February 14th-15th, 2017. It's been 459-460 days since the Nov 8, 2016, election of some rich asshole, no. 45, and 387-388 days the Jan 20th inauguration.
Jeff Sessions Knows What REALLY Caused The Florida School Shooting: Gang Violence
So-called Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III is a racist. However, he’s be in the business of using his various positions of power to enact racist policies long enough to know how to use coded language to justify his racism. The latest version of this, though, is perhaps the most despicable. He is saying that the school shooting in Parkland, Florida is the result of gang violence. He is wrong of course – at least when it comes to the kind of gang violence Sessions is talking about. The shooter is, in fact, a white guy who belonged to a white supremacist militia and is an ardent supporter of some rich asshole.
That did not, however, stop Sessions for plowing forward with his racist theories. He said during a press conference on Thursday, barely 24 hours after the shooting:
“When parents once again go to sleep fearful that their kids will not be safe, even when they go to school—parents have told me in gang-infested neighborhoods that children can no longer stand at the bus stop by themselves, they take turns, parents do, of being out there every morning and afternoon. So we’ve gotta confront the problem. There’s not doubt about it.”
Of course, we know he is implying that black people and/or Latinos are responsible for this nightmare, rather than gun-crazed, the rich asshole-supporting white guy with an ax to grind, as was the case in this situation.
Sessions is nothing short of reprehensible. He is a lifelong racist who has continued to use the levers of power to subjugate black people, Hispanic people, LGBTQ people and others he doesn’t like. This is racist as fuck, and we all know it. Jeff Sessions should NOT be this nation’s chief law enforcement officer. And there he sits, in that powerful position, telling the nation and the world that minorities are responsible for a shooting perpetuated by a violent white supremacist.
Grieving Florida Mother Just Ripped the rich asshole Limb From Stupid Limb On Live TV (VIDEO)
Following the latest school mass shooting – the 18th in the last 45 days – NRA-owned Republicans somehow think we don’t need to take action and apply common sense gun laws. The National Rifle Association gifted some rich asshole with $21 million so that he could hold the highest office in the land. A mother whose daughter was a victim of the latest massacre at a Florida high school on Wednesday in which 17 lives were taken had a few choice words for some rich asshole during an interview on CNN.
“How? How do we allow a gunman to come into our children’s school?” Lori Alhadeff asked. “How do they get through security? What security is there? There’s no metal detectors. The gunman, a crazy person, just walks right into the school, knocks on the window of my child’s door and starts shooting, shooting her and killing her!”
Then she addressed the rich asshole.
“President the rich asshole, you say what can you do?” she asked, referring to the rich asshole’s statement earlier today. “You can stop the guns from getting into these children’s hands! Put metal detectors at every entrance to the schools.”
“What can you do? You can do a lot! This is not fair to our families and our children go to school and have to get killed! I just spent the last two hours putting the burial arrangements for my daughters funeral, who is 14! Fourteen!” she continued. “President the rich asshole, please do something! Do something. action! We need it now! These kids need now!”
Watch:
Florida Senator Marco Rubio, the recipient of a whopping $3.3 million in donations from the NRA, doesn’t think we should act either. We see a pattern here.
the rich asshole Jr. Just ‘Liked’ A Tweet Blaming Florida Mass Shooting On The FBI’s Russia Investigation
People in general are stupid, but few have managed to reach the level of stupidity enjoyed by some rich asshole Jr.
Apparently, the son of President Stable Genius thinks that the FBI has better things to focus on than the criminal investigation into he, his father, and their friends’ collusion with Russia to destroy American democracy — like patrolling schools watching for any sign of danger.
On Thursday, the second-dumbest the rich asshole son next to Eric agreed with far right-wing agitator Kurt Schlichter that “The FBI was too busy trying to undermine the president to bother with doing it’s freaking job.”
Schlichter’s remark was in response to Twitter Nazi Jack Posobiec’s demand to know why the “FBI dropped their active shooter investigation” into Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz “months ago.”
In reality (yes, even on Fox News’ website), the FBI was given information about a comment Cruz made on YouTube that he was going to become a “professional school shooter” — one of many similar remarks made on YouTube seemingly every six seconds.
“No other information was included in the comment which would indicate a particular time, location or the true identity of the person who posted the comment,” the FBI said in a statement regarding — let’s call them “erroneous reports” since the media doesn’t liked to call liars liars these days — that the FBI knew of Cruz’s plans. Cruz did post the comment under his own name, but there was no way to know if that was his real name at the time.
“The FBI would have been all over Nikolas Cruz if there was even a remote chance he was a Republican who had once shook hands with some rich asshole,” one reply to Schlichter’s dumbass post says — which is kind of awkward considering that Cruz posted a photo of himself wearing a rich asshole trucker hat on Instagram:
The rich asshole administration’s animosity toward the FBI is understandable — Robert Mueller’s probe continues to close in on them daily, with multiple indictments and guilty pleas already under his belt.
Bharara trolls WH: Every member of Mueller's team has a permanent security clearance
BY BRANDON CARTER - 02/14/18 09:18 PM EST
Former US Attorney Preet Bharara trolled the White House in a tweet Wednesday after it was reported that more than a hundred of President Trump’s staffers worked without permanent security clearances as recently as November.
“You know who has permanent security clearances? Every member of special counsel [Robert] Mueller's team,” Bharara tweeted.
You know who has permanent security clearances? Every member of special counsel Mueller's team. https://t.co/RIjCAHlq05— Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) February 15, 2018
Mueller’s team of investigators, comprised of former prosecutors and Justice Department officials, is investigating potential ties between Trump and Russia.
CNN reported Wednesday that numerous top officials in Trump’s White House, including his daughter and senior adviser Ivanka Trump, son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner and former staff secretary Rob Porter were three of more than 100 White House staffers that still had an interim security clearance in November, a year after Trump’s election.
Those officials include a special assistant to Trump on national security affairs and the senior director for international cybersecurity on the National Security Council, according to CNN.
Politico reported Tuesday that the White House banned new interim security clearances late last year, but allowed current staffers with the temporary clearances to remain in their positions.
The reports come amid growing scrutiny over the White House's response to domestic abuse allegations against Porter, who announced he was stepping down last week. Porter held an interim security clearance, leading many to question how his background check was handled.
Two other White House officials have resigned in recent weeks after being denied full security clearances.
Lawmakers have criticized the security clearance process and the White House’s handling of Porter, while the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Wednesday announced that they had launched an investigation into Porter’s security clearance.
the rich asshole and his team went into hiding when more than a dozen kids were shot and killed in their school.
In a high school in Florida, children hid under their desks, terrified as a barrage of bullets echoed through the hallways of what should be one of the safest spaces in their world.
At least 17 people are dead, according to the Broward sheriff’s office, and another 14 injured as a result of the 18th school shooting in the United States this year.
It’s only been 44 days since the year began.
As the victims are still being counted at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, there is damning silence from the White House.
Instead of standing up in front of cameras and the entire nation, unifying the country in a moment of tragedy and pushing for something — anything — to stop the carnage, the White House went into hiding.
the rich asshole hid behind a pair of perfunctory tweets, substituting emotion and empathy with hollow words recycled from the last time innocent Americans were massacred thanks to the nation’s addiction to gun violence.
