys are lurking. Evil terrorists with kalashnikovs are threatening the security of the United States of America and its trillion dollar arsenal of “peace-making” nuclear weapons, which according to expert scientific opinion on contract to the Pentagon, are “harmless to the surrounding civilian population”.
A good versus evil dichotomy prevails: a “Clash of Civilisations”.
The West has a “Mission”: “We must fight against evil in all its forms as a means to preserving the Western way of life.” The perpetrators of war are presented as the victims.
Breaking the Lie means breaking a criminal project of global destruction, in which the quest for profit is the overriding force.
When the Lie Becomes the Truth, There is no Turning Backwards
This profit-driven military agenda destroys human values and transforms people into unconscious zombies.
Let us reverse the tide.
In Shakespeare’s words regarding the architects of the New World Order:
“Hell is empty and all the devils are here.”
Our indelible task is to send the “devils” of our time (Trump, May, Clinton et al), the self-proclaimed architects of democracy and the “free market”, down to where they rightfully belong.
Break the American Inquisition.
Undermine the US-NATO-Israel military crusade.
Close down the weapons factories and the military bases.
Members of the armed forces should disobey orders and refuse to participate in a criminal war. Bring home the troops.
April 25, 2018 - The Democratic Party’s War History and the U.S. Congress’ 2018 Authority for the Use of Military Force (AUMF)
https://www.globalresearch.ca/the-d...ty-for-the-use-of-military-force-aumf/5637761
If there is any surprise that Senate Democrats, most of whom are virtually indistinguishable from pro-war Republicans, are about to coalesce in support of the newest version of the Authority for the Use of Military Force of 2018 (AUMF), then you have seriously not been paying attention.
The proposed AUMF of 2018 would replace AUMF 2001 and repeal AUMF 2002 while it will codify an “uninterrupted authority to use all necessary and appropriate force in armed conflict” against the Taliban, al Qaeda, ISIS and as yet unidentified “designated associated forces” who might “pose a grave threat to the US” in whatever country they occupy.
Since its adoption in 2001 within days of the 911 attack, the AUMF has served to justify every expansion of the US military’s role in the Middle East with every relevant Congressional oversight committee acting as little more than a syncopation of bobbing heads.
The AUMF 2018 offers no restriction on military ops and no expiration or sunshine date while it abdicates all Congressional statutory war making authority as defined in the Constitution to the executive branch with no meaningful oversight or accountability. In other words, the AUMF 2018 represents a complete capitulation to the MIC in a permanent continuation of almost two decades of “forever war” ostensibly in the Middle East for future generations of American troops as the country is driven deeper into an indisputable ditch of financial insolvency and a wicked, amoral quagmire at home.
It has been fifty years since Congressional Democrats were in the vanguard of the anti-Vietnam war movement. Since the 1960’s few elected Democrats have dared challenge the party leadership to speak for peace or challenge any administration’s military interventionist policy and yet it is the Democratic party which claims the moral high ground.
Still instructive is an analysis of the October, 2002 Congressional AUMF resolution approving GW Bush’s grotesque invasion of Iraq. The original AUMF was adopted by Congress three days after the 911 attacks with Senate Democratic Majority Leader Tom Daschle (SD) shepherding the resolution to enactment as its primary sponsor. The Senate approved the use of military force in Iraq with a 77 – 23 and House approval was on vote of 296 – 133. In both houses, Democratic ‘liberals’ provided the necessary cushion of support for the resolution which initiated the next 17 years of extreme civil devastation, death and destruction throughout the Middle East and a US indebtedness crisis that threatens a massive financial implosion.
And yet there appears to be no accountability aimed at those alleged ‘liberals’ still in office who continue to support funding for every Defense appropriations bill with no regard for any consequences.
It may come as a shock to loyalist Democrats that the majority of every major war in the 20th Century was initiated and/or conducted under a Democratic president. WW I aficionados can thank Woodrow Wilson, the revered FDR took the US into WWII, the unprepared Truman allowed the use of atomic weapons on the civilian population of Nagasaki and Hiroshima before initiating the Korean War in 1950 and LBJ’s escalation in Vietnam became a metaphor for his Great Society. In the early 1990’s, with NATO acting as its proxy, the Clinton Administration initiated a military effort to break up the non-aligned socialist Yugoslavia ending the decade with ‘humanitarian bombing’ that devastated the civilian population while disintegrating the once-prosperous country.
On the other hand, former President Jimmy Carter, a volunteer with Habitat for Humanity since leaving office, can proudly assert that
There is something more than a cosmic coincidence going on here as all those aforementioned Democratic Presidents are today considered by party loyalists to be ‘liberal’ on the ideological spectrum.
Introduced by Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn), retiring Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, AUMF 2018 is co-sponsored by Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va), Chris Coons (Del) and Bill Nelson (Fl). Kaine, HRC’s vice president candidate, and Coons serve on Foreign Relations while Nelson is on the Armed Services Committee. Kaine and Nelson are both up for re-election this year as are three other Democrats on the committee; Sens. Menendez (NJ), Chris Murphy (Conn) and Cardin (Maryland). In addition, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Az) who also serves on Foreign Relations, has opted to not seek re-election.
Corker has indicated that a potential Senate floor vote depends on the strength of AUMF support within the Foreign Relations Committee and that a wide margin in favor would facilitate Senate floor passage. Sen. Rand Paul (R-SC) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (Oregon) have announced their opposition to the resolution. Foreign Relation Committee members who attended the recent 2018 AIPAC Policy Conference included Senators Cardin (D-Md), Coons (De), Menendez (NJ), Marco Rubio (R-Fl), Rob Portman (R-Oh) as well as Sen. Tom Cotton (Ak) who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Can there be a more pathetically farcical example of the “world’s greatest legislative body” so utterly devoid of conscience, so disconnected from life’s reality with no awareness of their own culpability for war crimes. As the committee deliberates on whether to lessen its Constitutional responsibilities and lighten its legislative duties, approval of the AUMF 2018 will confirm the public’s perception that, despite a cushy career with great benefits, the Congress is a completely irrelevant and obsolete forum.
https://www.globalresearch.ca/willi...ll-is-empty-and-all-the-devils-are-here/30493
Today is Shakespeare’s birthday: 23 April.
William Shakespeare, born 23 April 1564 (unconfirmed), baptised 26 April 1564, died 23 April 1616. It is also the 402nd anniversary of his death.
We celebrate the 454th anniversary of the birth of of William Shakespeare. who taught us never to despair in our resolve to Seek the Truth and Confront the Lie.
“to unmask falsehood and bring truth to light”.
Signs of our times: war criminals in high office are celebrated as messengers of peace:“And thus I clothe my naked villany, … And seem a saint, when most I play the devil.” (Shakespeare, in the words of King Richard III)
Those committed to “security by military means” have taken charge of the Nobel Peace Prize…
“Lawless are they that make their wills their law”.
The Lie becomes the Truth.Realities are turned upside down.
War becomes Peace.
“Humanitarian wars” are waged with the most advanced weapons systems to come to the rescue of those who suffer oppression.
“The international community” is the repository of the “Truth”, which can no longer be challenged. The American inquisition prevails.
An unbinding political consensus is imposed.
Those who dare oppose “Peace” and NATO’s “Responsibility to Protect” (R2P) are branded as terrorists.
Bad guys are lurking. Evil terrorists with kalashnikovs are threatening the security of the United States of America and its trillion dollar arsenal of “peace-making” nuclear weapons, which according to expert scientific opinion on contract to the Pentagon, are “harmless to the surrounding civilian population”.
A good versus evil dichotomy prevails: a “Clash of Civilisations”.
The West has a “Mission”: “We must fight against evil in all its forms as a means to preserving the Western way of life.” The perpetrators of war are presented as the victims.
Breaking the Lie means breaking a criminal project of global destruction, in which the quest for profit is the overriding force.
When the Lie Becomes the Truth, There is no Turning Backwards
This profit-driven military agenda destroys human values and transforms people into unconscious zombies.
Let us reverse the tide.
In Shakespeare’s words regarding the architects of the New World Order:
“Hell is empty and all the devils are here.”
Our indelible task is to send the “devils” of our time (Trump, May, Clinton et al), the self-proclaimed architects of democracy and the “free market”, down to where they rightfully belong.
“One may smile, and smile, and be a villain!”
Challenge the “smiling” war criminals in high office and the powerful corporate lobby groups which support them.Break the American Inquisition.
Undermine the US-NATO-Israel military crusade.
Close down the weapons factories and the military bases.
Members of the armed forces should disobey orders and refuse to participate in a criminal war. Bring home the troops.
April 25, 2018 - The Democratic Party’s War History and the U.S. Congress’ 2018 Authority for the Use of Military Force (AUMF)
https://www.globalresearch.ca/the-d...ty-for-the-use-of-military-force-aumf/5637761
If there is any surprise that Senate Democrats, most of whom are virtually indistinguishable from pro-war Republicans, are about to coalesce in support of the newest version of the Authority for the Use of Military Force of 2018 (AUMF), then you have seriously not been paying attention.
The proposed AUMF of 2018 would replace AUMF 2001 and repeal AUMF 2002 while it will codify an “uninterrupted authority to use all necessary and appropriate force in armed conflict” against the Taliban, al Qaeda, ISIS and as yet unidentified “designated associated forces” who might “pose a grave threat to the US” in whatever country they occupy.
Since its adoption in 2001 within days of the 911 attack, the AUMF has served to justify every expansion of the US military’s role in the Middle East with every relevant Congressional oversight committee acting as little more than a syncopation of bobbing heads.
The AUMF 2018 offers no restriction on military ops and no expiration or sunshine date while it abdicates all Congressional statutory war making authority as defined in the Constitution to the executive branch with no meaningful oversight or accountability. In other words, the AUMF 2018 represents a complete capitulation to the MIC in a permanent continuation of almost two decades of “forever war” ostensibly in the Middle East for future generations of American troops as the country is driven deeper into an indisputable ditch of financial insolvency and a wicked, amoral quagmire at home.
It has been fifty years since Congressional Democrats were in the vanguard of the anti-Vietnam war movement. Since the 1960’s few elected Democrats have dared challenge the party leadership to speak for peace or challenge any administration’s military interventionist policy and yet it is the Democratic party which claims the moral high ground.
Still instructive is an analysis of the October, 2002 Congressional AUMF resolution approving GW Bush’s grotesque invasion of Iraq. The original AUMF was adopted by Congress three days after the 911 attacks with Senate Democratic Majority Leader Tom Daschle (SD) shepherding the resolution to enactment as its primary sponsor. The Senate approved the use of military force in Iraq with a 77 – 23 and House approval was on vote of 296 – 133. In both houses, Democratic ‘liberals’ provided the necessary cushion of support for the resolution which initiated the next 17 years of extreme civil devastation, death and destruction throughout the Middle East and a US indebtedness crisis that threatens a massive financial implosion.
And yet there appears to be no accountability aimed at those alleged ‘liberals’ still in office who continue to support funding for every Defense appropriations bill with no regard for any consequences.
It may come as a shock to loyalist Democrats that the majority of every major war in the 20th Century was initiated and/or conducted under a Democratic president. WW I aficionados can thank Woodrow Wilson, the revered FDR took the US into WWII, the unprepared Truman allowed the use of atomic weapons on the civilian population of Nagasaki and Hiroshima before initiating the Korean War in 1950 and LBJ’s escalation in Vietnam became a metaphor for his Great Society. In the early 1990’s, with NATO acting as its proxy, the Clinton Administration initiated a military effort to break up the non-aligned socialist Yugoslavia ending the decade with ‘humanitarian bombing’ that devastated the civilian population while disintegrating the once-prosperous country.
On the other hand, former President Jimmy Carter, a volunteer with Habitat for Humanity since leaving office, can proudly assert that
“We kept our country at peace. We never went to war. We never dropped a bomb. We never fired a bullet.”
Most recently, is Barack Obama, who campaigned as a Constitutional scholar and whose fraudulent 2009 Noble Peace Prize was awarded prior to a bombing spree on seven Islamic countries. During his eight years in office, Obama dropped over 26,000 bombs in his last year in office including a multitude of drone strikes, established a Tuesday morning assassination list and began war in four countries living in peace when he took office in 2008.There is something more than a cosmic coincidence going on here as all those aforementioned Democratic Presidents are today considered by party loyalists to be ‘liberal’ on the ideological spectrum.
