February 3rd, 2017. 448 days since the Nov 8, 2016, election of some rich asshole, no.45, and 376 days since the Jan 20th inauguration.
Fox News’ Brit Hume smacks down claim Nunes memo ‘totally vindicates’ the rich asshole
Fox News analyst Brit Hume (Photo: Screen capture)
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Fox News host Brit Hume on Saturday poured cold water on some rich asshole’s claim that a memo, drafted by staffers for House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA), “totally vindicates” him.
the rich asshole on Saturday morning tweeted that the controversial memo,which discusses FISA warrant applications for onetime campaign adviser Carter Page—“totally vindicates” him in the Russia investigation.
On Twitter Saturday, an apparent the rich asshole-backer argued the president was referring to the bogus claim that former President Barack Obama “wiretapped” the rich asshole Tower in 2016.
“I believe his vindication tweet was about the ‘Wiretapping.’” the user insisted. “The media went crazy and beat him in the head with that for weeks. Where are the corrections to that story?”
the rich asshole last year claimed—without evidence—that Obama wiretapped the rich asshole Tower during the 2016 presidential election. The president once said he felt “somewhat vindicated” for making that bogus claim after Nunes (yes, that same Nunes) publicized allegations the previous administration “unmasked” members of the rich asshole campaign and transition officials. Nunes’ Senate counterpart, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC), told reporters the “unmasking” scandal was “created by Devin Nunes.”
As Hume pointed out Saturday, the “wiretapping” claim on the rich asshole Tower and the FISA warrant on Page are two separate claims.
Trump claimed he was wiretapped. The memo says Carter Page was wiretapped. How does that vindicate him? twitter.com/dbracco1/statu…
The State Department issued a rare public denunciation after the rich asshole tried to blame America's drug problems on undocumented immigrants from Central America and Mexico.
Just two days after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived in Latin America on a trip meant to improve relations with our neighbors to the south, the State Department was forced to go into cleanup mode after some rich asshole made disparaging remarks about the region and attempted to blame America’s drug problem on undocumented immigrants from countries like El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico.
Speaking at the Customs and Border Protection National Training Center in Virginia on Friday, the rich asshole threatened to cut off aid to the countries that he blames for the flow of drugs into the United States, saying, “These countries are not our friends, you know.”
“I want to stop the aid. If they can’t stop drugs from coming in, ‘cause they can stop them a lot easier than us. They say, ‘oh we can’t control it.’ Oh great, we’re supposed to control it,” the rich asshole said, according to CNN. “So we give them billions and billions of dollars, and they don’t do what they’re supposed to be doing, and they know that. But we’re going to take a very harsh action.”
But the rich asshole didn’t stop with his threat to punish entire populations for the actions of criminal elements. Continuing his remarks, he then tried to link drug trafficking to all undocumented immigrants from Central America and Mexico in an attempt to justify his backwards approach to border control and security.
“We want strong borders. We want to give you laws. We want to stop the catch and release nonsense that goes on. You catch somebody and you release them. You know they’re bad,” the rich asshole said. “They’re pouring in from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, all over. They’re just pouring into our country.”
“These countries are not our friends, you know. We think they’re our friends, and we send them massive aid, and I won’t mention names right now,” he said, immediately after mentioning their names. “But I look at these countries, I look at the numbers we send them, we send them massive aid and they’re pouring drugs into our country and they’re laughing at us.”
No one is laughing — especially not the diplomats charged with improving America’s relations with the countries the rich asshole just disparaged.
“The president’s comments were not helpful,” said a senior State Department official traveling with Tillerson, in a rare public statement acknowledging the rift between the rich asshole and his secretary of state.
His remarks are not just unhelpful — they’re patently false and fueled by bigotry.
In reality, many of those who make the perilous journey to the U.S. from Mexico and Central America are children and families with children. The number of Central American children crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally has been ticking up since April 2017, and it’s not because kids are trafficking drugs.
According to the Pew Charitable Trust, a significant number of the children and families coming to the U.S. from Central America are being driven by “fears of gang violence at home — fears that outweigh heightened concerns about deportation under the rich asshole administration.” But the rich asshole thinks these children are “bad” and deserve to be punished by “very harsh action.”
the rich asshole’s comments on Friday — and the subsequent denunciation of those comments by the State Department — are just the latest example of the rich asshole’s reckless bluster undermining American diplomacy. Last year, as Tillerson traveled home from critical talks with Chinese officials about working together to handle the nuclear threat in North Korea, the rich asshole publicly told Tillerson in a tweet to “stop wasting your time” with diplomacy.
This blunder comes on the heels of a statement in which he referred to African nations as “shithole countries” — a comment that drew international condemnation and resulted in the U.S. being left out of a historic trade deal.
Since taking office, the rich asshole’s embrace of bigotry and incompetence has cost the U.S. an estimated $4.6 billion and 40,000 jobs due to lost tourism alone — but the damage to America’s reputation is immeasurable.
The GOP has gone all in on attacking law enforcement and the people working to prevent another 9/11, just to shield some rich asshole from investigation.
The Republican Party has collectively turned its back on the men and women on the front lines of America’s fight against crime and terrorism, just to defend some rich asshole’s failing presidency.
The turning point was the reckless decision to release California Rep. Devin Nunes’ smear-filled memo, which attacked the FBI via lies, omissions of fact, and deception. The ultimate decision to release the memo was made by the rich asshole, but along the way elements of the party and wider conservative movement all had a hand in stabbing law enforcement in the back.
The right’s media arm, most noticeably Fox News, incubated the paranoia and conspiratorial thinking that led to the attack, whipping up absurd ideas about the “deep state” and the “secret society” that fed lines to Republican politicians.
Led by the rich asshole, Republicans went all in on echoing Fox News and the most fevered swamps of American political discourse. the rich asshole “told confidants in recent days that he believed the memo would validate his concerns that the ‘deep state’ … had conspired to undermine the legitimacy of his presidency.”
The Washington Post noted, “The FBI, the Justice Department and other agencies are now under concerted assault by party leaders and activists, facing allegations of corruption and conspiracy that have quickly moved from the fringes of the right into the mainstream of the GOP.”
The New York Times also noticed that the rich asshole is engaged in an “unparalleled war on a pillar of society,” adding, “The war between the president and the nation’s law enforcement apparatus is unlike anything America has seen in modern times.”
Why would Republicans go along with this idea? For the same reason the rich asshole has: to deflect attention from the ongoing investigation into his campaign’s work with Russian operatives.
Many rank and file Republicans have now turned against the FBI, because the rich asshole, enabled by congressional Republicans and leaders like House Speaker Paul Ryan, have said they should. Indeed, Ryan made a call to “cleanse” the FBI.
