the rich asshole’s behavior may already have degraded all of our politics beyond the point of no return
some rich asshole, pictured on August 6, 2016, has garnered disdain from a large swath of America's political, defense and security establishment for his unorthodox -- some say downright dangerous -- views (AFP Photo/Scott Eisen)
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Amid all the craziness surrounding Roy Moore’s race for the US Senate and the seeming willingness of Alabama’s likely voters to send a man of such dubious merit and morality to Capitol Hill (where, admittedly, the bar already is pretty damned low), I keep thinking of a line from the Randy Newman song “Rednecks.”
It’s the lead piece on his classic ’70s album Good Old Boys, and begins with a Southern man lamenting how the north-of-the-Mason-Dixon-line media types make fun of former Georgia Gov. Lester Maddox, the arch-segregationist notorious for using an ax handle to threaten those who tried to integrate his fried chicken restaurant.
“Well, he may be a fool but he’s our fool,” Newman sings, and yep, there’s the upcoming Alabama election in a nutshell. Outsiders are resented and tribalism reigns, no matter how irrational or destructive to self-interest.
“Thank God for Mississippi” is the old joke: No matter how bad things were in Alabama, there always was a state right next door where things were often worse. Alabama is the third “hungriest” state in the nation, with 18 percent of its population food insecure, behind Louisiana and, yes, Mississippi. It’s the sixth-poorest state, with some 18.5 percent living in poverty, and the third-highest state when it comes both to murders and the number of citizens behind bars per 100,000 members of population. According to the Centers for Disease Control, opioids are prescribed in Alabama more than in any other state, and a Center for Health Statistics report notes that Alabama’s rate of overdose deaths from opioids has doubled since 2011.
But no, instead of campaigning about how to get the federal government to help his state pull itself from the clutches of such poverty, hunger and addiction, Roy Moore acts like a crackpot false prophet, preaching Islamophobia, homophobia and the dominance of “God’s law” over the Constitution; denying the allegations of the many women who say he assaulted or harassed or stalked them when they were teenagers (on Tuesday, a Moore spokesperson described the accusers as “criminals”) and all the time hammering away at his Democratic opponent Doug Jones on abortion.
Moore wants all abortion to be illegal and supports the reversal of Roe v. Wade. Jones has declared he is against “anything that is going to infringe on a woman’s right and her freedom to choose,” but also has said that he supports “current law” that restricts abortion after 20 weeks unless pregnancy threatens the health of the mother.
Moore’s wife has attacked Jones for supporting “full-term” abortion, which is wildly and deliberately misleading. What’s more, the website AL.com reports, “An examination of statistics compiled by the Alabama Department of Public Health shows that late-term procedures are almost nonexistent in the state. Three out of 6,642 abortions performed in Alabama in 2016 occurred after 20 weeks, according to the agency.”
Admittedly, I write all this as one of those Northern media types, but also as one with a Southern mother and at least one great-grandfather from Alabama. Not that it grants me much immunity, if any, from my innate damn Yankee-ness, but I put it out there just to suggest that genetically at least I may not be a total hostage to Eastern seaboard prejudices and pointy-headed intellectualism.
Besides, these symptoms of self-righteous bigotry and callousness hardly are limited to Alabama. This knee-jerk tribal impulse that afflicts so much of the state’s politics is just a pure, concentrated and poisonous microcosm of the Republican Party’s Trumpism, right up to and including the race and gender prejudice, religious bias and sheer chutzpah, although that’s not a word one imagines in Moore’s Jesus-wants-me-for-a-sunbeam vocabulary.
And let’s not forget opportunism. National Republicans pay far more heed to poll numbers than Moore’s Ten Commandments. That’s why we’ve witnessed the appallingly cynical backflips on his behalf from some rich asshole, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the Republican National Committee (RNC) as Moore’s percentages seem to have bounced back from an initial drop after the first allegations of his unchristian-like behavior with teenagers.
And so you have a morally compromised president who now shouts “Go get ‘em, Roy,” to a fellow misogynist and birther, as well as an RNC that has resumed cash transfusions for the Moore campaign. You have a woman governor in Alabama, Kay Ivey, who says, “There’s never an excuse for or rationale for sexual misconduct or sexual abuse” but who will vote for Moore anyway because “we need to have a Republican in the United States Senate to… make major decisions.”
Then there’s Tully Borland, philosophy professor at a Baptist university in Arkansas, convolutedly writing in The Federalist that relations between older men and teenage girls are “not without some merit if one wants to raise a large family,” but adding, “Moore was a dirtbag and is currently lying about his actions rather than confessing the truth and asking for forgiveness.” And then adding, “That being said, I don’t think it’s wrong to vote for Moore.” As they used to say on Monty Python, “There! I’ve run rings around you logically.”
No wonder my head hurts. Conservative columnist Jennifer Rubin recently wrote that the GOP contortions are “the final result of years of win-at-all-cost politics in which no evil (Child molestation? Murder?) compares to the ‘evil’ of electing a perfectly competent, patriotic member of the other party to office.”
… Republicans will tell you they support Moore and the rich asshole as vehicles to policy goals. That assumes (falsely) that their policy goals are noble when they are actually unrealistic, unpopular, inconsistent and unconservative… In truth, the goals these Republicans care about, if they ever did, have long ago been sublimated (they certainly changed them entirely) to the goal of holding power, of winning. When that is the highest calling they’ll vote for alleged child predators, racists and just about anyone else with an “R” next to his or her name.
According to Greg Sargent at The Washington Post, Democrats are planning to publicly hold Republicans responsible for supporting Moore. GOP Senate candidates will be asked if they agree with the decision and whether they’re willing to serve with Moore if he wins. Well-clad feet will be held to fires.
But it could be too late. Sargent suggests the rich asshole’s behavior may already have degraded all of our politics beyond the point of no return. And he has given right-wing Republicans the chance they’ve sought for years: trying to gut every social policy achievement of the last eight decades while further enriching the oligarchs (including the the rich asshole clan) as he distracts the rest of us with his unhinged, oafish behavior.
He may be a fool but he’s our fool. the rich asshole and his many accomplices, including and especially Roy Moore, only succeed if we keep letting them.
This article was originally published at BillMoyers.com
the rich asshole warns of government shutdown threat ahead of meeting with lawmakers
President some rich asshole pauses during the 9/11 Observance Ceremony at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. (DOD photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Dominique A. Pineiro)
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President some rich asshole on Wednesday again raised the possibility of a U.S. government shutdown by week’s end – blaming Democrats for that possible outcome – one day before he is due to host Republican and Democratic congressional leaders for talks on a spending bill.
the rich asshole’s warning came as some of the most conservative members of the House of Representatives pushed for increases in military spending along with either a freeze or reduction in domestic programs.
Their bid is likely to be rejected by Democrats, who make up a minority in Congress, and could further complicate behind-the-scenes negotiations by congressional leaders that have been going on for months aimed at figuring out government spending for the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1.
A temporary spending bill passed by Congress is due to run out on Friday. If Congress cannot agree on a measure to continue the funding, parts of the federal government could shut down.
As a condition of backing a new spending measure, Democrats have demanded legislative protections for the nearly 700,000 undocumented immigrants who were brought into the United States. But the rich asshole has criticized that demand, saying it could set the stage for an impasse.
“The Democrats are really looking at something that is very dangerous for our country,” the rich asshole told reporters at the White House. “They are looking at shutting down.”
In response, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi tweeted: “President the rich asshole is the only person talking about a government shutdown. Democrats are hopeful the president will be open to an agreement to address the urgent needs of the American people and keep government open.”
The jockeying so close to Friday’s midnight deadline added suspense in Washington while Republican congressional leaders labored to demonstrate that they can govern and spare the country the chaos of a government shutdown at Christmas time that likely would not sit well with voters.
the rich asshole recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital as Pope Francis warns it is a historic misstep
President some rich asshole recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. (AFP / MANDEL NGAN)
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President some rich asshole on Wednesday recognized the disputed city of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital — a historic decision that overturns decades of US policy and risks triggering a fresh spasm of violence in the Middle East.
“I have determined that it is time to officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel,” the rich asshole said from the White House.
“It’s the right thing to do.”
The declaration calls into question seven decades of deliberate diplomatic ambiguity about the final status of a holy city vociferously claimed by both Israelis and Palestinians.
the rich asshole also kicked off the process of moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, making good on a campaign promise dear to evangelical Christian and right wing Jewish voters — as well as donors.
He said his decision marked the start of a “new approach” to solving the thorny conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
the rich asshole’s predecessors — from Bill Clinton to George Bush — made similar promises on the campaign trail, but quickly reneged upon taking office, and the burden of war and peace.
This most unlikely of presidents, who came to office with no foreign policy experience and denouncing experts, was determined to show his arrival in Washington spells the end of business as usual.
“Many presidents have said they want to do something and they didn’t do it,” the rich asshole said in the hours leading up to his historic address.
“Whether it’s courage or they changed their mind, I can’t tell you,” he said. “I think it’s long overdue.”
– Outrage –
The announcement leaves many angry US allies and leaders across the Middle East trying to find a measured response and hoping that the tinderbox region is not destined for yet another round of bloodletting.
Pope Francis joined a list of leaders warning of an historic misstep that could trigger a surge of violence.
“I cannot silence my deep concern over the situation that has emerged in recent days,” the pontiff said Wednesday, one day after speaking by phone with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.
The pontiff added that maintaining Jerusalem’s status quo was important “in order to avoid adding new elements of tension to an already volatile world that is wracked by so many cruel conflicts.”