Introduced by Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn), retiring Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, AUMF 2018 is co-sponsored by Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va), Chris Coons (Del) and Bill Nelson (Fl). Kaine, HRC’s vice president candidate, and Coons serve on Foreign Relations while Nelson is on the Armed Services Committee. Kaine and Nelson are both up for re-election this year as are three other Democrats on the committee; Sens. Menendez (NJ), Chris Murphy (Conn) and Cardin (Maryland). In addition, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Az) who also serves on Foreign Relations, has opted to not seek re-election.
Corker has indicated that a potential Senate floor vote depends on the strength of AUMF support within the Foreign Relations Committee and that a wide margin in favor would facilitate Senate floor passage. Sen. Rand Paul (R-SC) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (Oregon) have announced their opposition to the resolution. Foreign Relation Committee members who attended the recent 2018 AIPAC Policy Conference included Senators Cardin (D-Md), Coons (De), Menendez (NJ), Marco Rubio (R-Fl), Rob Portman (R-Oh) as well as Sen. Tom Cotton (Ak) who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Can there be a more pathetically farcical example of the “world’s greatest legislative body” so utterly devoid of conscience, so disconnected from life’s reality with no awareness of their own culpability for war crimes. As the committee deliberates on whether to lessen its Constitutional responsibilities and lighten its legislative duties, approval of the AUMF 2018 will confirm the public’s perception that, despite a cushy career with great benefits, the Congress is a completely irrelevant and obsolete forum.
angelburst29
The Living Force
Breaking News 155 
North's Kim and South's Moon shake hands over demarcation line: TV
26 April 2018 - North's Kim and South's Moon shake hands over demarcation line: TV
GOYANG, South Korea: With a single step over a weathered, cracked slab of concrete, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made history Friday by crossing over the world’s most heavily armed border to greet his rival, South Korean President Moon Jae-in, for talks on North Korea’s nuclear weapons. Kim then invited Moon to cross briefly north with him before they returned to the southern side.
Those small steps must be seen in the context of the last year — when the United States, its ally South Korea and the North seemed at times to be on the verge of nuclear war as the North unleashed a torrent of weapons tests — but also in light of the long, destructive history of the rival Koreas, who fought one of the 20th century’s bloodiest conflicts and even today occupy a divided peninsula that’s still technically in a state of war.
It was all smiles Friday as Moon grasped Kim’s hand and led him along an blindingly red carpet into South Korean territory, where school children placed flowers around their necks and an honor guard stood at attention for inspection.
Beyond the surface, however, it’s still not clear whether the leaders can make any progress in closed-door talks on the nuclear issue, which has bedeviled US and South Korean officials for decades. North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests last year likely put it on the threshold of becoming a legitimate nuclear power. North Korea claims it has already risen to that level.
Kim’s news agency said that the leader would “open-heartedly” discuss with Moon “all the issues arising in improving inter-Korean relations and achieving peace, prosperity and reunification of the Korean peninsula” in a “historic” summit. It’s the first time one of the ruling Kim leaders has crossed over to the southern side of the Demilitarized Zone since the Korean War ended in 1953.
The greeting of the two leaders was planned to the last detail. Thousands of journalists were kept in a huge conference center well away from the summit, except for a small group of tightly-controlled pool reporters at the border. Moon stood near the Koreas’ dividing line, moving forward the moment he glimpsed Kim appearing in front of a building on the northern side. They shook hands with the border line between them. Moon then invited Kim to cross into the South; Kim invited Moon into the North, and they then took a ceremonial photo facing the North and then another photo facing the South.
Two fifth-grade students from the Daesongdong Elementary School, the only South Korean school within the DMZ, greeted the leaders and gave them flowers. Kim and Moon then saluted an honor guard and military band, and Moon introduced Kim to South Korean government officials. Kim returned the favor with the North Korean officials accompanying him. They were to take a photo inside the Peace House, where the summit was to take place, in front of a painting of South Korea’s Bukhan Mountain, which towers over the South Korean Blue House presidential mansion.
Nuclear weapons will top the agenda, and Friday’s summit will be the clearest sign yet of whether it’s possible to peacefully negotiate those weapons away from a country that has spent decades doggedly building its bombs despite crippling sanctions and near-constant international opprobrium.
Expectations are generally low, given that past so-called breakthroughs on North Korea’s weapons have collapsed amid acrimonious charges of cheating and bad faith. Skeptics of engagement have long said that the North often turns to interminable rounds of diplomacy meant to ease the pain of sanctions — giving it time to perfect its weapons and win aid for unfulfilled nuclear promises.
Advocates of engagement say the only way to get a deal is to do what the Koreas will try Friday: Sit down and see what’s possible.
Moon, a liberal whose election last year ended a decade of conservative rule in Seoul, will be looking to make some headway on the North’s nuclear program in advance of a planned summit in several weeks between Kim and US President Donald Trump.
Kim, the third member of his family to rule his nation with absolute power, is eager, both in this meeting and in the Trump talks, to talk about the nearly 30,000 heavily armed US troops stationed in South Korea and the lack of a formal peace treaty ending the Korea War — two factors, the North says, that make nuclear weapons necessary.
North Korea may also be looking to use whatever happens in the talks with Moon to set up the Trump summit, which it may see as a way to legitimize its declared status as a nuclear power.
One possible outcome Friday, aside from a rise in general goodwill between the countries, could be a proposal for a North Korean freeze of its weapons ahead of later denuclearization.
Seoul and Washington will be pushing for any freeze to be accompanied by rigorous and unfettered outside inspections of the North’s nuclear facilities, since past deals have crumbled because of North Korea’s unwillingness to open up to snooping foreigners.
South Korea, in announcing Thursday some details of the leaders’ meeting, acknowledged that the most difficult sticking point between the Koreas has been North Korea’s level of denuclearization commitment. Kim has reportedly said that he wouldn’t need nuclear weapons if his government’s security could be guaranteed and external threats were removed.
Whatever the Koreas announce Friday, the spectacle of Kim being feted on South Korean soil will be something to behold.
Kim and Moon will be enjoying each other’s company in the jointly controlled village of Panmunjom near the spot where a defecting North Korean soldier recently fled south
North's Kim and South's Moon shake hands over demarcation line: TV
26 April 2018 - North's Kim and South's Moon shake hands over demarcation line: TV
GOYANG, South Korea: With a single step over a weathered, cracked slab of concrete, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made history Friday by crossing over the world’s most heavily armed border to greet his rival, South Korean President Moon Jae-in, for talks on North Korea’s nuclear weapons. Kim then invited Moon to cross briefly north with him before they returned to the southern side.
Those small steps must be seen in the context of the last year — when the United States, its ally South Korea and the North seemed at times to be on the verge of nuclear war as the North unleashed a torrent of weapons tests — but also in light of the long, destructive history of the rival Koreas, who fought one of the 20th century’s bloodiest conflicts and even today occupy a divided peninsula that’s still technically in a state of war.
It was all smiles Friday as Moon grasped Kim’s hand and led him along an blindingly red carpet into South Korean territory, where school children placed flowers around their necks and an honor guard stood at attention for inspection.
Beyond the surface, however, it’s still not clear whether the leaders can make any progress in closed-door talks on the nuclear issue, which has bedeviled US and South Korean officials for decades. North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests last year likely put it on the threshold of becoming a legitimate nuclear power. North Korea claims it has already risen to that level.
Kim’s news agency said that the leader would “open-heartedly” discuss with Moon “all the issues arising in improving inter-Korean relations and achieving peace, prosperity and reunification of the Korean peninsula” in a “historic” summit. It’s the first time one of the ruling Kim leaders has crossed over to the southern side of the Demilitarized Zone since the Korean War ended in 1953.
The greeting of the two leaders was planned to the last detail. Thousands of journalists were kept in a huge conference center well away from the summit, except for a small group of tightly-controlled pool reporters at the border. Moon stood near the Koreas’ dividing line, moving forward the moment he glimpsed Kim appearing in front of a building on the northern side. They shook hands with the border line between them. Moon then invited Kim to cross into the South; Kim invited Moon into the North, and they then took a ceremonial photo facing the North and then another photo facing the South.
Two fifth-grade students from the Daesongdong Elementary School, the only South Korean school within the DMZ, greeted the leaders and gave them flowers. Kim and Moon then saluted an honor guard and military band, and Moon introduced Kim to South Korean government officials. Kim returned the favor with the North Korean officials accompanying him. They were to take a photo inside the Peace House, where the summit was to take place, in front of a painting of South Korea’s Bukhan Mountain, which towers over the South Korean Blue House presidential mansion.
Nuclear weapons will top the agenda, and Friday’s summit will be the clearest sign yet of whether it’s possible to peacefully negotiate those weapons away from a country that has spent decades doggedly building its bombs despite crippling sanctions and near-constant international opprobrium.
Expectations are generally low, given that past so-called breakthroughs on North Korea’s weapons have collapsed amid acrimonious charges of cheating and bad faith. Skeptics of engagement have long said that the North often turns to interminable rounds of diplomacy meant to ease the pain of sanctions — giving it time to perfect its weapons and win aid for unfulfilled nuclear promises.
Advocates of engagement say the only way to get a deal is to do what the Koreas will try Friday: Sit down and see what’s possible.
Moon, a liberal whose election last year ended a decade of conservative rule in Seoul, will be looking to make some headway on the North’s nuclear program in advance of a planned summit in several weeks between Kim and US President Donald Trump.
Kim, the third member of his family to rule his nation with absolute power, is eager, both in this meeting and in the Trump talks, to talk about the nearly 30,000 heavily armed US troops stationed in South Korea and the lack of a formal peace treaty ending the Korea War — two factors, the North says, that make nuclear weapons necessary.
North Korea may also be looking to use whatever happens in the talks with Moon to set up the Trump summit, which it may see as a way to legitimize its declared status as a nuclear power.
One possible outcome Friday, aside from a rise in general goodwill between the countries, could be a proposal for a North Korean freeze of its weapons ahead of later denuclearization.
Seoul and Washington will be pushing for any freeze to be accompanied by rigorous and unfettered outside inspections of the North’s nuclear facilities, since past deals have crumbled because of North Korea’s unwillingness to open up to snooping foreigners.
South Korea, in announcing Thursday some details of the leaders’ meeting, acknowledged that the most difficult sticking point between the Koreas has been North Korea’s level of denuclearization commitment. Kim has reportedly said that he wouldn’t need nuclear weapons if his government’s security could be guaranteed and external threats were removed.
Whatever the Koreas announce Friday, the spectacle of Kim being feted on South Korean soil will be something to behold.
Kim and Moon will be enjoying each other’s company in the jointly controlled village of Panmunjom near the spot where a defecting North Korean soldier recently fled south
angelburst29
The Living Force
28.04.2018 - Far East, High Aims: Russia Reportedly Emerges as Kim - Trump Talks
Far East, High Aims: Russia Reportedly Emerges as Venue for Kim-Trump Talks
With US President Donald Trump promising to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un "in the coming weeks," the location of the summit has yet to be announced, leaving space for speculation.
The South Korean TV channel YTN cited a diplomatic source as saying that a possible summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un may take place in Vladivostok or Khabarovsk in the Russian Far East.
The source said that while Singapore remains the most preferable option for the United States, Pyongyang would like to pick a not-so-remote location that could be reached by railway rather than plane.
North Korea's location of choice could be the Russian city of Vladivostok, the source said, claiming that it was in Vladivostok that the Russian S-400 missile systems were deployed to potentially repel US attacks.
This is why the summit may instead take place in Khabarovsk, another Russian Far Eastern city, according to YTN.
Earlier, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that the local authorities had not received an official request from Washington or Pyongyang to hold a summit in his country.
He did not rule out that such agreements could have been concluded between the US and the DPRK, but he doubted that the parties "came to a final decision" regarding the summit's location.
CBS News in turn reported that "Mongolia and Singapore are the final two sites under consideration for the upcoming summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un."
Trump has, meanwhile, tweeted that he had held talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and that the details of his meeting with the North Korean leader are still being discussed.