This party-wide assault on law enforcement is an echo of the Republican Party’s decision to go all in for pedophilia during the Alabama Senate race in 2017, which led to a Democrat winning the race for the first time in decades.
The decision to hang law enforcement out to dry, after the rich asshole ran a campaign proclaiming himself to be the “law and order” candidate, may have even more toxic fallout.
Veteran FBI agent Josh Campbell quit the agency and penned an op-ed in the New York Times warning that the rich asshole could “destroy the institution” in his zeal to defend himself.
But the rich asshole cannot do this on his own. He needs other Republicans to help him — and by all appearances, they are ready and willing to do so.
Along with Nunes and Ryan, figures like Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Rep. Louie Gohmert(R-TX), among others, are aiding and abetting the internal fight. They have allied the legislative and executive branches in a battle against crime fighters who expect support, not to be undermined.
Mike Pence is also fully engaged in this disruptive campaign, not shying away from lending support to the rich asshole’s crusade. In an interview with a Pittsburgh TV station, after the memo had been released and almost instantaneously debunked, Pence was spouting the party line against the FBI.
He refused to directly express support for FBI director Christopher Wray or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein (a target of the right). Instead Pence told a reporter that “our administration believes the memo raises serious concerns about the integrity of decisions that were made at the top of the highest level at the top of the Department of Justice and the FBI.”
Joshua Geltzer, a former national security lawyer in the Justice Department, told the New York Times he left after the attacks from the right because he could “serve the public interest and carry out public service better and more effectively from outside.”
Sharon McGowan, who was a deputy chief in the Civil Rights Division, said people inside the department are “starting to get worried” after first simply being skeptical of the rich asshole-era leadership.
The Washington Post reported that officials within the FBI say the Republican attacks “corrode the agency’s ability to remain independent and do its job.”
It bears repeating that agencies like the FBI not only deal with thousands of domestic crimes, but are also on the front lines in defending America and its allies from international terrorists. These groups desperately wish to duplicate or exceed the carnage of events like 9/11. They do not need nor should they be given any help as a byproduct of an effort to boost the political fortunes of the Republican Party.
But by their actions and words, from the rich asshole to Ryan and further down the chain of command, Republicans have made it plain they do not stand with law enforcement, and that they are not going to give them support.
Their loyalty is to the rich asshole, not to the safety of America or its people.
Devin Nunes is doing the work of the White House — and it's not going over well with his constituents.
GOP Rep. Devin Nunes has represented California’s 22nd Congressional District since 2003 — in title, at least. For the past year, however, Nunes has served the interests of the rich asshole White House while hanging his constituents out to dry.
Now, with the April 2018 primary elections only a few months away, voters are signaling that they’ve had enough of Nunes’ antics.
According to the latest figures from Public Policy Polling, Nunes is barely polling ahead of a generic Democratic primary opponent, holding a lead of just 50 percent to 45 percent — less than one percentage point outside the margin of error.
In the last three election cycles, Nunes has won with more than 60 percent of the vote, including 2016 when he won with 68 percent of voters in the historically Republican district.
But the new poll numbers look even worse when you put a face to the name of that generic Democratic primary opponent.
According to a campaign spokesperson for Andrew Janz, one of six Democrats who has filed to run against Nunes, Janz’s campaign raised more than $100,000 last Thursday and Friday, with $54,394 coming in on Friday alone — the same day the White House released Nunes’ overhyped memo, which turned out to be an embarrassing failure for Nunes and his Republican colleagues.
Janz’s campaign attributes the spike in support directly to Nunes’ memo stunt, which is just the latest example of the Republican using his elected office to serve the president rather than his constituents.
“Our dramatic increase in contributions is a direct reflection of Nunes’s actions,” said Janz’s campaign manager Heather Greven. “[Nunes] has given Andrew’s campaign the best gift we could have received, he put a national target on his back and has made this a top 5 race. He is doing everything possible to make this a winnable race for us.”
Last week, Nunes’ hometown newspaper excoriated the GOP representative, calling him “the rich asshole’s stooge” and blasting him for “doing the dirty work” of the rich asshole White House.
Soon, his constituents will have their say, too — and Nunes may regret leaving their interests by the wayside.
House Speaker Paul Ryan apparently thinks $1.50 extra per week completely justifies lopsided tax policy that favors the super-wealthy.
Paul Ryan continued the Republican Party’s pathetic campaign to defend the massive tax cuts and giveaways to the ultra-wealthy they passed into law.
The latest attempt involved touting a $1.50 per week pay bump that a high school secretary reported seeing in her paycheck.
Days after thanking the billionaire Koch brothers for helping move the tax scam along, Ryan cited a passage from an Associated Press story on his Twitter account, apparently believing that the extra funds the woman received — which amount to $78 a year — justify the unpopular tax legislation.
The out-of-touch tweet comes just days after the news that the United States will have to raise the debt ceiling earlier than expected thanks to the tax bill.
After the tweet was widely mocked, Ryan deleted it. But the Internet never forgets.
The government will bring in less revenue than expected because the bill — passed with only Republican votes and signed into law by some rich asshole — handed out those funds to the rich.
“With full control of the House, Senate and White House, Republicans have revealed their contempt for fiscal responsibility and their utter incompetence in governing,” House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi noted at the time of the announcement.
Wealthy figures like some rich asshole, Ryan, and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin will disproportionately benefit, rather than average Americans. The legislation was drafted in secret, behind closed doors with Republican leaders working in concert with lobbyists to carve out legislation that would weigh heavily in favor of their interests.
Nonetheless, Republicans have indicated that they intend to campaign on the tax cuts for this fall’s midterm elections, hoping the legislation can help them in turning back the blue wave of voters dying to vote against the rich asshole agenda.
Republicans have already lost statewide races in Alabama, New Jersey, and Virginia, and face an electoral landscape in 2018 where a record number of Republican congressmen have quit months in advance.
Apparently, $1.50 a week is the strongest justification Republicans can muster for an unpopular tax law that tilts things in favor of the top one percent while loading up the country with debt.
That isn’t a good omen.
An investigation into the rich asshole hotel in Washington, D.C. uncovered the first public evidence of taxpayer dollars flowing directly into the coffers of the rich asshole property.
Ethics watchdogs have warned about some rich asshole’s conflicts of interest since before he took office — and for good reason. Despite claiming that he would divest from his businesses, the rich asshole simply turned them over to his sons, keeping himself closely involved with their operations and financial dealings.
Besides the obvious ethical dilemma posed by a president who profits off his position as the head of state, there are also national security and public interest issues at hand. Namely, there are concerns that the rich asshole properties may become a conduit for foreign governments and officials to curry favor with the rich asshole by spending money at his hotel. It has also been noted that the rich asshole could funnel taxpayer money into his own pockets by using his properties to host government events and employees.