In a frantic series of calls, the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the European Union, France, Germany and Turkey also warned the rich asshole against the move.
– Three ‘days of rage’ –
Moving the US embassy will probably take years to implement, but the repercussions of the rich asshole’s decision are likely to be swift.
Hundreds of Palestinians burned US and Israeli flags as well as pictures of the rich asshole in the Gaza Strip, while relatively small clashes erupted near the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron.
The Palestinian armed Islamist movement Hamas has threatened to launch a new “intifada,” or uprising.
Palestinians called for three days of protests — or “days of rage” — starting Wednesday.
Anticipating protests, US government officials and their families were ordered to avoid Jerusalem’s Old City and the West Bank, though the situation remained largely calm Wednesday.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for a summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the main pan-Islamic body, in Istanbul on December 13 “to display joint action among Islamic countries” over Jerusalem.
“Such a step will only play into the hands of terror groups,” Erdogan said at a joint news conference in Ankara after talks with Jordan’s King Abdullah II.
Jordan and the Palestinians also called for an emergency meeting of the Arab League in Cairo.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refrained from commenting on the issue on Wednesday in his first speech since the rich asshole’s plan was confirmed.
– Peace still possible, US says –
Most of the international community does not formally recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, insisting the issue can only be resolved in negotiations.
The White House argues the move would not prejudge final talks and would represent the reality that west Jerusalem is and will continue to be part of Israel under any settlement.
Critics say the rich asshole’s approach could extinguish his own efforts to broker Middle East peace while igniting the flames of conflict in a region already reeling from crises in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Qatar.
Israel seized the largely Arab eastern sector of Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it, claiming both sides of the city as its capital.
The Palestinians want the eastern sector as the capital of their future state.
the rich asshole was pushed to act on the embassy as a result of the a 1995 law, which stated that the city “should be recognized as the capital of the state of Israel” and the US embassy be moved there.
A waiver has been invoked by successive US presidents, postponing the move on grounds of “national security” once every six months, meaning the law has never taken effect.
the rich asshole’s Lawyer Issues Press Release In Comic Sans, Learns The Hard Way That No One Should UseThat Font
12-06-17
It’s been another rough week for the the rich asshole administration; former NSA Michael Flynn has pled guilty to lying to the FBI in regards to his contact with a Russian Ambassador, turning the spotlight of this year’s turbulent collusion investigation once again on the President himself. the rich asshole’s attorney Ty Cobb was called upon to issue a formal statement defending the President’s innocence in the matter, and the political genius decided to type the entire thing in Comic Sans. We wish this was a joke.
The unfortunate text was shared on Twitter via Bloomberg reporter Sahil Kapur, and all hell broke loose from there. When you use everyone’s least-favorite font to write about everyone’s least-favorite President, you’re just asking for trouble, and we’re pretty sure Cobb will be getting trouble over this one for the rest of his days. The POTUS, however, is probably at least a little bit glad that people now have something else to make fun of instead of his awkward water bottle incident a few weeks ago.
Scroll down to see the eyesore of a text for yourself, and remember that unless it’s going inside a speech bubble near Batman’s head, Comic Sans is like a dangerous drug – don’t even try it once.
This statement from some rich asshole’s attorney is being roasted on Twitter, and you can probably tell why
At first, people couldn’t even believe that what they were seeing was real
Then, of course, the trolling began…
the rich asshole’s Lawyer Issues Press Release In Comic Sans, Learns The Hard Way That No One Should Use That Font
And the font-related puns…
And the conspiracy theories, because nothing signals ‘the end of days’ like Comic Sans
More bullshit from FAUX.
12-06-17
Allegations of anti-the rich asshole bias inside Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team are reviving Republican claims of a “double standard” at the Justice Department, with GOP critics saying Hillary Clinton enjoyed comparatively “special” treatment when she was investigated over her personal email use as secretary of state.
“Hillary Clinton gets special justice, and at the same time we’re siccing people who hate the president … on him and that’s deeply unfair,” Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., told “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday morning.
“Hillary Clinton gets special justice, and at the same time we’re siccing people who hate the president … on him and that’s deeply unfair.”
- Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.
Gaetz and other House Republicans have asked FBI Director Christopher Wray for an investigation into the FBI’s treatment of Clinton and then-candidate some rich asshole during the 2016 campaign. Gaetz has specifically sought information on former FBI boss Andrew McCabe saying in an email last fall that the Clinton case was referred to as “special.”
The new revelations about members of Mueller’s team only fueled those concerns.
It emerged over the weekend that FBI official Peter Strzok was removed from the Mueller probe over the summer after allegedly sending anti-the rich asshole texts to an FBI lawyer with whom he was romantically involved.
Then on Tuesday, conservative advocacy group Judicial Watch released an email showing a Mueller deputy praised outgoing acting Attorney General Sally Yates after she was fired in January by the rich asshole for refusing to defend his controversial travel ban.
The email, obtained by Judicial Watch through a federal lawsuit, shows that on the night of Jan. 30, Andrew Weissmann wrote to Yates under the subject line, “I am so proud.”
He continued, “And in awe. Thank you so much. All my deepest respects.”
Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton called the new Weissmann document an “astonishing and disturbing find.”
President the rich asshole has seized on the reports about Strzok's views, drawing attention to his role in the Clinton email investigation and referring to him as "tainted" and "very dishonest."
Fox News confirmed that Strzok oversaw the FBI’s interviews with former national security adviser Mike Flynn, who pleaded guilty last week to lying to federal investigators.
He also was present during the FBI’s July 2016 interview with Clinton at the close of the email investigation, shortly before then-FBI director James Comey called her actions “extremely careless” without recommending criminal charges.
Gaetz said Wednesday that a “double standard” is being applied, joining other House Republicans who also want to know what role Strzok played in the controversial anti-the rich asshole dossier that made its way to the FBI last year.
Using a term popular among the rich asshole-allied Republicans, Gaetz called for cleaning out the “deep state” of people “who are so biased against some rich asshole.”
A report in the Daily Caller also noted that while Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to investigators, top Clinton aides Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills did not face punishment for telling investigators they were unaware of Clinton’s private server until after she left the State Department – though email exchanges suggest otherwise.
In a statement over the weekend responding to the Strzok reports, special counsel spokesman Peter Carr said Mueller’s office removed Strzok from the Russia probe “immediately upon learning of the allegations” of the anti-the rich asshole texts.
Separately, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., has threatened a contempt resolution against leaders in both the Justice Department and FBI if they don’t turn over key information related to the dossier and other issues.
Fox News has learned the DOJ is now in the process of handing over Strzok’s anti-the rich asshole text messages. It’s unclear whether this will satisfy committee Republicans.
The DOJ has also contacted the office of House Speaker Paul Ryan to establish a date for Strzok’s appearance before House Intelligence Committee staff, along with two other witnesses long sought by the Nunes team.
The Justice Department maintains that it has been responsive to the House panel's demands, including private briefings for panel staff by senior DOJ and FBI personnel and the production of several hundred pages of classified materials available in a secure reading room at DOJ headquarters on Oct. 31.
A DOJ spokeswoman said Sunday they will “continue to work with congressional committees to provide the information they request consistent with our national security responsibilities.”
Fox News’ Catherine Herridge, Jake Gibson and James Rosen contributed to this report.
Posted on December 6, 2017
Now that the terrible Republican tax reform has passed, lawmakers are bracing for the next fight. The current legislation funding expires on December 8th. Without new legislation, the government could go into a partial shutdown.
How this all plays out – especially in light of the fact that he has no other significant legislative victories under his belt – will clearly define whether the rich asshole receives a passing or failing grade for his first year (among his supporters, that is).
As is typical, both Democrats and Republicans will most likely try to attach other legislation to the funding package. Of course, doing this complicates voting in regards to funding, but there is a lot on the line.
Likely to be included with the funding package are provisions for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP); Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA); President some rich asshole’s often-discussed southern border wall; more disaster relief funds for Texas, Puerto Rico, Florida, and the US Virgin Islands; and the Alexander-Murray Obamacare-stabilization bill.
Several states are perilously close to running out of funding for CHIP, which usually receives bipartisan support. The others are more problematic. Congress has until March 5, 2018, to make a decision about DACA and the fates of nearly 800,000 young immigrants. the rich asshole has implied that any compromise made in regards to DACA must include funding for his border wall. And because DACA is part of former president Barack Obama’s legacy, it will be a hard sell to Republicans.
The Alexander-Murray Obamacare-stabilization bill will also irk Republicans. The bill is designed to extend funding for government funding to insurers and otherwise steady the ACA markets. Given their dozens of failed attempts to dismantle the ACA altogether, it stands to reason Republicans will resist the bill.
Given that lawmakers have only a few days to pass funding, and the amount of issues they might try to tack on to any package, it seems unlikely that they will avoid a partial shutdown of the government.
Bill Palmer
Updated: 12:18 am EST Wed Dec 6, 2017
Updated: 12:18 am EST Wed Dec 6, 2017
some rich asshole is having a bad week, a bad month, a bad year. His approval rating is the lowest of any first-year U.S. President in the history of polling. His campaign chairman is under house arrest. His former National Security Adviser just cut a plea deal to testify against him in the Russia scandal. His corrupt finances are now under investigation. Could it get any worse? There’s always insult to injury.