Earlier, Trump told a press conference after speaking with German Chancellor Angela Merkel that he "will be meeting with Kim Jong-un in the coming weeks." The remarks came a few days after Trump announced that high level talks had taken place between CIA Director Mike Pompeo and Kim Jong-un in North Korea.
28.04.2018 - One Person Injured after Fire Erupts in Trump Tower Building in Baku (Video)
One Person Injured After Fire Erupts in Trump Tower Building in Baku (VIDEO)
A fire had broken out in the 33-story Trump Tower skyscraper in Azerbaijan's capital Baku, which is still under construction.
One person was intoxicated with smoke and had to be transported to hospital after a fire had erupted in the Trump Tower building on Saturday.
Firefighters managed to extinguish the fire, but the cause of it is still unclear.
The footage, which has been released by one of the witnesses, shows a plume of smoke rising from the building.
(0:56 min.)
(1:40 min.)
The skyscraper, at 130 meters in height, is one of the five highest buildings in Azerbaijan.
Construction of the building began in 2008 and by the year 2015, all external work on the facade of the building was completed.
In 2016, after the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States, the "Trump Tower" was removed from the name of the building.
28.04.2018 - Trump says Special Counsel should never been Appointed to Probe Russia Collusion
Trump Says Special Counsel Should Never Been Appointed to Probe Russia Collusion
US President Donald Trump on Friday bashed the Justice Department for appointing a special counsel to probe claims of his collusion with Russia after a year-long inquiry by a House committee found no proof.
"House Intelligence Committee rules that there was NO COLLUSION between the Trump Campaign and Russia. As I have been saying all along, it is all a big Hoax by the Democrats based on payments and lies. There should never have been a Special Councel appointed. Witch Hunt!" he tweeted.
As Sputnik reported earlier, the US House Intelligence Committee “did not find any evidence of collusion, conspiracy or coordination between the Trump campaign and the Russians,” according to the 253-page report on “Russian meddling” that was declassified in a redacted version Friday.
House Intelligence Committee rules that there was NO COLLUSION between the Trump Campaign and Russia. As I have been saying all along, it is all a big Hoax by the Democrats based on payments and lies. There should never have been a Special Councel appointed. Witch Hunt!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 28 апреля 2018 г.
"While the committee found no evidence that the Trump campaign colluded, coordinated or conspired with the Russian government, the investigation did find poor judgment and ill-considered actions by the Trump and Clinton campaigns," the report, written by House Republicans, states.
Far East, High Aims: Russia Reportedly Emerges as Venue for Kim-Trump Talks
With US President Donald Trump promising to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un "in the coming weeks," the location of the summit has yet to be announced, leaving space for speculation.
The South Korean TV channel YTN cited a diplomatic source as saying that a possible summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un may take place in Vladivostok or Khabarovsk in the Russian Far East.
The source said that while Singapore remains the most preferable option for the United States, Pyongyang would like to pick a not-so-remote location that could be reached by railway rather than plane.
North Korea's location of choice could be the Russian city of Vladivostok, the source said, claiming that it was in Vladivostok that the Russian S-400 missile systems were deployed to potentially repel US attacks.
This is why the summit may instead take place in Khabarovsk, another Russian Far Eastern city, according to YTN.
Earlier, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that the local authorities had not received an official request from Washington or Pyongyang to hold a summit in his country.
He did not rule out that such agreements could have been concluded between the US and the DPRK, but he doubted that the parties "came to a final decision" regarding the summit's location.
CBS News in turn reported that "Mongolia and Singapore are the final two sites under consideration for the upcoming summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un."
Trump has, meanwhile, tweeted that he had held talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and that the details of his meeting with the North Korean leader are still being discussed.
Earlier, Trump told a press conference after speaking with German Chancellor Angela Merkel that he "will be meeting with Kim Jong-un in the coming weeks." The remarks came a few days after Trump announced that high level talks had taken place between CIA Director Mike Pompeo and Kim Jong-un in North Korea.
28.04.2018 - One Person Injured after Fire Erupts in Trump Tower Building in Baku (Video)
One Person Injured After Fire Erupts in Trump Tower Building in Baku (VIDEO)
A fire had broken out in the 33-story Trump Tower skyscraper in Azerbaijan's capital Baku, which is still under construction.
One person was intoxicated with smoke and had to be transported to hospital after a fire had erupted in the Trump Tower building on Saturday.
Firefighters managed to extinguish the fire, but the cause of it is still unclear.
The footage, which has been released by one of the witnesses, shows a plume of smoke rising from the building.
The skyscraper, at 130 meters in height, is one of the five highest buildings in Azerbaijan.
Construction of the building began in 2008 and by the year 2015, all external work on the facade of the building was completed.
In 2016, after the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States, the "Trump Tower" was removed from the name of the building.
28.04.2018 - Trump says Special Counsel should never been Appointed to Probe Russia Collusion
Trump Says Special Counsel Should Never Been Appointed to Probe Russia Collusion
US President Donald Trump on Friday bashed the Justice Department for appointing a special counsel to probe claims of his collusion with Russia after a year-long inquiry by a House committee found no proof.
"House Intelligence Committee rules that there was NO COLLUSION between the Trump Campaign and Russia. As I have been saying all along, it is all a big Hoax by the Democrats based on payments and lies. There should never have been a Special Councel appointed. Witch Hunt!" he tweeted.
As Sputnik reported earlier, the US House Intelligence Committee “did not find any evidence of collusion, conspiracy or coordination between the Trump campaign and the Russians,” according to the 253-page report on “Russian meddling” that was declassified in a redacted version Friday.
House Intelligence Committee rules that there was NO COLLUSION between the Trump Campaign and Russia. As I have been saying all along, it is all a big Hoax by the Democrats based on payments and lies. There should never have been a Special Councel appointed. Witch Hunt!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 28 апреля 2018 г.
"While the committee found no evidence that the Trump campaign colluded, coordinated or conspired with the Russian government, the investigation did find poor judgment and ill-considered actions by the Trump and Clinton campaigns," the report, written by House Republicans, states.
Trump snubs White House Correspondents' dinner, comedian rips into administration
Updated 1 hr 33 mins ago
Updated 1 hr 34 mins ago
Journalists, politicians and members of the Donald Trump administration attended the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner Saturday night without the president, who spent the evening at a campaign rally in Michigan.
"You may have heard I was invited to another event tonight -- the White House Correspondents' dinner," the president told the crowd. "But I'd rather be in Washington, Michigan, than in Washington, D.C., right now."
The president, who skipped the dinner for the second year in a row, called the event "phony."
Comedian Michelle Wolf, a contributor toComedy Central's "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah," headlined the event Saturday.
After scholarships and awards were given out, Wolf took the stage to deliver a bawdy and sometimes scathing send-up of not just Trump, but a list of targets spanning politics and media.
"It is kind of crazy that theTrump campaign was in contact with Russia when the Hillary campaign wasn't even in contact with Michigan," Wolf said early in her routine.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders attended the dinner on Trump's behalf.
"You know, one of the things we say in the South, if a Girl Scout egged your house, would you buy cookies from her? I think that this is a pretty similar scenario. There's no reason for him to go in and sit and pretend like this is going to be just another Saturday night," Sanders told ABC News before last year's event.
Wolf mocked Sanders, who sat just two seats adjacent to her on the dais.
"Every time Sarah steps up to the podium, I get excited, because I'm not really sure what we're going to get -- a press briefing, a bunch of lies or divided into softball teams," Wolf said.
"Iactually really like Sarah, I think she's very resourceful," Wolf continued. "She burns facts, and then she uses that ash to create a perfect smoky eye."
Trump got his own shots in on the dinner from afar, telling the crowd in Michigan he was in a no-win situation.
"Is this better than that phony Washington White House Correspondents' Dinner? Is this more fun?" he asked the crowd. "I could be up there tonight smiling, like I love where they're hitting you, shot after shot. These people, they hate your guts.
"And then I'm supposed to ... " he continued, faking an exaggerated smile. "And you know, you've got to smile. And if you don't smile they'll say, 'He was terrible, he couldn't take a joke.' And if you do smile, they'll say 'What was he smiling about?' You know, there's no win."
Trump passed on last year's dinner as well, instead hosting a similar rally in Pennsylvania for his supporters.
Wolf went on to criticize the media for having too narrow a focus.
"Every hour it's Trump, Russia, Hillary [Clinton] and a panel of four people that remind you why you don't go home for Thanksgiving," Wolf said. "You guys are obsessed with Trump."
Wolf wrapped up her speech by accusing the news media of benefiting from the Trump administration.
"He's helped you sell your papers, and your books and your TV," she said. "You helped create this monster and now you're profiting off of him."
Margaret Talev, president of the White House Correspondents' Association, in a statement,praised Wolf for her diverse background and for supporting the First Amendment and independent journalism.
"Her Pennsylvania roots, stints on Wall Street and in science and self-made, feminist edge make her the right voice now," the statement read.
The last president not to attend the yearly dinner before Trump was President Ronald Reagan, who was shot less than a month before the event in 1981. Reagan made an appearance by telephone, however.
"Well, I'm happy to be speaking to the White House correspondents' spring prom," Reagan said. "I'm sorry that I can't be there in person."
Judicial Watch Published on Apr 27, 2018
Updated 1 hr 33 mins ago
Updated 1 hr 34 mins ago
"You may have heard I was invited to another event tonight -- the White House Correspondents' dinner," the president told the crowd. "But I'd rather be in Washington, Michigan, than in Washington, D.C., right now."
The president, who skipped the dinner for the second year in a row, called the event "phony."
Comedian Michelle Wolf, a contributor to
After scholarships and awards were given out, Wolf took the stage to deliver a bawdy and sometimes scathing send-up of not just Trump, but a list of targets spanning politics and media.
"It is kind of crazy that the
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders attended the dinner on Trump's behalf.
"You know, one of the things we say in the South, if a Girl Scout egged your house, would you buy cookies from her? I think that this is a pretty similar scenario. There's no reason for him to go in and sit and pretend like this is going to be just another Saturday night," Sanders told ABC News before last year's event.
Wolf mocked Sanders, who sat just two seats adjacent to her on the dais.
"Every time Sarah steps up to the podium, I get excited, because I'm not really sure what we're going to get -- a press briefing, a bunch of lies or divided into softball teams," Wolf said.
"I
Trump got his own shots in on the dinner from afar, telling the crowd in Michigan he was in a no-win situation.
"Is this better than that phony Washington White House Correspondents' Dinner? Is this more fun?" he asked the crowd. "I could be up there tonight smiling, like I love where they're hitting you, shot after shot. These people, they hate your guts.
"And then I'm supposed to ... " he continued, faking an exaggerated smile. "And you know, you've got to smile. And if you don't smile they'll say, 'He was terrible, he couldn't take a joke.' And if you do smile, they'll say 'What was he smiling about?' You know, there's no win."
Trump passed on last year's dinner as well, instead hosting a similar rally in Pennsylvania for his supporters.
Wolf went on to criticize the media for having too narrow a focus.
"Every hour it's Trump, Russia, Hillary [Clinton] and a panel of four people that remind you why you don't go home for Thanksgiving," Wolf said. "You guys are obsessed with Trump."
Wolf wrapped up her speech by accusing the news media of benefiting from the Trump administration.
"He's helped you sell your papers, and your books and your TV," she said. "You helped create this monster and now you're profiting off of him."
Margaret Talev, president of the White House Correspondents' Association, in a statement,
"Her Pennsylvania roots, stints on Wall Street and in science and self-
The last president not to attend the yearly dinner before Trump was President Ronald Reagan, who was shot less than a month before the event in 1981. Reagan made an appearance by telephone, however.
"Well, I'm happy to be speaking to the White House correspondents' spring prom," Reagan said. "I'm sorry that I can't be there in person."
Last edited:
Follow up on the White House Correspondents' Dinner. Hollywood Reporter tries to regroup after an epic comedian failure.
Critic's Notebook: Michelle Wolf Goes Low With Raunchy Humor
8:42 PM PDT 4/28/2018 Video's
The fast-rising stand-up comic delivers a mostly unfunny and profane routine at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.
With her stand-up routine at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, Michelle Wolf achieved something I wouldn't have thought possible.
She made Donald Trump look classy.