Now, an investigation into the rich asshole’s Washington, D.C. hotel has uncovered the first public evidence of taxpayer money flowing directly into the coffers of the rich asshole-owned business.
The investigation, conducted by the non-profit watchdog group Property of the People, found that an employee working for the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) — the government agency tasked with administering the travel charge card program for all federal agencies — spent more than $1700 during a 2017 stay at the the rich asshole International Hotel and the BLT Prime Restaurant located within the hotel.
The GSA then reimbursed the employee for the majority of the charges — meaning that tax dollars went directly from the U.S. government to the rich asshole property.
While $1700 might not seem like a lot of money, the transaction is proof that the rich asshole is using his D.C. hotel to profit directly from taxpayer money.
“Regardless of how much he makes on any individual transaction, the President is sending a signal that the White House is open for business” said Property of the People co-founder Ryan Shapiro. “Due to his refusal to divest from his sprawling business empire, some rich asshole has turned the American Presidency into a racket.”
Further complicating matters is the fact that the GSA is in charge of managing federal buildings and land, including the Post Office building in which the rich asshole International Hotel is located. “As a result, the GSA is tasked with protecting taxpayers’ interests under a 60-year lease agreement,” CNN reports.
The investigation by Property of the People is only the latest sign of trouble at the hotel. In November, House Democrats filed a federal lawsuit against the rich asshole administration to compel the release of documents related to the rich asshole’s continued involvement with the D.C. property, including potentially illegally profiting from the hotel.
While the Russia investigation is rightly making headlines, it’s more important than ever not to overlook the rampant corruption happening right under our noses.
The attacks by the rich asshole and the GOP on the FBI have gotten so bad that even Attorney General Jeff Sessions had to speak up in defense of law enforcement.
The smear campaign against the FBI waged by some rich asshole and the Republican Party, based on the embarrassing failure of a memo from Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), has prompted even Attorney General Jeff Sessions to express support for FBI leadership.
Speaking at an event on human trafficking, Sessions went off-script and praised Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, one of the targets of the disingenuous attacks.
Sessions’ defense of Rosenstein stands in marked contrast to the rich asshole. When asked whether he had confidence in Rosenstein, the rich asshole told reporters, “You figure that one out.”
But Sessions cited Rosenstein’s 27 years working for the Department of Justice, and said he represents “the kind of quality in leadership that we want in the department.”
In the Nunes memo, Rosenstein is singled out with the allegation that he signed the application that led to a surveillance warrant on former the rich asshole campaign adviser Carter Page.
The surveillance of Page, who raised concerns about his connections to Russia, has been a key complaint from the rich asshole supporters, desperate to distract from the FBI investigation of the rich asshole’s Russian connections.
Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), another the rich asshole ally on Capitol Hill, singled out Rosenstein as one of several “traitors to our nation” as part of the right’s smear campaign.
It is this brand of over the top rhetoric and attack that has led figures like veteran FBI agent Josh Campbell to quit the agency in protest of Republican actions.
The statement from Sessions is also notable because it is a rare moment of resistance from the attorney general, and a deviation from the party line. Sessions has been on the outs from the rich asshole inner circle after he gave in to public pressure and recused himself from the Russia investigation. And the rich asshole has reportedly been pushing Sessions to prosecute special counsel Robert Mueller.
The Department of Justice and FBI find themselves under unprecedented attack from within the government, and the cracks are showing as the rich asshole pushes for authoritarian submission to his ego rather than the rule of law.
Twitter users mocking the failed memo pushed the hashtag to the top of the national trends list overnight.
As some rich asshole took to Twitter to try to convince Americans that the GOP’s overhyped memo was not as much of a failure as it appeared to be, Twitter users were busy elsewhere — tweeting jokes about the memo under the hashtag #YoMemoJokes.
The hashtag, a clever play on words, was pushed to the top trending hashtag nationwide overnight. As of 10:30 Saturday morning, it was still trending in the #2 spot nationwide.
Clearly, Twitter users were not impressed by the memo, which was written by the rich asshole stooge Devin Nunes and released by the White House on Friday — and they weren’t about to let it go unnoticed.
Hey, Yo’ Memo...Y2K called...it wants it’s pointless hype back. #YoMemoJokes
Yo memo is so devoid of useful information Betsy DeVos added it to every school curriculum.#YoMemoJokes
As Twitter users were busy turning the memo into fodder for jokes, the rich asshole was desperately trying to salvage the memo — to no avail.
FBI agent Josh Campbell, with over 10 years experience, said he is quitting in protest of some rich asshole and the Republican Party's baseless and dishonest attacks on law enforcement.
Josh Campbell, a veteran FBI agent who has worked at the law enforcement agency for over a decade, is quitting in protest of some rich asshole-led Republican smear campaign against the bureau.
In a New York Times op-ed, Campbell, a supervisory special agent in the Los Angeles Field office, makes it clear why he is leaving: “So I can join the growing chorus of people who believe that the relentless attacks on the bureau undermine not just America’s premier law enforcement agency but also the nation’s security.”
Campbell describes his decision as “painful,” but notes that “the alternative of remaining quiet while the bureau is tarnished for political gain is impossible.”
He goes on to say that “scorched-earth attacks from politicians with partisan goals” threaten public support of the FBI because they raise “corrosive doubts about the integrity of the F.B.I. that could last for generations.”
Noting that the rich asshole’s attacks are an attempt to negate the ongoing investigation into his presidential campaign, Campbell warns, “these kinds of attacks by powerful people go beyond mere criticism — they could destroy the institution.”
Campbell has been part of the FBI since 2005 and has served as a special agent working on counterterrorism in Los Angeles, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. He has also served as a special assistant to the FBI director.
The resignation comes less than 24 hours after Rep. Devin Nunes’ (R-CA) crackpot memo attacking the agency as part of a campaign to distract from the ongoing Russia investigation was authorized for release by the rich asshole.
Far from being the smoking gun exonerating the rich asshole that the right has been claiming — including on Fox News where it was portrayed as “bigger than Watergate” — the memo was a dud. It became clear almost immediately that the document was the work of a political hack with an ax to grind, rather than the serious work of a member of Congress with access to classified intelligence.
The rich asshole-Nunes smear was so dishonest that it forced FBI director Christopher Wray to release a special video message to agents in the field. He explained, “You’ve all been through a lot in these past nine months and I know it’s often been unsettling, to say the least.”
He added, “Talk is cheap. The work you do is what will endure.”
The Republican Party has made the choice to engage in open warfare against America’s premier law enforcement agency, simply to defend the actions of its leader, some rich asshole.
It is a sign that the convictions and indictments are rattling the right. Two officials with the rich asshole campaign have already been convicted of crimes. Two others – including his campaign chairman – have been indicted.
