February 15th, 2017. It's been 460 days since the Nov 8, 2016, election of some rich asshole, no. 45, and 388 days the Jan 20th inauguration.
Over a week after the Rob Porter scandal broke, President the rich asshole felt obliged to issue a statement. What came out was the most grudging, nonspecific utterance you could imagine. Indeed, he sounded resentful in having to address the issue at all. “I’m totally opposed to domestic violence of any kind. Everyone knows that. And it almost wouldn’t even have to be said. So, now you hear it, but you all know.” Everyone knows that. But, until now, we had not heard the president say it.
What was more revealing was that he did not say any of the following:
- I won’t tolerate any abuser in my administration.
- We must encourage women to come forward and believe them when they do.
- I believe Rob Porter’s ex-wives.
- We should not have people with a history of spousal abuse in high government positions.
Nope, he didn’t express any of these sentiments, which in any other administration would never be questioned. the rich asshole, however, has a troubling past: He bragged on the “Access Hollywood” recording about abusing women; more than a dozen women have accused him of either harassment or assault; and he endorsed accused child molester Roy Moore in a Senate race. It’s a topic he wants no part of. And we should seriously consider that he does not think abusers should be banned from his administration, that he does think most women are liars, does not think Porter’s ex-wives are telling the truth, and does not think there is anything wrong with putting men with a history of spousal abuse in sensitive positions. After all, in the most unfiltered conduit for his views — his Twitter account — he’s never expressed the views. Instead he’s bemoaned the lack of due process for abusers.
Nearly as odd as the rich asshole’s statement were remarks made by Vice President Pence. Asked whether White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly should keep his job, Pence answered with a non sequitur. “John Kelly has done a remarkable job as chief of staff for president of the United States and I look forward to continuing to work with him for many, many months to come.” Asked whether he thought Kelly was telling the truth about the Porter situation, Pence extolled Kelly’s service in the military, and his time as the secretary of homeland security and chief of staff. Not exactly a ringing endorsement. And, unlike Kelly who insists everything was done properly, Pence said: “I think the White House could have handled this better, and I still feel that way.”
We should get a definitive timeline directly from the rich asshole, including an explanation of when he learned there was ample evidence of Porter’s spousal abuse, or when the president found out Porter had a security clearance problem. He should tell us his own views on hiring and firing suspected abusers, and whether he believes abuse caused the bruised eye in a photograph of one of Porter’s ex-wives. He should tell us what positions he would not fill with someone with a history of domestic abuse. And he should tell us whether he believes Kelly was telling the truth or, as an anonymous staffer said, he’s “a big fat liar.”
In short, the American people have a right to know whether the president thinks spousal abuse is a disqualifier — and when, if ever, he would unequivocally believe a battered spouse.
Congress had a deadline, a mandate from the president, and an overwhelmingly popular program on which to center its latest immigration reform effort. And yet, as it has so many times before, it again came up well short. Four separate votes on four separate immigration packages all failed on Thursday, leaving the immigration debate as stuck as it has ever been and adding to the failures of 2007, 2010 and 2013. And that's despite the almost universal desire to pass something — anything — to protect “dreamers.”
Now we're headed for a game of chicken.
March 5 is the deadline for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program's expiration, after President the rich asshole terminated President Barack Obama's executive action protecting hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children. The expiration could be delayed for months because of court challenges, but we are basically headed for a situation in which dreamers could lose their protections.
Almost everybody says they don't want that, including the rich asshole. Yet he has attempted to use DACA as a bargaining chip in negotiations with Democrats to get more border security and even funding for a border wall. It's a highly unusual setup in which Democrats have basically been making concessions in exchange for something the rich asshole has said he wants Congress to codify. Apparently in a desire to make it happen — and recognizing that Republicans have the power over which bills to vote on — Democrats have played ball.
But patience with what Democrats view as their good-faith effort to negotiate has now apparently run out. It's now about public pressure and gamesmanship as we draw closer and closer to the possible end of DACA.
the rich asshole has said that DACA is dead without an immigration deal — apparently signaling he won't resurrect the program with an executive action of his own, even if just to give Congress more time. But if the program does lapse, Democrats may actually see their bargaining power increase. A recent Quinnipiac University poll showed that Americans support protections for dreamers 73 percent to 21 percent. Even Republicans backed it 49 percent to 40 percent.
the rich asshole may argue that he can't legally renew DACA and that Congress has to do it. But if and when it lapses, he will officially have undone a program protecting young people who became undocumented immigrants because of decisions that weren't their own when they were children. If and when they get deported, it will be because of an action the rich asshole took. That could be a PR problem for the GOP — and one Republicans may try harder to avoid as we get closer to it becoming a reality. We know from the recent spending-bill fights that Congress will go right up to, or past, a deadline.
the rich asshole and fellow Republicans may argue that it is congressional Democrats' fault for failing to make enough concessions in the deals that earned votes Thursday. But strictly speaking, the rich asshole is the one who undid DACA, and Congress could probably pass a stand-alone DACA bill immediately if he urged Congress to do so. He hasn't done so, of course, and the White House has even suggested that it would veto the bipartisan Schumer-Rounds-Collins bill that came up six votes shy Thursday despite it containing plenty of concessions in exchange for DACA.
The question is whether that changes as we get closer to a deadline. Both sides seem to think that the other will cave eventually. Given the spectacular failures of the four bills on Thursday, it seems that is about all that is left in this debate.
It's a hell of a way to do business. But then again, this is Congress we're talking about; things generally don't happen until there's a crisis affecting real people.
This post has been updated.
Planned Parenthood has joined forces with eight other local government, health care, and advocacy organizations to take the the rich asshole administration to court over the defunding of a national teen pregnancy program.
On Thursday, the groups filed four separate lawsuits in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Washington, in Maryland and the District of Columbia, arguing that approximately $220 million in grants was wrongfully terminated. The Obama-era Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPP) was created by Congress to conduct rigorous scientific research into what approaches work to lower teen pregnancy rates and try to provide the best ones to at-risk youths.
It was designed as a five-year program, but grantees reported last summer they had received letters informing them the program would be terminated the following year, at the end of June 2018 — two years ahead of schedule. While the Department of Health and Human Services has not provided details on the decision-making behind the move, it has been seen as part of a broader effort by social conservatives to restrict women's reproductive rights by imposing more barriers to abortion and making access to contraceptives more difficult.
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Attorneys from Planned Parenthood, Democracy Forward and Public Citizen accused officials of attempting to illegally dismantle the program based on ideological beliefs rather than science.
Carrie Y. Flaxman, deputy director for public policy litigation for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in an interview that the programs have been widely praised as “models for kind of the best practices for teen pregnancy prevention across the country” and should be expanded, not cut back.
“HHS has no authority to terminate the contracts" or the overall program, she said, calling the decision “arbitrary and capricious.”
The department said it could not comment on pending litigation.
The lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood argues that the decision goes against HHS's own regulations regarding the termination of grants, that it goes against Congress's mandate that HHS fund “medically accurate and age appropriate programs that reduce teen pregnancy,” and that it “excessively entangles” the government with religion.
“HHS is not at liberty to ignore the clear statutory mandate in favor of programs that are more in line with its ideological objectives. Nor may it make religiously-motivated and coercive spending decisions,” the lawsuits state.
The highly unusual decision, made by HHS officials outside the normal budget process, sparked outrage from researchers who said much of the data that had been painstakingly collected for years would become useless if the studies were ended early. State health commissioners expressed concern about the effects on their local communities. The grants, 81 in all, help support sex-education classes and abstinence programs, and they provide social and emotional counseling for pregnant teens and training for teachers as well as funding for research projects.
Official statements from HHS to the media about the program have been vague — mentioning “weak evidence of positive impacts,” that the program was “a poor use of ... taxpayer dollars” and the department wanted to make sure the program provides teens the information and skills they need to “avoid the many risks associated with teen sex.” However, a number of administration officials have raised politically conservative objections. Valerie Huber, a prominent abstinence advocate who is acting deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Population Affairs, has argued that the program's approach “normalizes teen sex.”
In the lawsuits, the grantees charge that HHS is disseminating a “misleading and skewed interpretation” of the program and that the “newfound criticism” is “inconsistent with the agency’s own data,” noting that evaluations had found that about a third of the experimental interventions led to positive changes in the youth's behavior related to their reproductive health.
The teen pregnancy lawsuits filed on behalf of nine grant recipients represent the latest effort by those who oppose the the rich asshole administration's decisions to seek relief from another branch of the government — the judicial system. Judges have blocked parts of the implementation of versions of the controversial ban restricting the entry of travelers from certain countries. They also have blocked efforts to let employers deny insurance coverage for contraceptives based on religious or moral objections. And in January, a federal judge in Northern California ordered an injunction stopping plans to cut back protections for undocumented “dreamers” who came to the United States as children.