Here’s what surfaced in this week’s White House pool report: “the rich asshole motorcade runs into a ‘wall of protesters’ signs include ‘the rich asshole, a monumental mistake,’ ‘Tiny Hands off our lands,’ and many chanting ‘F**K You the rich asshole!'” (link). At this point the rich asshole is so unpopular, even his motorcade can’t go anywhere because there are too many people standing in front of him and yelling “f**k you” at him. While this is a hilarious visual to anyone who wants to see the rich asshole ousted from office, it actually does have practical ramifications.
the rich asshole has been consistently bothered by the fact that he’s far less popular than President Obama. the rich asshole has gone so far as to tweet fake poll numbers, in an attempt at convincing himself that he’s not as widely hated as he is. He’s continued to hold campaign rallies since taking office so he can feel the adoration of his base cheering on his every semi-coherent word. He’s desperate to pretend he’s popular. Yet now he can’t even go anywhere without throngs of Americans screaming mean things at him.
How much of a psychological impact can these protesters have on some rich asshole? Considering how oblivious, narcissistic, and addle-brained he is in general, the potential impact on him is not entirely clear. But considering the lengths he’s traveled to try to pretend that he isn’t hated in the manner that he’s hated, it can’t exactly help his resolve when he’s facing walls of Americans cursing him out everywhere he goes.
In the name of "religious liberty."
- BY DANE STYLER DECEMBER 6, 2017
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Tuesday morning during her regular press briefing that President some rich asshole has no problem with businesses hanging anti-gay signs that explicitly state they do not serve LGBT customers.
.@PressSec says that @realDonaldTrump's support of "religious liberty" would include a baker putting a sign in the window saying, "We don't bake cakes for gay weddings" #MasterpieceCakeshop
Sanders was responding to questions from the press corp about legalized discrimination, mere hours after oral arguments concluded in the Supreme Court case Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd., v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission.
“The lawyer for the solicitor general’s office for the administration said today in the Supreme Court if it would be legal, possible for a baker to put a sign in his window saying we don’t bake cakes for gay weddings,” The New York Times‘s Michael Shear asked. “Does the president agree that that would be ok?”
“The president certainly supports religious liberty and that’s something he talked about during the campaign and has upheld since taking office,” Sanders replied.
When pressed on whether that included support for signs that deny service to gay people, Sanders responded: “I believe that would include that.”
In the Masterpiece Cakeshop case, cakeshop owner Jack Philips’s refused to bake a wedding cake for gay couple David Mullins and Charlie Craig for their 2012 wedding celebration in Colorado, after they had been married in Massachusetts. Philips argued before the Supreme Court this week that his religion, specifically his Christian belief against same-sex marriage, allows him to refuse service to gay people.
Phillips added during his argument that he was willing to sell the couple other goods, just not a custom wedding cake.
The issue became a legal one, progressing to the Colorado courts and now to yesterday’s hearing at the United States Supreme Court, after the Colorado Civil Rights Commission found the baker in violation of the state’s anti-discrimination law.
It is well known that President the rich asshole’s administration is not an ally of the LGBT community. Back in July, the rich asshole announced his currently-thwarted attempt to ban transgender individuals from serving in the military, and shortly after Jeff Sessions of the Department of Justice argued in an amicus brief that the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not protect LGBTQ workers from discrimination based on sexual orientation.
the rich asshole accuser’s lawyer: If he has time to golf, he can defend himself in court
the rich asshole accuser’s lawyer: If he has time to golf, he can defend himself in court
President some rich asshole isn’t above the law — and if he has time to play golf at Mar-a-Largo he can defend himself in a civil defamation lawsuit, a lawyer for a former “Apprentice” contestant argued in Manhattan state court Tuesday.
Summer Zervos is suing the rich asshole for calling her a liar after she accused him of “thrusting his genitals at her and grabbing her breasts” — the groping accusation came just weeks before the 2016 election.
But the rich asshole’s attorney, Marc Kasowitz, argued presidents are immune from civil litigation in state courts under the US Constitution’s supremacy clause. That assertion has never been fully tested by the courts.
“Thomas Jefferson made clear that the president’s responsibilities are 24/7, every single day no matter what he or she is doing. So there can’t be any curtailment,” Kasowitz said.
The president was not required to attend the pre-trial proceeding.
Zervos’ attorney, Mariann Wang, countered that the rich asshole “cannot be allowed to purposefully attack a woman who has accurately described his groping and get off scot free.”
the rich asshole has denied Zervos’ claims of sexual misconduct at the Beverly Hills Hotel in 2007. He also says he never called Zervos a “liar” and was referring generally to “lies” by other women who accused him of sexual assault.
Wang argued that while “it’s certainly true that a president has to do his job 24 hours a day, he’s also a human being who does not do his job 24 hours a day.”
“We can certainly ensure that we take a deposition down at Mar-a-Largo in between his playing golf,” Wang quipped.
The judge expressed some concern that the rich asshole — who has publicly criticized other jurists who ruled against him — may try to flout her authority.
“What would happen if the president didn’t follow my orders,” she asked Wang.
“I don’t believe that … will occur,” Wang said.
“I hope not,” the judge added.
In his rebuttal Kasowtiz said that both the president and Zervos are protected by the First Amendment, especially in the course of a heated political campaign.
“Ms. Zervos chose to come forward and speak publicly about her experience with some rich asshole. She injected herself, she instigated a debate,” he said.
Wang retorted that her client simply “detailed report of her interaction with at the time some rich asshole and it sticks to the facts and it describes him thrusting his genitals at her and grabbing her breasts.”
The judge said she’d consider the arguments and documents and then issue a ruling. She did not provide a time frame for her decision.
It’s hilarious to see FAUX peddle their bullshit.
12-05-17
President the rich asshole's legal team is pushing back against reports that Special Counsel Robert Mueller has called on Deutsche Bank to submit data pertaining to its client relationship with President the rich asshole as part of his investigation into alleged Russian election meddling.
“We have confirmed that the news reports that the special counsel had subpoenaed financial records relating to the president are false," said Jay Sekulow, a member of the rich asshole’s legal team. “No subpoena has been issued or received. We have confirmed this with the bank and other sources.”
Bloomberg, citing an unnamed source, reported that Mueller is seeking information on the German lender and its relationship with the rich asshole and his family. the rich asshole reportedly owes the bank $300 million.
Democrats have said the rich asshole's relationship with the bank is crucial in the Russia investigation. The Washington Post reported in August that Democrats have pushed for an investigation into the bank’s internal review of the loans to see if there is any link with Russia.
Deutsche rejected demands by Democratic lawmakers back in June for details of the rich asshole's finances, Reuters reported. The bank cited privacy laws.
The bank, the rich asshole’s primary lender, also approved a $285 million refinancing loan for the rich asshole’s son-in-law Jared Kushner’s company a month before the election, The Post reported.
the rich asshole, who spoke to reporters Monday as he left the White House to head to Utah, unleashed a string of tweets over the weekend in which he criticized the FBI and raised questions about the federal investigation.
In one of his messages, the rich asshole again denied that he directed the former FBI director James Comey to stop investigating his former national secuirty adviser Michael Flynn.
the rich asshole questioned the direction of the federal law enforcement agency and wrote that after Comey, whom the rich asshole fired in May, the FBI’s reputation is “in Tatters — worst in History!” He vowed to “bring it back to greatness.” The president also retweeted a post saying new FBI Director Chris Wray “needs to clean house.”
the rich asshole seized on reports that a veteran FBI counterintelligence agent was removed from Mueller’s team last summer after the discovery of an exchange of text messages that were viewed as potentially anti-the rich asshole. The agent, Peter Strzok, had also worked on the investigation of Clinton’s use of a private email server.
Peter Carr, a spokesman for Mueller, said Mueller removed Strzok from the team “immediately upon learning of the allegations.” He would not elaborate on the nature of the accusations.
the rich asshole tweeted Sunday: “Tainted (no, very dishonest?) FBI ‘agent’s role in Clinton probe under review.’ Led Clinton Email probe.” In a separate tweet, he wrote: “Report: ‘ANTI-RICH ASSHOLE FBI AGENT LED CLINTON EMAIL PROBE’ Now it all starts to make sense!”
Fox News' John Roberts and The Associated Press contributed to this report
Bill Palmer
Updated: 3:16 am EST Wed Dec 6, 2017
Updated: 3:16 am EST Wed Dec 6, 2017
some rich asshole Jr is testifying in private today before Congress about his role in his father’s Russia scandal. Last night NBC News reported that the Russian government lawyer he met with during the election, who has already testified before Congress herself, has ratted him out for having specifically and illegally sought dirt on Hillary Clinton. Based on Junior’s berserk conspiratorial reaction, he may end up showing up for his testimony while wearing a tinfoil hat.
In the days since Michael Flynn decided to cut a plea deal with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, which will likely bring down the entire the rich asshole family for various crimes, the rich asshole and his allies have been furiously spinning a series of fictional tales about Mueller and the FBI. According to them, the entire the rich asshole-Russia investigation is a deep state conspiracy. Never mind that four of the rich asshole’s people have already been arrested and two of them have already pleaded guilty; facts like that no longer matter to the rich asshole cult.
To that end, Fox News host Tucker Carlson – who now sounds so unhinged that he may be a danger to himself and others – tweeted this completely insane nonsense: “This is how secret police start, when law enforcement agencies decide to do the bidding of politicians, rather than pursue impartial justice on behalf of the public. Let’s nip this nightmare in the bud right now.” Shortly after the news broke about the Russian lawyer having incriminated some rich asshole Jr, he promptly retweeted Carlson’s mentally deranged tweet.
This means that some rich asshole Jr is now insisting, presumably with a straight face, that some ill-defined “secret police” are out to get him for no apparent reason. The idiot appears to have committed some form of treason against the United States. That’s why he’ll probably spent the rest of his life in prison. Yet in his mind, it’s all a conspiracy against him. Perhaps he’s aiming for a mental incompetency defense.