There are multiple reports that these officials have flipped and are providing special counsel Robert Mueller with more information about alleged connections between the rich asshole campaign and Russian operatives.
With each passing day, these connections reach closer to the top tier of the rich asshole presidential campaign, including some rich asshole himself. In retaliation, he has chosen to undermine the FBI.
But the men and women of law enforcement aren’t buckling under the pressure being exerted by the Republican Party. They are fighting back.
Letter from Carter Page undercuts central thesis of Nunes memo
Bad news for Nunes and company.
The conceit of the Nunes memo is that former the rich asshole adviser Carter Page was only subject to surveillance because of an unethical and partisan FBI.
Speaking on Fox News on Friday night, Congressman Devin Nunes (R-CA) said he did not “believe that someone like Mr. Page should be a target of the FBI.”
Nunes said that he also purposely left out “the history of Carter Page” from the memo. A new report from Time helps explain why.
Page, according to Time, bragged in a 2013 letter that he acted as an adviser to the Kremlin.
The letter, dated Aug. 25, 2013, was sent by Page to an academic press during a dispute over edits to an unpublished manuscript he had submitted for publication, according to an editor who worked with Page.“Over the past half year, I have had the privilege to serve as an informal advisor to the staff of the Kremlin in preparation for their Presidency of the G-20 Summit next month, where energy issues will be a prominent point on the agenda,” the letter reads.
Page, in comments to Time, described his interactions with Russian officials as “really plain-vanilla stuff.”
The same year, Page has acknowledged a relationship with Victor Podobnyy, who was later charged with working as a Russian intelligence agent under diplomatic cover. In response to reports about Podobnyy’s activities he defended the alleged Russian spy and criticized Obama for prosecuting him.
He even expressed sympathy for Podobnyy, the spy— whom he described as a “junior Russian diplomat.” In an email to the Guardian, Page complained that Obama had persecuted Podobnyy… and him “in accordance with Cold War traditions.”
FBI surveillance of Page began, on and off, in 2013 — long before the Steele dossier and the 2016 presidential campaign.
The entire thesis of the Nunes memo is that the only way one could justify surveillance of Page is through partisan manipulation. There really is no evidence supporting this idea. But, with each passing day, there is more evidence that Page was a legitimate target of surveillance.
Paul Ryan deletes tax bill tweet after being dragged for not understanding math
Someone teach the Speaker of the House how to count.
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) is learning that Twitter can be a cruel place.
In a tweet posted Saturday morning, Ryan praised the new tax law spearheaded by the Republican party. The Speaker of the House shared the story of a secretary at a Pennsylvania public high school who was “pleasantly surprised her pay went up $1.50 a week.” The total comes to $78 a year in savings and she told the Associated Press the savings will allow her to pay for an annual Costco membership.
Ryan proudly shared this story on Twitter — only to be met with outrage and amusement. He deleted the tweet less than 3 hours later.
Signed into law last December, the tax bill has been repeatedly touted by Republican lawmakers and President the rich asshole as crucial legislation meant to help U.S. workers. In reality, the bill gave corporations a permanent tax cut, lowering the rate from 35 to 21 percent. Meanwhile, individual tax cuts expire in 2025 — greatly mitigating any initial benefit to most taxpayers.
To put that in the context of the story Ryan shared, Costco paid $1.3 billion in taxes on 3.7 billion in earnings two years ago. The new tax law, with a lower corporate tax rate, will save Costco about $520 million per year, over $5.2 billion over the next 10 years. The woman Paul Ryan bragged about helping will only save $78 per year over the next eight years — so she will save $624 in total.
A number of Twitter users had basic math questions for Ryan — including asking where the money itself went. The tax bill cost nearly $1.5 trillion dollars, while the teacher in question is only seeing $1.50 extra in her weekly paycheck.
$1.50 x 52 weeks = $78 over the year
$1.46 trillion (cost of tax bill) / 327 million in US / 10 year score = $446 (without interest) twitter.com/PRyan/status/9…
Some even thought the account was a parody at first:
I actually thought this had to be a Paul Ryan parody account twitter.com/pryan/status/9…
Others used the tweet as a reminder to work to defeat Ryan in the 2018 election:
And still others noted that this was a reminder that there still isn’t a living minimum wage in the United States:
As ThinkProgress’ Rebekah Entralgo reported, the payoffs to the working class simply aren’t significant:
A number of companies, including Wells Fargo, Boeing, AT&T, and Comcast, have all announced similar bonuses for their employees in recent days, with most handing out lump sums of around $1,000 per person. While the numbers may appear promising, corporations are actually spending less than one percent of their tax windfall on bonuses for employees.
As a reminder, Ryan himself received a nearly $500,000 campaign donation from the Koch brothers less than two weeks after the House of Representatives passed the tax bill in December.
DOJ wants Manafort’s suit against Mueller dismissed
BY JOSH DELK - 02/03/18 11:50 AM EST
The Department of Justice (DOJ) is asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit by former the rich asshole campaign chairman Paul Manafort claiming that the department overstepped its authority by appointing the special counsel who indicted him on conspiracy charges.
In a Friday court filing, the Justice Department asked to dismiss the civil lawsuit against special counsel Robert Mueller, which claims his charges against Manafort had nothing to do with the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign.
Manafort also argued that the charges against him on foreign lobbying for a pro-Russia political party in Ukraine should therefore be dismissed.
The Justice Department argued that the claims "lack merit," and pointed to Rosenstein's December testimony before Congress that Mueller's investigation was being carried out within its set boundaries.
"The Special Counsel is properly operating within the scope of his authority, including with respect to Manafort's ongoing criminal prosecution," according to the DOJ attorneys in the brief.
Manafort now faces a 12-count indictment at the district court related to his foreign consulting work, including conspiracy against the U.S., tax evasion and money laundering.
the rich asshole threatens aid to countries that don’t stop drugs at the border
BY JOHN BOWDEN - 02/03/18 09:22 AM EST
President the rich asshole said Friday that he is considering ending foreign aid to countries that fail to stop illegal drugs from pouring across the border.
In remarks at a Customs and Border Protection roundtable on Friday, the president said that he wanted to see other countries doing more to fight the tide of deadly drugs.
"These countries are not our friends," the rich asshole told the room of gathered officials. "You know, we think they're our friends and we send them massive aid."
"I won't mention names right now, but I look at these countries, I look at the numbers we send them — we send them massive aid and they're pouring drugs into our country and they're laughing at us," the rich asshole continued. "So I'm not a believer in that. I want to stop the aid."
The president went on to argue that Mexico and Central American countries such as Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador would have a much easier time than the U.S. fighting drug smugglers and manufacturers.