“My prayers and condolences,” the rich asshole tweeted, adding, “No child, teacher or anyone else should ever feel unsafe in an American school.”
His administration then announced that the daily White House press briefing, which had been delayed several times already, would be canceled.
Police and first responders are sifting through the wreckage left behind by another eruption of American violence, families are confronted with the loss or injury of a child that has no good reason to happen — and the White House Press secretary went stone silent, hiding behind the office door she closed on reporters.
Speaking on the floor of the Senate as the events unfolded, Chris Murphy (D-CT) told America, “Turn on your television right now, you’re going to see scenes of children running for their lives.”
What Americans did not see was the rich asshole.
It does not have to be this way.
After the Umpqua Community College shooting in October of 2015, where 9 people were shot by a gunman, President Obama didn’t hide behind tweets or have his White House shut down lines of communication with America.
He came before the cameras and spoke about the scourge of gun violence, as he had after the Sandy Hook Massacre that the rich asshole’s friend Alex Jones says is a hoax.
“Our thoughts and prayers are not enough. It’s not enough,” President Obama said in 2015.
“It does not capture the heartache and grief and anger that we should feel. And it does nothing to prevent this carnage from being inflicted someplace else in America — next week, or a couple of months from now.”
He added, “And, of course, what’s also routine is that somebody, somewhere will comment and say, ‘Obama politicized this issue.’ Well, this is something we should politicize. It is relevant to our common life together, to the body politic.”
the rich asshole, on the other hand, is in the pocket of the NRA, and his only comments about guns, as a candidate and as president, have been in support of more of them and fewer restrictions on them. He is so immune to basic decency that he hosted the head of that organization at the White House on the anniversary of the Sandy Hook shooting last December.
After America’s deadliest shooting in modern history in Las Vegas last October, the rich asshole and his White House refused to even discuss how to avoid future massacres. the rich asshole, however, used the tragedy to fundraise for his re-election campaign.
Unlike his predecessor, who at a minimum expressed understanding and sympathy for the victims of gun violence and advocated for reforms that were popular but opposed by the gun lobby, the rich asshole has endorsed a do-nothing, dead children (and families) policy.
For the rich asshole administration, it is always too soon after a gun massacre to speak about doing anything — even though the rich asshole never hesitates to call for anti-immigrant policies in the immediate wake of a tragedy.
But when tragic fatalities do not suit his agenda, the rich asshole and his minions go silent, shut the door, and count the latest donations from the NRA.
The payment to keep the rich asshole's alleged affair a secret did not pay off. Instead, it highlighted the dangerous security issues of an administration in eternal crisis.
One month before the 2016 election, some rich asshole’s longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen purchased the silence of a porn star who allegedly had an affair with the rich asshole.
Now, despite an attempt last month to deny the story — he dismissed the bombshell as “old, recycled reports” — Cohen has admitted he did pay Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep her quiet.
Cohen’s admission confirms this story is about far more than a salacious story of an illicit affair. It’s about whether the current occupant of the Oval Office was, and might still be, susceptible to blackmail. It’s already been the subject of concern about former and current members of the rich asshole’s administration, given their questionable relationships and past behaviors, and how that vulnerability threatens America’s national security.
Meanwhile, the Associated Press reports that Daniels’ manager, Gina Rodriguez, believes Cohen violated the non-disclosure agreement made in 2016 to keep the affair quiet, and if Cohen can talk about it, so can Daniels.
“Everything is off now,” Rodriguez said, “and Stormy is going to tell her story.”
If Daniels does start spilling all the dirt on her affair with the rich asshole, the efforts of the rich asshole’s closest friends and enablers — including Fox News — to keep the story under wraps will have been for naught. Not to mention the six-figure waste of money that Cohen insists he paid out of his own pocket.
It also means that, in the midst of numerous investigations into the rich asshole’s campaign having to do with its potential collusion with Russia, there could be a whole new slew of questions and even investigations about this payment.
The whole reason for Cohen’s sudden reversal and confession stems from a complaint filed with the Federal Elections Commission that charges the payment to Daniels was in fact an in-kind campaign contribution — and that Cohen might have violated the law.
Cohen insists he paid the money with no expectation of any kind of reimbursement and that neither the campaign nor the rich asshole’s business had anything to do with it.
“I will always protect some rich asshole,” Cohen added in a subsequent statement.
the rich asshole and the White House have thus far largely dodged having to answer any questions about the alleged affair and the blackmail payout on his behalf. Mike Pence was asked about it in January and offered the awkward response that he wasn’t “going to comment on the latest baseless allegations against the president.”
The allegations seem a lot less baseless now that the rich asshole’s attorney has admitted to some of them. And whether the rich asshole, his campaign, his attorney, or anyone else in his inner circle broke the law, as some — including Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) — are suggesting is only part of the problem.
If the rich asshole’s inner circle is quietly paying off people who have dirt on him, legal or not, it means the president of the United States could be the target of blackmail in the future.
So the real question, it seems now, is whether the rich asshole himself is the biggest threat of all.
The Treasury secretary really struggled to explain the rich asshole's treatment of Russia.
the rich asshole’s refusal to hold Russia accountable for its election interference made for an embarrassing moment at Wednesday’s Senate Finance Committee hearing.
In late January, the rich asshole ignored the deadline to impose sanctions on Russian oligarchs, which was just the latest example of the rich asshole’s suspicious reluctance to punish Russia for interfering in the 2016 presidential election. Or even acknowledge that it happened.
At Wednesday’s hearing, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) pressed Mnuchin on the rich asshole’s weakness, asking him if the rich asshole ever asked him to impose sanctions on Russia.
Mnuchin tried to ignore her question by changing the subject to a sanctions report that his department compiled using a magazine article.
McCaskill kept asking, and Mnuchin awkwardly kept dodging.
When committee chair Orrin Hatch instructed her to let Mnuchin answer the question, she said, “He’s not answering the question. I want to know if the president asked him.”
“I told him we would be doing sanctions against Russia, and he was pleased to hear that,” Mnuchin finally responded.
“Have you recommended to him that he publicly explain to the American people that he wants sanctions imposed on Russia?” McCaskill asked.
“I have not made that recommendation to him,” Mnuchin said.
McCaskill asked if the rich asshole should make clear to Russia that “he believes sanctions are appropriate when a country tries to break the backbone of democracies all over the world.”
Mnuchin’s only answer was that the rich asshole has “delegated” sanctions to him.
the rich asshole’s disturbing policy weakness on Russia is occurring against the backdrop of an investigation into whether the rich asshole colluded with Russia on that very election interference, to which the obvious answer is that he did.
If the rich asshole won’t hold Russia accountable, then it is up to Republicans to join Democratic leaders like McCaskill in making sure that the Congress does.
Stormy Daniels tells friends she’s ‘free to talk’ after Michael Cohen breached their contract
President some rich asshole and adult actress Stephanie Clifford, whose stage name was Stormy Daniels, in a 2006 Myspace photo.
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A Hollywood tabloid is reporting that Stormy Daniels thinks that she is free to speak since Michael Cohen acknowledged that she was paid by him to keep her mouth shut about an alleged affair with President some rich asshole.
The Blast reported Wednesday that Daniels told friends she fully intends to speak out in wake of Cohen’s public statement.
