Days 188-190 since Nov 8 2016 election and days 118-120 since Jan 20th inauguration of No45
‘The rich asshole’s best defense is dementia’: Internet in shock as Friday bombshells abruptly rock White House
some rich asshole speaks at the White House (CNN/screen grab)
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Two major reports published by the Washington Post and New York Times in rapid succession Friday capped a remarkable week in politics.
Monday, it was reported the rich asshole revealed highly classified information to the Russian ambassador and Russian foreign minister during a closed-door meeting in the Oval Office last week. Wednesday, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced a special counsel to oversee the Department of Justice’s investigation into Russia and possible collusion with the rich asshole campaign. Thursday, the Times published a piece indicating disgraced former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn warned the rich asshole transition team he was under federal investigation prior to the inauguration.
On Friday, the Times reported on an official White House summary of the closed-door Oval Office meeting between the rich asshole and the Russian ambassador and Russian foreign minister. According to that summary, in addition to divulging highly classified information to those Russian officials, the rich asshole also boasted about firing former FBI Director James Comey, who was overseeing the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion with the rich asshole campaign. The president also reportedly called Comey a “nut job.”
A few minutes later, the Washington Post published a report that the federal investigation has expanded to include a senior White House official currently in the administration. The Post described the individual as someone “close to the president.”
This rapid-fire Friday news dump jolted the internet, as users struggled to comprehend the magnitude of those reports. Take a look at some of the best reactions below:
Takes a special kind of POTUS to brag to the Russians about firing his FBI director because the "nut job" was on his ass about...Russians.
Two scoops at once, just like the President, reportedly, prefers
Somebody's "a real nut job" here https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/us/politics/trump-russia-comey.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0&referer=https://t.co/HeVO0j8nvt?amp=1 …
The president is up in the air right now and so, in a sense, is the presidency. https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/05/18/us/politics/washington-trump-mania.html?referer=https://t.co/WJbkZz6Lrt?amp=1 … via @katierogers
Me, as I go in to film a segment on a weekly wrap of the news.
Live footage of the person at the White House calling AF1 to tell Trump about the new Russia stories:
NYT and WaPo hereby supply bookends to one of the most extraordinary weeks in American political journalism.
And it's not over!
And it's not over!
tfw you're the person on Air Force 1 who has to tell Trump about the news stories that just broke
PUNDIT: This chatter on Trump & Russia seems overblown
TRUMP, TO RUSSIA: I fired Comey to end Russia investigation & take pressure off me
TRUMP, TO RUSSIA: I fired Comey to end Russia investigation & take pressure off me
I'd want to leave the country.
Once again, this photo takes on a new dimension
FACT CHECK: (1) True, (2) False, (3) True, (4) *Really* False
TWO SCOOPS!
Folks, Trump's best defense is dementia: Trump Told Russians Firing ‘Nut Job’ Comey Eased Pressure of Investigation https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/us/politics/trump-russia-comey.html?smid=tw-nytpolitics&smtyp=cur …
CNN legal analyst: the rich asshole’s ‘nut job’ remarks to Russians are ‘very close to a confession of obstruction of justice’
CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin (Screen capture)
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CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said on Friday that what we now know about President some rich asshole’s remarks to a Russia delegation in the Oval Office look “very close to a confession of obstruction of justice.”
On Friday, it came to light that during his closed-door meeting with Russian officials in the Oval Office last week, the rich asshole boasted of firing Comey, calling the former FBI director a “nut job” and saying that the “great pressure” of the Russia investigation was off of him.
“If you just parse the words that some rich asshole says, it does seem very close to a confession of obstruction of justice,” Toobin said, according to Mediaite.com. “He is talking about James Comey, who was investigating him and his campaign in connection with the whole Russia campaign matter, and he says ‘I fired him and the pressure’s off.’ It doesn’t seem much more complicated than that.”
Internet mocks reports of foreign leaders treating the rich asshole like a child: ‘Perhaps he could wear a little pilot hat’
President some rich asshole honks the horn in a truck (Screen cap).
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President some rich asshole is set to go on a big trip to multiple countries in the coming week, and reports from both the Associated Press and the New York Times claim that foreign leaders are working overtime to make sure the president feels comfortable in new surroundings.
Among other things, the reports say that diplomats plan to woo the rich asshole by praising the size of his electoral college victory last year, keeping all policy presentations short and with lots of pictures, and even serving one of his favorite dishes — well-done steaks with sides of ketchup.
These reports led to instant ridicule on the internet, as many Twitter users noted that foreign leaders’ attempts to keep the rich asshole comfortable are how you’d expect to see them handle a boy emperor.
Some of the top reactions follow below.