The U.S. teen pregnancy rate has long been a subject of concern for public health officials. While rates have fallen over the past few decades to an all-time low, they still remain stubbornly higher than those of other wealthy countries. An estimated 1.2 million young people were expected to receive health services under the targeted program by its final year in 2020.
Among the organizations that stand to lose money is the Healthy Teen Network, a Baltimore-based agency that provides training and resources about adolescent reproductive health. Patricia Paluzzi, president and chief executive of the organization, said $1 million in grants have been terminated — representing about a third of the group's budget.
One of its biggest projects involves an app that provides reproductive health information to Latina and black Generation Z women. Genevieve Martinez-García, who oversees the project, said the app is part of a research project initially calling for 1,500 participants to be followed for six months. Leaders have had to change those parameters to work with 1,300 volunteers and follow them for six weeks.
“It is a big difference and threatens our ability to long-term efficacy” of the intervention, Martinez-García said.
Meanwhile, Paluzzi said the organization is moving into smaller offices, has frozen open positions and is looking at “major staffing changes” to conserve as much money as possible to keep its programs afloat. Ending the grants, she worries, seems to signal that the rich asshole administration is turning away from a “focus on evidence and developing things that actually work.” For many of those working with teens, the nightmare scenario involves the rise of pregnancy rates and spread of sexually transmitted diseases as a result of projects being cut short.
“It really impacts more than those of us who work in the field,” Paluzzi said. “It really impacts the whole country.”
In addition to three Planned Parenthood affiliates and the Healthy Teen Network, the plaintiffs include Public Health — Seattle & King County, South Carolina Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, Sexual Health Initiatives for Teens North Carolina, Project Vida Health Center in Texas and Policy & Research Group in New Orleans.
This post has been updated.
Correction: A previous version of this story included an incorrect figure for the impact of the grant termination on the Healthy Teen Network's budget. The $1 million the group stands to lose represents approximately one-third of the budget.
By Eugene Kiely
Posted on February 15, 2018
We’ve written this before, but we will restate it: The U.S. intelligence community says Russia waged an influence campaign during the 2016 campaign to help elect some rich asshole, but it made no determination on whether Russia’s meddling affected the election outcome.
We repeat ourselves, because Vice President Mike Pence recently revived a false talking point that U.S. intelligence agencies came to the “universal conclusion” that Russia’s meddling had no impact on the election results. He made his remarks in an interview with Axios, a political website.
Pence, Feb. 14: Irrespective of efforts that were made in 2016 by foreign powers, it is the universal conclusion of our intelligence communities that none of those efforts had any effect on the outcome of the 2016 election.
As we have written, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Jan. 6, 2017 released a declassified intelligence report that said “Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election.” Among other things, the report said, Russian intelligence services gained access to Democratic National Committee computers for nearly a year, from July 2015 to June 2016, and released hacked material to WikiLeaks and other media outlets “to help President-elect the rich asshole’s election chances.”
But that report did not say that “none of those efforts” changed the outcome of the election, as Pence claimed. On that point, the DNI report clearly said that the intelligence community “did not make an assessment of the impact that Russian activities had on the outcomes of the 2016 election.”
Director of National Intelligence report: The US Intelligence Community is charged with monitoring and assessing the intentions, capabilities, and actions of foreign actors; it does not analyze US political processes or US public opinion.
Since the report was made public more than a year ago, the rich asshole and his supporters have peddled false and misleading interpretations of the intelligence report on the 2016 election interference.
A day after the report was released, the rich asshole tweeted: “Intelligence stated very strongly there was absolutely no evidence that hacking affected the election results. Voting machines not touched!” As we wrote, the fact that no machines were hacked does not mean that Russia’s influence campaign did not affect the election results.
Two days after the report was issued, Kellyanne Conway, who is now White House counselor, told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union” that then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper testified before a Senate committee that Russia’s attempts to influence the U.S. presidential election had failed.
Conway, Jan. 8, 2017: If you read the full report, they make very clear, Mr. Clapper in his testimony made very clear on Thursday under oath that the — that any attempt, any aspiration to influence our elections failed. They were not successful in doing that. And it’s a very important point.
Wrong again. In fact, Clapper said the complete opposite when he testified under oath before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Jan. 5, 2017. He said of the Russian interference: “[T]he intelligence community can’t gauge the impact that it had on choices that the electorate made. There is no way for us to gauge that.”
In a Senate Select Intelligence Committee hearing on Jan. 10, Clapper reiterated that the report “does not — repeat does not assess the impact of Russian activities on the actual outcome of the 2016 election or draw any conclusions in that regard one way or the other.”
This has not deterred others in the rich asshole administration from distorting the report’s findings.
In October, CIA Director Mike Pompeo wrongly said, “The intelligence community’s assessment is that the Russian meddling that took place did not affect the outcome of the election.”
In that case, Pompeo’s own agency had to reiterate that the intelligence community did not make any assessment in regards to whether Russia’s meddling affected the election results.
“The intelligence assessment with regard to Russian election meddling has not changed, and the director did not intend to suggest that it had,” agency spokesman Dean Boyd said in a statement clarifying Pompeo’s remarks.
We should also note that an October 2016 report by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis found that “Russian government cyber actors” potentially targeted “Internet-connected election-related networks” in 21 states. The department notified the 21 states in September 2017, but none reported any evidence of altered voter data or ballots.
So, there remains no evidence that votes were changed. But the intelligence community has not said if Russia’s influence campaign affected the election outcome.
Florida High School Student Tells President ‘F*cking Piece Of Sh*t’ Where He Can Shove His Fake ‘Condolences’
Normally, when someone tells some rich asshole to fuck off, it can be described as “badass” or “epic” or any number of pleasing adjectives — but in this case, it’s just too sad and can only be called “appropriate” and “deserved.”
On Wednesday, a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida opened fire shortly before school was dismissed. Nikolas Cruz pulled the fire alarm to lure students out of their classrooms and fired off round after round from his legally-purchased AR-15 leaving 17 people dead and the rest terrified and fleeing for their lives.
While most of us are left questioning why he was able to get a gun in the first place given his extensive history of batshit fucking craziness, NRA-backed Republicans are busy sending heaps and heaps of “thoughts and prayers” to Florida — and since the shooter’s last name is Cruz, President Stable Genius sent “prayers and condolences.”
Sarah, a student at the school who read the rich asshole’s message, tweeted the most appropriate response she possibly could.
“I don’t want your condolences you fucking price of shit, my friends and teachers were shot. Multiple of my fellow classmates are dead. Do something instead of sending prayers. Prayers won’t fix this. But Gun control will prevent it from happening again.”
According to the rich asshole, who signed a bill last year revoking Obama’s gun checks for people with mental illnesses (like the shooter, whom many regarded as likely to do exactly what he did) and other stupid people, this is a mental health problem. But Sarah doesn’t see it this way, nor do her classmates:
I cannot stop hearing the sound of the gun as he walked down my hallway. I cannot unsee my classmates who were shot get carried out by police. I cannot unsee the bodies on the floor. Please keep in mind the horror of what we’ve gone through today. #prayfordouglas
this is a conversation someone should never have with their family. We go to school to learn, not to get shot. For some this was their last conversation with their loved ones #PrayforDouglas #GUNviolence
I was hiding in a closet for 2 hours. It was about guns. You weren't there, you don't know how it felt. Guns give these disgusting people the ability to kill other human beings. This IS about guns and this is about all the people who had their life abruptly ended because of guns. twitter.com/tomilahren/sta…
Naturally, the rich asshole supporters jumped at the opportunity to attack a high school girl who just watched a gunman slaughter her classmates:
What a pathetic excuse for an American. Your hyper-liberal bias is on full display, and we mock you. The President has nothing to do with this, and your rabid anti-gun fantasy would not have stopped the killing. Grow up.
Obama has wrote his condolences to shootings before would call him a piece of shit and go after him too? Or just trump lol any sitting president would state their condolences
You're the only piece of shit in this situation, sweetie.
I don’t want your condolences you fucking price of shit, my friends and teachers were shot. Multiple of my fellow classmates are dead. Do something instead of sending prayers. Prayers won’t fix this. But Gun control will prevent it from happening again. https://t.co/UZPgcPoPUX— sarah (@chaddiedabaddie) February 14, 2018
You’re supposedly in mourning, so you call the son of the President a POS because he sends his condolences? Wow...