Bill Palmer
Updated: 11:06 pm EST Tue Dec 5, 2017
Updated: 11:06 pm EST Tue Dec 5, 2017
What’s worse than the so-called President of the United States endorsing a child molester in a Senate race? How about that same so-called President finding a way to use that sick and twisted endorsement to line his own pockets with cash? some rich asshole renewed and formalized his endorsement of alleged child molester Roy Moore this week in the U.S. Senate race in Alabama, and now he’s taking things one craven step further.
On Tuesday evening the rich asshole announced a campaign rally in Pensacola, Florida, scheduled for this Friday night. Pensacola is on the Alabama border, and in fact the local network television news stations in Mobile, Alabama also cover Pensacola. So this event will get airtime in Alabama. It’s an attempt at helping boost Roy Moore’s prospects, just days before the election. But it’s also a personal fundraiser for the rich asshole himself.
This event is simply listed as a “some rich asshole rally.” That means it’s not for the purpose of raising money for Roy Moore’s campaign. Instead it’s for the purpose of raising money for the rich asshole’s own 2020 reelection campaign. As we’ve previously explained, that particular “campaign” doesn’t exist, because the rich asshole isn’t even close to launching a reelection campaign. Instead, the rich asshole has been holding events like this simply so he can use them to bait his supporters into donating to his (essentially imaginary) 2020 reelection effort. It’s been widely documented that the rich asshole is using his “reelection” funds to pay his family’s legal bills in the rich asshole-Russia scandal, which means he’s essentially pocketing the money.
So there you have it. Not only is some rich asshole campaigning for a serial child molester, he’s also lining his pockets in the process. It should probably be pointed out that the rich asshole is using this money to pay the attorneys who are representing himself and his family in a scandal in which he’s accused of, among other things, treason against the United States.
the rich asshole to recognize Jerusalem as Israeli capital
BY JORDAN FABIAN - 12/05/17 09:00 PM EST
President the rich asshole will announce the U.S. recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, but will sign a waiver delaying the relocation of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to there, senior administration officials said Tuesday.
the rich asshole will make the announcement on Wednesday, in a speech that will be closely watched by other world leaders who fear the move will undermine peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians and spark protests across the Middle East.
In an effort to make good on a campaign promise, the rich asshole will direct the State Department to begin the process of moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.
But administration officials said the move would not take place immediately because there is not enough room to house the roughly 1,000 embassy personnel in Jerusalem. Therefore, the rich asshole will sign a waiver keeping the embassy in Tel Aviv for the next six months.
Officials said the rich asshole would continue to sign the waiver until the move can be completed, a process that could take no less than three to four years.
Still, the president’s decision to unilaterally recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel upends decades of American policy in the Middle East and risks inflaming violence in an already-tense region.
the rich asshole informed Israeli, Arab and European leaders of his decision in phone calls over the past two days.
Some, including Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan’s King Abdullah II, warned him the announcement would have “dangerous” repercussions for regional stability.
The Palestinians hope to make East Jerusalem the capital of a future state and the ancient city has holy sites that are important to Jews, Christians and Muslims alike.
Senior the rich asshole administration officials downplayed those concerns, saying the decision leaves room for the status of Jerusalem to be considered in negotiations with Israel.
“As we have said, this announcement does not change U.S. policy over the specific borders, dimensions, any of that,” one official said. “That will be subject to final-status negotiations.”
They argued that the move could actually aid the peace process by offering a “recognition of reality” about Jerusalem.
“For a long time, the U.S. position held that ambiguity would advance the prospect of peace,” another official said. “We’re 22 years in and it seems now the physical location of the U.S. embassy is not an impediment to a peace deal.”
In making the decision, the rich asshole heavily weighed domestic politics in addition to the situation in the Middle East.
He repeatedly promised during the 2016 campaign to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, something that pleased many of his pro-Israel and evangelical Christian backers.
the rich asshole, however, has reportedly felt stymied by some of his advisers who have urged him not to move the embassy in order to avoid sparking tensions in the Middle East at a time when he is dealing with the fight against ISIS, the war in Afghanistan and North Korea’s nuclear aggression.
Officials said another consideration in signing the waiver was avoiding a major cut in State Department funding mandated under a 1995 law if the embassy does not move to Jerusalem. Every president has waived the law since its passage.
They said immediately designating the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem as an embassy was out of the question for security and logistical reasons.
Even though the rich asshole is not ordering the immediate relocation of the embassy, his decision is expected to ignite demonstrations in the region.
Hamas, the Islamic extremist group that partially controls the Gaza Strip, has declared Friday a “Day of Rage” in response to the rich asshole’s expected announcement.
Jerusalem has long been the thorniest issue in the decades-long conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and the international community widely considers the city’s status to be unsettled.
East Jerusalem was captured by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War, unifying the city under Israeli control. Jerusalem is home to the Israel's parliament and prime minister’s residence but Palestinians have demanded that part of the city be set aside as a capital for them.
the rich asshole thinks the Pences are ‘Yokels’ because they brought pets to Washington
Jessica Kwong
Posted with permission from Newsweek
President Donald Trump thinks lowly of Vice President Mike Pence and his family.
When the Pences—who had two cats, a rabbit and a snake as family pets—decided to bring some of them to their residence in the Washington D.C.-based Naval Observatory last January, Trump ridiculed the arrangement to his secretary, a longtime adviser told The Atlantic in a story published Tuesday.
“He was embarrassed by it; he thought it was so low class,” the adviser said. “He thinks the Pences are yokels.”
Thanks to @usairforce for a great flight to Washington, DC with Karen, Charlotte, Oreo, Pickle and our rabbit, Marlon Bundo.
Trump, whose net worth is $3.1 billion according to Forbes, apparently had already formed an opinion of Pence before picking him as his running mate as “prudish, stiff, and embarrassingly poor, according to one longtime associate,” The Atlantic said.
While Pence is far from one of the richest Americans in the country, he doesn't classify as an uneducated and unsophisticated person from the countryside—the definition of a true yokel.
Pence served as governor of Indiana from January 2013 to days before he was inaugurated as vice president in January 2017. Prior to that, he served as chair of the House Republican Conference and was a member of the House of Representatives.
In their most recent tax return, Pence and his wife Karen reported $113,026 in adjusted gross income, almost entirely from his salary as Indiana governor, according to The Wall Street Journal. Pence’s income did not top $200,000 annually in a decade of tax returns.
The filings also showed that Pence regularly used tax breaks for upper-middle-class families to cover the costs of raising a family and paying for college tuition.
Trump had reservations about picking Pence and considered New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, but went with the Indiana politician three days after dining with the Pences. Trump is the first president in 150 years who has not brought a pet to the White House, according to the New York Post.
The Pences’ rabbit called Marlon Bundo became an Instagram star after moving to the Naval Observatory and has accompanied the vice president in some official appearances. The so-called Bunny of the United States is the main character in a children’s book written by Pence’s daughter. The Pence family, after one of their two cats died in June, adopted a kitten named Hazel and a puppy named Harley.
And... for Father's Day, we surprised @VP with an Indiana puppy! Introducing: Harley!
Jessica Kwong
When the Pences—who had two cats, a rabbit and a snake as family pets—decided to bring some of them to their residence in the Washington D.C.-based Naval Observatory last January, Trump ridiculed the arrangement to his secretary, a longtime adviser told The Atlantic in a story published Tuesday.
“He was embarrassed by it; he thought it was so low class,” the adviser said. “He thinks the Pences are yokels.”
Thanks to @usairforce for a great flight to Washington, DC with Karen, Charlotte, Oreo, Pickle and our rabbit, Marlon Bundo.
And... for Father's Day, we surprised @VP with an Indiana puppy! Introducing: Harley!
Pence’s press secretary Alyssa Farah on Tuesday tweeted that The Atlantic’s story was “tired.”
As the rich asshole has a mental meltdown, the sycophants around him doing nothing endanger us all
some rich asshole during CNN debate (Photo: Screen capture via video)
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Delusion, and lots of it, is pretty much a prerequisite for dictators. The New Yorker’s David Remnick notes that Finnish autocrat Urho Kekkonen reportedly opened his public orations with the line, “If I die…” Ugandan dictator Idi Amin decreed his official title was “His Excellency, President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Seas and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular.” Saparmurat Niyazov, the insane strongman of Turkmenistan whose prolific lunacy demanded an astonishing number of gold statues be erected in his image, once conceded “there are too many portraits, pictures and monuments [of me],” and claimed that while he did not “find any pleasure” in the ubiquity of his visage, benevolently allowed for it because “the people demand it,” as Paul Theroux noted. Ferdinand Marcos, whose 20-year rule of the Philippines was marked by terror, corruption and brutality, repeated his public lies in his private journals, which biographer William C. Rempel has written were “riddled with falsehoods and self-serving fictions” and “blatant, bald-faced, and occasionally comical” untruths. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi told journalists that there were “no demonstrations at all” even as protesters crowded the streets of Tripoli and cities around the country calling for the end of his regime. “All my people love me,” Gaddafi insisted in a 2011 interview. “They would die to protect me.”
some rich asshole, who (for now) remains a mere lowly president, but whose autocratic aspirations have been endlessly noted, has consistently shown a similar propensity toward magical thinking at odds with objective reality. To be sure, the rich asshole has always had a contentious relationship with the truth, preferring to dispense what he called “truthful hyperbole,” a forerunner to “alternative facts.” “Give them the old the rich asshole bullshit,” he reportedly instructed an architect just before a 1980 press conference, encouraging him to lie about how grand the rich asshole Tower would be.