Perhaps he could visit the cockpit, and wear a little pilot hat. Look Melania, he's flying the plane! (Not really.) https://apnews.com/5e7e20245bc744fc8a6e71745239f56a/Worldwide-effort-set-to-keep-Trump-happy-on-1st-trip-abroad …
Worldwide effort set to keep Trump happy on 1st trip abroad
Tips for leaders meeting Trump: Keep it short and give him a win http://nyti.ms/2qZz2P4 pic.twitter.com/GjExm6vmK1
I don't mean to belabor this comparison but these are literally tips for managing toddlers
Tips for leaders meeting Trump: Keep it short and give him a win http://nyti.ms/2qZz2P4 pic.twitter.com/GjExm6vmK1
Tips for leaders meeting Trump: Keep it short and give him a win http://nyti.ms/2qZz2P4 pic.twitter.com/GjExm6vmK1
@nytimes This is the same advice when dealing with toddlers. Another good one: #8 Put sprinkles on everything. https://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/36-little-hacks-that-will-make-parenting-so-much-easier?utm_term=.bojyg2Xa3y#.ytXZglBqmZ … pic.twitter.com/8rEynVLL0A
Tips for leaders meeting Trump: Keep it short and give him a win http://nyti.ms/2qZz2P4 pic.twitter.com/GjExm6vmK1
Tips for leaders meeting Trump: Keep it short and give him a win http://nyti.ms/2qZz2P4 pic.twitter.com/GjExm6vmK1
Worldwide effort to keep Trump happy on 1st trip abroad, @juliepaceDC reports. http://apne.ws/2pS17rl
Worldwide effort to keep Trump happy on 1st trip abroad, @juliepaceDC reports. http://apne.ws/2pS17rl
Worldwide effort to keep Trump happy on 1st trip abroad, @juliepaceDC reports. http://apne.ws/2pS17rl
White House lawyers frantically researching how impeachment proceedings work: CNN
In a breaking news update, CNN justice correspondent Evan Perez reported that White House lawyers are consulting impeachment experts and researching impeachment procedures as part of the legal defense of President some rich asshole.
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The continuous drip-drip of breaking news on investigations into some rich asshole and Russia have reached the point where White House lawyers are researching impeachment procedures.
CNN’s justice correspondent Evan Perez reports, “lawyers in the White House counsel’s office have consulted experts in impeachment during the past week and have begun collecting information on how such proceedings would work.”
Impeachment defense strategy is part of the broader White House effort to bolster the rich asshole’s defense, according to CNN.
Article II, Section 4 of the United States Constitution states, “The President, Vice President, and all civil Officers of the United States shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other High Crimes and Misdemeanors.”
The White House effort to prepare for impeachment will likely be complimented by outside lawyers privately-retained by the rich asshole and White House staff.
The White House refused to comment for CNN’s story on impeachment defense.
‘Now they see the clownish nature’: Europeans brace for visit from ‘laughingstock’ the rich asshole
President some rich asshole (AFP Photo/SAUL LOEB)
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Weeks ago, many U.S. allies in Europe were living in fear of what newly-elected President some rich asshole would do with regards to the stability and safety of Europe.
Now, however, after the rich asshole’s inept, scandal plagued first months in office, people who spoke with Germany-based Politico correspondent Susan B. Glasser said, “The dominant reaction to the rich asshole right now is mockery.”
“People are less worried than they were six weeks ago, less afraid,” said one German government official to Glasser. “Now they see the clownish nature.”
“People here think the rich asshole is a laughingstock,” another German national confided to Glasser in Berlin.
He was echoed by Michael Wertz, an expert on German-American relations with the Center for American Progress, who said, “The rich asshole administration is becoming an international laughingstock.” Werz said that he was struck by “how rapidly the American brand is depreciating over the last 20 weeks.”
Diplomats representing U.S.-friendly countries all have been comparing notes on how to handle the president, who is known for his volatility, short attention span and thin skin.
“The president of the United States has a 12-second attention span,” said NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg to a “former senior official” after an April meeting with the rich asshole in the Oval Office. Furthermore, Stoltenberg said, the president seemed unprepared and ill-informed during the meeting, attempting to steer the conversation with NATO representatives to North Korea, which is not a part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)’s charter, since it is not located in the North Atlantic.
“Some of the reported preparations for the NATO session in Brussels this week suggest just how much the volatile-clown theory of the American president has now taken hold,” wrote Glasser.
· NATO has downsized what was to be a full summit meeting to just a dinner on May 25 “to minimize the chance of a the rich asshole eruption.”
· Leaders have been told to keep their remarks under four minutes or they’ll lose the rich asshole’s attention.