"They're coming in — they're pouring in from other — El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, all over. They're just pouring into our country. And we've stopped it, but the laws make it very tough," the president said.
"I want to stop the aid. If they can't stop drugs from coming in — because they could stop them a lot easier than us. They say, 'Oh, we can't control it.' Oh great, we're supposed to control it," the rich asshole added.
The remarks come just days after the president called on the nation's law enforcement to become “much tougher on drug dealers and pushers” in his annual State of the Union address this week.
“My administration is committed to fighting the drug epidemic and helping get treatment for those in need, for those who have been so terribly hurt,” the rich asshole said.
Republicans open to releasing Democrats' countermemo
BY MAX GREENWOOD - 02/03/18 12:33 PM EST
Facing mounting political pressure, Republicans are signaling increasing openness to releasing a Democratic rebuttal to a controversial GOP memo made public Friday by the House Intelligence Committee.
Republican lawmakers said Friday evening and Saturday morning that they would be willing to consider releasing a memo by Intelligence Committee Democrats, which is still classified after the Republicans on the committee made public a four-page document alleging surveillance abuses by the FBI and Justice Department.
Some Republicans on the committee and Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) have signaled that they are open to making the Democratic rebuttal public.
But many have been steadfast in claiming that the Democratic memo would first need to be scoured to ensure that it does not divulge information that could endanger national security or intelligence gathering.
The memo released Friday, compiled by Republicans led by Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), accuses FBI and Justice Department officials of misusing their authority to obtain a secret surveillance warrant against Carter Page, a former the rich asshole campaign adviser.
Republicans had argued that releasing their document was necessary, because it shed light on what they say is bias among federal law enforcement officials, as well as the origins of the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
But intelligence committee Democrats have raised concerns about the memo's accuracy, and have accused their Republican counterparts of omitting key information in order to discredit the Russia investigation and protect President the rich asshole.
In turn, Democrats have pushed to release their own classified memofilling in what they see as important material omissions in the GOP document. They contend that by declining to release the Democratic response, Republicans are trying to tamp down a narrative that could throw their own into question.
"If it is scrubbed to ensure it does not reveal sources and methods of our intelligence gathering, the speaker supports the release of the Democrats' memo," AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for Ryan, said of the Democratic memo on Friday.
Nunes said Friday in an interview on Fox News that the committee would hold a vote on whether to release the Democratic response. But when that will happen is hard to pin down, he said, adding that the document would have to be reviewed before the committee could bring the matter to a vote.
"I've only read through it once. We're going to have to go through it and scrub it again," Nunes, who led the charge to release the GOP memo, said.
But Nunes also sought to pre-emptively cast doubt on the rebuttal. He accused Democrats of blatantly lying about whether a clandestine court was made aware of the political origins of an opposition research dossier that Republicans claim made up a key pillar of the FBI's case to surveil Page. That is reportedly one of the claims made in the Democrats' document.
Democrats say that the court was, in fact, told that funding for the dossier came from a political entity. Nunes, however, said that such information was never disclosed, and that the surveillance order would not have been issued if it was.
"These guys tell so many lies you can’t keep track of them," Nunes said, referring to Intelligence Committee Democrats. "If the court did know that, I think the judge would have to be considered very suspect, but I don’t think that happened at all."
The White House has also signaled an openness to declassifying the Democratic memo if it goes through the same vetting process that the Republican document was subjected to.
Raj Shah, a White House deputy press secretary, said on CNN Friday that the rich asshole "would be inclined" to OK the memo for release, so long as national security officials determine that it does not endanger intelligence sources and methods. The president has the authority to block or approve the release of classified information at the behest of Congress.
"We would be happy to review it once it's sent to us and once it goes through the House Intelligence Committee and the House of Representatives process," Shah said.
Even if Republicans move to hold a vote on whether to release the Democratic memo, it isn't clear if it would pass.
When House Intelligence Committee Republicans voted on Monday to release their document, they voted down a series of motions by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the panel's top Democrat, intended to ensure that the minority's rebuttal would be released as well.
They did, however, approve one motion allowing the Democratic memo to be made available to the entire House, as the committee had previously voted to do with the Republican memo.
Intelligence Republicans have said that they simply want the minority rebuttal to go through the same review process required of the Nunes memo.
Asked on PBS "NewsHour" if he would vote to release the Democratic memo, Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas) sided with many of his GOP colleagues. He said that he would support doing so, as long as any sensitive information was redacted.
"As long as it doesn't have direct revelations of existing, ongoing intelligence, which I think we can take out, but of course I would support that," he said.
Paul Ryan deletes tweet touting $1.50 pay hike after backlash
BY JULIA MANCHESTER - 02/03/18 07:32 PM EST
Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) deleted a tweet on Saturday, in which he said a woman's paycheck went up by $1.50 due to the Republican tax-reform plan.
Ryan included a link to an Associated Press story in the tweet that explained how the legislation has benefited workers and corporations.
"A secretary at a public high school in Lancaster, PA, said she was pleasantly surprised her pay went up $1.50 a week...she said [that] will cover her Costco membership for the year," Ryan tweeted.
The post immediately drew backlash from critics.
Did you tell her how much the paychecks of the 1% went up a week? Or that hers could have gone up a lot more if you had given them a lot less? #GOPTaxScam twitter.com/pryan/status/9…
Did you tell her how much the paychecks of the 1% went up a week? Or that hers could have gone up a lot more if you had given them a lot less? #GOPTaxScam twitter.com/pryan/status/9…
Wells Fargo, fresh off of defrauding millions of Americans, gets $3.4 billion. twitter.com/PRyan/status/9…
GOP leaders, including President the rich asshole, have touted the impact of the tax plan, which cuts the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent.
Ryan's Democratic counterpart House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi(California) drew backlash after said the bonuses companies are giving out following the tax law's passage are "crumbs."
the rich asshole compared Pelosi's comments to Hillary Clinton calling his supporters "deplorables" during the 2016 campaign, while Vice President Pence said “If you’re going to say that $1,000 is crumbs, you live in a different world than I’m living in,”
BUSTED: Carter Page bragged about Kremlin ties in 2013
Former the rich asshole campaign aide Carter Page (image via screengrab).
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The former the rich asshole campaign aide at the heart of the House GOP’s memo controversy reportedly bragged about his contacts within the Russian government in a 2013 letter.
As Time reported Saturday, former senior the rich asshole campaign policy adviser Carter Page told an academic press contact that he was an “informal adviser” to the Kremlin.
“Over the past half year, I have had the privilege to serve as an informal advisor to the staff of the Kremlin in preparation for their Presidency of the G-20 Summit next month, where energy issues will be a prominent point on the agenda,” he wrote in the letter, dated August 25, 2013.