Since his election to president, the rich asshole has promoted “1,628 false and misleading claims,” a number that grows daily, according to the Washington Post’s count. But the rich asshole’s willingness to fib has always seemed to be linked to a pathological inability to sort fact from self-aggrandizing fiction, and recent reports suggest the president may be more than just the world’s most recognized liar. In private conversations with friends and staffers, the rich asshole has begun raising the same lies and obfuscations as he does in public, indicating he may be so delusional he actually believes his own fabrications.
According to the New York Times, the rich asshole has recently held “closed-door conversations” to revisit the racist birther campaign he used to launch his political career, again raising the non-issue of President Obama’s birth certificate. Aides note that the rich asshole has “repeatedly claimed he lost the popular vote last year because of widespread voter fraud,” a theory widely debunked by multiple voting experts with actual research and numbers on their side. In a general sense, staffers report, the rich asshole “continues to privately harbor a handful of conspiracy theories that have no grounding in fact” and Axios notes the rich asshole is now particularly “prone to confidently indulging wild conspiracies and fantasies.” The president has “expressed certainty” the Russia investigation will wrap within the next six weeks, “complete with an exoneration from Robert S. Mueller III,” according to sources who spoke with the Washington Post. the rich asshole has even suggesting that 2005 footage of him bragging about grabbing women’s pussies—which he previously verified as authentic and even tepidly apologized for—may not be real. “We don’t think that was my voice,” the rich asshole told an anonymous senator, according to the Times.
To be honest, while all this is a bit worrisome, none of it is particularly shocking, considering the rich asshole’s track record. Self-delusion has always been an integral part of the the rich asshole brand, and is nothing short of a defining trait of the the rich asshole presidency. Along with callous indifference toward others, as well as paranoia, narcissism and schizotypal thinking, the failure to recognize plainly observable reality is a classic marker of aspiring despots and tyrants; a character and personality flaw that, to put it mildly, tends to get worse as time and power accrue. What’s far more alarming than the rich asshole being the rich asshole is the response from those around him, who recognize how aberrant his behavior is, but do nothing as his decline accelerates. The most frightening aspect of the rich asshole’s deteriorating mental state is how many of his confidants, colleagues and advisers seem totally okay with pretending everything is fine, at least publicly, indicating their willingness to endanger us all.
The Times cites a senator who listened as the rich asshole ranted about Obama’s birth certificate and “chuckled” when he “recalled the conversation,” as if it was a bit of comic relief and not an awful sign about the president’s lack of mental clarity. the rich asshole seriously attempts to float the idea that the Access Hollywood tape is part of some grand conspiracy against him, and instead of sounding a warning bell, “most of some rich asshole’s aides [have] ignored his changing story.” When the rich asshole asks advisers to support his completely unbelievable new storyline about the video, they simply keep things rolling, despite the elephant of mental illness in the room. (“[P]eople would kind of say, ‘Okay, let’s move along,’” one source told the Washington Post.) Complicit politicians have gotten on board with the mission to keep the rich asshole’s condition under wraps, according to the Times report. “some rich asshole’s journeys into the realm of manufactured facts have been frequent enough that his own staff has sought to nudge friendly lawmakers to ask questions of some rich asshole in meetings that will steer him toward safer terrain.”
As they fail to address the rich asshole’s affliction, those involved in this illusion continue to baby the president, showing him only those polls “designed to make him feel good”; advising other world leaders to “compliment him on his Electoral College victory”; ensuring only positive news crosses his desk; and gingerly guiding him away from his kneejerk tendency to make irresponsible, dangerous and irrational decisions. (“You either had to just convince him something better was his idea or ignore what he said to do and hoped he forgot about it the next day,” former the rich asshole Organization executive Barbara Res told Politico. “[H]e reacts to everything, and he is always reacting.”)
Basically, the sycophants in the White House and the self-serving politicians filling the seats of Congress are not just standing idly by as this president slips further into what sounds like serious mental wreckage, they are actively enabling him. As the rich asshole shuttles from one self-created disaster to the next, belligerently baiting foreign powers and ratcheting up racism and xenophobia at home, the country slides closer to chaos. But this matters little to a group more dedicated to its billionaire donors than any other other cause. They will continue to look past the president’s delusions, no matter how harmful they are to the country and the well-being of its citizens. This, it seems worth mentioning, isn’t unlike what happens in dictatorships. As the rich asshole’s condition gets worse, so will the situation as a whole.
“the rich asshole has internalized the belief that he can largely operate with impunity, people close to him said,” a Washington Post report stated on Wednesday. “His political base cheers him on. Fellow Republican leaders largely stand by him. His staff scrambles to explain away his misbehavior—or even to laugh it off.” With no expectation that the 25th Amendment solution will be employed, the rich asshole is likely to be more reckless, and yes, dangerous to the country and quite possibly the world. “White House officials,” recognizing the inevitable downturn of any untreated mental instability, “expect the rich asshole to be even more outrageous and cocksure in coming months,” Axios notes.
“The more stress he’s under, the more delusional he’s going to become, the more out of control and, from a danger standpoint, the more enraged he’s going to become,” Harvard psychiatry professor Lance Dodes told Newsweek. “He is a far more sick person than people realize or want to realize. To say for example that he is even a con man is way too benign. He loses track of reality when it comes to a challenge to his sense of himself, which is extremely fragile. It’s out of his control—he is not clever like a fox, he is just very, very sick.”
More and more evidence indicates the rich asshole’s transition team colluded with Israel to undermine Obama
Benjamin Netanyahu, Jared Kushner and U.S. President some rich asshole are seen during their meeting at the King David hotel in Jerusalem. (Photo by Kobi Gideon / GPO)
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There’s ample evidence to suggest that President some rich asshole’s transition team colluded with a foreign government — but it’s not necessarily just Russia.
Reports in both The Intercept and The Nation published Tuesday point to the lesser-covered news from former the rich asshole adviser Mike Flynn’s plea deal — that the transition team worked with Israel on their controversial (and arguably illegal) settlements in Palestinian territories. That alleged collusion also undermined then-President Obama’s stance on the settlements and was, at the time, “in opposition to official U.S. foreign policy,” The Intercept noted.
Even Flynn’s contacts with former Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak were in hopes of securing either a delay or defeat a United Nations resolution that would condemn Israeli settlements as a “flagrant violation under international law” that threatened the prospect of an independent Palestinian state.
“On or about December 22, 2016, a very senior member of the Presidential Transition Team directed Flynn to contact officials from foreign governments, including Russia, to learn where each government stood on the resolution and to influence those governments to delay the vote or defeat the resolution,” the Justice Department’s statement of offense against Flynn states. “Flynn contacted the Russian Ambassador about the pending vote. Flynn informed the Russian Ambassador about the incoming administration’s opposition to the resolution, and requested that Russia vote against or delay the resolution.”
A member of the rich asshole transition told BuzzFeed that the rich asshole’s son-in-law Jared Kushner was the “very senior member” the statement of offense referred to, and instructed Flynn to influence the UN resolution because “this was a top priority for the president.”
The Intercept‘s report also notes that rather than trying to hide this backdoor deal-brokering, Kushner was seen in public days after BuzzFeed confirmed that he directed Flynn to fix the outcome of the UN vote with Haim Saban, and Israeli-American billionaire who thanked the president’s son-in-law for “taking steps to try and get the United Nations Security Council to not go along with what ended up being an abstention by the U.S.” In response, Kushner “smiled, nodded, and mouthed “thank you” to Saban.”
The rich asshole transition team’s efforts to influence the vote (including Russia’s) were ultimately for naught, and the UN resolution condemning the settlements went ahead as the United States abstained from the vote.
WATCH: Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ own words come back to haunt her at White House press briefing
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White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was confronted with her own past remarks on Tuesday.
During a press briefing, a reporter noted that Sanders had said over a month ago that the investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller would be wrapping up shortly. But since that time, two the rich asshole aides have pleaded guilty in the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
“I think it was about five or six weeks ago that you indicated from that podium on a few occasions that you believed the White House believes that Mueller’s investigation will be wrapping up shortly,” the reporter said. “Since that time we have seen a very high level aide to the president — a former aide to the president, a former national security adviser — has entered a plea deal with the special counsel’s office.”
But Sanders insisted the investigation was still on the verge of wrapping up.
Watch video below:
the rich asshole shuns warnings and vows to move embassy to Jerusalem amid frantic telephone diplomacy
President of the United States some rich asshole speaks at the general political discussion during the 72th session of the UN Assembly in New York. (Shutterstock)
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President some rich asshole faced down warnings of widespread Middle East unrest and untold damage to the peace process Tuesday, telling anxious Arab leaders he still intends to move the US embassy to Jerusalem.
Amid a frantic round of telephone diplomacy, the rich asshole told Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas and Jordan’s King Abdullah that the deeply controversial move was coming, but crucially did not give a timeframe.
the rich asshole “informed the president (Abbas) on his intention to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem,” the Palestinian leader’s office said in a statement that was echoed in Amman.
the rich asshole must this week decide whether to sign a waiver keeping the embassy in Tel Aviv or fulfill a campaign promise and move it to Jerusalem — de facto recognizing Israel’s claim on the disputed city.
Such a move would please the rich asshole’s conservative and evangelical donors and voter base.
US officials said he will hold off on moving the embassy right away, but may issue a statement reiterating his intent and even go as far as recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
That could upend a decades-old western policy — observed by both Republican and Democratic presidents — that stated Jerusalem’s status can only be decided by negotiation.