Predictably moronic @robreiner would use this horrific tragedy to bash a member of the First Family. Pathetic...@realDonaldTrump @DonaldJTrumpJr @WhiteHouse
Poorly-educated Trump-hating teenage lesbian curses at POTUS, calls for gun control in wake of school shooting. #LiterallyTheLeastSheCouldDo #EvenLessThanSendingPrayers #Gaystapo
Even extreme-Right piece of trash Mark Dice weighed in, trashing students for ensuring that footage of what was happening inside the school made it to the public as it was happening. He deleted his shitty remark, but Sarah made sure people saw it:
17 people are dead. 17 of my classmates. This is how you fucking respond? How much of a heartless dick do you have to be to tweet something like this. And btw as we were running for our lives we were calling 911 to the point that they told us not to anymore. twitter.com/markdice/statu…
To people who didn’t see because the coward deleted the tweet I was responding to this: pic.twitter.com/9JcNxXE03I
Following shootings just like this (or any of countless examples in recent years), the United Kingdom and Australia took action to do that thing that conservatives say won’t ever work — gun control. Australia hasn’t had a mass shooting in 20 years and the UK has one of the lowest gun-related death rates (per 1 million people) in the world.
It’s time for our country to end our love affair with guns. “It’s not me, it’s you.”
Republicans are afraid to face the hard questions on gun violence.
Republicans and the NRA are going to have to come up with a new mass shooting playbook, but their tired, old “thoughts and prayers” strategy isn’t cutting it anymore. And some news outlets are aggressively calling them out.
On CNN, host Chris Cuomo singled out three Republicans — Florida Gov. Rick Scott and Sen. Marco Rubio, and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz — for refusing to appear on the network to discuss Wednesday’s school gun massacre in Parkland, Florida.
“None would come on this morning. They’ll all on Fox, the mothership,” Cuomo said. “Because they don’t want to be asked about this. What are they afraid of?”
"What are they afraid of?" CNN calling out @FLGovScott, @TedCruz, @MarcoRubio for avoiding interviews
Retired Republican congressman and the rich asshole critic David Jolly offered a stinging explanation: “Because they’re weak-kneed ideologues.”
If Scott had been willing to answer questions, Cuomo suggested he would have asked the pro-NRA governor why he is actively trying to penalize doctors in Florida who ask their patients whether they have access to firearms. (Access to guns constitutes a health risk in America.)
The NRA backed Scott’s bid in 2014, awarding him with an “A+” rating. Since he took office, the NRA has marveled at how many laws Scott has been able to pass that weakened gun laws in the state of Florida.
“Rick has signed more pro-gun bills into law in one term than any other governor in Florida history,” the organization cheered.
The NRA had been particularly excited about how Scott helped pass a law to ease gun restrictions and did so over the loud objections of the Florida Sheriffs Association.
As for Rubio, Cuomo mocked him for calling the gun massacre “an inexplicable tragedy.” Not true. “It is the most easily explained tragedy you can have. He knows why this happened.”
Easy access to guns.
The New York Daily News also called out Rubio and his feeble response to the mass shooting in his home state.
.@marcorubio received $90,205 in campaign donations from gun rights groups during the 2015-2016 campaign cycle and received an "A+" grade from the NRA. Rubio has received $3,303,355 over the course of his career as an elected official. nydn.us/2o7Sk0z #thoughtsandprayers twitter.com/marcorubio/sta…
Cameron Kasky, a student who survived Wednesday’s shooting, also blasted Rubio and Scott, calling them “garbage” and saying their “prayers mean nothing.”
As for Cruz, he banked more NRA donations in 2016 than any other member of Congress.
Like the rich asshole, Republicans are trying to run and hide from mass shootings in America. It’s about time that news outlets stopped letting them.
It doesn't get much colder than this.
Wednesday’s mass shooting at a Florida high school is bringing out the cold-blooded worst in Republicans, who are more concerned with protecting the gun lobby than children.
On “Fox & Friends” Thursday morning, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) mocked the very idea of doing anything about gun violence.
When anchor Ainsley Earhardt asked how Republicans should respond to calls for gun control, Cruz laughed.
“The reaction of the Democrats to any tragedy is to start to politicize it,” he said. “So they immediately start calling that we’ve got to take away Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens. That’s not the right answer.”
The only “answer” Cruz has offered in the wake of this most recent deadly shooting is a tweet sending his “prayers” to the victims and their families.
Even after almost 600 Americans were shot in the Las Vegas massacre last October, Republicans refused to even ban the accessory that allowed that shooter to spray bullets at the same rate as a machine gun.
While American children continue to be massacred in our schools, Republicans like Cruz blithely ignore the majority of Americans who support stronger gun control, including shooting survivors like high school student David Hogg.
“What we really need is action,” Hogg said Thursday. “Because we can say, ‘Yes, we’re going to do all these things — thoughts and prayers.’ What we need more than that is action.”
The question is whether Cruz and his colleagues are actually going to listen this time and do something.
Fox News pushes for more guns in schools, ignoring that guards in Parkland were already armed
It appears Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School had an armed guard.
The morning after 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz used an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle to murder 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Fox & Friends hosts pushed for more guns in schools.
During an interview with Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), host Brian Kilmeade asked him, “Do you also think it’s time to give the schools a fighting chance when these crazy former students come back to kill? And don’t you think it’s time to arm qualified security guards?”
Nelson quickly steered the conversation to gun control, saying, “We’ve got to face the fact that this is an automatic military assault weapon.”
“An AR-15 is not for hunting, it’s for killing,” Nelson continued. “And the question is, should this be a legal weapon in our society?”
At the end of the interview, Kilmeade again pushed the idea of more armed guards in schools. This time, Nelson pushed back more forcefully.
“Yeah, you asked about that — the fact is we can’t make our schools armed camps. I mean, that’s not practical, and it’s not reflective of our open society.”
“That’s fine, I just want a qualified guy to be able to shoot back,” Kilmeade interjected, before ending the interview.
But it appears there were armed guards at the school. Reuters reports that “a law enforcement officer is assigned to every school in the Broward County district.” According to USA Today, “schools in the Broward district typically have one or two school resource officers, typically Broward County Sheriff deputies who are armed and always on campus.”
For Fox News personalities, however, that’s not enough. On the Wednesday edition of his show, Sean Hannity argued that while it appears there was a guard at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, there should’ve been more.
“I mean, a school this big that has 3,200 students and multiple buildings, it seems to me you need a few people in each building, retired military, retired police, and I would think, over time, that families — we’re not talking about all that much money,” he said.
But local law enforcement and school officials don’t buy it. Asked about armed guards during a news conference, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel told reporters, “If a person is predisposed to commit such a horrific act… there not a lot law enforcement or any entity can do about it.”
Meanwhile, during an interview on MSNBC, Melissa Falkowski, a teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, pointed out that school officials have recently made changes to safety protocols, and said, “I don’t think we could have been more prepared than we were today.”
“We talked to every single class period that sat in front of us about what to do in this situation,” Falkowski said. “And every single teacher did that with every single class that they had until the kids were tired of hearing about it… and even still, even with that, we have 17 casualties, 17 people that aren’t going to return to their families.”
“And to me that is totally unacceptable. From my personal viewpoint it is time for Congress, government, somebody to do something, and it’s time to talk about what the problem is and try to fix it.”
These are the victims of the Parkland shooting
Seventeen people died on Wednesday.
At least 17 people are dead after a deadly mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida on Wednesday afternoon.
The suspect, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, was reportedly a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where the shooting took place. Despite initially evading arrest as he blended in with students fleeing the building, police later apprehended Cruz, who has been arrested and charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder. Cruz was armed with an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle. The tragedy marks the 18th school shooting — and the 40th mass shooting — this year.
Information about the victims is slowly coming to light. We will be naming them and sharing their stories as more become known.
Alyssa Al Hadeff
Al Hadeff, 15, was “a talented soccer player, so smart, an amazing personality, incredible creative writer, and all she had to offer the world was love,” her mother, Lori Al Hadeff wrote on Facebook Thursday morning.
Her mother said her daughter was killed by “a horrific act of violence.”
“She believed in people for being so honest,” her mom wrote. “A knife is stabbed in my heart. I wish I could of taken those bullets for you. I will always love you and your memory will live on forever. Please kiss your children, tell them you love them, stand by them no matter what they want to be. To Alyssa’s Friends honor Alyssa by doing something fabulous in your life. Don’t ever give up and inspire for greatness. Live for Alyssa! Be her voice and breathe for her. Alyssa loved you all forever!”
Scott Beigel
Beigel, 35, was a social studies teacher at the high school, and he died protecting a group of students. Student Kelsey Friend told Good Morning America Wednesday that she is alive because of him.
Student breaks down talking to @GStephanopoulos about hero teacher who helped save her life and lost his own. "I'm so thankful that he was there to help everybody who did live." abcn.ws/2GfD1us
Friend said that when the alarm went off, she thought it was a drill and began to go outside. When she realized what had happened, Beigel unlocked the door to his classroom and let her in.