· Leaders have also been advised to present something to the rich asshole that looks like a deal —
what diplomatic parlance calls a “deliverable” — some tangible, if meaningless, offer to make the president feel like he’s accomplished something special.
what diplomatic parlance calls a “deliverable” — some tangible, if meaningless, offer to make the president feel like he’s accomplished something special.
Former Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Donna Brazile recently spoke to a group of largely German political and media figures. The main question among them was how long will it be before the rich asshole is out of office. Will he be impeached?
“Well, people seem to think he’s just going to be removed. I don’t know,” Brazile told the group. She went on to say that he is the president and that he was elected and therefore she wishes him success for the country’s sake.
“I want my president to succeed,” Brazile said, adding, “But no one is above the law.”
Walt Disney World considers breaking ‘Hall of Presidents’ tradition to silence robot ‘the rich asshole’
(Photo: by Gage Skidmore/Flickr)
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Confronted by the fact that President some rich asshole is a highly divisive figure, Walt Disney World’s Hall of Presidents will feature the newly elected president — but is considering not programming the animatronic the rich asshole to address the audience.
According to Motherboard, insiders at Disney state that they are considering breaking with tradition — which saw the last three U.S. presidents given a speaking spot in the patriotic show — and going back to the original program with only George Washington and Abraham Lincoln speaking.
Disney has already been under pressure to not include the rich asshole in the longtime attraction that offers up lessons in U.S. history set to swelling patriotic music, concluding with ‘The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”
As Motherboard notes, “There are already multiple anti-the rich asshole petitions circulating (the most prominent one has collected nearly 15,000 signatures), which urge Disney to silence the rich asshole robot, on the grounds that the rich asshole ran for president on a platform of ‘hateful speech, misogyny, racism, and xenophobia.'”
Disney CEO Bob Iger has confirmed that the rich asshole will be a part of the Hall of Presidents — with his bust already in production — but it appears that the rich asshole robot will not be given star billing.
In 1993, former President Bill Clinton became the first modern day president to recite a speech at the Hall of Presidents during the show, later followed by ex-presidents George W. Bush and then Barack Obama.
With the attraction currently shut down for refurbishing, Disney is now rethinking the program and considering going back to the old format with only Washington and Lincoln given speaking roles — while relegating the rich asshole to the line-up of background presidents.
According to Motherboard’s source, Disney may also push back the reopening of the attraction until after the busy summer season.
“Given President the rich asshole’s current problems,” continued the source, “Walt Disney World might elect to push the attraction’s opening date back to the fall and then make further tweaks to the show.”
Sean Spicer: Comey was putting ‘unnecessary pressure’ on the rich asshole’s relationship to Russia
Sean Spicer (screen grab)
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Addressing a report that President some rich asshole told Russian officials in the Oval Office that, by firing FBI Director James Comey, pressure was taken off of him in his dealings with Russia, Press Secretary Sean Spicer defended his boss.
“By grandstanding and politicizing the investigation into Russia’s actions, James Comey created unnecessary pressure on our ability to engage and negotiate with Russia,” Spicer said in a statement to the press. “The investigation would have always continued, and obviously, the termination of Comey would not have ended it. Once again, the real story is that our national security has been undermined by the leaking of private and highly classified conversations.”
In the bombshell reported by the New York Times, the rich asshole reportedly said, “I just fired the head of the F.B.I. He was crazy, a real nut job… I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off.”
Talk of removing President some rich asshole from office has stepped up since he fired James Comey as FBI director last week and admitted the “Russia thing” was on his mind when he made the decision.
But removing a president is hard. The two processes outlined in the Constitution require a lot of political ducks to line up perfectly.
The first way that most people think of is impeachment. The last time this country went down that path was with President Bill Clinton. But remember, when the House of Representatives debated Clinton’s articles of impeachment, it was run by Republicans. He was impeached by a simple majority vote. When the Senate debated removing him from office, he was acquitted. Democrats weren’t in control of the Senate, but since it takes 67 senators to remove a president from office and all 45 Democrats voted against removing him from office, Clinton stayed in the Oval Office. Some Republicans also voted against removing him, but the political makeup of the Senate made it easier for Clinton to survive.
The other way is a tactic that’s literally never been tried before in American history, which is utilizing the 25th Amendment’s power to remove a president that is unfit for office.
The second option would require the political world to be even more upside-down than it is now. For this scheme to work, the vice president (whom the president chose) and a majority of the Cabinet (that the president also chose) would have to agree that the president is not fit for office. If they bring that to Congress, then the veep becomes acting president. But the president can just say, “I’m fit for office.” If he does that, the vp and the Cabinet have to send another letter to Congress disagreeing. At that point Congress has to debate it and then two-thirds of the House and two-thirds of the Senate have to agree that the president is unfit.
