Fox News ratings plummet as evidence of the rich asshole’s scandals piles up
By
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March 8, 2018a
Sean Hannity's audience shrinks as the rich asshole is hit with deluge of bad news.
Fox News hates to play defense because they know it makes for crummy ratings.
But the right-wing network has definitely been caught in a defensive posture in recent weeks as a mountain of new evidence has poured in from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe — at the same time that the White House is tripping over itself trying to explain hush-money payments that the rich asshole’s lawyer made to a porn star.
Then, right in the middle of all of this, the same administration unveiled plans to impose radical tariffs that even Republican members oppose.
For Fox News, this adds up to falling ratings — especially primetime ratings, where Sean Hannity has been caught losing badly to MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow in the 9 p.m. time slot.
In fact, Maddow this month has posted some of the biggest ratings of her career as she continues to methodically break down the Russia story. Meanwhile, Hannity’s ratings have dropped during the same time period.
Last month, Hannity averaged 3.3 million viewers each night. But recently, he’s lost nearly 400,000 viewers, averaging 2.9 viewers between the nights of February 27 through March 5.
By contrast, Maddow is now attracting 3.2 million each weeknight.
Previously, Maddow had been able, periodically, to top Hannity among viewers 25-54. But now her program outdraws Hannity among viewers of all ages. That represents a huge setback for the Fox News host.
On the night of March 2, Maddow had the top-rated program on all of cable television, not just cable news.
But it’s not just Maddow’s show that is surging — it’s up and down the MSNBC lineup:
The "failing" MSNBC: @NicolleDWallace beats Cavuto, Chris Matthews wins 7pm, @Maddow destroys @seanhannity, and @Lawrence trounces Ingraham. Total viewers and in-demo.adweek.com/tvnewser/score…
The encroaching Russia storyline seems to be problematic for Fox News.
For most of the winter, Fox pundits tried to counter that mega-story by sponsoring a GOP-led witch hunt against the FBI. Hysterically implying that there’s some kind of vast left-wing conspiracy fueling law enforcement in America, Fox News for months echoed every wild charge lobbed at the FBI by Republicans.
But none of the unhinged allegations have come to fruition. Not a single one. So while Fox News still presses those buttons, the energy and passion is missing — and viewers seem to be noticing.
As for the unfolding Stormy Daniels hush-money saga, Fox News has done its best to minimize the embarrassing the rich asshole story.
On the night that news broke about Daniels’ lawsuit, the only person who mentioned her name on Hannity’s show was a Democratic guest — and the host quickly changed the topic. That same night, host Laura Ingrahm suggested the Daniels story of hush-money payments represented a distraction from other, more important issues.
Fox hosts seem completely lost on the Daniels story because there are no Democrats or liberals to blame for the rich asshole cheating on his wife with a porn actress and then having his lawyer pay the woman to stay quiet.
These days, it’s hard for Fox News to play offense. And it shows in the ratings.
the rich asshole lawyer Michael Cohen scores deal for tell-all book on first family, Stormy Daniels and Russia: the rich asshole biographer
President some rich asshole's longtime personal attorney Michael Cohen (Screen capture)
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Former biographer of President some rich asshole, Michael D’Antonio, revealed on CNN Thursday during a panel discussion that attorney Michael Cohen received a deal for his proposed book about his life and experience.
Cohen reportedly gave Stormy Daniels $130,000 in alleged hush-money, but according to D’Antonio, the rich asshole lawyer will be receiving at least $500,000 for his book.
The Daily Beast reported in February that Cohen was shopping a book idea around that talked about the rich asshole family, Stormy Daniels, and Russia. The book will likely be titled the rich asshole Revolution: From The Tower to The White House, Understanding some rich asshole.
“No issue was too big, too sticky or too oddball for me to tackle,” Cohen wrote in the proposal sent to publishers. “I saw it all, handled it all. And still do.”
Watch D’Antonio’s breaking news below:
the rich asshole must make known ‘deadly’ changes to US drone policy: NGOs
Creede Newton
Posted with permission from Al Jazeera
A group of nongovernmental organisations called on the Trump administration to clarify its policy on drone use, saying they are concerned about reported changes to US rules and a lack of transparency in the decision-making process."We are deeply concerned that the reported new policy, combined with this administration's reported dramatic increase in lethal operations in Yemen and Somalia, will add to an increase in unlawful killings and in civilian casualties," a joint statement said.
The organisations include Amnesty International, the US-based Center for Constitutional Rights, Human Rights Watch, the ACLU and others.