Wolf is a comedian very much on the rise after an acclaimed HBO stand-up special and with a weekly late-night show debuting on Netflix next month. But she didn't help herself with her profane, mostly unfunny monologue in front of an admittedly very tough crowd. Her delivery was faltering at times and many of the jokes were in poor taste and fell flat. Making fun of the Trump administration and its motley cast of characters should be a cakewalk. Wolf turned it into a cake left out in the rain.
Naturally, Trump wasn't there, preferring to give a rally in front of a typically diverse group ofwhite supporters in Washington Township, Michigan. Not subtle, that Donald. Washington Township, get it? Just like Washington, D.C., only without elites. But really, why should Trump attend? The dinner is in support of the First Amendment, the one constitutional amendment that he'd like to repeal. (LOL)
It's ironic, because Trump has been the best thing for journalism since Watergate. It wouldn't be surprising if the New York Times and the Washington Post, both of which have seen their circulations soar in recent years, began advocating for the removal of presidential term limits. That theme was brought up by Wolf toward the end of her monologue, and it was one of her most pointed, if not particularlyfunny moments. "You helped create this monster and now you're profiting off him!" she chided the journalists in the room.
Another one of her lines of attack, apparently designed to get under Trump's skin (you know he was watching), was to make jokes about his wealth, or lack of it. "Tonight, I'm going to try and make fun of the president in a new way," Wolf announced. "Mr. President, I don't think you're very rich." It was a good idea that was undercut by weak writing. A running gag in which she would begin "Trump is so broke…" as the audience responded with a chant of "How broke is he?" led to a series of mostly lame one-liners.
Wolf's humor was often needlessly vulgar, and worse, lacking in wit. Conservatives will have a field day lambasting her for her line, "Abortion, don't knock it until you've tried it," and they won't be entirely wrong. It's not easy to make Kellyanne Conway sympathetic, but Wolf managed it with a bit suggesting that Conway get crushed by a tree. And surely there must be funnier Ivanka jokes to be made than "She's about as helpful to women as an empty box of tampons."
Representing the administration at the main table was Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Because as anyone who's seen her press briefings can attest, Sanders can really light up a room. She certainly didn't do so this evening, scowling as Wolf delivered a series of jokes that, to be fair, didn't deserve a more good-humored reaction.
Equally bad were Wolf's jokes about Mike Pence, the highlight of which was "Mike Pence is what happens when Anderson Cooper isn't gay." Not sure what that means, except that they both have close-cropped gray hair.
Wolf dutifully made a few, very few, jokes about Democrats, and took a few potshots at the media as well. But joking that "the most useful information on CNN is when Anthony Bourdain tells me where to eat noodles" is just lazy writing.
Wolf's awkward stand-up routine was a botched opportunity that won't help liberal or journalistic causes. But it was a beacon of hilarity compared to the opening video featuring Paul Ryan, apparently taking a break from firing members of the clergy. The painfully unfunny segment featured Ryan mocking his job prospects after his impending retirement from politics and made it very clear that stand-up comedy won't be among them.
More retardation of Russian Collusion from the Sacbee
MMA fighter with links to Trump, Cohen is questioned by FBI
Associated Press April 29, 2018 02:27 AM
ROSEMONT, Ill.
A Russian mixed martial arts fighter who has connections with President Donald Trump, the president's personal attorney Michael Cohen and Russian President Vladimir Putin was questioned this week by the FBI, his manager confirmed Saturday.
Fedor Emelianenko was questioned by agents who met him in his hotel room on Tuesday, manager Jerry Millen said before Emelianenko's Bellator MMA heavyweight fight against Frank Mir. Millen declined to detail his client's conversations with the agents.
"The FBI came to the hotel looking to talk to Fedor and they were very nice, came in to speak with Fedor for a few minutes, spoke to me, very cool guys, and that's all I can really say about it. Again, the FBI did come to the hotel, they found us, knocked on the door," Millen said.
"Hundred percent, kind of surprised," Millen added. "They were very nice, very professional."
The agents were in attendance at Saturday's fight, Millen said.
Putin has attended Emelianenko's fights, and the 41-year-old fighter has been photographed with the Russian president. His connection with Trump dates back to 2008, when he was signed by Affliction Entertainment, a fight league in which Trump had an ownership stake.
Trump announced a joint venture involving MMA and Emelianenko at a news conference on June 5, 2008.
Affliction ended up folding for financial reasons after two events, both headlined by Emelianenko.
Cohen was the league's chief operating officer. Two weeks ago, the FBI raided Cohen's New York offices, hotel and home, seeking information about a nondisclosure agreement he brokered with porn star Stormy Daniels days before the 2016 election. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, has said she had an affair with Trump in 2006.
The criminal investigation of Cohen is linked to special counsel Robert Mueller's ongoing probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials.
The fighter's encounter with the FBI was first reported by The Telegraph of London.
Emelianenko dominated MMA's heavyweight division from 2000-2010. He retired in 2012 but began fighting again in 2015. He's currently under contract with Bellator.
Fedor Emelianenko, right, of Russia, fights Frank Mir in a heavyweight mixed martial arts bout at Bellator 198, Saturday, April 28, 2018, in Rosemont, Ill. Emelianenko defeated Mir. AP Photo Nam Y. Huh
Mystery Group Of "Wealthy Donors" And Soros Spends $50 Million For "Private Trump-Russia Investigation"
by Tyler Durden Sat, 04/28/2018 - 13:50
Comments are always a Hoot
Critic's Notebook: Michelle Wolf Goes Low With Raunchy Humor
8:42 PM PDT 4/28/2018 Video's
The fast-rising stand-up comic delivers a mostly unfunny and profane routine at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.
With her stand-up routine at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, Michelle Wolf achieved something I wouldn't have thought possible.
She made Donald Trump look classy.
Wolf is a comedian very much on the rise after an acclaimed HBO stand-up special and with a weekly late-night show debuting on Netflix next month. But she didn't help herself with her profane, mostly unfunny monologue in front of an admittedly very tough crowd. Her delivery was faltering at times and many of the jokes were in poor taste and fell flat. Making fun of the Trump administration and its motley cast of characters should be a cakewalk. Wolf turned it into a cake left out in the rain.
Naturally, Trump wasn't there, preferring to give a rally in front of a typically diverse group of
It's ironic, because Trump has been the best thing for journalism since Watergate. It wouldn't be surprising if the New York Times and the Washington Post, both of which have seen their circulations soar in recent years, began advocating for the removal of presidential term limits. That theme was brought up by Wolf toward the end of her monologue, and it was one of her most pointed, if not particularly
Another one of her lines of attack, apparently designed to get under Trump's skin (you know he was watching), was to make jokes about his wealth, or lack of it. "Tonight, I'm going to try and make fun of the president in a new way," Wolf announced. "Mr. President, I don't think you're very rich." It was a good idea that was undercut by weak writing. A running gag in which she would begin "Trump is so broke…" as the audience responded with a chant of "How broke is he?" led to a series of mostly lame one-liners.
Wolf's humor was often needlessly vulgar, and worse, lacking in wit. Conservatives will have a field day lambasting her for her line, "Abortion, don't knock it until you've tried it," and they won't be entirely wrong. It's not easy to make Kellyanne Conway sympathetic, but Wolf managed it with a bit suggesting that Conway get crushed by a tree. And surely there must be funnier Ivanka jokes to be made than "She's about as helpful to women as an empty box of tampons."
Representing the administration at the main table was Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Because as anyone who's seen her press briefings can attest, Sanders can really light up a room. She certainly didn't do so this evening, scowling as Wolf delivered a series of jokes that, to be fair, didn't deserve a more good-humored reaction.
Equally bad were Wolf's jokes about Mike Pence, the highlight of which was "Mike Pence is what happens when Anderson Cooper isn't gay." Not sure what that means, except that they both have close-cropped gray hair.
Wolf dutifully made a few, very few, jokes about Democrats, and took a few potshots at the media as well. But joking that "the most useful information on CNN is when Anthony Bourdain tells me where to eat noodles" is just lazy writing.
Wolf's awkward stand-up routine was a botched opportunity that won't help liberal or journalistic causes. But it was a beacon of hilarity compared to the opening video featuring Paul Ryan, apparently taking a break from firing members of the clergy. The painfully unfunny segment featured Ryan mocking his job prospects after his impending retirement from politics and made it very clear that stand-up comedy won't be among them.
More retardation of Russian Collusion from the Sacbee
MMA fighter with links to Trump, Cohen is questioned by FBI
Associated Press April 29, 2018 02:27 AM
ROSEMONT, Ill.
A Russian mixed martial arts fighter who has connections with President Donald Trump, the president's personal attorney Michael Cohen and Russian President Vladimir Putin was questioned this week by the FBI, his manager confirmed Saturday.
Fedor Emelianenko was questioned by agents who met him in his hotel room on Tuesday, manager Jerry Millen said before Emelianenko's Bellator MMA heavyweight fight against Frank Mir. Millen declined to detail his client's conversations with the agents.
"The FBI came to the hotel looking to talk to Fedor and they were very nice, came in to speak with Fedor for a few minutes, spoke to me, very cool guys, and that's all I can really say about it. Again, the FBI did come to the hotel, they found us, knocked on the door," Millen said.
"Hundred percent, kind of surprised," Millen added. "They were very nice, very professional."
The agents were in attendance at Saturday's fight, Millen said.
Putin has attended Emelianenko's fights, and the 41-year-old fighter has been photographed with the Russian president. His connection with Trump dates back to 2008, when he was signed by Affliction Entertainment, a fight league in which Trump had an ownership stake.
Trump announced a joint venture involving MMA and Emelianenko at a news conference on June 5, 2008.
Affliction ended up folding for financial reasons after two events, both headlined by Emelianenko.
Cohen was the league's chief operating officer. Two weeks ago, the FBI raided Cohen's New York offices, hotel and home, seeking information about a nondisclosure agreement he brokered with porn star Stormy Daniels days before the 2016 election. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, has said she had an affair with Trump in 2006.
The criminal investigation of Cohen is linked to special counsel Robert Mueller's ongoing probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials.
The fighter's encounter with the FBI was first reported by The Telegraph of London.
Emelianenko dominated MMA's heavyweight division from 2000-2010. He retired in 2012 but began fighting again in 2015. He's currently under contract with Bellator.
Fedor Emelianenko, right, of Russia, fights Frank Mir in a heavyweight mixed martial arts bout at Bellator 198, Saturday, April 28, 2018, in Rosemont, Ill. Emelianenko defeated Mir. AP Photo Nam Y. Huh
Mystery Group Of "Wealthy Donors" And Soros Spends $50 Million For "Private Trump-Russia Investigation"
by Tyler Durden Sat, 04/28/2018 - 13:50
The House Intelligence Committee's just-released report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election reveals in a footnote that an ongoing, private investigation into Trump-Russia claims is being funded with $50 million supplied by George Soros and a group of 7-10 wealthy donors from California and New York.
This effort was originally revealed in February and reported on by The Federalist, after a series of leaked text messages between Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) and lobbyist Adam Waldman suggested that Daniel J. Jones - an ex-FBI investigator and former Feinstein staffer, was "intimately involved with ongoing efforts to retroactively validate a series of salacious and unverified memos published by Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence agent, and Fusion GPS."
In short, Jones is working with Fusion GPS and Christopher Steele to continue their investigation into Donald Trump, using a $50 million war chest just revealed by the House Intel Committee report.
In a bizarre twist Waldman, the lobbyist, notably represents Kremlin-linked Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, head of Russian aluminum giant Rusal and who was the target of Trump's recent sanctions, as well as Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov. He met with Jones on March 16, 2017 according to the Daily Caller.
Jones, meanwhile, runs the Penn Quarter Group - a "research and investigative advisory" firm whose website was registered in April of 2016, days before Steele delivered his first in a series of Trump-Russia memos to Fusion GPS. Jones also began tweeting out articles suggesting illicit ties between the Trump campaign and Russia as early as 2017.
Steele's work during the 2016 election culminated in the salacious and unverified 35-page "Steele dossier" used to obtain a FISA warrant against then-President Trump (which, as we reported on Friday, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper leaked the details to CNN's Jake Tapper prior to the seemingly coordinated publication by BuzzFeed).