Let me remind you that Republicans control the House and the Senate right now. So unless the public cries for removal get real loud and poll numbers get real low, neither of these ways of removing the president is super likely. Not at this point, anyway.
AP FACT CHECK: the rich asshole claims unearned exoneration on Russia
WASHINGTON (AP) — President some rich asshole persists in suggesting that his 2016 campaign has been exonerated on the question of whether it colluded with Russians, even as a powerful investigation forms to look into that matter and multiple other inquiries press on.
The president joined Colombian counterpart Juan Manuel Santos in a news conference Thursday. He misstated the record on jobs and a violent national gang as well as on the matter that prompted the Justice Department a day earlier to appoint a special counsel with wide-ranging powers to investigate the rich asshole campaign and Russia.
A look at some of his assertions:
—“Even my enemies have said there is no collusion.”
THE FACTS: Democrats have not absolved the rich asshole on whether his campaign and Russian officials coordinated efforts last year to disadvantage his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. Several have said they have not seen evidence of collusion, but that’s not to say they are satisfied it did not happen.
the rich asshole has cited James Clapper, the director of national intelligence until the rich asshole took office Jan. 20, among others, as being “convinced” there was no collusion.
Clapper said this week that while a report he issued in January did not uncover collusion, he did not know at the time that the FBI was digging deeply into “potential political collusion between the rich asshole campaign and the Russians” and he was unaware of what the bureau might have found. The FBI inquiry continues, as do congressional investigations and, now, one by the special counsel.
___
—On his decision to fire FBI Director James Comey: “I actually thought when I made that decision — and I also got a very, very strong recommendation, as you know, from the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein.”
THE FACTS: The recommendation the rich asshole cites behind his decision was written after he’d already made up his mind, according to Rosenstein and to the rich asshole’s own previous statement.
In an interview with NBC two days after the May 9 Comey dismissal, the rich asshole said he had been planning to fire Comey for months, and linked it with the FBI’s Russia probe, saying, “In fact when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said you know, this Russia thing with the rich asshole and Russia is a made-up story.”
On Thursday, Rosenstein told senators in a closed-door briefing that he had been informed of the rich asshole’s decision to fire Comey before he wrote his memo providing a rationale for that act, said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.
___
—Speaking of the MS-13 gang presence in the U.S.: “A horrible, horrible large group of gangs that have been let into our country over a fairly short period of time. ... They’ve literally taken over towns and cities of the United States.”
THE FACTS: His depiction of the gang as a foreign one “let into” the U.S. is not accurate.
The gang actually began in Los Angeles, according to a fact sheet from the rich asshole’s own Justice Department, and “spread quickly across the country.” And it started not recently, but in the 1980s according to that same fact sheet.
The department indirectly credits the Obama administration, in its early years, with helping to rein in the group, largely made up of first-generation Salvadoran-Americans and Salvadoran nationals. It said: “Through the combined efforts of federal, state and local law enforcement, great progress was made diminishing or severely (disrupting) the gang within certain targeted areas of the U.S. by 2009 and 2010.”
The U.S. carried out record deportations during the Obama administration and, on MS-13 specifically, took the unprecedented action of labelling the street gang a transnational criminal organization and announcing a freeze on its U.S. assets. Such actions were not enough to bring down the group and the rich asshole administration says it will do more.
___
—“You look at the tremendous number of jobs that are being announced.” — Thursday news conference
— “Jobs are pouring back into our country.” — speech Wednesday to the Coast Guard Academy
—“I inherited a mess. ... Jobs are pouring out of the country.” — February news conference
— “Car companies coming back to U.S. JOBS! JOBS! JOBS!” — on Twitter, after Ford took steps to add about 800 jobs in the U.S. in January and March
THE FACTS: the rich asshole’s rhetoric about jobs has changed, but the actual data about hiring haven’t. Job gains have been solid since the rich asshole was inaugurated, averaging 185,000 a month from January through April, according to government figures. But that is the same pace of hiring as occurred in 2016, when Barack Obama was president, and slower than in 2014 and 2015, when more than 225,000 jobs a month were added, on average.
As for Ford, context is everything. After hailing the addition of some 800 jobs, the rich asshole was silent after Ford announced Wednesday it plans to cut 1,400 non-factory jobs in North America and Asia. That will most likely outweigh the jobs added earlier.
Overall, presidents typically get far more credit or blame for the state of the economy than they deserve, economists say. And it is particularly unlikely that any president would have an impact after just four months on the job. But that hasn’t stopped the rich asshole from taking credit.