Gina Rodriguez, a manager for Daniels, confirmed to The Associated Press that she believes the rich asshole’s lawyer invalidated the non-disclosure agreement.
Sources told The Blast that Daniels’ legal team notified the rich asshole’s legal team, including Cohen, that they are in violation of the 2016 agreement. Presumably their agreement was to not discuss if there was an agreement. While speaking to Jimmy Kimmel, Daniels wouldn’t confirm or deny anything. Instead, she stayed silent. If Cohen acknowledged that there was a deal when Daniels did not, it’s possible that violated the agreement.
Cohen announced late Tuesday that he paid Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, the $130,000 independently of the rich asshole campaign and the rich asshole organization. The payout occurred just weeks prior to the 2016 election and Cohen indicated it was to keep her mouth shut.
“Neither the rich asshole Organization nor the rich asshole campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly,” he said in a statement.
The source revealed to The Blast that Daniels now believes she is excused from “further performance of the non-disclosure agreement” between herself and Cohen.
Cohen called the payment “lawful” in his statement, though he didn’t disclose whether the rich asshole knew about the money. Nor did he indicate any specifics about the deal other than the sum of money. He maintained that the allegations Daniels made were false.
“Just because something isn’t true doesn’t mean that it can’t cause you harm or damage. I will always protect some rich asshole,” Cohen said.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Peter Cooney)
Ex-federal prosecutor: White House counsel’s role in Comey firing could help Mueller’s obstruction case on the rich asshole
Robert Mueller, some rich asshole -- screenshots
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A previously-unreported anecdote about White House counsel Don McGahn’s role in the lead-up to former FBI director James Comey’s firing may further open the president up to obstruction of justice charges.
The Washington Post reported Tuesday that early in the rich asshole administration, the president asked McGahn to convince a senior Justice Department official to “persuade the FBI director to announce that the rich asshole was not personally under investigation in the probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election.”
McGahn, the report noted, called Dana Boente who was then the acting deputy director of the FBI, though several of the Post‘s sources familiar with the conversation said the official didn’t do it.
Responding to the Post‘s story, which served as background for an article on McGahn’s curious role in the White House, former federal prosecutor and Illinois attorney general candidate Renato Mariotti noted on Twitter that the information could be used in special counsel Robert Mueller’s obstruction of justice investigation on the rich asshole firing Comey.
The brief aside, Mariotti wrote, “could be used by Mueller to show the rich asshole’s intense interest in his own liability.”
1/ Trump told White House Counsel Don McGahn to call the Justice Department and ask them to "persuade" Comey to publicly announce that Trump was not under investigation. That could be used by Mueller to show Trump's intense interest in his own liability. washingtonpost.com/amphtml/politi…
“the rich asshole’s request was highly inappropriate,” the former prosecutor continued, noting that despite Boente’s refusal, he “could be a witness in Mueller’s obstruction investigation.”
As The New York Times reported last month, the rich asshole also asked McGahn to help him fire Mueller, and only backed down when the White House attorney refused to do so and threatened to quit.
Boente, Mariotti reminded, has since resigned from his role in the Justice Department and is currently the FBI general counsel, further complicating his role in the investigation.
“Why did he resign from the DOJ?” he mused. “Has he recused himself from the Russia investigation?”
2/ Trump's request was highly inappropriate, and McGahn showed poor judgment by complying with Trump's request. Then-Deputy Acting Attorney General Dana Boente properly declined to comply, and could be a witness in Mueller's obstruction investigation.
3/ This may focus more attention on Boente's moves since that time. Why did he resign from the DOJ? As current FBI General Counsel, has he recused himself from the Russia investigation? /end
Boente, Raw Story reported last month, has been an integral part of the rich asshole administration. After then-acting attorney general Sally Yates refused to enforce the president’s Muslim-majority country travel ban, Boente volunteered to do so, and has since served in another four positions that impacted the Russia investigation.
the rich asshole backs 25-cent gasoline tax hike: congressional aides
President some rich asshole delivered a televised statement a day after returning from a marathon trip to Asia. (AFP / Nicholas Kamm)
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U.S. President some rich asshole endorsed a 25-cent hike in the federal gasoline tax in a meeting with lawmakers on Wednesday about funding his infrastructure spending proposal, congressional aides said.
Two congressional aides confirmed a report by publication Axios that the rich asshole had backed an increase. Democratic Senator Tom Carper, who attended the meeting, told CNN that the rich asshole was open to a 25-cent increase in gas and diesel taxes.
“He said he knew it was a difficult thing for legislators to support and said that he would … provide the political cover to do that,” Carper said, according to a CNN reporter’s tweet.
The White House did not confirm or deny that the rich asshole backed a gasoline tax hike in the meeting.
A White House official noted that the rich asshole “has said everything is on the table” to achieve infrastructure improvements. “The gas tax has its pros and cons, and that’s why the president is leading a thoughtful discussion on the right way to solve our nation’s infrastructure problems,” the official added.
the rich asshole expressed confidence on Wednesday that a deal could be reached. “This is an issue where I really believe we can find common ground between Republicans and Democrats,” he said.
Democrats insist any infrastructure plan must include new revenue. The federal gasoline tax has been 18.4 cents a gallon since 1993, and inflation as well as rising vehicle fuel efficiency have reduced its usefulness in raising enough money to keep pace with repair needs.
Congress has transferred nearly $140 billion to the Highway Trust Fund from 2008 through 2015. Lawmakers, to maintain current spending levels, would need to approve an additional $107 billion from 2021 through 2026.
the rich asshole has not previously ruled out a gasoline tax hike and some in Congress have said they are open to the idea but that the rich asshole would need to provide cover to win approval for the politically risky move.
Other Republicans in Congress say a gas tax hike has little or no chance of approval.
Last month, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce backed hiking fuel taxes by 25 cents a gallon, which it said would raise $394 billion over the next 10 years.
the rich asshole wants to use $200 billion in federal funds to try to stimulate $1.5 trillion in infrastructure improvements over 10 years but would cut an equivalent amount in projected infrastructure spending from the federal budget as it shifted more costs to states and cities.
Stormy Daniels manager: She ‘is going to tell her story’
BY MAX GREENWOOD - 02/14/18 08:32 PM EST
A manager for Stormy Daniels said Wednesday that the former adult film star is "going to tell her story" about an alleged affair with President the rich asshole.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, in recent weeks has avoided answering questions about her past claims of a sexual relationship with the rich asshole. Media scrutiny has intensified following a report that Daniels was paid in 2016 not to talk about the alleged affair.
But her manager, Gina Rodriguez, said that Michael Cohen, a personal lawyer for the rich asshole, violated the terms of a non-disclosure agreement with Daniels when he disclosed this week that he paid the porn star $130,000 of his own money.
"Everything is off now, and Stormy is going to tell her story," Rodriguez said, according to CNN.
Rodriguez's comments came after The Associated Press reported Wednesday that Clifford now believes she is free to discuss her alleged 2005 encounter with the rich asshole.
In a statement provided to The New York Times on Tuesday, Cohen acknowledged that he paid Clifford $130,000 of his own money shortly before the 2016 election.
"Neither the rich asshole Organization nor the rich asshole campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly," Cohen said in a statement to the Times. "The payment to Ms. Clifford was lawful, and was not a campaign contribution or a campaign expenditure by anyone."