“He unlocked the door and let us in. I thought he was behind me but he wasn’t. When he opened the door, he had to relock it so that we could stay safe but he didn’t get the chance,” she said.
Martin Duque
Duque, 14, was a freshman at Douglas. He was killed in the shooting Wednesday.
His brother confirmed his death on Instagram early Thursday, writing, “Words cannot describe my pain… I know you’re in a better place. Duques forever man I love you junior!!!”
Duque’s family put together a GoFundMe, which had raised more than $2,000 as of 1:30 p.m. Thursday.
“He was a very funny kid, outgoing and sometimes really quiet. He was sweet and caring and loved by all his family. Most of all he was my baby brother,” Miguel Duque wrote on the GoFundMe page. “My family and I have no words to describe the event that’s has happened on this date, all my prayers to the lost ones. My family and I will appreciate anything that we can get helped with. R.I.P Martin Duque.”
Nick Dworet
Dworet was a senior who had recently earned a swimming scholarship to the University of Indianapolis.
“This is a kid who went from middle of the pack last year to being just lights out,” his coach told the Indy Star. “He helped put our program on the map… Everybody loved him.”
Rip Nick Dworetyou are forever loved and will be missed by everyone. God gained another angel in you. We all love you buddy
#PrayForParkland #DouglasStrong
Friends of Dworet’s posted tributes to him on social media.
“you are forever loved and will be missed by everyone,” one wrote. “God gained another angel in you.”
One of yesterday's victims, Nicholas Dworet, was a senior who just received a swimming scholarship to the University of Indianapolis. My niece was friends with him since kindergarten and posted her memories this morning. Such a heartbreaking loss and sickeningly avoidable traged pic.twitter.com/m3EEHjKjOe
Another wrote on Instagram, “We walked into Kindergarten together, so knowing that you won’t be walking across the state at graduation with me in a few months is devastating and heartbreaking.”
Aaron Feis
Feis was an assistant football coach and security guard at the high school. He died after jumping in front of a student and the shooter, pushing the student through a door and out of danger.
The football team confirmed Feis’s death on Twitter early Thursday morning.
“He selflessly shielded students from the shooter when he was shot,” the tweet said. “He died a hero and he will forever be in our hearts and memories.”
Douglas football coach Willis May described Feis as a “big ol’ teddy bear” to local media.
“Hardcore — he coached hard,” May told the Orlando Sentinel. “Real good line. He did a great job with the [offensive] line. He took pride with working with those guys. Loyalty — I trusted him. He had my back. He worked hard. Just a good man. Loved his family. Loved his brother — just an excellent family man.”
According to a biography on the high school website, Feis leaves behind a wife, Melissa, and a young daughter, Arielle.
Feis attended Douglas himself, and played center for the Eagles from 1995 to 1998.
“After graduating in 1999, he decided to pay it forward and return to Douglas in 2002,” his biography said. He had been a security guard at the school for eight years.
Jaime Guttenberg
Guttenberg was a student at Douglas, and her death was confirmed by local media late Wednesday. Her parents, Fred and Jennifer Guttenberg, also have a son, Jesse, who reportedly made it home safely.
Guttenberg’s Facebook page, which was changed to a memorial page, was already filled with tributes Thursday morning, and her cousin, Alexa Saka, posted a tribute late Wednesday night.
“You grew up to be the most beautiful, kind-hearted, driven, funny and sweet girl,” Saka wrote on Facebook. “You went out of your way to make everyone feel good and that smile… that smile lit up every single room you walked into. I will always cherish the time we had together. I will never understand why you were taken from us so soon but you will never be gone. You hold such a special place in my heart. My sweet baby cousin, may you sleep with the angels tonight and always.”
Her father also wrote a post about his daughter on Facebook saying that his “heart is broken.”
“We lost our daughter and my son Jesse Guttenberg lost his sister. I am broken as I write this trying to figure out how my family get’s through this,” he wrote. “We appreciate all of the calls and messages and we apologize for not reacting to everyone individually. Jen and I will be figuring things out today and so we ask that you respect out privacy. We will be getting messages out later regarding visitation. Hugs to all and hold your children tight.”
Chris Hixon
Hixon, 49, was the school’s athletic director. The Sun Sentinel reported he had been shot Wednesday, and friends confirmed his death on social media Thursday.
“RIP Chris Hixon,” Aaron Gonzales, a recruiting assistant for Florida Atlantic University football tweeted. “I left Douglas to take a job at a rival school. I came back to watch a lacrosse game to find Chris running the ticket gate. He shook my hand, asked how I was, let me in for free and said ‘once an Eagle, always an Eagle.'”
Coral Springs High School athletic director Dan Jacob told local media Wednesday that Hixon was “such a great guy.”
“Chris is probably the nicest guy I have ever met. He would give you the shirt off his back,” Jacobs said. “He does so much. That is terrible that it would happen to anybody. It is so senseless. I am crushed.”
Under Hixon, the school’s baseball team won a state and national championship in 2016.
A wrestling coach at another local school told the Sun Sentinel Hixon was a “super human being.”
Luke Hoyer
Hoyer was killed Wednesday and found on the third floor of the school, a family member, Toni Brownlee, wrote on Facebook Thursday.
“This has devastated our family and we’re all in shock and disbelief,” Brownlee wrote. Our hearts are broken. Luke was a beautiful human being and greatly loved.”
Another family member asked for people to pray for Hoyer’s family on Facebook Thursday.
“[O]ur whole family is devastated by this senseless shooting that our young Luke lost his precious life in the Florida school shooting yesterday,” Mary Beth Stroud-Gibbs wrote. “Our Luke was a precious child, who just went to school yesterday not knowing what was to come. We are all devasted and we now need all of your prayers for acceptance of this tragedy, understanding and healing our broken hearts.”
Cara Loughran
Loughran’s neighbor, Danny Vogel, confirmed her death on Facebook Thursday.
“It is with a heavy heart and much regret that I write these words,” Vogel said in the post. “Our next-door neighbor’s daughter was one of the lives taken to soon by a senseless act of violence at Stoneman Douglas High School. RIP Cara, and fly with the angels. You will be greatly missed, and we will always love you and celebrate your beautiful life.”
Gina Montalo
Montalo, 14, died late Wednesday, according to family and friends posting on social media. She was a member of the school’s winter guard team, which was scheduled to perform at a regional event in Tampa, Florida this weekend, according to the Miami Herald.
A color guard instructor, Manuel Miranda, spoke to the Herald, saying, “My heart is broken into pieces.”
“She was the sweetest soul ever,” Miranda said. “She was kind, caring, always smiling and wanting to help.”
Joaquin Oliver
According to friends and family members on social media, Oliver, a Douglas student, was among those killed in the shooting.
On Wednesday, his sister, Andrea Ghersi, posted on Facebook saying they hadn’t heard from Oliver, who was at the school during the shooting.
Early Thursday, friends of Oliver’s began posting tributes on Twitter.
my brother has passed. i’m in such shock i don’t know what to say. i love you so much, i hope you’re in a better place. and i’ll never forget you twitter.com/sebiloveschoco…
“He didn’t made it,” one wrote, adding pictures of Oliver. “I’m at a loss of words.”
“i love you so much, i hope you’re in a better place,” tweeted another. “i’ll never forget you.”
Alaina Petty
Petty, 14, was killed in the shooting, her great-aunt Claudette McMahon Joshi confirmed on Facebook Thursday.
“There are no hashtags for moments like this, only sadness,” she wrote. “Our hearts are with [her family] and all the families touched by this tragedy.”
Meadow Pollack
Pollack was a senior who planned to attend Lynn University, according to the Miami Herald. Her death was confirmed Thursday morning.
“Please say a prayer for the family of an amazing girl I got to call my bestfriend growing up Meadow Pollack,” a friend, Gii Lovito, wrote on Facebook Thursday. “her life was taken way too soon and i have no words to describe how this feels. Rest In Peace my beautiful angel. you are and forever will be loved.”
Alex Schachter
Schachter was a member of the marching band and among those killed Wednesday.
An extended family member of Schachter’s, confirmed his death to ThinkProgress Thursday and called him a great kid.
“He will be missed immensely,” the family member said. “Everybody is just broken up and beyond shocked… His family adored him and we’re all really just in shock.”
Carmen Schentrup
Schentrup was a 2017 National Merit Scholar semifinalist. Her friends mourned her on social media Thursday.
Rest In Peace Carmen Schentrup
I was in the same classroom as this beautiful soul, she was so bright and had her entire life ahead of her. She was someone we all praised for her intelligence. I will never forget what I saw, and I will never forget you. Sending love to your family.
“I was in the same classroom as this beautiful soul,” one friend wrote. “[S]he was so bright and had her whole life ahead of her. She was someone we all praised for her intelligence.”