The recently released House Intel Report notes that in March 2017, Jones told the FBI that he was working with Steele and Fusion GPS, with funding to the tune of $50 million.
“In late March 2017, Jones met with FBI regarding PQG, which he described as ‘exposing foreign influence in Western election,'” reads the House Intel report. “[Redacted] told FBI that PQG was being funded by 7 to 10 wealthy donors located primarily in New York and California, who provided approximately $50 million.”
“[Redacted] further stated that PQG had secured the services of Steele, his associate [redacted], and Fusion GPS to continue exposing Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election,” reads the report, which adds that Jones “planned to share the information he obtained with policymakers…and with the press.”
As the Daily Caller's Chuck Ross notes, Jones "also offered to provide PQG's entire holdings to the FBI" according to the report, citing a "FD-302" transcript of the interview he gave to the FBI.
Of note, during Congressional testimony last year when Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) asked Glenn Simpson, co-founder of Fusion GPS, if he was still being paid for work related to the dossier, Simpson refused to answer. And while the dossier came under fire for "salacious and unverified" claims, a January 8 New York Times profile of Glenn Simpson confirmed that dossier-related work continues.
Sean Davis of The Federalist reported in February that Jones' name was mentioned in a list of individuals from a January 25 Congressional letter from Senators Grassley and Graham to various Democratic party leaders who were likely involved in Fusion GPS's 2016 efforts. The letter sought all communications between the Democrats and a list of 40 individuals or entities, of which Jones is one.
Some of those communications - at least according to the encrypted text messages between Warner and Waldman, (and leaked to Fox News), discuss efforts by Warner to secure a testimony from Steele.
“I spoke w Steele,” Waldman wrote on April 25, 2017. “He repeated the same position which is that he wants to be helpful but is fearful of the triumvirate of cost, time suck and reputation.”“He asked me what your concern was about a letter first and I explained it but he would still like as a first protective step from you and [Sen. Richard] Burr asking him and his partner to assist w the investigation by answering questions,” Waldman added. “He [Steele] said he will also speak w Dan Jones whom he says is talking to you.”“I pointed out there is no privilege in that discussion although Dan [Jones] is a good guy and very trustworthy guy. I encouraged him again to engage with you for the sake of the truth and of vindication of the dossier,” he wrote. -Adam Waldman to Mark Warner
Meanwhile, Federal disclosures required by the Foreign Agents Registration Act show that Waldman collected nearly $1.1 million from Deripaska in 2016 and 2017. Some questions:
- Why would Waldman, a Russian oligarch's foreign agent, be the official cutout for both a U.S. senator and Christopher Steele?
- Why would he recommend Daniel Jones - a former top Feinstein aide who worked for the FBI - as a point of contact and an information broker?
And now Jones has a $50 million war chest - from a group of mysterious "7 to 10" donors - to continue the grande Trump-Russia witch hunt with Christopher Steele and Fusion GPS - coordinated in part by a guy (Waldman) who represents Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov. Seems somewhat collusive, no?
Comments are always a Hoot
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angelburst29
The Living Force
Sun Apr 29, 2018 - Nine Lawmakers Forced to Quit US Congress in Past Six Months over Sexual Abuse
Farsnews
Nine US lawmakers were forced to quit their posts over sexual abuse charges or workplace misconduct in the past six months, with the recent resignation of a Pennsylvania Republican congressman being the latest instance.
The Pennsylvania lawmaker Representative Patrick Meehan announced Friday that he would resign from Congress immediately following reports that he had paid a secret settlement – or ‘hush money’ – to a staffer “who he allegedly confessed his love to”, noting that Meehan had stated in January that he would retire near the conclusion of his current term in December but he decided to resign now as congressional ethics probe into his case “heats up”, according to The Washington Post.
Since numerous sexual abuse allegations against Jewish Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein surfaced in 2017, the so-called #MeToo era has brought down some of the most powerful public figures in American politics, media and entertainment.
At one point in December 2017, the report added, three members of the US Congress had to quit their legislative posts in one week.
However, the US Congress has so far failed to enact laws to make it easier for congressional staffers to report sexual or other forms of misconduct by powerful members of Congress and their top aides.
The following is a recap of the misconduct allegations that have shaken the Capitol Hill and led to the resignation of a significant number of US lawmakers within a short period.
In the latest case, Meehan reportedly wrote what appeared to be love notes to a female staffer, but when they became public he referred to the former aid during an interview with a local daily as his “soul mate.”
He later attempted to clarify that by soul mate he actually meant something like an “office buddy”, according to The Post, which further noted that Meehan also declared on Friday that he’ll pay back the $39,000 of taxpayer money used to bribe the former staffer to keep quite.
Another Republican Congressman from state of Texas, Blake Farenthold, announced his resignation earlier this month over sexual scandals stretching back seven years.
“Duck pajamas, a goofy grin and his arm slung around a lingerie model was just the start. The end for Farenthold resulted from accusations from staffers — male and female — of sexual harassment and verbal abuse,” the US daily said.
Farenthold, like Meehan, had also originally announced plans to retire at the end of the year, but abruptly stated earlier in the month that he is resigning immediately as he faced a House ethics probe.
Another interesting case involves Connecticut’s Democratic Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty – the only female lawmaker in the list – who announced earlier in April that she would not seek reelection after US media outlets revealed that she allowed her chief of staff stay on the job for three months despite knowing that he had allegedly threatened to kill another staffer whom he had dated.
The youngest lawmaker in the list is the 37-year-old Nevada Democratic Congressman Ruben Kihuen, who announced in December that he would not seek reelection amid sexual harassment allegations, including reports from women who worked for his successful campaign for his first term in the US House of Representatives.
Former comedian and Minnesota Democrat Al Franken is the only Senator to quit Congress so far in the #MeToo era.
By the time he reluctantly resigned last December, he had been accused of “groping multiple women over the span a decade”, according to the report.
Arizona Republican Representative Trent Franks also resigned in the same week as Franken following reports that he offered a female staffer $5 million if she would carry his child. The woman told investigators that Franks approached her with a written contract.
Veteran Democratic Congressman from Michigan Representative John Conyers Jr. also stepped down the same week as Franks and Franken, following allegations from six women that he had behaved inappropriately or made sexual advances over the past two decades.
The 88-year-old African-American lawmaker denied the allegations but House Democratic leadership succeeded in pushing him out.
Another Texas Republican Congressman Joe Barton further announced last November his plan to retire from the US legislative body in 2018 after a nude photo of him circulated on the Internet.
It later turned out that the photo revealed a secret relationship with a woman despite being legally married.
“Barton's story parallels the allegations of others on the list in one key way: He is accused of using his power as a member of Congress to investigate the woman for sharing the photo of him,” according to The Post.
The resignation of another Pennsylvania Republican Congressman Tim Murphy in early October of 2017 was one of the first of this era amid reports that the eight-term lawmaker had asked a woman with whom he was having an affair with to get an abortion.
Sun Apr 29, 2018 - Top US Diplomat in Saudi Arabia on Middle East Tour
Farsnews
New US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh, as part of a three-day Middle East tour that also includes Jordan and Israel.
Pompeo was greeted in Riyadh on Saturday by his Saudi counterpart Adel al-Jubeir and was expected to meet Khalid bin Salman, the kingdom's ambassador to the US, as well as attend a working dinner hosted by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MbS), Al-Jazeera reported.
US state department officials have stressed that the tour, which will include stops in Jerusalem and Amman, is aimed at solidifying ties with key US allies in the region.
It is expected that Pompeo's meetings with the regional leaders will focus on the Iran nuclear deal, which US President Donald Trump wants revised.
Trump has criticised the nuclear agreement reached with Iran in July 2015 as the "worst deal ever" and has, at times, threatened to terminate it. Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China - all signatories to the deal - have insisted it be kept intact.
A former CIA director for Trump, Pompeo, was sworn in by the Senate as the United States' chief diplomat on Thursday. On Friday, Pompeo headed the US delegation to a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels.
Sun Apr 29, 2018 - Ex-CIA Director Defends Clapper, Tells Trump 'Your Hypocrisy Knows No Bounds'
Farsnews
Former CIA director John Brennan spoke out against US President Donald Trump on Twitter Saturday afternoon after the President called former director of National Intelligence James Clapper a "lying machine."
Brennan, who served alongside Clapper under former President Obama, defended his former colleague as a "man of integrity, honesty, ethics, & morality", The Hill reported.
Mr. Trump: Your hypocrisy knows no bounds. Jim Clapper is a man of integrity, honesty, ethics, & morality. You are not. Jim Clapper served his country for over a half century, including in Vietnam. You did not. By your words & behavior, you diminish the Office of the Presidency," he wrote.
Trump attacked Clapper on Twitter Saturday morning after a Republican report released Friday by members of the House Intelligence Committee stated that Clapper had discussed the bombshell "Steele dossier" about Trump and Russia with CNN reporters, including anchor Jake Tapper, in 2017.
Clapper had previously "flatly denied" leaking the contents of the dossier, but ultimately admitted to discussing the dossier with Tapper and other journalists shortly before Trump's inauguration in January 2017, the report stated.
"Clapper’s discussion with Tapper took place in 'early January 2017', around the time [intelligence officials] briefed President Obama and President-elect Trump, on 'the Christopher Steele information',” the document noted.
Clapper and Brennan have been vocal critics of the President, joining other former members of the Obama administration in lambasting Trump on social media. Clapper joined CNN as a network contributor in August 2017.
Fri Apr 27, 2018 - Newly-Declassified Records Confirm CIA Director Gina Haspel Supervised Torture
Farsnews
Newly declassified records confirmed allegations that newly appointed CIA Director Gina Haspel supervised the torture of a detainee and ordered the destruction of video evidence, according to the US National Security Archive at George Washington University.
US Senator Dianne Feinstein, who oversaw the release of a CIA torture report in 2014, and two other lawmakers on Wednesday criticized the agency for refusing a request for more information about Haspel’s background ahead of confirmation hearings, Sputnik reported.
"The [Donald] Trump administration’s nominee to be CIA director, Gina Haspel, personally supervised the torture of a CIA detainee in 2002 leading to at least three waterboard sessions, subsequently drafted the cable that ordered destruction of the videotape evidence of torture," the release, citing newly-published declassified documents, said.
The release added that Haspel served as a senior official while the CIA lied to former presidents, lawmakers, and the public "about the effectiveness of torture in eliciting useful intelligence".
The new documents include less-redacted versions of materials that reveal activities at a CIA "black site" in Thailand in 2002 when Haspel was chief of base. Haspel supervised psychologists Bruce Jessen and James Mitchell, who had developed so-called enhanced interrogation techniques, the release said. In the same month, Jessen and Mitchell supervised the torture of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, a Saudi Arabian national alleged to be the mastermind of the USS Cole bombing. He was waterboarded three times, according to the release.
The documents include a listing of 12 specific cables Haspel either authored or authorized that, according to a less-redacted CIA Inspector General report, accurately describe the torture sessions that had been documented on now-destroyed videotapes, the release said.
Haspel assumed the role of Acting Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) after the US Senate confirmed former CIA Director Mike Pompeo as new secretary of state, CIA announced in a statement on Thursday.
"Today, upon Mike Pompeo's swearing-in as secretary of state, Deputy Director Gina C. Haspel assumed role of Acting Director of the Central Intelligence Agency," the statement said.
The National Security Archive, which is housed at George Washington University, was founded in 1985 by journalists and scholars to counter US government secrecy. The archive includes more than 100,000 declassified records documenting historic US policy decisions, according to its website. The archive reportedly now holds the largest nongovernmental collection of declassified US documents.
Fri Apr 27, 2018 - US President to Visit UK in July, Rights Groups Call for Protests
Farsnews
US President Donald Trump will travel to Britain in July for a working visit with Prime Minister Theresa May, after months of back-and-forth over when the US President would visit what traditionally has been Washington's closest ally.
Representatives for the White House and 10 Downing Street said Trump would visit the United Kingdom on July 13 and hold bilateral talks with May but gave no other details, Daily Sabah reported.
It was also not immediately clear how long Trump would stay on his visit, which would come more than a year after taking office.
The delay has raised questions about the US-UK relationship, and the working visit signals a more low-key affair than an official state visit. Trump had planned a trip to London to open a new US embassy there but canceled in January.