“Great jobs report today — it is all beginning to work!” he tweeted May 5, after the government reported that solid hiring in April had pushed the unemployment rate to a 10-year low. A spokesman said on the same day that “the president’s economic agenda of serious tax reform, slashing burdensome regulations, rebuilding our infrastructure and negotiating fairer trade deals is adding jobs.”
While the rich asshole, with the help of the GOP Congress, has taken some minor steps on deregulation, little progress has been made on taxes, infrastructure or trade.
the rich asshole Administration Reportedly Tried to Intimidate Insurers Into Supporting Its Turd of a Health Care Bill
some rich asshole shaking hands with Seema Verna, who apparently shares his affection for two-bit mafioso tactics.
Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images
From time-to-time during his presidency, some rich asshole has casually threatened to bring Obamacare's health coverage markets crashing down by cutting off a crucial set of subsidies the government currently pays to insurers. This is usually mentioned as part of a possible effort to win some kind of concession from Democrats. Early last month, he told reporters he might halt the cost-sharing reduction payments, as they're known, if Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi refused to negotiate a new health care bill. After that went nowhere, the administration briefly tried to bargain the CSRs in return for money to build the rich asshole's beloved wall along the Mexican border. That idea flopped as well.
Jordan Weissmann is Slate’s senior business and economics correspondent.
·
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It turns out that team the rich asshole has also pulled this amateur hostage-taking schtick with representatives of the private sector. Deep in a piece about how the administration's erratic and unpredictable behavior is wreaking havoc on the insurance markets—and probably causing premiums to rise—the Los Angeles Times reports that a top Department of Health and Human services official apparently told a group of insurance industry executives that the rich asshole would keep making the CSR payments if they would publicly support the House Republican's Obamacare repeal bill. To wit:
At one recent meeting, Seema Verma, whom the rich asshole picked to oversee the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs, stunned insurance industry officials by suggesting a bargain: The administration would fund the CSRs if insurers supported the House Republican bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
If one wanted to be generous, they could say this two-bit mafioso impression is just a colorful example of backroom interest group politics. Insurers want to keep these subsidies. The White House desperately would like insurers to back its claims that Trumpcare will lower premiums. You scratch our back, we'll scratch yours.
But no, this is not just regular favor trading or negotiating. This is a government official threatening to topple over the individual insurance market unless carriers play ball with a political agenda. This is not normal, as they say. And it makes an excuse of the rich asshole administration's excuse for stopping the CSR's, which is that they might not be legal. A trial court judge ruled that Congress never properly appropriated money for the subsidies, which compensate insurers for lowering their poorer customers' out-of-pocket expenses, and the White House must decide whether to continue appealing the ruling. But by repeatedly offering these subsidies as bargaining chips in negotiations, the administration is making it crystal clear that this issue really has anything to do with the law. That was sort of obvious to begin with, but they're not even trying to hide it.
Nice health insurance business you got there. Pity if anything were to happen to it. More...
This also speaks to just how repellant anybody who knows anything about health care finds this turd of a bill that the House GOP crafted. The administration was apparently having so much trouble getting insurers to back the legislation that it tried to make a whole table of executives an offer they couldn't refuse—and yet they did.
Update, May 18, 7:19 PM: After my story went up, a spokeswoman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services sent an email claiming the LA Times' reporting was fake news. She passed along this statement from CMS communications director Jane Norris, who purportedly attended the meeting with Verma. “The statement about Administrator Verma suggesting that the administration would fund CSRs is absolutely false. What she said at the AHIP meeting in April was that no decisions had been made about CSR’s.”
the rich asshole stormed off and left staffers to clean up after Comey memo — and now they’re dreading his tweets
White House officials endured their worst day yet working for President some rich asshole, and they dread what’s coming next.
Tuesday began with questions about the rich asshole revealing highly classified intelligence to senior Russian officials, and the day closed with revelations of a memo showing the rich asshole asked former FBI director James Comey to end his investigation of disgraced national security adviser Mike Flynn, reported Politico.
“Nobody knows where this really goes from here,” a White House official said. “Everyone is walking around saying, ‘What is next?'”
Top White House officials knew the bombshell report on the Comey memo was coming two hours before the New York Times posted it online, and the president angrily retreated to his residence upstairs within 75 minutes of the story going live.
White House surrogates were reluctant to go on TV to defend the president because they weren’t sure what to say, and Fox News host Bret Baier complained Tuesday night that no Republicans were willing to go on camera to push back against the Comey memo.
“We are kind of helpless,” said one White House official.
Staffers are demoralized by constant reports that their jobs are in danger, and they said the rich asshole ignores their advice or unilaterally blows up their communications strategy.