President Donald Trump signed the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act in December. The act funds the US military but also requires Trump to make known to Congress any changes to previous drone policies by March 12.
The statement detailed alleged changes in policy, which are reported to have been made to Obama-era guidelines but have not been confirmed by the current government.
The Trump administration, embroiled in scandals and resignations, has not signalled it will make changes to drone policy known.
Furthermore, the relaxations "increase the risk that more civilians will lose their lives or livelihoods with very little recourse to pursue any meaningful remedy", Mahanty said.
According to Airwars - a watchdog group that tracks "airpower-dominated international military actions" - there was a nearly 50-percent increase in drone strikes in Iraq and Syria, while civilian deaths rose roughly 215 percent from 2016 to 2017.
In Somalia, where American drones are active, the US killed more than 200 people in 2017, according to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.
The US' latest drone strike took place in Yemen on Tuesday. The attack killed four people said to be linked to al-Qaeda in Hadramout province, China's Xinhua news agency reported.
While watchdog groups try to keep track of drone attacks, it is often difficult to confirm circumstances or death tolls in war-torn areas.
US armed forces and intelligence services have been accused of hiding details and doctoring numbers to make drone strikes appear more accurate.
Former CIA director John Brennan said in June 2011 "there hasn't been a single collateral death" in Pakistan for more than a year. The claim was widely disputed.
Drone policy, including who and where the president can kill, "should not remain hidden in the shadows", said Gibson.
The organisations include Amnesty International, the US-based Center for Constitutional Rights, Human Rights Watch, the ACLU and others.
President Donald Trump signed the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act in December. The act funds the US military but also requires Trump to make known to Congress any changes to previous drone policies by March 12.
The statement detailed alleged changes in policy, which are reported to have been made to Obama-era guidelines but have not been confirmed by the current government.
The Trump administration, embroiled in scandals and resignations, has not signalled it will make changes to drone policy known.
Concerning relaxations
The reported changes include a relaxing of the "imminent threat requirement", which means the US may select targets outside of armed conflict, the standard of requiring "near certainty" that the target is present, and an increased role for the CIA.Daniel Mahanty, director of the US programme for the Center for Civilians in Conflict, told Al Jazeera these "changes, and the fact that the administration refuses to make them public, should concern Americans and the many countries upon which the US depends for cooperation and support".Furthermore, the relaxations "increase the risk that more civilians will lose their lives or livelihoods with very little recourse to pursue any meaningful remedy", Mahanty said.
According to Airwars - a watchdog group that tracks "airpower-dominated international military actions" - there was a nearly 50-percent increase in drone strikes in Iraq and Syria, while civilian deaths rose roughly 215 percent from 2016 to 2017.
In Somalia, where American drones are active, the US killed more than 200 people in 2017, according to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.
The US' latest drone strike took place in Yemen on Tuesday. The attack killed four people said to be linked to al-Qaeda in Hadramout province, China's Xinhua news agency reported.
Targeting Yemen
{articleGUID} Yemen has been the epicentre for US drone raids since the Obama administration. Trump has continued that policy, rights group say."Last year alone, President Trump carried out more than three times as many strikes in Yemen as Obama, and authorised two raids that killed almost a dozen children and a Navy SEAL," Jennifer Gibson, head of the assassinations programme at Reprieve - one of the signatories of the joint statement, told Al Jazeera.While watchdog groups try to keep track of drone attacks, it is often difficult to confirm circumstances or death tolls in war-torn areas.
US armed forces and intelligence services have been accused of hiding details and doctoring numbers to make drone strikes appear more accurate.
Former CIA director John Brennan said in June 2011 "there hasn't been a single collateral death" in Pakistan for more than a year. The claim was widely disputed.
Drone policy, including who and where the president can kill, "should not remain hidden in the shadows", said Gibson.
By
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March 8, 2018
Samantha Vinograd made it clear the rich asshole is not going to have an easy time of talking to the North Koreans.
the rich asshole has accepted an invitation to meet with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. But serious doubts linger that anything good will come from such a meeting — a concern that former Obama administration official Samantha Vinograd made clear on CNN Thursday night.
“We would spend months preparing for the most basic meetings President Obama used to have,” Vinograd told CNN’s Erin Burnett. “Talk to your intelligence community. Talk to your diplomats. There is no way that President the rich asshole can be ready by May to have a high-stakes negotiation on denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula. It’s just impossible.”