The announcement of the visit prompted calls for protests from human rights and anti-war groups.
Human rights group Amnesty International said it would call on its supporters to protest against Trump's "deeply disturbing" human rights record.
"In the 15 months of his presidency, we've seen a deeply disturbing human rights roll-back - including the discriminatory travel ban, his reckless announcement on Jerusalem, and harmful policies on refugees, women's rights and climate change," Kate Allen, Amnesty's UK director, said.
Fri Apr 27, 2018 - London Mayor Takes Dig at US President after UK Visit Announced
Farsnews
London's mayor Sadiq Khan said on Thursday that US President Donald Trump will "see that Londoners hold their liberal values of freedom of speech very dear", hinting that there may be protests during Trump's announced visit to the United Kingdom in July.
"If he comes to London, President Trump will experience an open and diverse city that has always chosen unity over division and hope over fear," Khan added in the tweet, The Hill reported.
Khan and Trump, who have never met in person, have a contentious relationship over social media after Trump swiped at Khan last year just hours after a terrorist attack rocked the city of London.
"At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is 'no reason to be alarmed!'" Trump wrote in June, adding that London officials should “get down to the business of security for our people” and end political correctness.
Khan, meanwhile, has attacked Trump over the President's retweets of an anti-Muslim British hate group, Britain First, which also drew condemnation from Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May.
The London Mayor, a member of Britain's Labour Party, said in November that an official visit by Trump “would not be welcomed" and that Trump was touting “a vile, extremist group" in his tweets.
Trump is scheduled to visit the country for a "working visit" with May this summer, after months of speculation over whether a state visit by the president to the UK would actually happen.
The visit was scheduled Thursday by press officials for the White House and 10 Downing Street, who said that more details about the trip would be forthcoming.
Sun Apr 29, 2018 - Russia: Moving US Embassy to Jerusalem Violates International Law
Farsnews
Russian Ambassador to Palestine Haidar Aghanin expressed on Sunday his country’s concern over the consequences of the US’ decision to move its Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv into Jerusalem.
He told official Voice of Palestine radio that his country is concerned over this move which contradicts the international law, saying that Moscow has confirmed this stance to the US administration and other relevant stakeholders.
Aghanin stated that it was no longer acceptable that only one country sponsors the peace process.
He also called all parties to adhere to international mechanisms.
Sun Apr 29, 2018 - Brigitte Macron Insists Melania Trump Is Being Held 'Prisoner' in White House, 'Can't Step Foot Outside'
Farsnews
The First Lady of France Brigitte Macron made the astonishing claim that Melania Trump, the First Lady of America, is effectively a prisoner in the White House.
Brigitte, 65 (who is the wife of French President Emmanuel Macron, 40), spent the past week enjoying the hospitality of 48-year-old Melania and US President Donald Trump, 71, during a state visit to America, Mirror reported.
Joining the Trumps at the White House, Brigitte quickly developed a firm friendship with fellow European Melania - who hails from Slovenia.
However, as she shared details of what life is like inside the White House for the First Lady of America, Brigitte painted a slightly bleak picture.
"She is much more constrained than me. Melania can't do anything," Brigitte told French newspaper Le Monde.
From the sounds of things, Melania can almost barely take a breath without the permission of the White House security services.
"The security is terrible. She can't even open a window at the White House because immediately the security services call and say 'close it'," Brigitte claimed.
"She can't put a foot outside. Every day, I go out in Paris," she added.
Away from describing a life of captivity for Melania for as long as Trump remains in power, Brigitte said the US First Lady hides a brilliant sense of humor.
"She is really fun. We have the same sense of humour. We laugh a lot together," the French First Lady declared.
“She’s someone who has a strong personality but she makes an effort to hide it,” she stressed.
Melania is far less decisive than her husband Trump and has garnered something of a fan following since her husband was sworn into office last year.
Many have hailed her as a style icon, and others were impressed by the “elegant” State Dinner that she planned for the French President.
Farsnews
Nine US lawmakers were forced to quit their posts over sexual abuse charges or workplace misconduct in the past six months, with the recent resignation of a Pennsylvania Republican congressman being the latest instance.
The Pennsylvania lawmaker Representative Patrick Meehan announced Friday that he would resign from Congress immediately following reports that he had paid a secret settlement – or ‘hush money’ – to a staffer “who he allegedly confessed his love to”, noting that Meehan had stated in January that he would retire near the conclusion of his current term in December but he decided to resign now as congressional ethics probe into his case “heats up”, according to The Washington Post.
Since numerous sexual abuse allegations against Jewish Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein surfaced in 2017, the so-called #MeToo era has brought down some of the most powerful public figures in American politics, media and entertainment.
At one point in December 2017, the report added, three members of the US Congress had to quit their legislative posts in one week.
However, the US Congress has so far failed to enact laws to make it easier for congressional staffers to report sexual or other forms of misconduct by powerful members of Congress and their top aides.
The following is a recap of the misconduct allegations that have shaken the Capitol Hill and led to the resignation of a significant number of US lawmakers within a short period.
In the latest case, Meehan reportedly wrote what appeared to be love notes to a female staffer, but when they became public he referred to the former aid during an interview with a local daily as his “soul mate.”
He later attempted to clarify that by soul mate he actually meant something like an “office buddy”, according to The Post, which further noted that Meehan also declared on Friday that he’ll pay back the $39,000 of taxpayer money used to bribe the former staffer to keep quite.
Another Republican Congressman from state of Texas, Blake Farenthold, announced his resignation earlier this month over sexual scandals stretching back seven years.
“Duck pajamas, a goofy grin and his arm slung around a lingerie model was just the start. The end for Farenthold resulted from accusations from staffers — male and female — of sexual harassment and verbal abuse,” the US daily said.
Farenthold, like Meehan, had also originally announced plans to retire at the end of the year, but abruptly stated earlier in the month that he is resigning immediately as he faced a House ethics probe.
Another interesting case involves Connecticut’s Democratic Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty – the only female lawmaker in the list – who announced earlier in April that she would not seek reelection after US media outlets revealed that she allowed her chief of staff stay on the job for three months despite knowing that he had allegedly threatened to kill another staffer whom he had dated.
The youngest lawmaker in the list is the 37-year-old Nevada Democratic Congressman Ruben Kihuen, who announced in December that he would not seek reelection amid sexual harassment allegations, including reports from women who worked for his successful campaign for his first term in the US House of Representatives.
Former comedian and Minnesota Democrat Al Franken is the only Senator to quit Congress so far in the #MeToo era.
By the time he reluctantly resigned last December, he had been accused of “groping multiple women over the span a decade”, according to the report.
Arizona Republican Representative Trent Franks also resigned in the same week as Franken following reports that he offered a female staffer $5 million if she would carry his child. The woman told investigators that Franks approached her with a written contract.
Veteran Democratic Congressman from Michigan Representative John Conyers Jr. also stepped down the same week as Franks and Franken, following allegations from six women that he had behaved inappropriately or made sexual advances over the past two decades.
The 88-year-old African-American lawmaker denied the allegations but House Democratic leadership succeeded in pushing him out.
Another Texas Republican Congressman Joe Barton further announced last November his plan to retire from the US legislative body in 2018 after a nude photo of him circulated on the Internet.
It later turned out that the photo revealed a secret relationship with a woman despite being legally married.
“Barton's story parallels the allegations of others on the list in one key way: He is accused of using his power as a member of Congress to investigate the woman for sharing the photo of him,” according to The Post.
The resignation of another Pennsylvania Republican Congressman Tim Murphy in early October of 2017 was one of the first of this era amid reports that the eight-term lawmaker had asked a woman with whom he was having an affair with to get an abortion.
Sun Apr 29, 2018 - Top US Diplomat in Saudi Arabia on Middle East Tour
Farsnews
New US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh, as part of a three-day Middle East tour that also includes Jordan and Israel.
Pompeo was greeted in Riyadh on Saturday by his Saudi counterpart Adel al-Jubeir and was expected to meet Khalid bin Salman, the kingdom's ambassador to the US, as well as attend a working dinner hosted by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MbS), Al-Jazeera reported.
US state department officials have stressed that the tour, which will include stops in Jerusalem and Amman, is aimed at solidifying ties with key US allies in the region.
It is expected that Pompeo's meetings with the regional leaders will focus on the Iran nuclear deal, which US President Donald Trump wants revised.
Trump has criticised the nuclear agreement reached with Iran in July 2015 as the "worst deal ever" and has, at times, threatened to terminate it. Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China - all signatories to the deal - have insisted it be kept intact.
A former CIA director for Trump, Pompeo, was sworn in by the Senate as the United States' chief diplomat on Thursday. On Friday, Pompeo headed the US delegation to a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels.
Sun Apr 29, 2018 - Ex-CIA Director Defends Clapper, Tells Trump 'Your Hypocrisy Knows No Bounds'
Farsnews
Former CIA director John Brennan spoke out against US President Donald Trump on Twitter Saturday afternoon after the President called former director of National Intelligence James Clapper a "lying machine."
Brennan, who served alongside Clapper under former President Obama, defended his former colleague as a "man of integrity, honesty, ethics, & morality", The Hill reported.
Mr. Trump: Your hypocrisy knows no bounds. Jim Clapper is a man of integrity, honesty, ethics, & morality. You are not. Jim Clapper served his country for over a half century, including in Vietnam. You did not. By your words & behavior, you diminish the Office of the Presidency," he wrote.
Trump attacked Clapper on Twitter Saturday morning after a Republican report released Friday by members of the House Intelligence Committee stated that Clapper had discussed the bombshell "Steele dossier" about Trump and Russia with CNN reporters, including anchor Jake Tapper, in 2017.
Clapper had previously "flatly denied" leaking the contents of the dossier, but ultimately admitted to discussing the dossier with Tapper and other journalists shortly before Trump's inauguration in January 2017, the report stated.
"Clapper’s discussion with Tapper took place in 'early January 2017', around the time [intelligence officials] briefed President Obama and President-elect Trump, on 'the Christopher Steele information',” the document noted.
Clapper and Brennan have been vocal critics of the President, joining other former members of the Obama administration in lambasting Trump on social media. Clapper joined CNN as a network contributor in August 2017.
Fri Apr 27, 2018 - Newly-Declassified Records Confirm CIA Director Gina Haspel Supervised Torture
Farsnews
Newly declassified records confirmed allegations that newly appointed CIA Director Gina Haspel supervised the torture of a detainee and ordered the destruction of video evidence, according to the US National Security Archive at George Washington University.
US Senator Dianne Feinstein, who oversaw the release of a CIA torture report in 2014, and two other lawmakers on Wednesday criticized the agency for refusing a request for more information about Haspel’s background ahead of confirmation hearings, Sputnik reported.
"The [Donald] Trump administration’s nominee to be CIA director, Gina Haspel, personally supervised the torture of a CIA detainee in 2002 leading to at least three waterboard sessions, subsequently drafted the cable that ordered destruction of the videotape evidence of torture," the release, citing newly-published declassified documents, said.
The release added that Haspel served as a senior official while the CIA lied to former presidents, lawmakers, and the public "about the effectiveness of torture in eliciting useful intelligence".
The new documents include less-redacted versions of materials that reveal activities at a CIA "black site" in Thailand in 2002 when Haspel was chief of base. Haspel supervised psychologists Bruce Jessen and James Mitchell, who had developed so-called enhanced interrogation techniques, the release said. In the same month, Jessen and Mitchell supervised the torture of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, a Saudi Arabian national alleged to be the mastermind of the USS Cole bombing. He was waterboarded three times, according to the release.
The documents include a listing of 12 specific cables Haspel either authored or authorized that, according to a less-redacted CIA Inspector General report, accurately describe the torture sessions that had been documented on now-destroyed videotapes, the release said.
Haspel assumed the role of Acting Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) after the US Senate confirmed former CIA Director Mike Pompeo as new secretary of state, CIA announced in a statement on Thursday.
"Today, upon Mike Pompeo's swearing-in as secretary of state, Deputy Director Gina C. Haspel assumed role of Acting Director of the Central Intelligence Agency," the statement said.
The National Security Archive, which is housed at George Washington University, was founded in 1985 by journalists and scholars to counter US government secrecy. The archive includes more than 100,000 declassified records documenting historic US policy decisions, according to its website. The archive reportedly now holds the largest nongovernmental collection of declassified US documents.