Peter Wang
Wang, 15, was reportedly last seen holding the door open so other people could escape, according to his cousin Aaron Chen, who spoke to the Miami Herald. He was a member of ROTC.
Chen later confirmed his cousin’s death, telling First Coast News, “He wasn’t supposed to die. He was supposed to grow old with me.”
the rich asshole posts inflammatory tweet appearing to blame Parkland mass shooting on shooter’s classmates, because well, he's an asshole
This was a very bad idea.
On Thursday morning, President the rich asshole posted an inflammatory tweet appearing to pin the blame for Wednesday’s shooting at a Broward County high school on the alleged shooter’s classmates and acquaintances.
“So many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from school for bad and erratic behavior,” he wrote. “Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again!”
Negotiations on DACA have begun. Republicans want to make a deal and Democrats say they want to make a deal. Wouldn’t it be great if we could finally, after so many years, solve the DACA puzzle. This will be our last chance, there will never be another opportunity! March 5th.
So many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from school for bad and erratic behavior. Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again!
The president previously tweeted condolences for the victims immediately following the shooting and stated in a separate tweet that he was “working closely with law enforcement” and Florida Gov. Rick Scott.
On Wednesday, a lone gunman entered the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School campus in Parkland, Florida and opened fire, killing at least 17 people and injuring 14 more. According to reports, one of the victims was an assistant football coach and security guard who had been attempting to protect students when he was shot.
Authorities on Wednesday confirmed that the alleged shooter, 19-year-old former student Nikolas Cruz, had a history of posting “very, very disturbing” content on his social media channels. He had previously been expelled from school for “disciplinary” reasons, although authorities did not confirm what those were. Last fall, the FBI was alerted to a comment the 19-year-old had left on a YouTube video, claiming he was “going to be a professional school shooter,” BuzzFeed reported on Thursday. It’s not clear whether authorities did anything with the information, although the man who reported the comment, 36-year-old Ben Bennight, told BuzzFeed that FBI agents reached out to him again following the shooting, to ask whether he knew Cruz personally; he told them he did not.
the rich asshole’s tweet on Thursday hinged on the theory that more could have been done to prevent a “mentally disturbed” person from carrying out such a violent act. It’s a popular talking point among both Democrats and Republicans but not entirely sound or productive.
While the majority of Americans like to pin mass shootings on those with mental health issues — a Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted in October 2015 showed that 63 percent of respondents believed “mass shootings [were a] sign of mental health” — statistics show that those individuals are actually far less likely to commit acts of violence than the average person living without mental health issues. According to MentalHealth.gov, only 3-5 percent of violent acts can be attributed to individuals living with “a serious mental illness.” People who have mental health issues are actually 10 times more likely to become victims of violent crimes than the general population, the site adds.
Cruz had indeed been treated for mental health issues in the past, but unlike the rich asshole suggested, those who knew him had made efforts to help. Broward County Mayor Beam Furr told reporters this week that the teen had received treatment at a clinic previously, but noted that he had not undergone any such treatment in over a year.
“It wasn’t like there wasn’t concern for him,” Furr told CNN. “We try to keep our eyes out on those kids who aren’t connected. …In this case we didn’t find a way to connect with this kid.”
What’s less clear is why Cruz, who had a documented history of mental health issues and had been flagged by the FBI in the past, had been able to obtain the AR-15 rifle he allegedly used during Wednesday’s shooting. According to law enforcement who spoke with the Associated Press, the teen had purchased the weapon legally, one year ago. As the outlet noted, federal law dictates that anyone over the age of 18 may buy a long gun, including the kind Cruz allegedly had in his possession.
Here, the rich asshole may need to shoulder the burden of his own criticisms: in February 2017, the president signed a bill that rescinded an Obama-era regulation barring those with severe mental health issues from being able to purchase firearms. The Obama-era measure required anyone who had received a social security check for mental health problems and “people deemed unfit to handle their own financial affairs” to be added to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), according to NBC News. Gun rights advocates lobbied against the measure, saying it infringed on their Second Amendment rights.
According to NBC, the regulation, if enacted fully, would have added 75,000 people to the background check database.
This article has been updated to reflect new information regarding the number of people injured in Wednesday’s shooting.
After Parkland shooting, far-right media immediately starts pushing fake news
The pro-the rich asshole blog Gateway Pundit promoted a fake BuzzFeed article about taking away white people's guns.
Immediately after the mass shooting that left 17 people dead in Broward County, Florida, the Gateway Pundit’s White House correspondent tweeted a fake BuzzFeed story that claimed white people needed to have their guns taken away.
The fake post, titled “Why We Need To Take Away White People’s Guns Now More Than Ever”, first appeared on the far-right Twitter account MagaPill. The account, which has been previously retweeted by President some rich asshole, shares unhinged conspiracy theories on everything from Pizzagate to “earthquake machines” and “false flag terrorism”.
The tweet was then picked up by the Gateway Pundit’s Lucian Wintrich, who has White House press credentials. After Wintrich was called out for spreading fake news, he deleted the tweet but justified it by saying that there were “100k comments” on Twitter “that reflect the same sentiment.” The claim also made its way over to 4chan’s politically incorrect board.
This isn’t the first time that the Gateway Pundit has pushed fake, unsubstantiated rumors after a deadly shooting. In the wake of the Las Vegas shooting, Gateway Pundit used a rumor picked up from 4chan to run a story about how the shooter was a Democrat “Who Liked Rachel Maddow, MoveOn.org and Associated with Anti-the rich asshole Army.”
When it became clear that the story was completely false, Gateway Pundit deleted it from its site. Wintrich later admitted the story was false but refused to apologize, saying that Gateway Pundit had gotten the information from “multiple tips”.
It’s not just Gateway Pundit. The mass shooting in Broward County has again brought out the trolls, who are spreading the same tired fake news stories they spread after the attacks in Las Vegas and Sutherland Springs. However, while a large number of these rumors are simply crude, cruel trolling techniques, a significant number of them are tailor-made to spread rumors designed to target right-wing fears.
Evidence for the scope of this problem was seen last November in a study published by researchers at the University of Alabama, Cyprus University of Technology, University College London and Telefonica Research. They found that far-right communities on 4chan and Reddit “can have a surprising level of influence on Twitter, providing evidence that ‘fringe communities often succeed in spreading alternative news to mainstream social networks and the greater Web.”
What this means is that conspiracy theories that would have once been fringe now have a direct path to mainstream news and social media sites, which can help set up a far-right narrative for mass shootings while most people are a step behind, trying to simply figure out what’s going on. Meanwhile, figures like Lucian Wintrich, Mike Cernovich, and Alex Jones act as stepping stones for the conspiracy theories, capitalizing on their own popularity.
the rich asshole addresses Parkland mass shooting, doesn’t mention guns once
Is this really a surprise?
In his fourth address to the nation following a mass shooting, President some rich asshole failed to mention the word “gun” once. The president instead chose to talk about mental health issues in broad, general terms, without offering any specific policies.
“We are committed to working with state and local leaders to help secure our schools and tackle the difficult issue of mental health,” said the rich asshole. “Later this month I will be meeting with the nation’s governors and attorney generals [sic], where making our schools and our children safer will be our top priority.”
He added, “It is not enough to simply take actions that make us feel like we are making a difference. We must actually make that difference.”
Trump directly addresses America's children, says he wants them to know "that you are never alone and you never will be. You have people who care about you, who love you, and who will do anything at all to protect you. If you need help, turn to a teacher, a family member..." pic.twitter.com/lyufdusFOo
Trump frames #ParklandSchoolShooting as a mental health issue, says "it is not enough to simply take actions that make us feel like we are making a difference, we must actually make that difference."
Of course he doesn't specify a single specific thing he wants to do. pic.twitter.com/iOktneFQN0
At the end of the rich asshole’s speech, a reporter shouted, “Why does this keep happening in America? Will you do something about guns?” the rich asshole ignored the question.
the rich asshole’s failure to address gun control should come as no surprise. During his second month in office, the president signed a bill revoking an Obama-era regulation that made it difficult for individuals with mental health problems to purchase guns. the rich asshole’s own proposed budget would cut millions of dollars to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), the system gun dealers use to verify whether someone is banned from buying a gun before selling it to them.
Just last week, in an address to congressional Republicans, the rich asshole proudly claimed his administration has “done an awfully good job of protecting our Second Amendment.”
By contrast, at the state level, Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) specifically addressed his intent to tackle gun policy, despite his history of fighting gun control legislation.
“Next week in Tallahassee, I’m going sit down with state leaders, we’re going have a real conference about two things,” Scott said. “How do we make sure, when a parent is ready to send their child to school in Florida, that parent knows that child is going to be safe? Number two, how do we make sure that individuals with mental illness do not touch a gun?”