Page’s admission in the letter, acquired by Time, disputes a key claim in House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes’ (R-CA) memo — that Page was unconstitutionally surveilled by the Justice Department and FBI. Republicans in favor of the memo argue that the controversial Fusion GPS dossier alleging ties between President some rich asshole and Russia was used as the primary factor in acquiring surveillance warrants for Page.
The memo itself, near the end, includes a note that a counterintelligence investigation was triggered not by Page, but by his fellow former campaign aide George Papadopoulos.
Fox News host shuts down GOP rep who wants to jail ‘treasonous’ DOJ officials named in Nunes memo
Fox News host Connell McShane (left) and Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ, right). Image via screengrab.
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After suggesting undocumented immigrants who attended President some rich asshole’s first State of the Union be arrested by ICE, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) claimed after the release of the House’s controversial memo that top Justice Department officials should be arrested for treason. His latest cry for punishment, however, was dismissed by a Fox News host on Saturday.
Gosar insisted that the memo, pushed by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) and touted by many Republicans, proves that the FBI and DOJ were “premeditated” in their “defiance of our law” when opening and renewing surveillance warrants against former senior the rich asshole campaign aide Carter Page.
“They have to be held accountable,” Gosar told host Connell McShane.
“There is something to ‘We don’t know what we don’t know,'” McShane said, citing the argument that without the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant for Page, the public and Congress can’t know with any certainty why the FBI chose to surveil him.
“Isn’t there a little bit of a cart before the horse here where we’re getting ahead of ourselves?” he asked.
McShane then cited a tweet by House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-SC), the only member of Congress to actually view the FISA warrant, who said on February 2 that he has “100 percent confidence” in special counsel Robert Mueller.
While this memo raises serious concerns with the FISA process, I have been and remain confident in the overwhelming majority of the men and women serving at the FBI and DOJ.
Watch below:
Sarah Sanders attacks journalist over North Korea report
Beatrice Dupuy
Posted with permission from Newsweek
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders fired back at a Wall Street Journal reporter who tweeted a story claiming that an official from the National Security Council said a strike on North Korea would be a smart political move to help with upcoming elections.
“Never happened,” she tweeted. “Can’t believe @WSJ reporter didn’t reach out for a comment before repeating such a reckless accusation.”
The tweet was in reference to a South Korean newspaper story that suggested that National Security Council’s senior director for Asian affairs, Matthew Pottinger, implied that the U.S. would strike for political gain.
“Pottinger is a Marine who served in two wars and doesn’t take military action lightly,” Sanders tweeted.
Jonathan Cheng, The Wall Street Journal’s Seoul bureau chief, has since deleted the controversial tweet citing the Hankyoreh newspaper.
The newspaper ran an opinion column on Friday that said: "Indeed, White House National Security Council senior director for Asian affairs Matthew Pottinger was reported as saying in a recent closed-door meeting with U.S. experts on Korean Peninsula issues that a limited strike on the North 'might help in the midterm elections,” according to the Business Insider.
Many on Twitter were quick to point out that Pottinger would never make such a comment. Georgetown University Professor Victor Cha tweeted that the comment was absurd.
“Matt Pottinger would never say that,” he tweeted. “Totally ridiculous.”
President Donald Trump has made several attacks against North Korea. In September, the president said in his address to the United Nations that he would “totally destroy” North Korea and called its leader, Kim Jong Un, a “rocket man.”
In January, reports surfaced claiming that the Trump administration was considering a “bloody nose” attack or a limited military strike on North Korea. The back-and-forth has led to widespread concern over the potential of nuclear war.
“Never happened,” she tweeted. “Can’t believe @WSJ reporter didn’t reach out for a comment before repeating such a reckless accusation.”
Never happened. Pottinger is a Marine who served in two wars and doesn’t take military action lightly. Can’t believe @WSJ reporter didn’t reach out for a comment before repeating such a reckless accusation. twitter.com/jchengwsj/stat…
The tweet was in reference to a South Korean newspaper story that suggested that National Security Council’s senior director for Asian affairs, Matthew Pottinger, implied that the U.S. would strike for political gain.
“Pottinger is a Marine who served in two wars and doesn’t take military action lightly,” Sanders tweeted.
Jonathan Cheng, The Wall Street Journal’s Seoul bureau chief, has since deleted the controversial tweet citing the Hankyoreh newspaper.
The newspaper ran an opinion column on Friday that said: "Indeed, White House National Security Council senior director for Asian affairs Matthew Pottinger was reported as saying in a recent closed-door meeting with U.S. experts on Korean Peninsula issues that a limited strike on the North 'might help in the midterm elections,” according to the Business Insider.
Many on Twitter were quick to point out that Pottinger would never make such a comment. Georgetown University Professor Victor Cha tweeted that the comment was absurd.
“Matt Pottinger would never say that,” he tweeted. “Totally ridiculous.”
Matt Pottinger would never say that. Totally ridiculous. twitter.com/annafifield/st…
President Donald Trump has made several attacks against North Korea. In September, the president said in his address to the United Nations that he would “totally destroy” North Korea and called its leader, Kim Jong Un, a “rocket man.”
In January, reports surfaced claiming that the Trump administration was considering a “bloody nose” attack or a limited military strike on North Korea. The back-and-forth has led to widespread concern over the potential of nuclear war.
Paul Ryan deletes tweet about meager pay raise after furious backlash
Beatrice Dupuy
Posted with permission from Newsweek
Social media users are blasting Speaker of the House Paul Ryan on Twitter after he boasted about the GOP tax bill by sharing a story of a Pennsylvania teacher seeing a pay increase of a little over a dollar a week.
“A secretary at a public high school in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, said she was pleasantly surprised her pay went up $1.50 a week she said [that] will more than cover her Costco membership for the year,” Ryan tweeted.
The post was from an excerpt of an Associated Press report about the tax bill “beginning to deliver bigger paychecks to workers.”
Ryan’s tweet was the latest show of Republicans patting themselves on the back for the tax bill, which slashed corporate taxes. Social media users were quick to criticize Ryan for his tweet. Many pointed out how little of an impact $1.50 would have on taxpayers.
“The man bragged that somebody’s pay went up $1.50....PER WEEK. Not per day, not per hour, PER WEEK,” Social justice advocate Shaun King said. “$78 per year. Not enough to cover half a power bill in most places.”
Many users took snapshots of Ryan’s tweet before he deleted. Twitter user Matt McDermott called out Ryan for the donations he receives compared to the $1.50 the secretary makes.
“Paul Ryan is patting himself on the back because one school teacher in Pennsylvania has an extra $1.50 to spend each week,” he tweeted. “Meanwhile, his billionaire donors are funneling hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money into their savings.”