“So we’re looking at a scenario now where the president, perhaps because he wants a PR opportunity, perhaps because he’s desperate to do a deal, is going to be rushing into a nuclear negotiation, and guess what? You can’t wing it.”
Furthermore, Vinograd noted, the problem is not just that the rich asshole is going to be unprepared — it’s that his counterpart will be prepared.
“Kim Jong Un is going to be fully prepared,” she warned. “I think he’s playing to the president’s ego and the president’s weaknesses, by flattering him and by inviting him to Pyongyang … he’s going to be going in unprepared, and he’s going to be giving to Kim what Kim wants, which is a positive photo op.”
If anyone hopes that the rich asshole will enter these negotiations prepared, consider how ill-prepared he was for just the announcement that he had agreed to these talks.
the rich asshole did not inform or seek counsel of any major White House officials up until the moment he made the announcement — not even Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
Nor did the rich asshole prepare a statement on the development until after the South Korean National Security Adviser had made the announcement on the White House lawn — an announcement, incidentally, that the rich asshole ought to have made himself.
It is certainly preferable for the rich asshole to want to go into talks with a rogue state than to mock its leader as “Little Rocket Man” on Twitter. However, he needs to know what he’s doing to act in the best interest of our country — and every sign so far indicates he does not.
First immigration, then guns, now tariffs: Policy ADHD defines the rich asshole’s White House
Christi Parsons
Tribune Washington Bureau
Posted with permission from Tribune Content Agency
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump's daily public schedule had been emailed later than usual the evening before, near 11 p.m., yet by Thursday morning it had already been upended. The update arrived before breakfast, straight from the president's Twitter account to his millions of followers.
"Looking forward to 3:30 P.M. meeting today at the White House," Trump wrote — to impose the tariffs on steel and aluminum imports that most Republicans, his top advisers, many foreign allies and numerous American companies had implored him to reconsider. Aides scrambled to add the event — forced not for the first time, or even the first time this month, to react to the policy chaos the president increasingly seems to revel in.
Later, in rambling remarks to reporters before a morning Cabinet meeting, the president touched on no less than 15 different issues that he said he is working on. "A lot of great things are being done," Trump said. "A lot of things are happening right now, as we speak."
Many things are not getting done, however, and largely because of the president's penchant for changing his mind, thinking aloud and then moving on to something else. Every White House juggles a multitude of issues and problems. What sets Trump's White House apart is how much seems to happen on the fly, driven by a president who calls the shots with proud disregard for policy ramifications and process.
The result is confusion. "Each day is a new episode in the reality TV show," said historian Allan Lichtman, a professor at American University. "It's frightening how quickly he turns to the next thing."
Trump's tumultuous first year as president was salvaged when the Republican-controlled Congress sent him a massive tax cuts bill to sign in December. That had Republican allies hoping for a more disciplined, productive alliance for the year ahead.
The tariffs debate of March began with the president's unexpected announcement last week of imminent levies on steel and aluminum — a statement that took even most advisers by surprise, and provoked Trump's chief economic adviser, Gary Cohn, to announce his resignation this week.
Set aside was the previous debate over the president's vacillations on policies addressing gun violence and school safety, the topic that consumed much of February after the massacre of 14 students and three educators at a Parkland, Fla., high school. And that debate followed the still-unresolved fight that began the year — over Trump's push to replace the Obama-era program protecting from deportation hundreds of thousands of young immigrants, the so-called "Dreamers," who were brought to the country illegally as children.
All but forgotten has been a fourth issue that Trump had called a top priority for 2018: an infrastructure plan to spur the economy by fixing the nation's crumbling roads, bridges, waterways, airports, sewers, levees and more. He has said little about it, and unenthusiastic Republican leaders in Congress suggest they will not act on the matter this year.
Aside from the tariffs, which Trump had authority to impose without Congress, each of those issues he has called priorities now languishes. Lawmakers express confusion over just what he wants to do, and he turns his attention elsewhere. Although the president said at the Cabinet meeting that bills to strengthen background checks for some gun purchasers "are moving along in Congress," in fact the House and Senate have made little progress.
On Thursday, Trump returned briefly to the subject of how to respond to mass shootings such as the killings in Parkland, by hosting a closed-door roundtable on violent video games and whether those are a factor in motivating mass shooters. Critics complained that, by turning his attention to video games, Trump was distracting from proposals to limit guns such as the AR-15 assault rifle used in the Florida massacre and past shootings.