Suspected Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz was able to legally purchase his AR-15 assault rifle in Florida, despite a long history of mental health warnings. He was also flagged by the FBI after posting comments on a YouTube video in which he said his goal was to become the next school shooter.
Broward County Mayor Beam Furr told reporters this week that Cruz had received treatment for mental health issues at a clinic previously, but noted that he had not undergone any such treatment in over a year.
Jeff Sessions’ absurd response to the Parkland school shooting
Anything but gun control.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday addressed a school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida that killed 17 people — by proposing policy solutions to prevent shootings that don’t actually make any sense.
During a speech to a sheriffs’ convention in Washington on Thursday morning, Sessions said he thinks the next school shooting can be prevented by stronger enforcement of existing gun laws.
“I think effective enforcement of our gun laws, focusing on criminals and dangerous people, mentally ill people that have been — where we have the legal ability to do so — can reduce violence in our communities and improve public safety,” Sessions said. “It is not good if we got gun laws that say criminals can’t carry guns and they never get enforced. So we intend to enforce our laws.”
But there are a couple obvious problems with Sessions’ idea. Nikolas Cruz, the 19-year-old allegedly responsible for using an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle to murder 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, bought his military-caliber weapon legally. Cruz also had no criminal record. So it’s hard to see how stronger enforcement of existing gun laws could have prevented the carnage.
At another point during his speech, Sessions suggested that cracking down on gangs could prevent school shootings.
“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,” Sessions said. “So we’ve gotta confront the problem. There’s not doubt about it.”
Parkland, however, is one of the safest cities in Florida, and Cruz had no known involvement with gangs.
During the portion of his speech addressing school shootings, Sessions didn’t once mention the possibility of enacting stronger gun laws that might prevent people like Cruz from legally obtaining a military-style rifle in the first place.
the rich asshole briefly emerged from hiding to blame a grieving community for its own tragedy.
Wednesday’s shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida is the 18th school shooting of 2018 and tied for third-deadliest in U.S. history, with a toll higher than the Columbine and Texas Tech massacres.
While NRA-backed politicians are broadly repeating the cycle of refusing to blame guns, the rich asshole is taking it further.
Thursday morning, the rich asshole criticized the people of Parkland for not “reporting” the gunman to the authorities.
“So many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from school for bad and erratic behavior,” he wrote. “Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again!”
This degree of victim-blaming is particularly galling, because this was a case in which many people suspected he was a risk and took action to keep others safe.
As even the rich asshole noted, Nikolas Cruz, the suspect, has a social media profile that fetishizes guns and killing. He was expelled for disciplinary issues, including threatening students.
School administrators warned teachers to “keep an eye” out for him, and he was banned from carrying a backpack onto the premises. Cruz even boasted in a YouTube comment that he was going to be a “professional school shooter,” prompting a fellow user to file a report with the FBI, but nothing came of it.
The problem is not, as the rich asshole claims, that people didn’t do anything. They did. It didn’t prevent Cruz from obtaining a deadly weapon and murdering his former classmates.
According to law enforcement, Cruz purchased his AR-15 legally a year ago, in a state where gun laws are relativelylax. Even if Cruz did go through a background check, the FBI does not collect enough information to have flagged him. Nothing in current reports indicates he had been convicted of a felony, was under an indictment or protective order, a known substance abuser, or dishonorably discharged, and while he had previously been under treatmentfor mental illness, that does not get flagged unless it is court-ordered.
the rich asshole and the GOP seem wholly uninterested in the slightest expansion of background check data. In fact, the rich asshole undid a policy from President Obama broadening mental illness checks last year, and earlier this week, his budget blueprint called for cutting federal gun background check funding by $12 million.
It is clear that the rich asshole will not do anything meaningful to address this tragedy. But blaming this tragedy on the community he failed to protect is particularly disgusting.
Porn star who alleged the rich asshole affair: I can now tell my story
By JAKE PEARSON and JEFF HORWITZ 02-15-2018
NEW YORK (AP) — Stormy Daniels, the porn star whom some rich asshole’s attorney acknowledges paying $130,000 just before Election Day, believes she is now free to discuss an alleged sexual encounter with the man who is now president, her manager told The Associated Press Wednesday.
At the same time, developments in the bizarre case are fueling questions about whether such a payment could violate federal campaign finance laws.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, believes that the rich asshole’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, invalidated a non-disclosure agreement after two news stories were published Tuesday: one in which Cohen told The New York Times he made the six-figure payment with his personal funds, and another in the Daily Beast, which reported that Cohen was shopping a book proposal that would touch on Daniels’ story, said the manager, Gina Rodriguez.
“Everything is off now, and Stormy is going to tell her story,” Rodriguez said.
At issue is what, exactly, happened inside a Lake Tahoe, Nevada, hotel room in 2006 between the rich asshole, then a reality TV star, and Clifford, who was promoting a porn production company during a celebrity golf tournament.
In the years since, Clifford has claimed that she and the rich asshole had sex once and then carried on a subsequent yearslong platonic relationship. But she has also, through a lawyer, denied the two had an affair. the rich asshole’s lawyer, Cohen, has denied there was ever an affair.
The actress first detailed her account of an alleged extramarital affair with the rich asshole in 2011, when the celebrity website The Dirty published it but then removed the material under the threat of a lawsuit, according to the site’s founder, Nik Richie.
Her story then remained largely out of public view until a month before the 2016 presidential election, when the website The Smoking Gun published an account that went mostly unnoted by major news organizations.
In January, The Wall Street Journal reported that a limited liability company in Delaware formed by Cohen made the six-figure payment to the actress to keep her from discussing the affair during the presidential campaign.
Cohen said the payment was made with his own money, and that “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 was responding to inquiries from the Federal Election Commission, which is investigating an advocacy group’s complaint that the October 2016 transaction violated campaign finance laws.
The case was reminiscent of the 2012 prosecution of former Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards, who faced six criminal charges after a pair of his wealthy friends spent nearly $1 million to support his pregnant mistress, Rielle Hunter, during his 2008 presidential run.
Jurors eventually acquitted Edwards on one charge of accepting illegal campaign contributions, but were unable to reach a verdict on the five remaining counts including conspiracy and making false statements. The case ended when prosecutors elected not to retry Edwards.
As in that case, the payment by the rich asshole’s lawyer was not reported as a campaign expenditure nor an in-kind contribution, and the origin of the money is still unclear, said Paul Ryan, a vice president at Common Cause, the group that filed the complaint.
But Bradley Smith, the Republican chairman of the Federal Election Commission from 2000 to 2005, was skeptical that the payment by Cohen could pose a campaign finance issue.
“You’d have to prove that it was a coordinated expenditure, and that the reason it was done was for the benefit of the campaign,” he said. If the payment was made to protect the rich asshole’s brand or avoid personal embarrassment, he said, that would likely not be a campaign problem.
At the time of the payment, which followed the release of footage from “Access Hollywood,” in which the rich asshole was recorded bragging about grabbing women’s privates, Clifford was negotiating with multiple national news networks about telling her story.
A White House spokeswoman referred all questions about the payment to Cohen.
The alleged affair between the actress and the rich asshole occurred in 2006, a year after his marriage to his third wife, Melania.
A lawyer for Clifford, Keith Davidson, has previously distributed statements on her behalf denying there was any affair.
But in a 2011 interview with the gossip magazine In Touch Weekly, the actress — who the magazine said passed a polygraph exam — said the two had sex on one occasion and she described subsequent in-person meetings, phone calls and discussions about a potential TV appearance. The AP has previously reported that In Touch held off on publishing her account after Cohen threatened to sue the publication. It published the interview last month.
In recent weeks the actress has played coy, declining to elaborate when pressed on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
Rodriguez said her client will soon announce how and when she will tell her story publicly. The celebrity website The Blast first reported the contention that Cohen’s comments freed Clifford from her non-disclosure agreement.
___
Horwitz reported from Washington. AP reporter Michael Biesecker contributed from Washington.
CNN launches new ad trolling the rich asshole on Mueller
BY JOE CONCHA - 02/15/18 09:05 AM EST
CNN’s latest “Facts first" promotion appears to troll President the rich asshole over special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible collusion between the rich asshole campaign associates and Russia.
“This is an apple,” the promo, launched Wednesday, begins, with an apple on a white background.
“And this is an apple,” the narrator continues.
“And this is an apple.”
“And when you put them all together, you’ve got a case,” it concludes.
CNN has covered the Mueller investigation heavily since Mueller was appointed special counsel by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in May.
Other editions of the “Facts First” campaign have also indirectly targeted the president.
“This is an apple,” a narrator begins on its first ad that was launched on Facebook in October.
“Some people might try to tell you that it’s a banana. They might scream ‘banana, banana, banana’ over and over and over again. They might put BANANA in all caps. You might even start to believe that this is a banana. But it’s not. This is an apple."