The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Cohen had paid the porn star to buy her silence about the alleged affair with the rich asshole. the rich asshole denies Clifford's claim of a sexual encounter.
WATCH: Chris Cuomo annihilates Tea Party lawmaker’s ‘Dan Brown’-caliber FBI conspiracy theory
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CNN’s Chris Cuomo on Wednesday dropped the hammer on Rep. Jim Jordan’s (R-OH) argument that FBI surveillance of former the rich asshole campaign adviser Carter Page was part of a larger plot by the Obama administration to take down some rich asshole’s candidacy.
“What kind of caper is this, that this is what they came up with to hurt President the rich asshole is to put surveillance on Carter Page, a guy that had almost no real connection to the rich asshole… and then do it just for a few weeks before the election, and they think this is going to affect the outcome of the race?” Cuomo asked Jordan. “It’s preposterous.”
Jordan responded by pivoting away from Page and going off on text messages written between FBI employees Lisa Page and Peter Strzok that said former President Obama “wants to know everything we’re doing.”
As Cuomo pointed out, however, this particular text was referring to Obama wanting to know everything about Russia’s efforts to interfere with the 2016 presidential election, as he was scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin just days later.
At the end of the segment, Cuomo slammed the door shut on any notion that the FBI was part of a secret conspiracy to bring down the rich asshole during the 2016 presidential election.
“Peter Strzok wrote the letter about reopening the [Hillary Clinton email] case,” he said. “Jim Comey crushed Hillary Clinton. This is crazy unless Dan Brown is writing it and putting it in a book!”
Watch the video, via Think Progress, below.
These mental health experts are terrified by the rich asshole’s obsession with nuclear weapons
The president's unilateral authority to launch a nuclear strike is being called into question.
Between his defense of domestic abusers, his habit of stoking fears about immigrants, and his support for tax cuts tailor-made for billionaires, it’s sometimes easy to forget about the level of destructive power that President the rich asshole wields every day, as commander-in-chief of the U.S. military, including its nuclear arsenal.
the rich asshole, however, has not forgotten. The president has seized on the opportunity to push an issue on which he has long been disturbingly fixated: last summer, he called for a ten-fold increase in the U.S. nuclear stockpile, a move which reportedly prompted Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to label him a “fucking moron.” the rich asshole’s calls for nuclear escalation were echoed in the recently-released Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), which calls for new types of nuclear weapons and a lower threshold for using them. Meanwhile, tensions between the United States and North Korea have escalated; dozens of experts warn that the United States may be sleepwalking into a war where millions would die.
the rich asshole’s obsession with nuclear weapons, along with his well-documented impulsiveness and erratic behavior, has meant that a growing number of lawmakers are now arguing for a wholesale reform to the nuclear command and control system.
Dr. Steven Buser, M.D., is well-placed to talk about the rich asshole’s temperament and its relation to the country’s nuclear stockpile. As a psychiatrist, he spent 12 years in the Air Force, where one of his duties was to evaluate military personnel for their safety to be around nuclear weapons.
“They really lay out the criteria really clearly — you must have the highest level of trustworthiness, responsibility, reliability, conduct and behavior in order to be around nuclear weapons,” Buser told ThinkProgress. “But when you look at President the rich asshole, if you apply those same standards to an airman in a missile silo who wants to be around nuclear weapons, were the rich asshole that airman, would he pass that security requirement? As an Air Force psychiatrist I’d say absolutely not, not without further evaluation. That’s the great irony of the entire nuclear command structure from the missile silo to the chairman — all these high standards, but not for the president.”
Dr. Buser is one of several professionals who are concerned not only by the rich asshole’s temperament and tendency to speak without thinking, but the lack of standards for routinely testing that temperament — which, in turn, leaves the door open for a potentially catastrophic nuclear misstep.
“We have two insecure alpha narcissists basically goading each other into a fight,” Dr. John Gartner, Ph.D., told ThinkProgress, referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Gartner is the founder of Duty to Warn, an association of mental health professionals who advocate for removing the rich asshole from office, “on the grounds that he is psychologically unfit.”
Citing the rich asshole’s plans to host a military parade in the nation’s capital featuring military hardware and machinery, Gartner added, “This whole thing about a military parade is very symbolic. The type of leaders who want to puff themselves up by celebrating the power of their military these are the type of leaders who always start wars.”
Dr. Jacqueline J. West, a psychologist and author who recently spoke at the National Press Club’s “Presidential Mental Health & Nuclear Weapons” conference, argues that the rich asshole’s doggedness concerning the nuclear stockpile comes from a “deep identification of dominance.”
“It comes from, developmentally, a very early split between the ideas of predator and prey,” she said. “[Dominance] makes him feel like he’s winning, like he’s more powerful, like he’s bigger.”
This obsession with dominance makes it easy to envision a scenario in which, when dealing with an escalating nuclear crisis, the rich asshole’s primary instinct becomes to prove to an opponent how much stronger he is, not realizing that, with potentially millions of lives at stake, cooler heads need to prevail. A recent example of this was the rich asshole’s tweet on January 2, in which he boasted, “North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the ‘Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.’ Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!”
These concerns have prompted a slew of Democratic lawmakers to introduce legislation that would add checks and balances to the command-and-control structure of the U.S. nuclear arsenal. In January 2017, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) introduced the “Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act” which prohibits the president from launching a first nuclear strike unless Congress has expressly authorized it. Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD), along with 20 co-sponsors, also introduced the “Oversight Commission on Presidential Capacity Act” in May last year, which would allow Congress to call for a psychological examination of the president in emergency situations, to ensure his ability to execute his duty effectively. In November, for the first time since 1976, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing examining the extent of the president’s nuclear authority.
“The entire nuclear chain, with one exception, has two people needed to do any action — arm a bomb, launch a bomb, and so on — except [when it comes to] the president,” Buser said. “Why not have a system where the attorney general or secretary of defense, for example, have to confirm to the president that, yes, that action is a reasonable one?”
Democratic lawmakers have also echoed experts’ criticism of the rich asshole’s Nuclear Posture Review, arguing that it sets aside promises of non-proliferation seen during the Obama administration for a much more aggressive stance.
“[The NPR] expands the buildup not only of bombs but of delivery systems, all of which confirms that we have engaged in a new nuclear arms race,” Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA) told ThinkProgress. The difference, Garamendi said, is that the delivery systems now under development by the United States, Russia, and China are much more stealthy — meaning that the realities and strategies of the Cold War aren’t going to apply.
Garamendi added that, in the case of North Korea and South Korea, the pair had a history of tit-for-tat engagements. Following that logic, any sort of “bloody nose” attack by the rich asshole administration on North Korea would likely results in some form of counter-attack against South Korea as well.
The sheer number of controversies that the rich asshole has generated over the past two years has given pundits, politicians, and psychological experts reason to wonder whether the rich asshole is actually the “very stable genius” he claims to be. And while some have raised legitimate questions about the dangers of assessing the rich asshole’s temperament from afar, the mental health professionals who spoke with ThinkProgress maintain that the signs are there for all to see.