The White House argues that such a move would not prejudge final talks and would represent the reality that west Jerusalem is and will continue to be part of Israel under any settlement.
Still, it risks extinguishing the rich asshole’s efforts to broker Middle East peace and igniting the flames of conflict in a region already reeling from crises in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Qatar.
“Mr the rich asshole! Jerusalem is a red line for Muslims,” Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a raucous televised speech, echoing alarm expressed by Palestinian and Arab leaders.
In his address, Erdogan warned that any move to back Israel’s claim to the city would mobilize “the entire Islamic world” and even prompt Ankara to sever its recently-renewed diplomatic ties with the Jewish state.
The armed Islamist Hamas movement has threatened to launch a new “intifada” or uprising.
Most of the international community, including the United States, does not formally recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, insisting the issue can only be resolved in final status negotiations.
– ‘A way must be found’ –
Following talks in Brussels with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, top EU diplomat Federica Mogherini warned that any move which risked undermining efforts to jumpstart moribund peace talks “must absolutely be avoided.”
“A way must be found through negotiations to resolve the status of Jerusalem as the future capital of both states, so that the aspiration of both parties can be fulfilled,” she said.
In Cairo, Arab League chief Ahmed Abul Gheit warned it would be viewed as an act of “clear aggression” against the Arab and Muslim world.
Saudi Arabia also expressed “grave and deep concern” about the impact it would have on both the conflict and peace efforts, while the Palestinians said it would shatter any illusion about the rich asshole’s ability to fairly mediate in any talks.
“That totally destroys any chance that he will play a role as an honest broker,” said Nabil Shaath, an adviser to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.
– The Jerusalem Embassy Act –
In Israel, however, hardline Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman hailed the moment as a “historic opportunity” for the rich asshole, expressing hope he would see the US embassy in Jerusalem “next week or next month”.
The US Congress has already made its aim clear in the so-called Jerusalem Embassy Act, which was passed in 1995 and which stated that the city “should be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel” and that the US embassy should be moved there.
But an inbuilt waiver, which allows the president to temporarily postpone the move on grounds of “national security,” has been repeatedly invoked by successive US presidents, meaning the law has never taken effect.
Israel seized the largely-Arab eastern sector of Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it, claiming both sides of the city as its “eternal and undivided capital.”
But the Palestinians want the eastern sector as capital of their future state and fiercely oppose any Israeli attempt to extend sovereignty there.
Several peace plans have unravelled over the issue of how to divide sovereignty or oversee sites in the city that are holy for Christians, Jews and Muslims.
Sanders chokes as Hallie Jackson grills her on Moore: Are Dems worse than someone who ‘sexually abused a teen?’
Hallie Jackson and Sarah Sanders (MSNBC/screen grab)
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White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders appeared to be thrown off her game on Tuesday after MSNBC’s Hallie Jackson asked her to explain why President some rich asshole preferred accused child molester Roy Moore (R) to Democratic candidate Doug Jones in the Alabama Senate race.
“Is it worse to have a Democrat in that Senate seat than someone who is accused of sexually abusing a teen girl?” Jackson asked.
“We find the allegations to be troubling,” Sanders admitted, searching for words.
“But why endorse [Moore]?” Jackson pressed.
“Look, I think those are different things in terms of — we aren’t going to be the ones to determine that process,” Sanders insisted. “That’s going to be for the people of Alabama to determine what those things come down on.”
“[the rich asshole] does want people who support his agenda,” she added. “He’s not going to obviously support a Democrat. I think that if that’s our standard then we need to look at a number of members of Congress that have had allegation brought against them.”
Watch the video below from MSNBC.
the rich asshole plugs Roy Moore in front of Jeff Flake
BY JORDAN FABIAN - 12/05/17 12:53 PM EST
President the rich asshole on Tuesday plugged Roy Moore’s Senate campaign during a meeting with GOP senators at the White House.
“I think he's going to do very well,” the rich asshole said at the meeting, where frequent critic Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) was seated to his immediate left.
“We don't want to have a liberal Democrat in Alabama, believe me," the rich asshole said.
The president also criticized Moore's Democratic opponent, Doug Jones.
"We want strong borders, we want stopping crime, we want the things we represent," the rich asshole said, adding that Jones would be "controlled" by Democratic congressional leaders Nancy Pelosi and Charles Schumer.
Flake, who announced this fall he will not seek reelection and has repeatedly feuded with the rich asshole, has said that a Moore win would be “no victory for the nation.”
Flake and other GOP senators were eating lunch with the president to discuss trade.
The president has decided to throw his full support behind Moore, even though multiple women have accused him of making sexual advances or assaulting them when he was 30 and they were teenagers.
In the wake of the rich asshole’s endorsement, Senate leaders have backed off their tough criticism of Moore.
But many rank and file members remain concerned his candidacy could do damage to the GOP heading into the 2018 midterm elections.
Voters in Alabama will go to the polls next Tuesday.
- This story updated at 1:07 p.m.
Mike Pence’s wife finds the rich asshole ‘reprehensible’ and ‘totally vile’: ex-campaign aide
some rich asshole and Jeb Bush following the CNN debate (Photo: Screen capture via video)
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Karen Pence, the wife of Vice President Mike Pence, found herself completely horrified when she watched some rich asshole’s infamous “Access Hollywood” tape in which he bragged about grabbing women’s genitals.
In fact, according to a profile of Vice President Pence written by The Atlantic’s McKay Coppins, Karen Pence wanted to see her husband take over the Republican Party’s nomination for the presidency in the wake of the “Access Hollywood” tape, and it wasn’t just due to political opportunism.
“She finds him reprehensible—just totally vile,” one ex-campaign aide told Coppins.
Coppins reveals that the Republican Party was working on ways to make Pence its nominee shortly after the “Access Hollywood” tape came out, and had even started batting around the idea of drafting former Bush Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to be his running mate.
Coppins reports that a group of Republican donors also talked about raising money to “buy out” the rich asshole in exchange for him dropping out of the race — but they backed off these plans when one the rich asshole associate told them the price tag would have to be in the $800 million range.
Deutsche Bank received a subpoena from Robert Mueller on some rich asshole’s accounts: source
Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller and President some rich asshole (Photos: Screen capture and AFP)
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Special Counsel Robert Mueller has asked Deutsche Bank to share data on accounts held by U.S. President some rich asshole and his family, a person close to the matter said on Tuesday.
Germany’s largest bank received a subpoena from Mueller several weeks ago to provide information on certain money and credit transactions, the person added, confirming a report by German daily Handelsblatt published on Tuesday.
Deutsche Bank, which has loaned the rich asshole organization millions of dollars for real estate ventures, said it would not comment on any of its clients.
Deutsche Bank rejected demands in June by U.S. House Democrats to provide details of the rich asshole’s finances, citing privacy laws.
Mueller is investigating alleged Russian attempts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election and potential collusion by the rich asshole aides.
Russia has denied meddling in the election and the rich asshole has said there was no collusion.
Frustrated the rich asshole lashes out at FBI
BY JORDAN FABIAN - 12/04/17 09:01 PM EST
President the rich asshole is angry and frustrated over the removal of a senior FBI official from special counsel Robert Mueller’s team over alleged anti-the rich asshole text messages, a development that surfaced after former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s guilty plea in the Russia investigation.
People close to the White House say the rich asshole’s frustration explains some of his tweets and statements lashing out at the FBI, but insist the president’s team is not shifting its legal strategy in response to the probe.
“When you see this partisan bend, there’s a desire there to respond,” said one former the rich asshole transition and campaign official, who requested anonymity to talk about the probe. “You have the president pointing out the FBI needs to be free of this bias.”
The top FBI agent assigned to Mueller’s probe into Russia’s 2016 election interference, Peter Strzok, was reassigned over the summer because of text messages he allegedly sent to a woman that criticized the rich asshole and praised Hillary Clinton.
the rich asshole and his allies used the story, which was published Saturday in The New York Times and The Washington Post, to bolster their argument the Russia investigation is merely a politically motivated “witch hunt” against the president.
Despite the rich asshole’s mounting frustration with the probe, the White House has decided that cooperating with the special counsel’s office is the best way to bring it to a swift conclusion.
“The president is definitely not considering pardoning Gen. Flynn or firing the special counsel, as he has repeatedly said over the past five months,” said Ty Cobb, the White House lawyer charged with handling the Russia investigation.
Multiple current and former White House officials have sat for interviews with Mueller’s team of prosecutors, and the White House has turned over reams of documents to his office.
Cobb has also sought to assure the president that the investigation will conclude by the end of the year or shortly thereafter.
That approach is likely to continue, despite warnings from several of the rich asshole’s friends and allies that Mueller is endangering his presidency.
At the same time, the president is attempting to muddy the waters by seeking to discredit the FBI’s team of investigators as the Russia probe moves closer to the White House.
In a string of tweets over the weekend, the rich asshole argued Clinton received special treatment from the FBI and that the agency was damaged by former Director James Comey’s leadership.
“After years of Comey, with the phony and dishonest Clinton investigation (and more), running the FBI, its reputation is in Tatters — worst in History! But fear not, we will bring it back to greatness,” the rich asshole tweeted.
The president repeatedly cited reports about Strzok, a top FBI counterintelligence investigator who also played a leading role in the Clinton email probe in 2016, which ended with no charges brought against the rich asshole’s Democratic opponent.
“Now it all starts to make sense!” the rich asshole tweeted.
the rich asshole doubled down on that argument on Monday, telling reporters it is “very unfair” Flynn was charged with a crime and Clinton was not.