The promo ends with CNN’s logo accompanied by the slogan “Facts first.”
The president has slammed the 38-year-old cable news network more than any other broadcast outlet, often referring to it as “fake news.” the rich asshole has called CNN’s chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta “crazy” on Twitter.
Even Crazy Jim Acosta of Fake News CNN agrees: “Trump World and WH sources dancing in end zone: Trump wins again...Schumer and Dems caved...gambled and lost.” Thank you for your honesty Jim!
the rich asshole also “awarded” CNN the most awards during his “2017 Fake News Awards,” with the network being mentioned for four inaccurate stories it reported last year, including one involving former White House communications director and the rich asshole ally Anthony Scaramucciand Russia that led to the abrupt firing of three reporters.
The president has not appeared on the network since August 2016.
Appeals court rules latest the rich asshole travel ban is unconstitutional
BY REBECCA SAVRANSKY AND LYDIA WHEELER - 02/15/18 10:58 AM EST
A Virginia-based federal court of appeals on Thursday ruled the latest version of President the rich asshole’s travel ban unconstitutional citing that it unlawfully discriminates against Muslims.
In a 9-4 decision, a majority of the judges on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals said it examined official statements from the rich asshole and other executive branch officials, along with the proclamation itself, and found it “unconstitutionally tainted with animus toward Islam.”
The court is the second federal appeals court to rule against the ban.
The most recent iteration of the ban bars people from eight countries — six of which are predominantly Muslim — from coming to the U.S.
The Supreme Court had decided in December that it would allow the latest travel ban to take effect while litigation ran its course.
In late December, a panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the third iteration of the rich asshole's travel ban, saying it goes against federal law.
The Supreme Court last month agreed to review the legality of the rich asshole's travel ban and is expected in April to hear arguments regarding the order.
The the rich asshole administration has pushed for a travel ban since the president assumed office.
The administration has argued the ban is necessary to safeguard national security, but each iteration of the ban has run into legal disputes.
UPDATED at 11:34 a.m.
The IRS has subpoenaed investors in Kushner family’s real estate projects: report
Jared Kushner holds a news conference on government efficiency (Screen cap).
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The Internal Revenue Service has reportedly issued subpoenas requesting documents from lenders and investors who are involved in real estate projects managed by the rich asshole son-in-law Jared Kushner’s family.
Bloomberg reports that the subpoenas were issued last year and do not appear related to special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
The documents requested by the IRS relate to Kushner family real estate projects in New York and New Jersey that date back to 2010, according to Bloomberg’s source. At the moment it’s not clear whether the IRS is scrutinizing the Kushner family itself or simply its investors.
In a statement given to Bloomberg, Kushner Companies attorney Charles J. Harder denied that the Kushner family was under any kind of tax investigation.
“Kushner Cos… has had no contact with anyone at the IRS or Justice Department Tax Division,” he said. “It has received no subpoenas or audit requests about its taxes. It is not in tax court on any audits. If there is an investigation about others’ taxes, it has nothing to do with Kushner Cos. or its businesses.”
Nikolas Cruz was reported to the FBI last year after boasting of plans to be ‘a professional school shooter’: report
Police arresting a suspect at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School after an active shooting. Image via Twitter.
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Nikolas Cruz, the 19-year-old man suspected of carrying out a massacre at a high school in Florida on Wednesday, was apparently on the FBI’s radar last year after he posted a comment on YouTube about wanting to be a “professional school shooter.”
BuzzFeed reports that 36-year-old YouTube user Ben Bennight alerted the FBI about a comment left on one of his videos by a man who identified himself as Nikolas Cruz.
“I’m going to be a professional school shooter,” Cruz wrote.
Bennight said the FBI responded to him immediately, but he said they didn’t have any followups after their initial meeting in September.
“They came to my office the next morning and asked me if I knew anything about the person,” Bennight said to BuzzFeed. “I didn’t. They took a copy of the screenshot and that was the last I heard from them.”
Bennight said he did hear from the FBI on Wednesday after Cruz allegedly killed 17 students at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
“I think we spoke with you in the past about a complaint that you made about someone making a comment on your YouTube channel,” an FBI agent said in a voicemail left in Bennight’s inbox. “I just wanted to follow up with you on that and ask you a question with something that’s come up, if you wouldn’t mind giving me a ring.”
President some rich asshole on Thursday encouraged people to report others who exhibit “erratic behavior” to authorities at all times. Based on BuzzFeed’s report, it appears that that happened in this case, although it did not prevent a massacre.
After Florida massacre, the rich asshole urges students to ‘always report’ classmates for ‘erratic behavior’
President some rich asshole (Photo: Screen capture)
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President some rich asshole on Thursday responded to the latest school shooting by encouraging high schoolers to report classmates to authorities if they are seen exhibiting “erratic behavior.”
“So many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from school for bad and erratic behavior,” the president wrote. “Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again!”
So many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from school for bad and erratic behavior. Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again!
17 people were killed in a mass shooting at Parkland High School in Florida on Thursday. The suspect in the shooting, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, allegedly conducted the massacre using an AR-15-style rifle that he was able to purchase legally.
the rich asshole blames failure to report student accused killing 17
Terry Spencer and Kelli Kennedy, Associated Press,
Associated Press • February 15, 2018
Florida teen charged with 17 murder counts in school attack
PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) -- An orphaned 19-year-old with a troubled past and his own AR-15 rifle was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder Thursday morning following the deadliest school shooting in the U.S. in five years.
Law enforcement officials told The Associated Press that Nikolas Cruz legally purchased the assault weapon used in the attack.
As reactions poured in Thursday, President some rich asshole focused on the young man's mental health.
"So many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from school for bad and erratic behavior. Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again!" the rich asshole tweeted.
Fourteen wounded survivors were hospitalized as bodies were recovered from inside and around Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Cruz, still wearing a hospital gown after being treated for labored breathing, and weighing in at 5-foot-7 and 131 pounds, was ordered held without bond and booked into jail.
His former classmates thought they were having another drill when a fire alarm sounded, requiring them to leave their classrooms Wednesday.
That's when police say Cruz, equipped with a gas mask, smoke grenades and magazines of ammunition, opened fire with a semi-automatic weapon, killing 17 people and sending hundreds of students fleeing into the streets.
It was the nation's deadliest school shooting since a gunman attacked an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, more than five years ago. The overall death toll differs by how such shootings are defined, but Everytown For Gun Safety has tallied 290 school shootings in America since 2013, and this attack makes 18 so far this year.
the rich asshole also issued a proclamation saying, in part, "Our Nation grieves with those who have lost loved ones," and planned to address the nation about the shooting. Among the many other responses, the New York Stock Exchange held a minute of silence after its opening bell.
Cruz legally purchased the AR-15 used in the attack about a year ago, law enforcement officials told The Associated Press. The officials, not authorized to discuss this publicly, spoke on condition of anonymity. Federal law allows people 18 and older to legally purchase long guns, including this kind of assault weapon.
Authorities offered no immediate details about a possible motive, except to say that Cruz had been kicked out of the high school, which has about 3,000 students. Students who knew him described a volatile teenager whose strange behavior had caused others to end friendships with him.
Cruz's mother Lynda Cruz died of pneumonia on Nov. 1 neighbors, friends and family members said, according to the Sun Sentinel . Cruz and her husband, who died of a heart attack several years ago, adopted Nikolas and his biological brother, Zachary, after the couple moved from Long Island in New York to Broward County.
The boys were left in the care of a family friend after their mother died, said family member Barbara Kumbatovich, of Long Island.
Unhappy there, Nikolas Cruz asked to move in with a friend's family in northwest Broward. That family agreed and Cruz moved in around Thanksgiving. According to the family's lawyer, who did not identify them, they knew that Cruz owned the AR-15 but made him keep it locked up in a cabinet. He did have the key, however.
Attorney Jim Lewis told the AP that the family is cooperating with authorities, and had no idea he was planning the shooting.
He seemed like "just a mildly troubled kid who'd lost his mom" during the three months they lived together; respectful and quiet, but also sad because his mother had died, Lewis said.
They had "no indication that anything severe like this was wrong," Lewis said. "He totally kept this from everybody."
Lewis also said the family was not aware of any other weapons in the gun cabinet he had, and couldn't talk about how long they knew of the AR-15 because people are looking to sue them now. Photos posted in an Instagram account linked to Cruz show a half-dozen weapons displayed on a mattress and a box of ammunition.
Victoria Olvera, a 17-year-old junior, said Cruz was expelled last school year because he got into a fight with his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend. She said he had been abusive to the girl.
"I think everyone had in their minds if anybody was going to do it, it was going to be him," said Dakota Mutchler, also 17.