“It’s all from observable behaviors,” said Dr. David Reiss, M.D., a psychiatrist and author who contributed to the book, The Dangerous Case of some rich asshole: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President. “We’re not interpreting how his childhood led to this or that, we’re defining observable behaviors the same way a surgeon would say if you’ve got a hot stomach we need to send you to the ER [for further evaluation].”
He added, “We can evaluate danger from a distance just based on history and secondary information. [That] doesn’t mean that we’re providing a diagnosis or prognosis.”
Correction: An earlier version of this article mistook Congressman Garamendi’s first name. His full name is John Garamendi, not Eric Garamendi as originally published.
Paul Manafort co-defendant Richard Gates shows up in court with new lawyer
Rick Gates and some rich asshole (cnn.com)
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Thomas Green, a high-powered defense lawyer at Sidley Austin in Washington, D.C., appeared for the first time in court on Wednesday alongside President some rich asshole’s former deputy campaign chairman Richard Gates.
Green’s appearance at the federal courthouse comes at the same time that the other lawyers on Gates’ legal team are asking permission to stop representing him, citing “irreconcilable differences.”
CNN had previously reported that Green was now representing Gates, though to date he has still not entered a formal appearance as counsel on the public court docket.
Gates and the rich asshole’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort were both indicted in late October by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, as part of his ongoing investigation into whether the the rich asshole campaign colluded with Russia.
Manafort and Gates face charges including conspiracy to launder money, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and failure to register as foreign agents in connection with their political work for a pro-Russia Ukrainian party.
They have pleaded not guilty, and the rich asshole has denied that his campaign colluded with Russia.
Gates and Manafort returned to court for a status hearing on the case on Wednesday, though large portions of the proceeding remained under seal.
One sealed hearing dealt with the request by Gates’ other lawyers – Shanlon Wu and Walter Mack – to drop out of representing Gates.
After the closed hearing ended, Wu said there was no change yet in the status of Gates’ legal representation.
A second part of the closed proceedings on Wednesday, meanwhile, pertained to disagreements over bail conditions for Manafort.
Manafort still remains under house arrest at his home in Florida, even though the judge previously approved bail conditions that would permit him to have his home confinement lifted.
At a hearing last month, his lawyer Kevin Downing accused the judge of inadvertently setting his bond at $17 million, instead of $10 million – an allegation she denied.
Since then, Manafort’s attorneys have filed motions under seal to have the bond package adjusted.
The special counsel’s office is expected to file a redacted public version of its response to Manafort’s modified bail request by Friday.
The judge also on Wednesday deferred on setting a trial date for now.
the rich asshole bragged about a General Motors plant relocation that he made up
Company officials have no idea what he was talking about.
During a meeting about trade with lawmakers at the White House on Tuesday, President the rich asshole took personal credit for General Motors’ decision relocate a plant from South Korea back to the United States.
“GM Korea company announced today that it will cease production and close its Gunsan plant in May 2018 and they’re gonna move back to Detroit,” the rich asshole said. “You don’t hear these things except for the fact that the rich asshole became president, believe me, you wouldn’t be hearing that… and you have many others companies, they all want to be where the action is.”
There’s just one problem — the rich asshole’s relocation announcement was fake news. The president appears to have just made it up.
It’s true that GM is closing a plant in South Korea. On Monday, General Motors released a statement announcing that it is closing its plant in Gunsan as a “necessary but difficult first step in our efforts to restructure our operations in South Korea.”
But the statement doesn’t mention any corresponding plan to relocate operations to the United States. ThinkProgress reached out to General Motors for comment, and a company official said they have no knowledge of any plan to relocate production from South Korea to Michigan.
While fabricating a plant relocation is especially egregious, the rich asshole’s “announcement” was far from the first time he’s tried to take credit for new jobs he actually had little or nothing to do with. At various points during his first year in office, the rich asshole bragged about new jobs created by Toyota, Intel, Exxon, Charter Communications, Ford, SoftBank, Fiat-Chrysler, General Motors, Lockheed Martin, and Walmart that all were in the works before he was elected president.
the rich asshole gives himself undue credit on the macro level as well. Earlier this month, he bragged that “since the election, we have created 2.4 million jobs — that’s unthinkable.” But in fact, 2017 was the most anemic year for job creation since 2011.
MEDIA Sean Hannity Tweets, Then Deletes, Weirdly Specific Sexual Stuff About Obama Portrait
Fox News host’s post claimed there was something hidden in the image, then he quickly backtracked.
Sean Hannity isn’t a fan of Barack Obama, and he’s not fond of the former president’s new portrait either.
Hannity on Tuesday tweeted a remark claiming the portrait had “secret sperm” hidden within the image.
The tweet was deleted, but many on Twitter preserved it and shared screenshots:
Hannity first tweeted this ridiculous, if not racist, thing about Obama's portrait.
Hannity’s tweet linked to a story on his website written by “Hannity Staff” detailing the location of the supposed secret sperm.
Hannity later removed the article, blamed his staff and deleted the tweet. He did not give an explanation on Twitter.
However, Fox News sent a statement from Hannity to the Daily Beast: “Earlier today my web staff posted content that was not reviewed by me before publication. It does not reflect my voice and message and, therefore, I had it taken down.”
Hannity has railed against major news outlets, claiming they are inaccurate and insisting that he checks facts first.
“Liberal sheep think I should run wild with @nytimes anonymous sources and not confirm myself,” he said last month.
Apparently, in this case, he didn’t confirm his own website himself.
BuzzFeed notes that the “secret sperm” theory was circulating on 4chan before it hit Hannity’s website.
Here is some of the reaction on Twitter:
Can we all agree that Hannity and the "secret sperm" story is the best part of infrastructure week so far? twitter.com/Mediaite/statu…
I guess Sean Hannity can't keep track of all the voices in his head I guess.
Hannity yelling and tearing up his office, absolutely FURIOUS at how sexy the Obama painting is twitter.com/davidmackau/st…
So just to recap. Fox News’ Sean Hannity today claimed that there were “secret sperm” hidden in President Obama’s new portrait. Hannity even posted a picture of the “secret sperm” he found. The problem? Obama has a bulging vein in his temple that multiple photos show to be real.
Dreamers get permanent protections and the rich asshole gets a wall in this bipartisan immigration bill
"I’ll take all the heat you want to give me, and I’ll take the heat off both the Democrats and the Republicans."
Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) on Wednesday are set to release a bare-bones immigration proposal that has the opportunity to appease both political parties and the president himself.
A bipartisan group of senators are set to propose an immigration bill Wednesday that includes permanent protections and an earned pathway to citizenship for roughly 1.8 undocumented immigrants who came to the country as children, known as “Dreamers,” and $25 billion for border security, PBS NewsHour reporter Lisa Desjardins reported. The bill may be President the rich asshole’s only chance to get funding for a border wall, but White House officials cautioned on a background call Wednesday that the president may not sign a “skinny” proposal.
The rich asshole administration ended the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program last September, phasing out temporary work authorization and deportation protections for certain immigrants who came to the country as children. About 800,000 immigrants became beneficiaries of the program since its inception nearly six years ago. It’s estimated that 1.8 million immigrants would have been eligible for the program had the rich asshole White House not ended it. The discrepancy between the DACA population and the DACA-eligible population includes young immigrants who had not aged into the DACA program and other people who may not yet have met every requirement, like graduating from high school or obtaining a high school diploma equivalent.