Mueller has thus far charged four people in his investigation into whether the rich asshole campaign coordinated with Russia’s election-meddling efforts, most recently Flynn, who is widely viewed as the special counsel’s biggest get.
Flynn’s decision to plead guilty to lying to the FBI and cooperate with Mueller is a sign of growing trouble for other White House officials and possibly the rich asshole himself, according to legal experts.
The retired Army lieutenant general was a close confidant of the rich asshole during the campaign and spent nearly a month at the highest levels of the White House, meaning he could reveal damaging information to Mueller’s team.
The president has repeatedly denied that he or anyone on his campaign colluded with Russia, but Mueller’s probe has expanded its scope to look into possible obstruction of justice and financial crimes, too.
In turn, some the rich asshole allies are urging a more aggressive response from the White House to counter Mueller’s investigation.
“Robert Mueller poses an existential threat to the rich asshole presidency,” Chris Ruddy, a rich asshole friend and the CEO of Newsmax, said Sunday on ABC News’s “This Week.”
Asked about White House lawyers’ insistence the probe will wrap up quickly, Ruddy responded, “Well, I don’t know what they’re smoking.”
“You get a picture that this investigation is out to get the president,” he said. “And I’m actually concerned, you know, that they’re not going to be fair at the end of the day.”
That line of thinking is more in line with the rich asshole’s natural instinct, which is to punch back hard against his opponents. It’s an attitude that dates back to his real estate career, when he was mentored by the hard-charging attorney Roy Cohn.
But the rich asshole’s determination to keep talking and tweeting about the Russia investigation has frustrated some in the White House.
The latest example is the president’s Saturday tweet claiming Flynn had been fired over false statements not only to Vice President Pence, but to the FBI — a stunning claim that legal experts said could open the president to charges of obstruction of justice.
The message implied that the rich asshole had known Flynn made false statements to agents about his talks with Russia’s U.S. ambassador at the time he fired him, and appeared to add new significance to his decision to fire Comey, who was investigating Flynn.
It forced the White House to scramble to respond. One of the rich asshole’s lawyers, John Dowd, later said he drafted the message — a detail that could limit the president’s legal exposure.
By Monday, Dowd was arguing the president, by nature, cannot obstruct justice.
“The president cannot obstruct justice because he is the chief law enforcement officer under [the Constitution’s Article II] and has every right to express his view of any case,” the attorney told multiple news outlets.
FBI director defends the bureau one day after the rich asshole called it ‘the worst in history’
FBI Director Christopher Wray (left, via Wikimedia Commons) and President some rich asshole (right, via Shutterstock).
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In an email sent to FBI staff on Monday, the bureau’s director defended his workforce just a day after President some rich asshole claimed its reputation was in “tatters” and is “the worst in history.”
The New York Times reported that FBI Director Chris Wray, who was appointed by the rich asshole, lauded his employees and said he was “inspired by example after example of professionalism and dedication to justice demonstrated around the bureau.”
“It is truly an honor to represent you,” Wray wrote in the inter-FBI email obtained by the Times.
In an early-morning Twitter storm on Sunday, the rich asshole wrote that the bureau is “tainted” and “dishonest” a few hours after attacking his own Justice Department in a series of tweets.
Wray never mentioned the rich asshole by name in his Monday email, but did write that members of the bureau “find [themselves] under the microscope each and every day — and rightfully so. We do hard work for a living.”
the rich asshole adviser’s transition email about Flynn’s Russian contacts contradicts sworn Congressional testimony
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos listens at left as Deputy National Security Adviser K.T. McFarland speaks at the Women's Empowerment Panel, Wednesday, March 29, 2017, at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
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An email former some rich asshole deputy national security adviser K.T. McFarland sent during the presidential transition contradicts testimony she gave before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in July, the New York Times reports.
McFarland sent the email on Dec. 29, 2016, regarding Russian sanctions imposed by former president Barrack Obama. In it, the rich asshole adviser suggested the Obama administration’s move would make it difficult for the rich asshole’s relationship with Russia, “which has just thrown the U.S.A. election to him.” She also told another the rich asshole official that former national security adviser Michael Flynn would be meeting with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
As part of her sworn testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, McFarland was asked, in writing, “ “Did you ever discuss any of General Flynn’s contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak directly with General Flynn?”
“I am not aware of any of the issues or events as described above,” she replied.
Sen. Corey Booker (D-NJ), who asked McFarland the question about Flynn, expressed concern over McFarland’s email.
“Recent developments suggest that Ms. McFarland gave false testimony to the United States Senate on a matter as significant as communications between the Russian government and the rich asshole transition team,” Booker told the Times. “If this is the case, this is an alarming development, and another example of a pattern of deception on the part of the rich asshole’s closest associates regarding their connections and communications to Russian government officials.”
Mueller demands judge reverse Manafort’s bail after he was caught working with Russian on self-aggrandizing op-ed
Special counsel Robert Mueller and former the rich asshole campaign chairman Paul Manafort, composite image.
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Special counsel Robert Mueller rejected the terms of former the rich asshole campaign chairman Paul Manafort on Monday after the prosecutor discovered Manafort had been ghosting-writing on an op-ed with a Russian linked to the Kremlin while under house arrest.
As Business Insider reports, Mueller is urging the judge presiding over Manafort’s case to reverse his bail agreement because the latter allegedly violated the court order that barred him from trying to influence public opinion.
“Even if the ghostwritten op-ed were entirely accurate, fair, and balanced, it would be a violation of this Court’s November 8 Order if it had been published,” Mueller’s team wrote in their filing on Monday.
“The editorial clearly was undertaken to influence the public’s opinion of defendant Manafort, or else there would be no reason to seek its publication (much less for Manafort and his long-time associate to ghostwrite it in another’s name),” it continued.
On November 30, Manafort struck an $11.5 million bail deal that would have sprung him from Mueller’s house arrest, but as the December 4 filing reveals, he may have been working on the ghost-written op-ed up to the day that deal was struck.
Ex-Government Ethics head suggests the rich asshole’s Flynn tweet opens door for Mueller to investigate Yates firing
Sally Yates and some rich asshole (Photos: Justice Department and Screen capture)
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In a series of tweets late Monday, the former head of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics made the case that President some rich asshole’s controversial tweet about firing former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn may open the door to special counsel Robert Mueller to look into the firing of former acting Attorney General Sally Yates.
When the rich asshole fired Yates at the end of January, the White House explained the dismissal as the result of the fact that she refused to back him and implement his controversial travel ban. Following the firing , the rich asshole reportedly declared that Yates had “betrayed” his administration.
Addressing the rich asshole’s tweet and the revelation that Yates informed the president that she believed Flynn lied two weeks before his firing, Walter Shaub said a new line on f inquiry may have just opened up for Mueller.
“He didn’t fire Flynn until after the media exposed Yates’ warning to McGahn. This raises a question about Yates’ firing. Was she really fired over the discriminatory travel ban?” Shaub asked in the midst of a series of tweets outlining the White House firings.
You can read them below:
Ta-da! If Trump knew Flynn lied to the FBI, refused to fire Flynn until later when the news media found out, asked Comey to back off Flynn, then fired Comey after that failed, then the stunning admission in the tweet is true, regardless of who wrote it! /1 amp.cnn.com/cnn/2017/12/04…
This makes Tweet-gate weirder. Did Dowd write it or did Trump? Either way, if the admission in the tweet is true, why bother claiming Dowd wrote it? If that claim is untrue, it’s a useless deception. If that claim is true it’s a pointless waiver of attorney-client privilege. /2
Weirder still, why did Dowd reportedly tell CNN, “At the time of the firing no one including Justice had accused Flynn of lying”? Was the word “accused” chosen for its ambiguity? The sentence is literally true if you read “accused” to mean “charged.” /3 google.ca/amp/s/amp.cnn.…
But that’s a far cry from saying Trump didn’t know Flynn had lied to the FBI. Any DC attorney like McGahn knows lying to the FBI is a crime. If McGahn told Trump that Flynn probably had lied to the FBI, wouldn’t he have told him about the potential criminal liability? /4
And wouldn’t McGahn have told Trump that Yates said Flynn’s underlying conduct was a problem? That alone was enough to sound an alarm of potential criminal liability? That’s not the sort of thing that McGahn, as Counsel to the President, would’ve concealed form the President. /5
So the revelation that Trump must have had this information when he asked Comey to back off Flynn (and later when he fired Comey) radically alters the context of Trump’s firing of Comey. Was it obstruction of justice? At a minimum, it’s now definitely worth a hard look. /6
But it don’t stop there. The fact that Trump resisted firing Flynn for a couple weeks is important. He didn’t fire Flynn until after the media exposed Yates’ warning to McGahn. This raises a question about Yates’ firing. Was she really fired over the discriminatory travel ban? /7
Trump’s recent acting agency head decisions at CFPB and OGE tell us something. He’s willing to intervene and replace the next-in-line for succession to an agency head position. In February, Trump issued an executive order changing the order of succession within DOJ. /8
In that EO, he specifically retained discretion “to depart from this order in designating an acting Attorney General.” So why didn’t he just do this in January and temporarily replace Yates instead of firing her when she refused to enforce the ban? /9 whitehouse.gov/the-press-offi…
There is a statute that could be read as saying the Deputy Attorney General is next in line (28 USC 508) but that statute says she “may” act as AG and just this month the White House argued that a similarly ambiguous statute at CFPB did not override Trump’s authority to pick /10
an acting agency head under the Vacancies Reform Act. (google.ca/amp/s/www.cnbc…) In any case, even if the DOJ statute is read to give POTUS less wiggle room than the CFPB statute, he could have suspended Yates long enough to implement his travel ban (or demoted her). This begs /11
the question was she really fired for warning the White House about Flynn? Maybe. Maybe not. But with all of this context, this issue too is now worth a hard look. And while they’re at it, I hope they look at Dowd hard enough to determine whether he was telling the truth /12
when he said he wrote that weird tweet. If he wrote it, he made an odd choice. If he didn’t write it, he may have put himself right in the mix of this investigation in a way that could have consequences. /13
The four people charged in Mueller's investigation
(CNN)Former national security adviser Michael Flynn is the fourth person connected to President some rich asshole's campaign to be charged as part of an investigation into possible collusion between the Russian government and members of the rich asshole's team, as well as potential obstruction of justice and financial crimes.