Cruz was taken into custody without a fight about an hour after the shooting in a neighborhood about a mile away. He had multiple magazines of ammunition, authorities said.
"It's catastrophic. There really are no words," said Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel.
The sheriff said 12 bodies were found inside the building, two more outside, and another a short distance away from the school.
Frantic parents rushed to the school to find SWAT team members and ambulances surrounding the huge campus and emergency workers treating the wounded on sidewalks. Students who had taken shelter inside classrooms began leaving in a single-file line with their hands over their heads as officers urged them to evacuate quickly.
Hearing loud bangs as the shooter fired, many of the students hid under desks or in closets, and barricaded doors.
"We were in the corner, away from the windows," said freshman Max Charles, who said he heard five gunshots. "The teacher locked the door and turned off the light. I thought maybe I could die or something."
Charles said he passed four dead students and one dead teacher on his way out, and was relieved to finally find his mother.
"I was happy that I was alive," Max said. "She was crying when she saw me."
Noah Parness, a 17-year-old junior, calmly joined others walking to their fire-drill area outside when he suddenly heard popping sounds.
"We saw a bunch of teachers running down the stairway, and then everybody shifted and broke into a sprint," Parness said. "I hopped a fence."
The scene was reminiscent of the Newtown attack, which shocked even a country numbed by the regularity of school shootings. The Dec. 14, 2012, assault at Sandy Hook Elementary School killed 26 people: 20 first-graders and six staff members. The 20-year-old gunman, who also fatally shot his mother in her bed, then killed himself.
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This story has been corrected to fix the attribution of a quote to Dakota Mutchler, not Victoria Olvera.
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Associated Press writers Freida Frisaro, Curt Anderson, and Joshua Replogle in Miami, Sadie Gurman in Washington and Bernard McGhee in Atlanta contributed to this report.
Priebus on chaos in the rich asshole White House: ‘Take everything you’ve heard and multiply it by 50’
BY BRETT SAMUELS - 02/15/18 07:36 AM EST
Former White House chief of staff Reince Priebus said the rich asshole administration during his tenure was even more chaotic than what was reported, according to an upcoming book.
“Take everything you’ve heard and multiply it by 50,” Priebus said, according to an excerpt from the book “The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency,” by Chris Whipple.
Priebus, who left the White House last summer, said Attorney General Jeff Sessions twice tried to resign, but he convinced Sessions otherwise, according to excerpts published by The Associated Press.
The attorney general, who has faced periodic criticism from President the rich asshole, later offered his resignation, but Priebus urged the rich asshole not to accept it, the former chief of staff said.
Priebus also said he didn’t support the rich asshole picking a fight over the crowd size at his inauguration, which was smaller than former President Obama’s. However, Priebus ultimately relented, saying it wasn’t worth “going to go to war over” with the rich asshole.
Since leaving the White House, Priebus has remained in touch with the rich asshole and praised the president’s agenda.
“I still love the guy,” Priebus said in the book.
Priebus has reportedly talked with the president about strategy for this year’s midterm elections and has touted the rich asshole's support among Hispanic and black voters.
His new comments come as speculation swirls about whether the rich asshole will fire chief of staff John Kelly, who replaced Priebus last year, over his handling of domestic abuse allegations against a White House aide.
Florida Student Just Absolutely Trashed White Rage Princess Tomi Lahren’s Sh*tty Shooting Response
Racist, ghost-white pro-gun right-wing hero Tomi Lahren may have ridden the white rage train straight to Fox News, but even in her newfound fame among our nation’s dumbest and most horrible people she still can’t escape the fact that she’s a piece of trash.
“Can the Left let the families grieve for even 24 hours before they push their anti-gun and anti-gunowner agenda? My goodness,” Lahren tweeted after the deadly shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida , which left 17 dead and a community terrified. “This isn’t about a gun it’s about another lunatic. #FloridaShooting.”
Can the Left let the families grieve for even 24 hours before they push their anti-gun and anti-gunowner agenda? My goodness. This isn't about a gun it's about another lunatic. #FloridaShooting
Lahren, of course, was referencing the very reasonable conversation about why we allow people to get their hands on guns so easily that follows every single of the United States’ seemingly unending stream of school shootings. Naturally, students who were forced to live through that ordeal are not amused — including Kyra, who stopped by to tell Lahren to fuck the fuck off.
“A gun has killed 17 of my fellow classmates. A gun has traumatized my friends. My entire school, traumatized from this tragedy. This could have been prevented,” she said, appropriately adding, “Please stfu tomi.”
A gun has killed 17 of my fellow classmates. A gun has traumatized my friends. My entire school, traumatized from this tragedy. This could have been prevented. Please stfu tomi twitter.com/tomilahren/sta…
Naturally, the “thoughts and prayers” crowd felt the need to attack someone who had just lived through something they “experienced” from afar (probably while polishing their own guns):
A gun has killed 17 of my fellow classmates. A gun has traumatized my friends. My entire school, traumatized from this tragedy. This could have been prevented. Please stfu tomi twitter.com/tomilahren/sta…
Tomi is right Kyra. You are wrong that gun did nothing this man did this and the school let him by being unlocked and insecure. Sorry, but sick of the political gun bull. The truth leads to the solution. This gun excuse is why it is still happening.
A gun has killed 17 of my fellow classmates. A gun has traumatized my friends. My entire school, traumatized from this tragedy. This could have been prevented. Please stfu tomi twitter.com/tomilahren/sta…
A gun has killed 17 of my fellow classmates. A gun has traumatized my friends. My entire school, traumatized from this tragedy. This could have been prevented. Please stfu tomi twitter.com/tomilahren/sta…
A gun has killed 17 of my fellow classmates. A gun has traumatized my friends. My entire school, traumatized from this tragedy. This could have been prevented. Please stfu tomi twitter.com/tomilahren/sta…
A gun did not kill your classmates. A sick minded HUMAN killed your classmates. My gun isn’t jumping out of my nightstand all by itself to kill anyone. Humans kill!!!!
A gun has killed 17 of my fellow classmates. A gun has traumatized my friends. My entire school, traumatized from this tragedy. This could have been prevented. Please stfu tomi twitter.com/tomilahren/sta…
A gun has killed 17 of my fellow classmates. A gun has traumatized my friends. My entire school, traumatized from this tragedy. This could have been prevented. Please stfu tomi twitter.com/tomilahren/sta…
A gun doesn’t go off by itself. If I set a gun on a table and watch it, it doesn’t shoot and kill 17 ppl!
Conservatives want to blame everyone and everything but the gun that easily mowed down so many in such a short period. Their agenda is clear. So is Kyra’s:
It’s time for Republican lawmakers to get on board with ensuring that no one every has to tweet that sentence again after a mass shooting. Unfortunately, they only have “thoughts and prayers” to send, as they are too busy cashing their checks from the NRA.
the rich asshole-Approved Blogger Posts Fake News On FL Shooter, Then Pretends It’s Someone Else’s Fake News
A the rich asshole administration-approved “correspondent,” who actually writes for the lying, far right-wing conspiracy site The Gateway Pundit, rushed to tie yesterday’s tragic shooting at a high school in Florida to Democrats. The now-changed post is still available on archive.is, and the headline reads: “BREAKING: Don’t Let The MAGA Hat Fool You, Hispanic Shooter ‘Nicholas de Jesus Cruz’ Was A Registered Democrat.”
That brilliant headline, crafted by equally brilliant Lucian Wintrich, was followed by a short paragraph about what was happening, and then claimed that Cruz was a registered Democrat in Florida. Wintrich, in all his amazingly amazing wisdom, spelled “Florida” wrong three times in the post, cited absolutely no sources, and ended it by claiming that Cruz wasn’t a the rich asshole supporter despite a picture of him in a MAGA hat floating around.
So now that we know more about 19-year old Nikolas Cruz, Charles Johnson over at Little Green Footballs noticed a slight–ahem–problem with The Gateway Pundit’s story and update. The site has yet again made a complete fool of itself as Wintrich posted this update:
And Wintrich is further trying to cover his ass on his ridiculously fake report with this:
“Note: there is some discrepancy as to whether the name of the shooter is ‘Nicolas Cruz’ or ‘Nicolas de Jesus Cruz’ as has been reported by close to 100 other new media companies (we have the screenshots). Such being said: it is becoming more clear that this individual was NOT, in fact, an actual the rich asshole supporter, as is being reported by the media as the result of the image that shows Cruz wearing a MAGA hat.”
It’s actually Nikolas, with a “k,” and whatever you say, dude. You’re obviously the expert here.
The Gateway Pundit is known for publishing blatantly fake news and then removing those stories and updating them as though it’s not their fault they lied. Despite that, the White House gave Wintrich press credentials. That says far more about what this administration considers credible news than the rich asshole’s addiction to Fox News.
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