Desjardins added in later tweets that the Graham-Durbin bill will likely preventDACA beneficiaries from sponsoring their undocumented parents. More details on the bill are still forthcoming.
Despite early assurances by the president in January that he would sign any immigration bills that Congress sends to him so long as it includes a border wall, he later requested any legislation from Congress include “four pillars”: a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, $25 billion for border security, limits to family-based migration, and an end to the diversity visa.
Hours before lawmakers emerged from Sen. Susan Collins’ (R-ME) office, where they met to discuss the immigration proposal, the White House released a statement endorsing a Republican-led plan that grants an earned pathway to citizenship for 1.8 million Dreamers, but also heavily focuses on the elimination of legal immigration avenues, like family-based migration and the diversity visa, as well as additional interior immigration enforcement. The plan mirrors the rich asshole’s “four pillars” on immigration. That plan likely will not gain Democratic supporters, some of whom insist that they would not support bills that fund additional immigration enforcement agents to pursue undocumented immigrants who have not committed crimes beyond their unauthorized stay in the United States.
White House officials in a background briefing later on Wednesday said that the president will not sign Graham’s proposal, and again called for Congress to move on Grassley’s proposed bill instead.
The chance to pass an immigration bill with bicameral majority approval is slim. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said Tuesday that immigration would take up the rest of the week on the Senate floor because he wanted to move on to “other things.” As of Wednesday, Senators now have less than a two-day window to pass immigration reform. If approved, the bill will go to the Republican-led House and later to the president who once promised he would endorse a “bill of love” and that he would “take the heat off” both parties.
Yet the bill is likely as close as it will get to a compromise plan that the rich asshole publicly said he would support during a 55-minute televised meeting on immigration back in January.
“I will be signing it,” he assured lawmakers at the time. “I’m not going to say, ‘Oh, gee, I want this or I want that.’ I’ll be signing it.”
“I’ll take the heat, I don’t care. I don’t care,” the rich asshole told lawmakers in January. “I’ll take all the heat you want to give me, and I’ll take the heat off both the Democrats and the Republicans. My whole life has been heat. I like heat, in a certain way.”
POLITICS
House Oversight Panel Investigating Alleged Abuser Rob Porter
“How in the hell was he still employed?” chairman Trey Gowdy asked.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee launched an investigation into the White House’s handling of Rob Porter’s employment late Tuesday, Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) said Wednesday on CNN’s “New Day.”
Asked whether his committee would begin looking into the timeline of physical abuse accusations against Porter, Gowdy responded, “We did last night.”
Porter resigned his position as staff secretary in the rich asshole administration last week after news outlets surfaced domestic violence allegations by both of his ex-wives, Colbie Holderness and Jennie Willoughby. Porter has denied the abuse.
President some rich asshole and other top officials have said they did not know about the accusations until they became headlines in the news. But FBI Director Christopher Wray contradicted that claim Tuesday during a Senate intelligence committee hearing when he said the agency passed along information on Porter several times over the last year.
The now-former staffer worked in the White House for a year despite not qualifying for permanent security clearance, likely due to the reports by his ex-wives.
“Who knew what when, and to what extent? Those are the questions that I think ought to be asked,” Gowdy said. “Congress has a role to play, but so does the public and so does the media.”
He added: “How in the hell was he still employed?”
Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy on allegations of spousal abuse against former top White House aide Rob Porter: “How in the hell was he still employed… How do you have any job if you have credible allegations of domestic abuse?” cnn.it/2EqSn2z
In a letter dated Wednesday addressed to chief of staff John Kelly, Gowdy requested information on Porter’s employment by Feb. 28 and suggested the committee’s investigation would cover security clearances more broadly.
#Breaking: The Committee seeks information regarding the policies and processes regarding interim security clearances within the Executive Branch.
The oversight committee chairman has faced criticism himself by top Democrats, who say Republicans have not been transparent on security clearance protocol. Top White House officials with access to classified government information must apply for security clearances that involve an FBI background check. The White House claimed Porter was issued an interim clearance while his check was ongoing.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the FBI’s reports on Porter never made it to top officials, such as Kelly and counsel Donald McGahn.
Although he initially defended Porter, Kelly said last week that he was “shocked” at the abuse accusations after seeing photographs of the ex-wives’ battered faces. the rich asshole has declined to speak about the women, but spoke supportively of Porter after his departure.
“We wish him well,” the rich asshole said. “It’s obviously a tough time for him.”
The White House’s struggle to recruit and retain qualified staffers may have contributed to top officials’ reluctance to lose Porter, who helped implement order in an administration marked by chaos.
the rich asshole finally spoke out about domestic abuse and his answer was not great
"It almost wouldn’t even have to be said.”
President the rich asshole broke his silence on issues of domestic violence during a meeting with local elected officials, entrepreneurs, and investors at the White House on Wednesday. The remarks were in response to an ongoing controversy over recently departed Staff Secretary Rob Porter, who has been accused by two ex-wives of verbal, emotional, and physical abuse.
“I am totally opposed to domestic violence, and everybody here knows that,” he told reporters. “I am totally opposed to domestic violence of any kind. Everyone knows that. It almost wouldn’t even have to be said. So, now you hear it, but you all know it.”
The tepid statement avoided commenting specifically on the women allegedly abused by Rob Porter.
The comments came more than one week after controversy erupted.
The Daily Mail first published the allegations against Porter on February 6, prompting Porter to resign his post, but not before White House chief of staff John Kelly defended him, calling him “a man of true integrity and honor” and counseling him to stay on in his role. Kelly later backtracked, saying he was not aware of the full extent of the allegations until The Intercept published photos of Porter’s first wife with a black eye on February 7. Reports have since revealed that Kelly may have known about the allegations as early as last summer, when the FBI completed their background investigation. The FBI closed their investigation in January. Porter had been operating on an interim security clearance since January 2017.
The House Oversight Committee has launched an investigation into the allegations against Porter. Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-SC) sent letters to both Kelly and FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday, pushing them for answers about Porter’s background check, as well as who knew what, and when.
the rich asshole had been tight-lipped on the subject until Wednesday. The president’s personal and official Twitter accounts, typically a hotbed of activity, were also devoid of any mention about domestic abuse or Porter’s accusers.
On the rare occasion that the rich asshole has spoken about the claims, he has chosen to focus his sympathy on Porter himself: on February 9, the rich asshole batted away questions about the allegations, telling reporters, “[Porter]…as you probably know, says he’s innocent and I think you have to remember that. He said very strongly yesterday that he’s innocent so you have to talk to him about that.” One day later, the rich asshole tweeted that “lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation,” and that there was “no recovery for someone falsely accused.”
“Life and career are gone,” he wrote. “Is there no such thing any longer as Due Process?”
While the tweet was seen as an ardent defense of Porter, Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, claimed that the president may have been referring to real estate mogul and former RNC finance chair Steve Wynn, who has been accused by dozens of women of sexual misconduct. Wynn has denied the claims.
the rich asshole’s response to the unfolding Porter scandal strongly mirrors that of the rich asshole’s response to the Charlottesville, Virginia tragedy, where clashes at a white supremacist rally left one counter-protester dead, as well as his refusal to disavow high-profile supporter and former Ku Klux Klan (KKK) Grand Wizard David Duke.