Two sources told Politico that the rich asshole insisted on writing a line in his letter firing Comey that the FBI director had assured him three times that he wasn’t under investigation, against the warnings of his advisers.
The president made that decision while golfing in New Jersey, without his staff, and few advisers saw the letter before it was sent out.
“They’re in a bad situation,” said one adviser who has known the president for years. “If people wanted the Comey situation to go away, he did nothing to help that happen.”
White House officials decided not to send anyone on TV or issue a signed statement on the Comey memo, and they went to bed waiting for the next shoe to drop.
“We are hoping the president doesn’t tweet,” one official said. “Fingers crossed.”
That left aides to “figure out how bad the fallout was,” Politico reported, but without tape recordings or even a full readout of the rich asshole’s conversation with Comey, which took place the day after Flynn resigned.
‘When will this shit stop?’: GOP operatives worry that the rich asshole will drag the whole party down with him
Republicans in Congress may finally be reaching their limit with President some rich asshole, according to a feature in the Washington Examiner on Wednesday, as they begin to see him as a potential drag on the party’s electoral prospects in 2018.
As chaos has taken hold at the White House and even the rich asshole’s closest advisers admit that the president is in deep trouble, Republicans who were content to let the rich asshole’s antics slide in the past are beginning to grow wary and concerned.
“You have this White House that is lurching from crisis to crisis, the image is of disarray — they can’t get their hands around the basic day-to-day agenda, and define the progress they have made,” said Republican pollster David Winston to the Examiner. “One of the things that the president has is the bully pulpit; the bully pulpit lets you drive the agenda and these crises haven’t let the White House effectively get there.”
The president’s poll numbers have fallen ever lower and now voters appear to be souring on Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act (AHA) — also known as “Obamacare” — and the GOP is beginning to see that it is at risk for losing its majorities in both houses of Congress.
“The last couple weeks have left a mark,” said one GOP consultant who asked not to be named. “The risks of going down the present path include diminished enthusiasm in the base, low fundraising and candidate recruitment problems in down ballot races.”
An adviser to one Republican being eyed for a key 2018 congressional race told the Examiner that the president is effectively hobbling every Republican candidate with his antics.
“I’d be a fool if I said it wasn’t causing us at least a little heartburn,” they said. “I mean, seriously, when is this shit going to stop?”
Lobbyists report that complaints from donors are piling up as the wealthy elite who set the GOP’s agenda and financially grease the wheels of the party machine are getting restive and disenchanted.
“People are feeling — it’s disgust, it’s a shame, it’s you name it, all of the above,” one lobbyist said. Donors reportedly keep asking, “When is this going to end? How can we recover? These are clowns.”
‘He is our disgrace’: Internet disgusted after the rich asshole whines about media treatment in Coast Guard speech
President some rich asshole on Wednesday used an address to the United States Coast Guard Academy to once again vent his frustrations with negative media coverage.
“No politician in history has been treated worse or more unfairly,” the rich asshole said of himself during his address, which ended with him imploring Coast Guard cadets to “enjoy your life — good luck.”
Reaction on the internet to the rich asshole’s complaints about unfair treatment was swift and brutal, as both liberals and conservatives slammed the rich asshole for bringing his own personal grievances to a speech that was supposed to be about the Coast Guard.
Some of the top reactions follow below.
That's because no President in history has been worse.https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/864878819165036548 …
Donald Trump to Cost Guard Academy: "No politician in history has been treated worse or more unfairly"
Um... ok...
Um... ok...
Trump: "UNFAIR! No politician in history who obstructed justice and gave away state secrets has been treated as unfairly as I have."
even a service academy commencement speech becomes a vehicle for his grudges, victimhood and vanity. He is our disgrace.
Dear MAGAmerica:
Donald Trump is a whiny, delicate bitch.https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/864879279645052929 …
Donald Trump is a whiny, delicate bitch.https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/864879279645052929 …
from guy who sat out Vietnam War /w sore foot--that healed itself in the early 70s https://twitter.com/tommyxtopher/status/864878575203364867 …
He is unfit to lead women & men in uniform and unworthy to serve the American people. https://twitter.com/cnn/status/864878058548875264 …
Pathetic, clueless and unbecoming for a president to speak this way at a service academy commencement or in front of the CIA Memorial Wall. https://twitter.com/zekejmiller/status/864875751631466496 …
Coast guard cadets know that a flailing drowning person can be dangerous to would-be rescuers.https://twitter.com/RosieGray/status/864876055210930176 …
The Comnander in Chief whines to people 50 years younger. What a craven wuss https://twitter.com/zekejmiller/status/864875751631466496 …
@jpodhoretz No Commander in Chief has been less deserving of the title.