After the tax bill passed, billionaire industrialist Charles Koch gave Ryan almost $500,000 in campaign contributions. Koch and his brother, David, had spent millions working on promoting the tax bill to get it passed, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Ahead of the bill’s passing, analysts warned that it would largely benefit wealthy Americans. Jefferey Snively, an aerospace engineer, told the Associated Press that he collected a 4 percent bump in his paycheck under the new tax rate. He said that he thinks that the bill will ultimately benefit corporations and the wealthy.
“I think the people this bill made the most difference for are the ones who needed it least,” he said.
“A secretary at a public high school in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, said she was pleasantly surprised her pay went up $1.50 a week she said [that] will more than cover her Costco membership for the year,” Ryan tweeted.
The post was from an excerpt of an Associated Press report about the tax bill “beginning to deliver bigger paychecks to workers.”
Ryan’s tweet was the latest show of Republicans patting themselves on the back for the tax bill, which slashed corporate taxes. Social media users were quick to criticize Ryan for his tweet. Many pointed out how little of an impact $1.50 would have on taxpayers.
“The man bragged that somebody’s pay went up $1.50....PER WEEK. Not per day, not per hour, PER WEEK,” Social justice advocate Shaun King said. “$78 per year. Not enough to cover half a power bill in most places.”
Many users took snapshots of Ryan’s tweet before he deleted. Twitter user Matt McDermott called out Ryan for the donations he receives compared to the $1.50 the secretary makes.
“Paul Ryan is patting himself on the back because one school teacher in Pennsylvania has an extra $1.50 to spend each week,” he tweeted. “Meanwhile, his billionaire donors are funneling hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money into their savings.”
Enjoy the crumbs, you plebeians. pic.twitter.com/mUeO4Jculx
The gall it takes for Paul Ryan to gleefully tweet about a school secretary getting $1.50, after he received $500,000 from one donor for passing the GOP tax scam. pic.twitter.com/2mQst5U7vy
After the tax bill passed, billionaire industrialist Charles Koch gave Ryan almost $500,000 in campaign contributions. Koch and his brother, David, had spent millions working on promoting the tax bill to get it passed, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Ahead of the bill’s passing, analysts warned that it would largely benefit wealthy Americans. Jefferey Snively, an aerospace engineer, told the Associated Press that he collected a 4 percent bump in his paycheck under the new tax rate. He said that he thinks that the bill will ultimately benefit corporations and the wealthy.
“I think the people this bill made the most difference for are the ones who needed it least,” he said.
Social media users slam Ryan for tweet on $1.50 pay hike
BY BRANDON CARTER - 02/03/18 01:40 PM EST
Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) was criticized Saturday on social media for citing a Pennsylvania woman whose paycheck went up by $1.50 a week as a success of the recently passed GOP tax-reform bill.
Ryan tweeted a link to an Associated Press report detailing how some workers have begun to see more take-home pay as the result of new withholding guidelines following the passage of the bill.
Ryan highlighted Ketchum’s story in a tweet Saturday that was later deleted.
Social media users and Democratic lawmakers fired back at Ryan over his tweet.
Did you tell her how much the paychecks of the 1% went up a week? Or that hers could have gone up a lot more if you had given them a lot less? #GOPTaxScam twitter.com/pryan/status/9…
As a thank you for passing a $1 trillion corporate tax cut, Paul Ryan received $500,000 in campaign contributions from the Koch brothers, which would probably cover the cost of buying a Costco. twitter.com/PRyan/status/9…
Wells Fargo, fresh off of defrauding millions of Americans, gets $3.4 billion. twitter.com/PRyan/status/9…
$1.50 a week for 52 weeks equals $78 per year, times 125 million workers that equals $9.75 billion a year.
Yet the tax cut costs $1.5 trillion — with a t — over ten years.
Where’d the money go? twitter.com/pryan/status/9…
Yet the tax cut costs $1.5 trillion — with a t — over ten years.
Where’d the money go? twitter.com/pryan/status/9…
This isn’t a typo? twitter.com/pryan/status/9…
Paul Ryan: A secretary is saving $1.50 a week from the tax bill.
Also Paul Ryan: These aren’t crumbs.
Also Paul Ryan: These aren’t crumbs.
so bad at playing human twitter.com/pryan/status/9…
“A Costco mention will please the poors,” thinks Ryan. “That is where they buy their huts, and the slurry that they eat” twitter.com/pryan/status/9…
You gave $1.5 TRILLION to the richest people on the planet, and you’re using an anecdote about someone making an extra 21 cents a day to argue it was good for the rest of us? Hahahahahaha twitter.com/pryan/status/9…
Republicans are proud of themselves for [checks notecard....adjusts glasses....squints] someone making .21 cents more a day? twitter.com/PRyan/status/9…
Earlier this week, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was criticized by Republicans, including President the rich asshole and Vice President Pence, when she referred to companies giving $1,000 bonuses after the tax bill as “crumbs.”
“If you’re going to say that $1,000 is crumbs, you live in a different world than I’m living in,” Pence said.
Republicans have hammered Pelosi for the comments and are looking to tie her remarks to Democratic candidates in the upcoming 2018 midterms.
Paul Ryan Gets TRASHED After Bragging That A Secretary Makes ‘$1.50 A Week’ More Thanks To GOP Tax Plan
You guys, the GOP tax bill rescued America and Paul Ryan took a break from deeply inhaling from a jar containing the rich asshole’s farts to tell us all about it!
“A secretary at a public high school in Lancaster, PA, said she was pleasantly surprised her pay went up $1.50 a week … she said [that] will more than cover her Costco membership for the year,” Ryan tweeted Saturday morning as he attempted to show that the GOP tax scam isn’t a scam.
A secretary at a public high school in Lancaster, PA, said she was pleasantly surprised her pay went up $1.50 a week ... she said [that] will more than cover her Costco membership for the year. twitter.com/APBusiness/sta…
But this luxurious Costco membership is just the tip of the iceberg.
“I have heard time and again that the middle class is getting crumbs, but I’ll take it!” Wayne Crumb told the Associated Press via email, adding that the extra $200 he received will “help offset a $300 increase” to his health insurance costs.
Another couple says they received $200 extra in their paychecks combined, which they apparently think will cover the cost of a new baby that is on the way.
Overall, middle-class Americans are expected to receive a whopping 1.6 percent increase to their take home pay according to the Tax Policy Center.
Meanwhile, corporations received a bunch of massive tax cuts that amount to a massive gift from some rich asshole to himself.
Fortunately, Americans in general aren’t stupid:
Comcast got $34 billion.
Remember, that thousand is Taxable income. So it wasn’t really 1000.
If she saves it well she will be able to buy a Starbucks latte every other month
Is this a fucking joke?
I mean, it must be a fucking joke that you're talking about $75/year when corporations are literally raking in BILLIONS from your #TaxScam and your PAC received $500,000 from the Kochs the DAY AFTER the House passed the bill.