A day earlier, the president likewise was back on the subject of immigration and Dreamers, briefly, but only to blame Democrats for the legislative impasse in a speech to a conservative Latino business group.
Long before his political career, Trump disclosed his love of chaos in his 1987 book, "The Art of the Deal."
"I keep a lot of balls in the air," he wrote, "because most deals fall out."
His friends defend the president, and point to the legal troubles that vex him. Eric Bolling, a friend who talks to Trump regularly, said it is hard to move forward when dealing with the "constant overhang" of a special counsel's inquiry, which is investigating the Trump campaign's possible coordination with Russia's interference in the 2016 election.
"Lawyers chew up so much of your valuable time, especially when they're talking to every person," Bolling said. "I'm surprised he has gotten this much accomplished."
Lately, Trump has also been dogged by allegations from an adult-film star, Stormy Daniels, who says she had an affair with Trump. She was paid $130,000 by Trump's lawyer to remain silent before the 2016 election. She reportedly is preparing to speak publicly about the matter soon.
Also exacerbating Trump's ability to make and push policies that advance his agenda, or respond to unexpected crises, is the unusually high turnover in his White House and the administration more broadly, and the vacancies that remain in many essential offices, including ambassadorships.
Trump often has refused to appoint people who spoke out against him during the campaign, leaving a large pool of experienced Republicans and policy experts on the sidelines. Now, more than a year into his presidency, the perceived dysfunction and Trump's record of publicly humiliating top advisers has made some potential recruits unwilling to enter his administration.
Trump nonetheless lauded his practice of pitting advisers against each other at an appearance this week alongside Sweden's prime minister.
"I like conflict. I like having two people with different points of view, and I certainly have that," he said. "And then I make a decision. But I like watching it, I like seeing it, and I think it's the best way to go."
Even some critics say Trump could be knocking items off his to-do list if he would just focus and show discipline. The tariff plan is a prime example, said Senate Democratic leader Charles E. Schumer of New York.
"The president's proposal does more harm to Europe and other allies like Canada than it does to China," Schumer said. "That's what's wrong with it. It's so typical of this White House. Even when they have a good idea, they mess it up because they don't think it through.
"The haphazard way these tariffs were put together has caused policy to miss the mark," said Schumer.
Lichtman, the history professor, suggested that the apparent haphazardness is actually part of Trump's plan.
"The one thing Trump is good at is distraction and deflection," he said. "He'll talk about difficult things, but then he'll move on to something else and the conversation will turn to that.
"Whatever happened to his pledge that 'I'm going to challenge the NRA'?" Lichtman said, referring to Trump's recent comments about the National Rifle Association.
"He moved on," blaming school shootings on mental health issues and violent video games, he said. "That's why absolutely nothing is going to come from this school shooting."
Bolling disagreed. A former Fox News host, he became friends with Trump after Bolling's adult son died of an opioid overdose last year. The president called him to offer condolences, and continues to call on a regular basis to check in and talk things over.
"He's been amazingly empathetic and compassionate," Bolling said. "I know he cares about the issue. And I know he will try his best to get something done."
———
(Los Angeles Times staff writer Cathleen Decker contributed to this report.)
"Looking forward to 3:30 P.M. meeting today at the White House," Trump wrote — to impose the tariffs on steel and aluminum imports that most Republicans, his top advisers, many foreign allies and numerous American companies had implored him to reconsider. Aides scrambled to add the event — forced not for the first time, or even the first time this month, to react to the policy chaos the president increasingly seems to revel in.
Later, in rambling remarks to reporters before a morning Cabinet meeting, the president touched on no less than 15 different issues that he said he is working on. "A lot of great things are being done," Trump said. "A lot of things are happening right now, as we speak."
Many things are not getting done, however, and largely because of the president's penchant for changing his mind, thinking aloud and then moving on to something else. Every White House juggles a multitude of issues and problems. What sets Trump's White House apart is how much seems to happen on the fly, driven by a president who calls the shots with proud disregard for policy ramifications and process.
The result is confusion. "Each day is a new episode in the reality TV show," said historian Allan Lichtman, a professor at American University. "It's frightening how quickly he turns to the next thing."
Trump's tumultuous first year as president was salvaged when the Republican-controlled Congress sent him a massive tax cuts bill to sign in December. That had Republican allies hoping for a more disciplined, productive alliance for the year ahead.
The tariffs debate of March began with the president's unexpected announcement last week of imminent levies on steel and aluminum — a statement that took even most advisers by surprise, and provoked Trump's chief economic adviser, Gary Cohn, to announce his resignation this week.