These are the four who've been charged in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation:
Michael Flynn
Former the rich asshole national security adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty in December to lying to the FBI about conversations with Russia's ambassador.
He disclosed that he is cooperating with the special counsel's office and became the first person inside the rich asshole's administration to be charged in Mueller's probe.
The retired lieutenant general started advising the rich asshole on national security in early 2016. Flynn targeted then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in the chant, "lock her up" during the Republican National Convention. When the rich asshole took office in January 2017, Flynn served as his national security adviser, but resigned after less than one month amid questions about his links to Russia.
According to a statement of offense filed in court, Flynn conducted several calls with senior officials on the rich asshole transition team about his discussions with then-Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak related to US sanctions of Russia. He and the rich asshole advisers discussed US sanctions three times, and Flynn, then called Kislyak to ask that Russia not respond too harshly to US sanctions, the statement of offense said. He also spoke with Kislyak about an upcoming UN Security Council vote condemning Israel's policy regarding settlements in the occupied territories, the legal document says.
Flynn lied to investigators about these calls with the ambassador, according to his guilty plea and the criminal statement of offense. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, according to federal sentencing guidelines, though the judge could impose a harsher or lighter sentence.
Paul Manafort
Manafort's journey to center of Mueller's investigation 01:25
the rich asshole's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his deputy Rick Gates were indicted in October. They pleaded not guilty and had been ordered under house arrest.
A Republican strategist and longtime Washington operator, Manafort became the rich asshole's campaign chairman in spring 2016. With just under three months to go until the presidential election, Manafort resigned amid questions over his campaign role and extensive lobbying history overseas, particularly in Ukraine, where he represented pro-Russian interests.
Manafort's connections to Russia faced fresh scrutiny earlier this year after current and former US officials told CNN that high-level the rich asshole campaign advisers, including Manafort, regularly communicated with Russians known to US intelligence. Manafort called the allegation "100% not true" and said he didn't "remember talking to any Russian officials, ever."
The charges against Manafort and Gates are unrelated to the rich asshole campaign, though it's possible Mueller could add additional charges.
The indictment against Manafort and Gates contains 12 counts: conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts.
Rick Gates
Richard Gates arrives at the Prettyman Federal Courthouse for a bail hearing November 6, 2017 in Washington, DC.
Gates is a longtime business associate of Manafort and served as his deputy on the rich asshole campaign.
Like Manafort, Gates also was charged with 12 counts, and his alleged crimes are not related to his role in the rich asshole's campaign.
Gates stayed on the rich asshole campaign after Manafort was ousted in August 2016 amid questions about his work in Ukraine. But he was ousted from a pro-the rich asshole advocacy group this year amid mounting questions about Manafort.
The pair's relationship goes back years. Gates joined Manafort's lobbying firm in the mid-2000s when he handled projects in Eastern Europe, including in Ukraine.
Gates has denied any wrongdoing. "Everything was done legally and with the approval of our lawyers," Gates said in a June interview with The New York Times. "Nothing to my knowledge was ever done inappropriately."
George Papadopoulos
Who is George Papadopoulos? 02:53
The former the rich asshole campaign foreign policy adviser pleaded guilty in October to making a false statement to the FBI after he lied about his interactions with foreign nationals, including two Russians, with ties to the Russian government.
The FBI said Papadopoulos "falsely described his interactions with a certain foreign contact who discussed 'dirt' related to emails" concerning Clinton. Records also describe an email between the rich asshole campaign officials suggesting they were considering acting on Russian invitations to go to Russia.
Papadopoulos lied to FBI agents "about the timing, extent and nature of his relationships and interactions with certain foreign nationals whom he understood to have close connections with senior Russian government officials," according to the complaint.
Supreme Court allows President the rich asshole's travel ban to go fully into effect
- The Supreme Court is allowing President some rich asshole's latest travel ban on six Muslim-majority nations to go into effect.
- Two of the nine justices — Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor — dissented.
- The ban applies to travelers from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.
The Supreme Court is allowing the rich asshole administration to fully enforce a ban on travel to the United States by residents of six mostly Muslim countries.
The justices, with two dissenting votes, said Monday that the policy can take full effect even as legal challenges against it make their way through the courts. The action suggests the high court could uphold the latest version of the ban that the rich asshole announced in September.
The ban applies to travelers from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. Lower courts had said people from those nations with a claim of a "bona fide" relationship with someone in the United States could not be kept out of the country. Grandparents, cousins and other relatives were among those courts said could not be excluded.
Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor would have left the lower court orders in place.
The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, will be holding arguments on the legality of the ban this week.
Both courts are dealing with the issue on an accelerated basis, and the Supreme Court noted it expects those courts to reach decisions "with appropriate dispatch."
Both courts are dealing with the issue on an accelerated basis, and the Supreme Court noted it expects those courts to reach decisions "with appropriate dispatch."
Quick resolution by appellate courts would allow the Supreme Court to hear and decide the issue this term, by the end of June.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.
the rich asshole calls Roy Moore to offer his endorsement
Washington (CNN)President some rich asshole on Monday called Alabama Senate hopeful Roy Moore and endorsed his campaign, fully aligning himself with the embattled Republican candidate eight days before the special election.
White House spokesman Raj Shah said the rich asshole and Moore "had a positive call" during which they "discussed the state of the Alabama Senate race."
According to a release from the Moore campaign, the rich asshole called the Senate candidate a "fighter," and wrapped up the call by saying, "go get 'em, Roy!"
"I am honored to receive the support and endorsement of President some rich asshole," Moore said in a statement. "President the rich asshole knows that the future of his conservative agenda in Congress hinges on this election. I look forward to fighting alongside the President to strengthen our military, secure our border, protect our gun rights, defend the sanctity of life, and confirm conservative judges to courts around this nation. We had a good conversation over the phone today and are working together towards conservative victory on December 12."
the rich asshole fully endorsed on Twitter earlier Monday morning, despite his hesitancy to throw his full support behind the embattled Republican candidate in the wake of explosive accusations against him. His tweet Monday came as recent polls show a close race.
"Democrats refusal to give even one vote for massive Tax Cuts is why we need Republican Roy Moore to win in Alabama," the rich asshole tweeted. "We need his vote on stopping crime, illegal immigration, Border Wall, Military, Pro Life, V.A., Judges 2nd Amendment and more. No to Jones, a Pelosi/Schumer Puppet!"
The President went on to rail against Moore's Democratic opponent in the race, Doug Jones.
"Putting Pelosi/Schumer Liberal Puppet Jones into office in Alabama would hurt our great Republican Agenda of low on taxes, tough on crime, strong on military and borders...& so much more," the rich asshole tweeted.
Last month, The Washington Post published a bombshell report on allegations based on interviews with more than 30 people. One woman alleged she was 14 years old when Moore initiated sexual contact with her. The legal age of consent in Alabama is 16. After the report, another woman came forward to accuse Moore of sexually assaulting her when she was 16. Moore vehemently denies the allegations.
In the initial aftermath of the report, the rich asshole remained mum in public and his staff suggested the President did not support Moore because he was not campaigning in Alabama. But last week, the White House announced that the rich asshole will hold an event in Pensacola, Florida -- just 25 miles from the Alabama border -- later this week. Late last month, he all but endorsed Moore.
"He denies it. Look, he denies it," the rich asshole said of Moore. "If you look at all the things that have happened over the last 48 hours. He totally denies it. He says it didn't happen. And look, you have to look at him also."
Marc Short, the White House director of legislative affairs, said in an interview Monday on CNN's "New Day" that the rich asshole has "been clear" about his concerns with Moore but that securing another Republican vote for a potential tax reform bill is "a factor to consider."
"(the rich asshole) is making the point that in one of our best opportunities for significant tax relief ... we couldn't muster any support from Democrats," he said.
Short also cast doubt on the allegations of sexual abuse made against Moore. He said the rich asshole felt that "when allegations arise 38 years later -- when Roy Moore has been a very public figure for those 38 years, he's run multiple times statewide in Alabama, the people of Alabama have an opportunity to choose and make decisions about Roy Moore's character -- that there are certain questions that come about the timing of these allegations."
"Putting all of that together," Short continued, "(the rich asshole) is encouraging the people of Alabama to make the right decision and also acknowledging that there was not a single Democrat in the United States Senate who supported massive tax relief for the American people, and that would put (Democratic candidate) Doug Jones in a very difficult position."
Moore has faced several critics within his own party in the Senate, but as his campaign has endured the allegations, some have softened their stance.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, for instance, told reporters in November that he believed the women who accused Moore of sexual harassment, and urged him to withdraw from the Senate race. But on Sunday, he said the people of Alabama should "make the call" on Moore.
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