Duke, an admitted Holocaust denier, has praised the rich asshole repeatedly, both on the campaign trail and since the rich asshole took office. Despite that support, the rich asshole initially declined to renounce for months, saying in an interview on CNN in February 2016 that he “[didn’t] know anything about him” and had “[n]ever met him.” the rich asshole continued to ignore the issue until May that year, when he finally disavowed Duke in a vague statement, saying that “Antisemitism has no place our society, which needs to be united, not divided.”
In August 2017, following the deadly Charlottesville rally, the rich asshole issued a similarly ambiguous response, refusing to explicitly condemn the neo-Nazis and white supremacists who had organized the event.
“We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence on many sides, on many sides,” the rich asshole stated at the time.
Following backlash from those who thought the president’s response did not go far enough, the White House issued a separate follow-up statement on his behalf, saying, “The president said very strongly in his statement yesterday that he condemns all forms of violence, bigotry, and hatred. Of course that includes white supremacists, KKK, Neo-Nazi, and all extremist groups.”
the rich asshole himself later contradicted that statement, arguing in a press conference that there were “very fine people” on “both sides” of the rally, and blaming anti-fascist protesters for inciting violence against the white supremacists.
Fox's Shep Smith reads list of fatal school shootings since Columbine live on air
BY MAX GREENWOOD - 02/14/18 06:25 PM EST
Fox News host Shep Smith took to the air Wednesday to read off a lengthy list of fatal school shootings in the U.S. since the 1999 attack at Columbine High School in Colorado.
"Since Columbine in 1999, there have been 25 fatal, active school shooting incidents at elementary and high schools in America," Smith said, before ticking off a list of shootings that spanned nearly two decades.
The most recent school shooting on that list took place Wednesday at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.
Seventeen people were killed in the shooting, according to the Broward County Sheriff's Office. It was not immediately clear how many people may have been injured in the attack.
Police took the suspect, a former student at the school, into custody on Wednesday afternoon.
Smith's list encompassed only fatal school shootings. Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun-control advocacy group, estimates that there have been 18 school shootings in the first month-and-a-half of 2018.
Updated at 6:45 p.m.
the rich asshole tweets 'prayers and condolences' in response to Florida school shooting
BY AVERY ANAPOL - 02/14/18 03:57 PM EST
President the rich asshole tweeted Wednesday in response to a school shooting in Florida that no one should “feel unsafe in an American school.”
“My prayers and condolences to the families of the victims of the terrible Florida shooting,” the rich asshole tweeted. “No child, teacher or anyone else should ever feel unsafe in an American school.”
My prayers and condolences to the families of the victims of the terrible Florida shooting. No child, teacher or anyone else should ever feel unsafe in an American school.
Following the reports of a shooting, the White House also canceled a planned press briefing.
"The president has spoken with Gov. [Rick] Scott of Florida and offered federal assistance if needed," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. "Department of Homeland Security Secretary [Kirstjen] Nielsen also spoke with Gov. Scott, as well as state and local officials. She has briefed the president on those conversations. The governor, the secretary and other administration officials will continue to keep the president updated."
The shooting is reportedly the 19th school shooting so far in 2018. Not all the reported incidents have resulted in fatalities.
Updated at 4:24 p.m.
the rich asshole needs to ‘get off his ass’ and address gun violence after Florida mass shooting: Dem Congressman
Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), U.S. Air Force photo by Jerry Saslav
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As Americans mourn the victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting, a Democratic Party member of Congress had harsh words for President some rich asshole, the Boston Globe reported Wednesday.
It started with a “prayers and condolences” tweet from the rich asshole.
Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), a former Marine Corps officer who served four tours in Iraq, had suggestions for the rich asshole.
I agree with every word @realDonaldTrump said here. I invite him to get off his ass and join me in trying to do something about it. twitter.com/realdonaldtrum…
Moulton has been an outspoken advocate for gun control, repeatedly calling out Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI)
Gun violence is only "inevitable" while we fail to take action. Let us vote on common sense reforms, @SpeakerRyan. gloucestertimes.com/news/local_new…
I’ve lost count of # of times Congress has voted to make abortion illegal, but we can’t even DEBATE basic gun reform, right @SpeakerRyan?
.@realDonaldTrump again ignores the facts, which whether you like it or not, show that states with tougher gun laws have less gun violence.
ICYMI: GEN McChrystal on reasonable gun reform. If you're a vet, join the coalition of Veterans for Common Sense! nyti.ms/264ml3P
Despite support, #bumpstocks not included in most recent Judiciary markup on gun legislation. Where is the courage to act? cc: @RepGoodlatte twitter.com/DADanConley/st…
366 days ago, @MassAGO and I visited Pulse, where 49 Americans were murdered. We owe victims action to reduce gun deaths—not more silence.
I've been inspired by @GabbyGiffords' courage speaking out against gun violence since the attack on her 7 years ago today.
But it's shameful that so many of my colleagues in Congress cannot summon similar courage to take action to protect our communities. I won't stay silent.
Proud to be working with @ShuttleCDRKelly @GabbyGiffords on gun reform. #Enough twitter.com/ShuttleCDRKell…
States with better gun laws have fewer gun deaths. #SimpleTruth
Democrats and Republicans owe our communities the facts about gun violence.
9 out of 10 Americans support commonsense gun reform. Who wants to argue toddlers shooting people is "freedom"? bit.ly/2eLgXuz
Republicans and Democrats both agree - it's time to do something about gun violence.
morningconsult.com/2017/10/11/rep…
Heading onto the House floor today with @WhipHoyer & @repjohnlewis to demand action on gun violence. #holdthefloor
If you're too dangerous to fly, you're too dangerous to buy a gun. It's pretty simple. #Enough #NoFlyNoBuy twitter.com/jamescalloway/…
.@SethMoulton spoke on the floor against #HR38, the #ConcealedCarry bill, calling on Congress to take common sense action – supported by the majority of Americans – to protect innocent lives from the epidemic of gun violence.
Over 100 White House officials served with ‘interim’ security clearances until at least November — including Ivanka the rich asshole
some rich asshole giving a speech in 2016 (via Wikimedia Commons).
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CNN reported on Wednesday that over 100 staffers in the Executive Office of the President who were operating on interim security clearances.
Top administration officials working without a security clearance included ousted senior staffer Rob Porter, senior advisors Ivanka the rich asshole and her husband, Jared Kushner, the special assistant to the president for national security affairs and the National Security Council’s senior director for international cybersecurity.
White House staffers lacking permanent security clearance reportedly have access to the President’s Daily Brief.
“The security clearance process is critical to keeping America’s secrets,” former congressman Mike Rogers told CNN. “Foreign intelligence services look for vulnerabilities in individuals with access to our most sensitive information. Not following the process is a disservice not only to the individual but to our countries security interests.”
“It’s unusual that so many have taken so long,” he said.
“Fox & Friends” co-host Brian Kilmeade pulled no punches on Tuesday when telling White House Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah the administration “got burned” for hiring a “two-time accused domestic abuser” in reference to former senior aide Rob Porter.
The White House has been in the midst of doing damage control after domestic violence allegations came out against Porter and speechwriting team member David Sorensen last week. Both Porter and Sorensen have since resigned.