Set aside was the previous debate over the president's vacillations on policies addressing gun violence and school safety, the topic that consumed much of February after the massacre of 14 students and three educators at a Parkland, Fla., high school. And that debate followed the still-unresolved fight that began the year — over Trump's push to replace the Obama-era program protecting from deportation hundreds of thousands of young immigrants, the so-called "Dreamers," who were brought to the country illegally as children.
All but forgotten has been a fourth issue that Trump had called a top priority for 2018: an infrastructure plan to spur the economy by fixing the nation's crumbling roads, bridges, waterways, airports, sewers, levees and more. He has said little about it, and unenthusiastic Republican leaders in Congress suggest they will not act on the matter this year.
Aside from the tariffs, which Trump had authority to impose without Congress, each of those issues he has called priorities now languishes. Lawmakers express confusion over just what he wants to do, and he turns his attention elsewhere. Although the president said at the Cabinet meeting that bills to strengthen background checks for some gun purchasers "are moving along in Congress," in fact the House and Senate have made little progress.
On Thursday, Trump returned briefly to the subject of how to respond to mass shootings such as the killings in Parkland, by hosting a closed-door roundtable on violent video games and whether those are a factor in motivating mass shooters. Critics complained that, by turning his attention to video games, Trump was distracting from proposals to limit guns such as the AR-15 assault rifle used in the Florida massacre and past shootings.
A day earlier, the president likewise was back on the subject of immigration and Dreamers, briefly, but only to blame Democrats for the legislative impasse in a speech to a conservative Latino business group.
Long before his political career, Trump disclosed his love of chaos in his 1987 book, "The Art of the Deal."
"I keep a lot of balls in the air," he wrote, "because most deals fall out."
His friends defend the president, and point to the legal troubles that vex him. Eric Bolling, a friend who talks to Trump regularly, said it is hard to move forward when dealing with the "constant overhang" of a special counsel's inquiry, which is investigating the Trump campaign's possible coordination with Russia's interference in the 2016 election.
"Lawyers chew up so much of your valuable time, especially when they're talking to every person," Bolling said. "I'm surprised he has gotten this much accomplished."
Lately, Trump has also been dogged by allegations from an adult-film star, Stormy Daniels, who says she had an affair with Trump. She was paid $130,000 by Trump's lawyer to remain silent before the 2016 election. She reportedly is preparing to speak publicly about the matter soon.
Also exacerbating Trump's ability to make and push policies that advance his agenda, or respond to unexpected crises, is the unusually high turnover in his White House and the administration more broadly, and the vacancies that remain in many essential offices, including ambassadorships.
Trump often has refused to appoint people who spoke out against him during the campaign, leaving a large pool of experienced Republicans and policy experts on the sidelines. Now, more than a year into his presidency, the perceived dysfunction and Trump's record of publicly humiliating top advisers has made some potential recruits unwilling to enter his administration.
Trump nonetheless lauded his practice of pitting advisers against each other at an appearance this week alongside Sweden's prime minister.
"I like conflict. I like having two people with different points of view, and I certainly have that," he said. "And then I make a decision. But I like watching it, I like seeing it, and I think it's the best way to go."
Even some critics say Trump could be knocking items off his to-do list if he would just focus and show discipline. The tariff plan is a prime example, said Senate Democratic leader Charles E. Schumer of New York.
"The president's proposal does more harm to Europe and other allies like Canada than it does to China," Schumer said. "That's what's wrong with it. It's so typical of this White House. Even when they have a good idea, they mess it up because they don't think it through.
"The haphazard way these tariffs were put together has caused policy to miss the mark," said Schumer.
Lichtman, the history professor, suggested that the apparent haphazardness is actually part of Trump's plan.
"The one thing Trump is good at is distraction and deflection," he said. "He'll talk about difficult things, but then he'll move on to something else and the conversation will turn to that.
"Whatever happened to his pledge that 'I'm going to challenge the NRA'?" Lichtman said, referring to Trump's recent comments about the National Rifle Association.
"He moved on," blaming school shootings on mental health issues and violent video games, he said. "That's why absolutely nothing is going to come from this school shooting."
Bolling disagreed. A former Fox News host, he became friends with Trump after Bolling's adult son died of an opioid overdose last year. The president called him to offer condolences, and continues to call on a regular basis to check in and talk things over.
"He's been amazingly empathetic and compassionate," Bolling said. "I know he cares about the issue. And I know he will try his best to get something done."