Fri Apr 27, 2018 - US President to Visit UK in July, Rights Groups Call for Protests
Farsnews
US President Donald Trump will travel to Britain in July for a working visit with Prime Minister Theresa May, after months of back-and-forth over when the US President would visit what traditionally has been Washington's closest ally.
Representatives for the White House and 10 Downing Street said Trump would visit the United Kingdom on July 13 and hold bilateral talks with May but gave no other details, Daily Sabah reported.
It was also not immediately clear how long Trump would stay on his visit, which would come more than a year after taking office.
The delay has raised questions about the US-UK relationship, and the working visit signals a more low-key affair than an official state visit. Trump had planned a trip to London to open a new US embassy there but canceled in January.
The announcement of the visit prompted calls for protests from human rights and anti-war groups.
Human rights group Amnesty International said it would call on its supporters to protest against Trump's "deeply disturbing" human rights record.
"In the 15 months of his presidency, we've seen a deeply disturbing human rights roll-back - including the discriminatory travel ban, his reckless announcement on Jerusalem, and harmful policies on refugees, women's rights and climate change," Kate Allen, Amnesty's UK director, said.
Fri Apr 27, 2018 - London Mayor Takes Dig at US President after UK Visit Announced
Farsnews
London's mayor Sadiq Khan said on Thursday that US President Donald Trump will "see that Londoners hold their liberal values of freedom of speech very dear", hinting that there may be protests during Trump's announced visit to the United Kingdom in July.
"If he comes to London, President Trump will experience an open and diverse city that has always chosen unity over division and hope over fear," Khan added in the tweet, The Hill reported.
Khan and Trump, who have never met in person, have a contentious relationship over social media after Trump swiped at Khan last year just hours after a terrorist attack rocked the city of London.
"At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is 'no reason to be alarmed!'" Trump wrote in June, adding that London officials should “get down to the business of security for our people” and end political correctness.
Khan, meanwhile, has attacked Trump over the President's retweets of an anti-Muslim British hate group, Britain First, which also drew condemnation from Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May.
The London Mayor, a member of Britain's Labour Party, said in November that an official visit by Trump “would not be welcomed" and that Trump was touting “a vile, extremist group" in his tweets.
Trump is scheduled to visit the country for a "working visit" with May this summer, after months of speculation over whether a state visit by the president to the UK would actually happen.
The visit was scheduled Thursday by press officials for the White House and 10 Downing Street, who said that more details about the trip would be forthcoming.
Sun Apr 29, 2018 - Russia: Moving US Embassy to Jerusalem Violates International Law
Farsnews
Russian Ambassador to Palestine Haidar Aghanin expressed on Sunday his country’s concern over the consequences of the US’ decision to move its Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv into Jerusalem.
He told official Voice of Palestine radio that his country is concerned over this move which contradicts the international law, saying that Moscow has confirmed this stance to the US administration and other relevant stakeholders.
Aghanin stated that it was no longer acceptable that only one country sponsors the peace process.
He also called all parties to adhere to international mechanisms.
Sun Apr 29, 2018 - Brigitte Macron Insists Melania Trump Is Being Held 'Prisoner' in White House, 'Can't Step Foot Outside'
Farsnews
The First Lady of France Brigitte Macron made the astonishing claim that Melania Trump, the First Lady of America, is effectively a prisoner in the White House.
Brigitte, 65 (who is the wife of French President Emmanuel Macron, 40), spent the past week enjoying the hospitality of 48-year-old Melania and US President Donald Trump, 71, during a state visit to America, Mirror reported.
Joining the Trumps at the White House, Brigitte quickly developed a firm friendship with fellow European Melania - who hails from Slovenia.
However, as she shared details of what life is like inside the White House for the First Lady of America, Brigitte painted a slightly bleak picture.
"She is much more constrained than me. Melania can't do anything," Brigitte told French newspaper Le Monde.
From the sounds of things, Melania can almost barely take a breath without the permission of the White House security services.
"The security is terrible. She can't even open a window at the White House because immediately the security services call and say 'close it'," Brigitte claimed.
"She can't put a foot outside. Every day, I go out in Paris," she added.
Away from describing a life of captivity for Melania for as long as Trump remains in power, Brigitte said the US First Lady hides a brilliant sense of humor.
"She is really fun. We have the same sense of humour. We laugh a lot together," the French First Lady declared.
“She’s someone who has a strong personality but she makes an effort to hide it,” she stressed.
Melania is far less decisive than her husband Trump and has garnered something of a fan following since her husband was sworn into office last year.
Many have hailed her as a style icon, and others were impressed by the “elegant” State Dinner that she planned for the French President.
angelburst29
The Living Force
US President Donald Trump wants to step up efforts to protect Republican control of the House in hopes of avoiding an impeachment debate and congressional investigations if Democrats seize the chamber, according to GOP sources.
Tue May 01, 2018 - Impeachment Looms Large in White House Midterm Plans
Farsnews
"It is super important to the White House and really the whole White House is very focused on it,” a source familiar with strategy talks about protecting the House majority said, The Hill reported.
“The President is expected to dial up efforts in this regard during and after the August recess,” the source added.
While Democratic leaders in the House are playing any talk of impeachment very carefully, the idea of impeaching Trump has strong support within the party’s liberal base.
Representative Beto O’Rourke, who raised $6.7 million in the first quarter for a Senate bid, goosed his fundraising last month by pledging to vote for impeachment. And Representative Maxine Waters said over the weekend that 70 percent of Democrats want to impeach the President.
Those comments have grabbed Trump’s attention, and led him to see protecting the House as vitally important.
Trump told a rally of supporters in Michigan over the weekend that the looming threat of impeachment is a driving reason to protect the House.
“We have to keep the House because if we listen to Maxine Waters, she’s going around saying ‘We will impeach him’,” Trump said Saturday.
Democrats would need to gain 23 seats to win back the House majority, a number that seems within range.
The Cook Political Report categorizes eight GOP held seats as likely or leaning toward Democrats, and 22 more as toss-ups.
Another party strategist said the order from the President to the Republican National Committee has been clear; Protect the House at all costs.
“It’s clear the message has been, ‘We don’t want to want to have to fool with impeachment proceedings with the final two years of his first term, you better do something,” the strategist said, requesting anonymity to discuss party deliberations.
The RNC surprised Senate Republicans recently when it announced that protecting the House would be it’s top priority, putting less emphasis on the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s goal of protecting and expanding the Senate GOP majority.
“Our No. 1 priority is keeping the House. We have to win the House,” RNC political director Juston Johnson told the Associated Press.
It’s safe to say some Republicans will question a strategy that puts too much a priority on the House and not enough of one on the Senate.
Republicans have a narrow 51-49 edge in the Senate, but face a playing field that has Democrats defending 26 seats compared to just eight for Republicans.
Many of the Democratic seats are also in states that Trump won by double-digits, which gives the Senate GOP real hope of increasing its majority even if the House majority flips.
McConnell warned Trump at a private dinner last month that he should focus more on the battle for control of the Senate, according to The New York Times.
McConnell argued that the future of the Senate GOP majority depended largely on Trump.
At the same dinner, Marc Short, the White House legislative affairs director predicted that House GOP majority is essentially doomed, according to The Times.
Other GOP strategists are urging Trump to spend his political capital where it can have the most impact — in states with vulnerable Senate Democratic incumbents.
They see control of the House as a losing battle but acknowledge the President doesn’t agree with that analysis.
“There are a lot of operatives who are concerned that we're chasing the impossible in terms of defending the House. Instead of ensuring you lock down one you may lose both,” one GOP official, who thinks the President’s time and fundraising ability is better used on Senate races, said.
This strategist argued that historical statistics combined with the wave of House Republican retirements makes keeping control of the lower chamber all but impossible.
Forty-seven House Republicans, including Speaker Paul Ryan, have announced their retirements since Trump came to office. While some of them have been replaced by GOP successors in special elections, many of the seats will be vulnerable to Democratic takeover in November.
Since 1966, when the President’s approval rating drops below 50 percent, his party has
lost two dozen or more seats in six out of the past seven midterm elections, according to The Cook Political Report.
A Gallup weekly poll released Monday found Trump’s approval rating rising to its highest level in 11 months, but it still stood at an anemic 42 percent.
GOP strategist Ford O’Connell said the costs will be high for Trump if Represantative Nancy Pelosi or another liberal Democrat becomes the next Speaker.
As a result, it’s understandable that Trump would want to fight hard to keep the House majority.
“They know they have to counteract that because if they lose the House the agenda stalls for two years and they’ll probably be facing impeachment charges every other week from how he looks to how he sneezes,” he stressed, adding that “That is the White House’s No. 1 fear.”
Some Republicans think Trump could rally the party’s base by raising the specter of impeachment.
Doug Heye, a GOP strategist, said sounding the alarm on impeachment will likely be central to the White House's strategy in some House races this fall — but not all of them.
“That will be part of it, but emphasizing how Pelosi and Co. would over turn his policies might resonate more than a hypothetical that Democratic leadership is trying to tamp down,” Heye, a former Republican National Committee Spokesman, stated.
“How [Democrats] would raise taxes, push government control of healthcare and more regulation may be a better argument to voters who might not be massive Trump fans but like his policies,” he said.
Tue May 01, 2018 - McCain Torches Trump in New Book: He Prioritizes Appearance of Toughness over American Values
Farsnews
Senator John McCain lashed out at US President Donald Trump in a new book, saying the President seems to care more about “the appearance of toughness” than American values.
“He has declined to distinguish the actions of our government from the crimes of despotic ones,” McCain wrote of Trump in a newly released excerpt from his new book, adding that “The Restless Wave: Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights, and Other Appreciations”, The Hill reported.
“The appearance of toughness, or a reality show facsimile of toughness, seems to matter more than any of our values,” he continued.
McCain, 81, also stressed that this will be his last term in the Senate, a fact he said a brain cancer diagnosis forced him to admit last year.
“I’m freer than colleagues who will face the voters again. I can speak my mind without fearing the consequences much. And I can vote my conscience without worry,” McCain wrote, underlining that “I don’t think I’m free to disregard my constituents’ wishes, far from it. I don’t feel excused from keeping pledges I made. Nor do I wish to harm my party’s prospects. But I do feel a pressing responsibility to give Americans my best judgment.”
McCain also laments the “decline in civility and cooperation, and increased obstructionism” he has witnessed in Congress.
However, he said there are remaining lawmakers and officials in the federal government who are "committed to meeting the challenges of the hour."
"They might not be the most colorful politicians in town, but they’re usually the ones who get the most done," McCain wrote.
He also pushes Americans to seek presidential candidates who promise to create relationships across political parties and are willing to compromise to address national issues, saying that "their humility and honesty commend them for the job."
“Before I leave I’d like to see our politics begin to return to the purposes and practices that distinguish our history from the history of other nations. I would like to see us recover our sense that we are more alike than different," McCain wrote at the end of the excerpt.
"We are citizens of a republic made of shared ideals forged in a new world to replace the tribal enmities that tormented the old one. Even in times of political turmoil such as these, we share that awesome heritage and the responsibility to embrace it,” he added.
The excerpt comes as McCain undergoes treatment in Arizona, where he has stayed since December.
The former GOP presidential nominee has spoken out about Trump before — he said during an interview last year that he doesn't think the President has any "principles and beliefs."
McCain's book will be released on May 22.
02.05.2018 - Trump's Ex-Doctor: President's Bodyguard, Lawyer "Raided" Office for Records
Trump’s Ex-Doctor: President’s Bodyguard, Lawyer ‘Raided’ Office for Records
In February 2017, US President Donald Trump’s bodyguard and a lawyer at the Trump Organization showed up at Trump’s former doctor’s New York office and took all the president’s medical files and records.
According to Dr. Harold Bornstein, the "raid" occurred two days after he told the New York Times about having prescribed a hair growth medicine called Propecia to the president for years. Bornstein also told the newspaper that he prescribes Trump drugs for rosacea and high cholesterol. Trump stopped seeing Borstein after his list of medications was released to the Times.
with NBC News, Bornstein said that he felt "raped, frightened and sad" when Trump's bodyguard, Keith Schiller, and Trump Organization chief legal officer Alan Garten came in to obtain the president's records.