"No politician in history has been treated worse or more unfairly."-Trump
1. You're not a politician
2. You don't know when to just shut up
1. You're not a politician
2. You don't know when to just shut up
The cry baby trump is now complaining that he s been treated unfairly, has he thought about resigning? @GOP @Gov4Sale@MSNBC @seanhannity
"No politician...treated more unfairly," even one whose birthplace and religion were constantly questioned by his eventual successor.
CGA grads forced to listen to Trump complain: "No politician in history has been treated worse or more unfairly than me."
boo freakin' hoo
boo freakin' hoo
This is what President Trump told U.S. Coast Guard Academy graduates in a commencement address pic.twitter.com/HDHnmi0Ufs
@BraddJaffy I'd say Kennedy, McKinley and Lincoln were, all things considered, demonstrably treated more "unfairly" than Trump has been to date.
Trump: No politician in history has been treated worse or more unfairly
Also Trump: Lyin' @tedcruz; Little @marcorubio; Fake Tears Schumer;
Also Trump: Lyin' @tedcruz; Little @marcorubio; Fake Tears Schumer;
Video: Trump Says Life Has Treated Him Unfairlyhttp://heisenbergreport.com/2017/05/17/video-trump-says-life-has-treated-him-unfairly/ …
On Tuesday, after word broke that former F.B.I. Director James Comey kept memos of his conversations with some rich asshole (verified by the New York Times), an active duty F.B.I agent said that ‘articles of impeachment’ against him were becoming more of a reality.
“The obstruction of justice articles of impeachment counts are stacking up, it seems,” an active duty FBI agent told The Daily Beast. Firing Comey, the agent added, was a “big gamble. You’ve got to kill him, metaphorically. You can’t just wound him.”
The memo from Comey states that the rich asshole asked him to kill the investigation that was underway against former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. Comey reportedly declined.
“I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go,” some rich asshole told Mr. Comey, according to the memo. “He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.”
.@wolfblitzer: Could we be moving toward an impeachment process?
Sen. King: “Reluctantly, Wolf, I have to say yes"
Sen. King: “Reluctantly, Wolf, I have to say yes"
Congressman Joaquin Castro says if NYT report is true it's obstruction of justice, predicts "Congress will go down the road of impeachment"
David Gergen, adviser to Nixon, Reagan, and Clinton, says we are in "impeachment territory"
Currently, there is still an active F.B.I. investigation into Flynn and the rich asshole’s ties to Russia. the rich asshole states that Comey told him on at least three occasions that they weren’t investigating him personally, but so far, Comey has not confirmed this. To this day, what the rich asshole has stated has continuously been called into question after more material facts have been released from other sources.
We just won’t know for sure unless the rich asshole releases the ‘tapes’ he implied existed of his conversations with Comey. In the meantime, Congress itself is intensifying talks of impeachment.
Sen. Blumenthal says Pres. Trump's decision to fire his FBI director could lead to possible impeachment proceedings http://cnn.it/2pAYTs3
Indeed, if what Comey said in the memo is true (which by itself has enough standing in a court of law to be upheld as an accurate record), then the rich asshole could be facing Articles of Impeachment. Congress will just need enough Republicans to join Democrats in the cause.
In the meantime, the White House is under a tremendous amount of stress. Every day it seems like there is a new fire to put out.
“I feel like running down the hallway with a fire extinguisher,” one senior the rich asshole official said. He then offered the following assessment: “I don’t see how the rich asshole isn’t completely fucked.”
‘Small circle’ of Justice Department officials were aware of Comey’s memos on the rich asshole meetings: report
16 MAY 2017 AT 19:03 ET NOOR AL-SIBAI
As the news cycle remains dominated by the revelation of memos written by fired FBI Director James Comey as part of a “paper trail” of perceived misbehavior by President some rich asshole, we are learning more about who had access to Comey’s cache of memos.
In the Washington Post‘s report confirming the existence of the Comey memos, sources allege that officials at the Department of Justice had access to the memos.
According to the Post‘s sources, “details of Comey’s notes were shared with a very small circle of people at the FBI and Justice Department”.
MSNBC justice and security analyst Matthew Miller aired concerns on Twitter about the possibility that the memos had reached Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein — the two officials whose letters to President the rich asshole about Comey were used as initial justifications for the former FBI director’s termination.
“If Sessions & Rosenstein knew this when they signed off on his firing,” Miller tweeted, “their positions aren’t tenable”.