“What is going on behind the scenes in terms of FBI background checks that might change the staff this week?” asked Kilmeade, kicking off the conversation pertaining to these allegations.
“Well, again, the FBI background check process is one that, again, the FBI runs and we are a part of it. It is operated throughout the federal government,” Shah said. The deputy press secretary went on to say that the process was also used in previous administrations.
“If any changes need to be made, we’ll look at that, but, you know, this is a process that we trust,” he said.
Kilmeade then grilled Shah: “Raj, did you change anything? You relied upon it and you got burned because you had a two-time accused domestic abuser there at a very sensitive position where perhaps he shouldn’t have been had that been fully exposed. So what changes now?”
Shah responded by citing the administration’s faith in the FBI and the evaluation process. Co-host Steve Doocy then asked Shah about someone knowing about these allegations prior to this month.
“Raj, there is story out that somebody at the FBI told somebody at the White House back in November that this guy was a problem. Do you know who that person might be?” asked Doocy.
Shah said that Porter’s background check investigation wasn’t completed when the allegations of his domestic violence came to light and the White House “is not going to step into the middle of a process and short-circuit it.”
“What we know about Rob Porter specifically, and that’s the incident that everybody is talking about, is that his background check investigation had not been completed yet. It was still in the investigative process and had yet to be adjudicated,” he said. “So prior to an adjudication, the White House is not going to step into the middle of a process and short-circuit it. These investigations are complex. They’re lengthy for a reason. We need to get it right.”
On Wednesday of last week, reports came about alleging that Porter physically abused his two ex-wives, leading to his immediate resignation. Porter has denied the allegations and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly defended Porter in a statement, even imploring him not to resign.
Just two days later, White House speechwriter David Sorensen resigned after being accused of physical and emotional abuse by his ex-wife. Sorensen denies the allegations.
Both Porter and Sorensen had uncompleted background checks. The White House was aware of Porter’s security clearance problem and claims that for Sorensen’s position, they did not require a security clearance and his background check was ongoing.
- This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
Porn Star Stormy Daniels Is Ready To Tell Everything After the rich asshole Lawyer Breached Their Contract
After news broke on Tuesday that Michael Cohen, the rich asshole’s longtime personal lawyer, said that he had paid porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 out of his own pocket, it backfired quickly. The money was given to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, to keep her quiet about an alleged sexual affair she had with the rich asshole just months after his wife gave birth to their son. Although, Cohen still denies the allegations somehow. Cohen obviously didn’t think this out before admitting to giving Daniels the hush money. The Blast reports that after Cohen’s stunning admission, Daniels’ legal team notified the rich asshole’s legal team, including Cohen, that they are in violation of the contract they made back in 2016 with the porn star.
Daniels believes that Cohen breached their contract and that now excuses her from “further performance of the non-disclosure agreement” between the two parties.
Cohen said on Tuesday that “Neither the the rich asshole Organization nor the the rich asshole campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly.”
“Just because something isn’t true doesn’t mean that it can’t cause you harm or damage,” Cohen said in the statement. “I will always protect some rich asshole.”
After breaching the contract, that releases Daniels from the NDA she signed, thus freeing her to talk openly about the alleged sexual affair with the rich asshole.
Cohen was known around the company’s the rich asshole Tower office as the rich asshole’s “pit bull,” but apparently, his big mouth did a poor job of ‘protecting’ his president. Cohen’s statement isn’t even remotely believable. Lawyers don’t fork over $130,000 of their own money to protect a client who was accused by at least 22 women of sexual misconduct before the election and yet, this woman is the one he wants to pay off.
Daniels appeared on Jimmy Kimmel’s show recently and remained silent when asked about the alleged affair.
White House faces new pressure from Congress over Rob Porter’s departure
Resigned WH staffer Rob Porter. Image via screengrab.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President some rich asshole faced new pressure on Wednesday from his Republican allies in Congress over domestic abuse allegations against a former aide as lawmakers questioned whether his administration has properly vetted top staffers.
Republican Representative Trey Gowdy, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said he was investigating when the White House learned of “potential derogatory or disqualifying information” about former Staff Secretary Rob Porter.
Porter left the White House last week after two former wives said he abused them. He has denied the accusations.
“The chronology is not favorable for the White House,” Gowdy said on CNN.
Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan, meanwhile, said the White House should improve its vetting process.
“If a person committing domestic violence gets into government, then there’s a breakdown in the system,” Ryan said at a news conference.
Porter’s departure has raised questions about how long top staffers like White House Chief of Staff John Kelly knew about the allegations and whether it was a security risk to have Porter working in the White House.
Some officials within the White House and some of the president’s outside advisers have singled out Kelly for criticism for his handling of the episode.
One source said the rich asshole has talked privately about replacing Kelly. A variety of names has been making the rounds as potential replacements, such as top White House economic adviser Gary Cohn, the source said.
Vice President Mike Pence told the Axios news media outlet that the White House could have handled the Porter case better but that he has great respect for Kelly.
“John Kelly has done a remarkable job as chief of staff for the president of the United States, and I look forward to continuing to work with him for many, many months to come,” Pence said.
the rich asshole was pressed by reporters on whether he opposed domestic abuse after offering glowing comments about Porter.
“I’m opposed to domestic violence and everybody here knows that,” the rich asshole said during an Oval Office event. “I’m totally opposed to domestic violence of any kind. Everyone knows that and it almost wouldn’t even have to be said.”
On Friday, White House speechwriter David Sorensen resigned after revelations that his former wife had accused him of domestic violence.
Another White House staffer, National Economic Council policy aide George David Banks, told Reuters he had quit after he was told on Tuesday that he had not cleared a security check due to past marijuana use. Politico first reported his resignation.
Porter had been operating under a temporary clearance that have him access to some sensitive information without a final clearance. The White House has not offered a definitive explanation of when top officials first got word of problems in Porter’s background.
The White House has said that Kelly asked Porter to resign when he became “fully aware” of the accusations last Wednesday, the same day the Daily Mail published photos showing one of Porter’s former wives with a black eye.
DIFFERING ACCOUNTS
The White House was still working on Porter’s security clearance at that point, according to White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders.
But Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray has contradicted that version of events, telling Congress on Tuesday that the FBI had completed Porter’s security clearance background check in July.
Porter had been rising in the rich asshole’s inner circle and had been talking to Kelly about a promotion before his departure, according to a source familiar with the situation.
Gowdy said on CNN he would also ask the FBI how it conducts background checks.
Roughly a dozen top White House officials, including the rich asshole’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, have yet to achieve a full security clearance, according to Kushner’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell.
Kushner’s extensive holdings and his travels have delayed the process, and there is no concern about either the vetting process or Kushner’s ability to do his job, Lowell said.
the rich asshole has repeatedly defended Porter without expressing sympathy toward domestic violence victims.
The scandals follow months of allegations by women about sexual harassment or abuse at the hands of powerful men in entertainment, business and politics.
More than a dozen women have accused the rich asshole of making unwanted sexual advances against them in the years before he entered politics. the rich asshole has denied the accusations and has accused Democrats and the news media of orchestrating a smear campaign.
By Susan Heavey and Lisa Lambert
(Additional reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Writing by Andy Sullivan and Steve Holland; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Cynthia Osterman)
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