"They must have been here for 25 or 30 minutes. It created a lot of chaos," Bornstein told NBC news.
"I couldn't believe anybody was making a big deal out of a drug to grow his hair that seemed to be so important. And it certainly was not a breach of medical trust to tell somebody they take Propecia to grow their hair. What's the matter with that?" Bornstein said.
In a recent interview with CNN, Bornstein also said, "I've been waiting, humiliated, for an entire year. How would you feel if you cared for someone for 35 years, they came and robbed your office?"
In addition, the men reportedly told Bornstein to take down the large framed photo of Bornstein and Trump that was hanging in the doctor's waiting room.
Bornstein told NBC news that he was not given a release form signed by the president, as required by federal privacy laws to safeguard medical information, which authorizes the release of such records. He also confirmed that Trump's original and only copies of lab reports were taken.
An anonymous person familiar with the situation said that during the "raid," a letter from Ronny Jackson, the White House doctor at the time, was given to Bornstein, although it is not clear whether the letter included a signed release form as well.
"If Ronny Jackson was the treating doctor, and he was asking for his patient's paperwork, a doctor is obligated to give it to him to ensure continuity of care," NBC News medical correspondent John Torres said. "But it has to be given in a secure fashion. Nobody who doesn't have HIPAA clearance [medical information release clearance] can see the patient records," Torres added.
NBC News legal analyst Danny Cevallos added that "New York state law requires that a doctor maintain records for at least six years, so a doctor who hands over his original records runs the risk of violating New York state law," Cevallos said, suggesting that Bornstein violated state law.
When NBC News' Hallie Jackson asked White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders about the incident on Tuesday afternoon, Sanders said that obtaining medical records was "standard operating procedure for a new president" and that it is inaccurate to refer to the encounter as a "raid."
"Those records were being transferred over to the White House Medical Unit, as requested," Sanders said.
In December 2015, during Trump's presidential campaign, Bornstein allegedly wrote a letter stating that Trump could be the healthiest president in history, adding that Trump's health is "astonishingly excellent."
Bornstein told CNN's Drew Griffin in September 2016 that he quickly wrote the letter before he rushed off to see patients. "I was just rushed for time. I had people to see. Did I really write that letter? Yeah," he said at the time.
On Tuesday, Bornstein changed his tune, telling CNN that he didn't actually write the letter himself. "He [Trump] dictated that whole letter. I didn't write that letter. I just made it up as I went along," he said.
Tue May 01, 2018 - Impeachment Looms Large in White House Midterm Plans
Farsnews
"It is super important to the White House and really the whole White House is very focused on it,” a source familiar with strategy talks about protecting the House majority said, The Hill reported.
“The President is expected to dial up efforts in this regard during and after the August recess,” the source added.
While Democratic leaders in the House are playing any talk of impeachment very carefully, the idea of impeaching Trump has strong support within the party’s liberal base.
Representative Beto O’Rourke, who raised $6.7 million in the first quarter for a Senate bid, goosed his fundraising last month by pledging to vote for impeachment. And Representative Maxine Waters said over the weekend that 70 percent of Democrats want to impeach the President.
Those comments have grabbed Trump’s attention, and led him to see protecting the House as vitally important.
Trump told a rally of supporters in Michigan over the weekend that the looming threat of impeachment is a driving reason to protect the House.
“We have to keep the House because if we listen to Maxine Waters, she’s going around saying ‘We will impeach him’,” Trump said Saturday.
Democrats would need to gain 23 seats to win back the House majority, a number that seems within range.
The Cook Political Report categorizes eight GOP held seats as likely or leaning toward Democrats, and 22 more as toss-ups.
Another party strategist said the order from the President to the Republican National Committee has been clear; Protect the House at all costs.
“It’s clear the message has been, ‘We don’t want to want to have to fool with impeachment proceedings with the final two years of his first term, you better do something,” the strategist said, requesting anonymity to discuss party deliberations.
The RNC surprised Senate Republicans recently when it announced that protecting the House would be it’s top priority, putting less emphasis on the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s goal of protecting and expanding the Senate GOP majority.
“Our No. 1 priority is keeping the House. We have to win the House,” RNC political director Juston Johnson told the Associated Press.
It’s safe to say some Republicans will question a strategy that puts too much a priority on the House and not enough of one on the Senate.
Republicans have a narrow 51-49 edge in the Senate, but face a playing field that has Democrats defending 26 seats compared to just eight for Republicans.
Many of the Democratic seats are also in states that Trump won by double-digits, which gives the Senate GOP real hope of increasing its majority even if the House majority flips.
McConnell warned Trump at a private dinner last month that he should focus more on the battle for control of the Senate, according to The New York Times.
McConnell argued that the future of the Senate GOP majority depended largely on Trump.
At the same dinner, Marc Short, the White House legislative affairs director predicted that House GOP majority is essentially doomed, according to The Times.
Other GOP strategists are urging Trump to spend his political capital where it can have the most impact — in states with vulnerable Senate Democratic incumbents.
They see control of the House as a losing battle but acknowledge the President doesn’t agree with that analysis.
“There are a lot of operatives who are concerned that we're chasing the impossible in terms of defending the House. Instead of ensuring you lock down one you may lose both,” one GOP official, who thinks the President’s time and fundraising ability is better used on Senate races, said.
This strategist argued that historical statistics combined with the wave of House Republican retirements makes keeping control of the lower chamber all but impossible.
Forty-seven House Republicans, including Speaker Paul Ryan, have announced their retirements since Trump came to office. While some of them have been replaced by GOP successors in special elections, many of the seats will be vulnerable to Democratic takeover in November.
Since 1966, when the President’s approval rating drops below 50 percent, his party has
lost two dozen or more seats in six out of the past seven midterm elections, according to The Cook Political Report.
A Gallup weekly poll released Monday found Trump’s approval rating rising to its highest level in 11 months, but it still stood at an anemic 42 percent.
GOP strategist Ford O’Connell said the costs will be high for Trump if Represantative Nancy Pelosi or another liberal Democrat becomes the next Speaker.
As a result, it’s understandable that Trump would want to fight hard to keep the House majority.
“They know they have to counteract that because if they lose the House the agenda stalls for two years and they’ll probably be facing impeachment charges every other week from how he looks to how he sneezes,” he stressed, adding that “That is the White House’s No. 1 fear.”
Some Republicans think Trump could rally the party’s base by raising the specter of impeachment.
Doug Heye, a GOP strategist, said sounding the alarm on impeachment will likely be central to the White House's strategy in some House races this fall — but not all of them.
“That will be part of it, but emphasizing how Pelosi and Co. would over turn his policies might resonate more than a hypothetical that Democratic leadership is trying to tamp down,” Heye, a former Republican National Committee Spokesman, stated.
“How [Democrats] would raise taxes, push government control of healthcare and more regulation may be a better argument to voters who might not be massive Trump fans but like his policies,” he said.
Tue May 01, 2018 - McCain Torches Trump in New Book: He Prioritizes Appearance of Toughness over American Values
Farsnews
Senator John McCain lashed out at US President Donald Trump in a new book, saying the President seems to care more about “the appearance of toughness” than American values.
“He has declined to distinguish the actions of our government from the crimes of despotic ones,” McCain wrote of Trump in a newly released excerpt from his new book, adding that “The Restless Wave: Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights, and Other Appreciations”, The Hill reported.
“The appearance of toughness, or a reality show facsimile of toughness, seems to matter more than any of our values,” he continued.
McCain, 81, also stressed that this will be his last term in the Senate, a fact he said a brain cancer diagnosis forced him to admit last year.
“I’m freer than colleagues who will face the voters again. I can speak my mind without fearing the consequences much. And I can vote my conscience without worry,” McCain wrote, underlining that “I don’t think I’m free to disregard my constituents’ wishes, far from it. I don’t feel excused from keeping pledges I made. Nor do I wish to harm my party’s prospects. But I do feel a pressing responsibility to give Americans my best judgment.”
McCain also laments the “decline in civility and cooperation, and increased obstructionism” he has witnessed in Congress.
However, he said there are remaining lawmakers and officials in the federal government who are "committed to meeting the challenges of the hour."
"They might not be the most colorful politicians in town, but they’re usually the ones who get the most done," McCain wrote.
He also pushes Americans to seek presidential candidates who promise to create relationships across political parties and are willing to compromise to address national issues, saying that "their humility and honesty commend them for the job."
“Before I leave I’d like to see our politics begin to return to the purposes and practices that distinguish our history from the history of other nations. I would like to see us recover our sense that we are more alike than different," McCain wrote at the end of the excerpt.
"We are citizens of a republic made of shared ideals forged in a new world to replace the tribal enmities that tormented the old one. Even in times of political turmoil such as these, we share that awesome heritage and the responsibility to embrace it,” he added.
The excerpt comes as McCain undergoes treatment in Arizona, where he has stayed since December.
The former GOP presidential nominee has spoken out about Trump before — he said during an interview last year that he doesn't think the President has any "principles and beliefs."
McCain's book will be released on May 22.
02.05.2018 - Trump's Ex-Doctor: President's Bodyguard, Lawyer "Raided" Office for Records
Trump’s Ex-Doctor: President’s Bodyguard, Lawyer ‘Raided’ Office for Records
In February 2017, US President Donald Trump’s bodyguard and a lawyer at the Trump Organization showed up at Trump’s former doctor’s New York office and took all the president’s medical files and records.
According to Dr. Harold Bornstein, the "raid" occurred two days after he told the New York Times about having prescribed a hair growth medicine called Propecia to the president for years. Bornstein also told the newspaper that he prescribes Trump drugs for rosacea and high cholesterol. Trump stopped seeing Borstein after his list of medications was released to the Times.
with NBC News, Bornstein said that he felt "raped, frightened and sad" when Trump's bodyguard, Keith Schiller, and Trump Organization chief legal officer Alan Garten came in to obtain the president's records.
"They must have been here for 25 or 30 minutes. It created a lot of chaos," Bornstein told NBC news.
"I couldn't believe anybody was making a big deal out of a drug to grow his hair that seemed to be so important. And it certainly was not a breach of medical trust to tell somebody they take Propecia to grow their hair. What's the matter with that?" Bornstein said.
In a recent interview with CNN, Bornstein also said, "I've been waiting, humiliated, for an entire year. How would you feel if you cared for someone for 35 years, they came and robbed your office?"
In addition, the men reportedly told Bornstein to take down the large framed photo of Bornstein and Trump that was hanging in the doctor's waiting room.
Bornstein told NBC news that he was not given a release form signed by the president, as required by federal privacy laws to safeguard medical information, which authorizes the release of such records. He also confirmed that Trump's original and only copies of lab reports were taken.
An anonymous person familiar with the situation said that during the "raid," a letter from Ronny Jackson, the White House doctor at the time, was given to Bornstein, although it is not clear whether the letter included a signed release form as well.
"If Ronny Jackson was the treating doctor, and he was asking for his patient's paperwork, a doctor is obligated to give it to him to ensure continuity of care," NBC News medical correspondent John Torres said. "But it has to be given in a secure fashion. Nobody who doesn't have HIPAA clearance [medical information release clearance] can see the patient records," Torres added.
NBC News legal analyst Danny Cevallos added that "New York state law requires that a doctor maintain records for at least six years, so a doctor who hands over his original records runs the risk of violating New York state law," Cevallos said, suggesting that Bornstein violated state law.
When NBC News' Hallie Jackson asked White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders about the incident on Tuesday afternoon, Sanders said that obtaining medical records was "standard operating procedure for a new president" and that it is inaccurate to refer to the encounter as a "raid."
"Those records were being transferred over to the White House Medical Unit, as requested," Sanders said.
In December 2015, during Trump's presidential campaign, Bornstein allegedly wrote a letter stating that Trump could be the healthiest president in history, adding that Trump's health is "astonishingly excellent."
Bornstein told CNN's Drew Griffin in September 2016 that he quickly wrote the letter before he rushed off to see patients. "I was just rushed for time. I had people to see. Did I really write that letter? Yeah," he said at the time.
On Tuesday, Bornstein changed his tune, telling CNN that he didn't actually write the letter himself. "He [Trump] dictated that whole letter. I didn't write that letter. I just made it up as I went along," he said.