Read Miller’s tweet below:
Post reports memo was shared w/ DOJ. If Sessions & Rosenstein knew this when they signed off on his firing, their positions aren't tenable. twitter.com/washingtonpost…
REVEALED: the rich asshole made Sessions and Pence leave room before asking Comey to drop Flynn investigation
According to CNN’s Jake Tapper, a source revealed President some rich asshole was in a meeting with former FBI director James Comey Feb. 14 when he asked Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Vice President Mike Pence to leave the room. It was at that time, the rich asshole asked Comey to “let go” of the investigation into retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn.
“I hope you can see your way to letting this guy – to letting Flynn go,” the source told Tapper the rich asshole said. “He’s a good guy I hope you can let this go.”
Tapper went on to say that Comey told the source he was grateful hearing the news that the rich asshole may have recorded their conversations because a recording would corroborate Comey’s story that the rich asshole asked him to drop the investigation. The request was such an “uncomfortable” one that it prompted Comey to begin writing the memos after speaking with the rich asshole to ensure there was a written recording of what was discussed.
“There are a great many memos,” the source told Tapper.
CNN’s Toobin: the rich asshole asking Comey to drop Flynn investigation is type of ‘obstruction’ that led Nixon to resign
‘I hope you let this go’: Bombshell Comey memo reveals the rich asshole asked him to drop Flynn investigation
Sources close to fired FBI Director James Comey revealed the existence of a memo written by the former director as part of a paper trail into what he believes was “improper” conduct by President some rich asshole.
the rich asshole was quoted as saying “I hope you can let this go” regarding disgraced adviser Michael Flynn according to the memo, which was read aloud to a New York Times reporter
According to the Times report, “the existence of some rich asshole’s request is the clearest evidence that the president has tried to directly influence the Justice Department and FBI investigation into links between some rich asshole’s associates and Russia.”
The memo was reportedly written the day after Michael Flynn resigned in February, and was “part of a paper trail Mr. Comey created documenting what he perceived as the president’s improper efforts to influence an ongoing investigation”.
In a statement acquired by the Times, the White House denied allegations that the rich asshole asked Comey to end the investigation into Flynn’s ties to Russia.
“While the president has repeatedly expressed his view that General Flynn is a decent man who served and protected our country, the president has never asked Mr. Comey or anyone else to end any investigation, including any investigation involving General Flynn,” the statement read.
Along with the existence of the memo regarding Flynn, sources close to Comey also told the Times of some of the president’s other strange suggestions.
According to the report, the rich asshole reportedly told Comey that the FBI should “should consider putting reporters in prison for publishing classified information”.
shares
On Tuesday, after word broke that former F.B.I. Director James Comey kept memos of his conversations with some rich asshole (verified by the New York Times), an active duty F.B.I agent said that ‘articles of impeachment’ against him were becoming more of a reality.
“The obstruction of justice articles of impeachment counts are stacking up, it seems,” an active duty FBI agent told The Daily Beast. Firing Comey, the agent added, was a “big gamble. You’ve got to kill him, metaphorically. You can’t just wound him.”
The memo from Comey states that the rich asshole asked him to kill the investigation that was underway against former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. Comey reportedly declined.
“I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go,” some rich asshole told Mr. Comey, according to the memo. “He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.”
.@wolfblitzer: Could we be moving toward an impeachment process?
Sen. King: “Reluctantly, Wolf, I have to say yes"
Sen. King: “Reluctantly, Wolf, I have to say yes"
Congressman Joaquin Castro says if NYT report is true it's obstruction of justice, predicts "Congress will go down the road of impeachment"
David Gergen, adviser to Nixon, Reagan, and Clinton, says we are in "impeachment territory"
Currently, there is still an active F.B.I. investigation into Flynn and the rich asshole’s ties to Russia. the rich asshole states that Comey told him on at least three occasions that they weren’t investigating him personally, but so far, Comey has not confirmed this. To this day, what the rich asshole has stated has continuously been called into question after more material facts have been released from other sources.
We just won’t know for sure unless the rich asshole releases the ‘tapes’ he implied existed of his conversations with Comey. In the meantime, Congress itself is intensifying talks of impeachment.
Sen. Blumenthal says Pres. Trump's decision to fire his FBI director could lead to possible impeachment proceedings http://cnn.it/2pAYTs3
Indeed, if what Comey said in the memo is true (which by itself has enough standing in a court of law to be upheld as an accurate record), then the rich asshole could be facing Articles of Impeachment. Congress will just need enough Republicans to join Democrats in the cause.
In the meantime, the White House is under a tremendous amount of stress. Every day it seems like there is a new fire to put out.
“I feel like running down the hallway with a fire extinguisher,” one senior the rich asshole official said. He then offered the following assessment: “I don’t see how the rich asshole isn’t completely fucked.”
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