In five years, her raise can afford one of Paul Ryan's casual dinner wine bottles. theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
Wow! So that is the middle class benefit of your #TaxScam : 1.5 extra dollar a week... Meanwhile the Koch Bros gave you 500 K as a reward for saving them 1 B on taxes. You r and your brainless supporters are pathetic !
$1.50 a week. Fess up. You’re an alien in a skin suit trying to learn about human emotion, aren’t you?
Observing celebratory reactions to these breadcrumbs Republicans accidentally left for average Americans in their massive gift to themselves and their donors allows one to fully assess the level of stupidity we’re dealing with here.
No reasonable person would celebrate pocket change they find on the ground. They pick it up, sure, but it’s not exactly life-changing.
‘Isn’t intel and Nunes an oxymoron?’: Democratic House member lays waste to Nunes in blistering dismantling of memo
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) -- MSNBC screenshot
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Appearing on MSNBC, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) had very little good to say about his House colleague, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), all but calling him stupid in an interview with host Alex Witt.
Asked about the House intel head, Cohen got the interview off to a rousing start by quipping, “Doesn’t it sound like an oxymoron to say ‘intel chair’ and ‘Nunes?'”
Host Witt didn’t take the bait, and instead asked about the Nunes memo and the possible firing of Assistant Attorney General Rod Rosenstein by President some rich asshole, asking, “Didn’t it sound like Rod Rosenstein’s job was safe?” in reference to the rich asshole’s morning comments.
“It’s not safe,” Cohen replied. “the rich asshole will do whatever he can to get away with what he’s done with the Russians. He knows what he did with the Russians during the campaign and he knows what the Russians have on him. That’s affecting our government and that’s why the sanctions were passed almost unanimously.”
“That’s why he hasn’t released his taxes,” he continued. “That’s why he loves Putin. We have a foreign entity, our most feared and reviled enemy, Russia, who despises the whole idea of democracy and free government and free press who has taken over and has an influence over our president, and that is harmful. It’s disgraceful, so to speak.”
Asked about the Nunes memo, Cohen trashed the GOP’s motives for making it public.
“It revealed sources and methods that never should have been released,” Cohen explained. “This wasn’t created to help the intelligence committee. It was created to be released, and it was created to be released without the Democratic memo to respond to it being released contemporaneously. This is simply a four-page, poorly drafted, shallow memo written for the purpose of creating a sideshow so we won’t talk with what the rich asshole has done with Russia, why he doesn’t want Mueller to go forward, why he doesn’t release his taxes and all the other things he’s done.”
Watch the video below via MSNBC:
the rich asshole claims he’s ‘vindicated’ by widely derided Nunes memo in rambling tweet about ‘Russian Witch Hunt’
U.S. President some rich asshole gestures as he walks on South Lawn of the White House in Washington, U.S., before his departure to the Customs and Border Protection National Targeting Center, February 2, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
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President some rich asshole broke his silence on the widely derided memo issued by Rep. Devin Nunes, saying on Twitter that he is “vindicated.”
Writing on the social media platform, the rich asshole stated, “This memo totally vindicates “the rich asshole” in probe. But the Russian Witch Hunt goes on and on. Their was no Collusion and there was no Obstruction (the word now used because, after one year of looking endlessly and finding NOTHING, collusion is dead). This is an American disgrace!”
You can see the tweet below:
Special assistant to Comey quits FBI with powerful message against GOP attacks
Josh Campbell, a former supervisory special agent and special assistant to former FBI director James Comey (via JoshCampbell.org)
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A former Supervisory Special Agent with the FBI who previously served as Special Assistant to former Director James Comey wrote a captivating New York Times column explaining why he was leaving the FBI in the wake of political attacks on the bureau.
“One of the greatest honors of my life was walking across the stage at the F.B.I. Academy and receiving my special agent badge from the director at the time, Robert Mueller,” Josh Campbell explained.
“After more than a decade of service, which included investigating terrorism, working to rescue kidnapping victims overseas and being special assistant to the director, I am reluctantly turning in my badge and leaving an organization I love,” Campbell explained. “Why? So I can join the growing chorus of people who believe that the relentless attacks on the bureau undermine not just America’s premier law enforcement agency but also the nation’s security.”
“My resignation is painful, but the alternative of remaining quiet while the bureau is tarnished for political gain is impossible,” he concluded.
Special Agent Josh Campbell will be missed at the FBI, but his voice is an important addition to the national conversation. @joshscampbell nytimes.com/2018/02/02/opi…
Campbell addressed the debate over whether defenders of the bureau should remain, or leave so that they can speak out.
“A small number of my current and retired colleagues have said that we should simply keep our heads down until the storm passes. I say this with the greatest respect: They are wrong,” he concluded. “If those who know the agency best remain silent, it will be defined by those with partisan agendas.”
“Political operatives are weaponizing their disagreement with a particular investigation in a bid to undermine the credibility of the entire institution,” he continued.
“These political attacks on the bureau must stop. If those critics of the agency persuade the public that the F.B.I. cannot be trusted, they will also have succeeded in making our nation less safe,” he claimed.
Efforts to defend against collusion will only lead to corrosion if partisans succeed in convincing the American people their FBI cannot be trusted. nyti.ms/2FEztBy
‘It’s going to be a war zone’: GOP worried about devastating losses in 2018 midterms
Paul Ryan (CBS News)
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Looking at recent losses in Virginia and Alabama, national Republican officials are fearful they are facing a bloodbath in the coming 2018 midterms due to candidates having to defend President some rich asshole in a landscape where the president is suffering terrible poll number after only one year in office.
According to one GOP strategist speaking with the New York Times, ‘It’s going to be a warzone.”
While Republicans have previously dominated at the state level, the Times notes that Democratic voters have been energized by what has transpired since the election of the rich asshole.
“National strategists in both parties see the landscape of legislative races expanding, especially in areas around major cities where President the rich asshole has stirred an insurrection among liberals, and college-educated voters and white women have recoiled from Republicans,” the Times reports.
According to Matt Walter, president of the Republican State Leadership Committee, Republicans are having to play defense in most states as he pointed out that Democratic turnout in recent special elections, are setting off “alarm bells” within the party.
“What we have seen in the special elections is a significant spike in the interest, engagement, spending and energy by the liberal Democrats and progressive movement,” Walter explained. “The spending is real. The organizational prowess is real. And the energy is real.”
Speaking with the Times, Democrat Helen Tai, who is running in a May special election for the Pennsylvania State House prompted by a Republican’s resignation, said she can’t wait for the election day.
“I wish it was a presidential year,” she explain. “People want to vote. They can’t wait to vote.”
You can read the whole report here
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