———
(Los Angeles Times staff writer Cathleen Decker contributed to this report.)
the rich asshole’s favorite pastor says ‘thou shalt not have sex with a porn star’ — but doesn’t care if the president did
Pastor Robert Jeffress (left) and President some rich asshole (right). Image via Jeffress' Twitter.
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One of some rich asshole’s faith advisers admitted on-air that the president’s alleged affair with adult film actress Stormy Daniels is “totally irrelevant” despite it being personally abhorrent to his beliefs.
“Evangelicals still believe in the commandment: thou shalt not have sex with a porn star,” Pastor Robert Jeffress said on Fox News Thursday evening. “However, whether this president violated that commandment or not is totally irrelevant to our support of him.”
Jeffress was countered by Fox News host Juan Williams, who argued that the story remains significant due to the rich asshole’s mounting legal issues related to the reported $130,000 “hush agreement” settlement paid out to Daniels a few weeks before the 2016 presidential election.
“A blue dress was not enough to turn you into a red Republican,” Jeffress shot back at the network’s liberal analyst, “and I believe anything Stormy Daniels has said will not be enough to turn red Republicans into blue Democrats. This is about the policies and issues.”
“Pastor, you cannot sell your integrity, your Christian values and say ‘oh because President the rich asshole is anti-abortion I’ll support him no matter what,'” Williams countered. “What happened to the principles? What happened to your love of people of character?”
“We are supporting him because of the principles that he stands for, not because of personal behavior,” the pro-the rich asshole pastor said.
“I‘m his friend,” Jeffress concluded later in the segment. I will never walk away.”
Watch below, via Fox News:
CNN’s Joan Walsh and Erin Burnett own the rich asshole supporter for claiming the Stormy Daniels scandal doesn’t matter
Joan Walsh, Erin Burnett and Steve Cortes (Photo: Screen capture)
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In a panel discussion with CNN’s Erin Burnett and progressive commentator Joan Walsh, conservative Steve Cortes went down in flames trying to dismiss the Stormy Daniels scandal.
Cortes told the host that Daniels has proven to be a liar and has made contradictory statements. Thus, it’s obvious that whatever she has to say is pointless. Slut-shaming Daniels, Cortes argued that he would always take the word of the president over someone involved in pornography. Even if she is speaking the truth, however, Cortes argued that none of the rich asshole’s supporters ever thought he was Mother Theresa.
“Certainly, if the president was aware of a payment made to her to help her silence in the election, that would be a crime and quite significant, I would argue,” Burnett said.
The national correspondent for The Nation argued that what the rich asshole voters believe or want doesn’t matter.
“The law is paramount, Steve. And don’t ride Erin for not paying attention to the South Korea/North Korea break through,” Walsh said. “She just spent 54 minutes on it. If a crime is committed it’s going to matter, whether it matters to the rich asshole voters or not. I am also fascinated by the fact that Jessica Drake shows up here. She can corroborate some of the Stormy Daniels story. Conceivably, can Stormy Daniels or Stephanie Clifford, her real name, can she corroborate Jessica Drake’s claims of President the rich asshole’s unwanted kissing, groping. It’s all very relevant. It’s all getting very interesting, whether Steve wants to see it.”
That’s when Burnett let him have it.
“First, this is an important story, period. Secondly, we spent almost 40 minutes talking about Korea on this show,” Burnett said. “Thirdly, the White House pulled Peter Navarro, who was supposed to come on and give us a 10-minute interview about tariffs. So, perhaps you, if you were working at the White House wouldn’t have made such a poor decision, but that’s what they did. OK? So, let’s just be clear here. They don’t want to talk about the substance of things like tariffs, so they pulled him off the show.”
Cortes tried to say he would love to talk about the tariffs, but Burnett noted he doesn’t work for the White House or speak for the White House, while Navarro does.
“And on the point here about Stormy Daniels, we are learning President the rich asshole is upset with his press secretary, after she acknowledged his involvement in the arbitration with her,” Burnett continued. “Obviously, that is significant too. His press secretary, Steve is, one could argue at this point the most loyal person in the White House to this president. And he’s mad at her about Stormy Daniels.”
Cortes tried to argue that it shouldn’t matter what the rich asshole has done as a private citizen just like any other Hollywood celebrity.
Burnett cut in to say that what the rich asshole may have done violated the law, and that’s where it becomes part of the public conversation.
“No one cares about Stormy Daniels,” Walsh said. “At least it seems it was a consensual relationship while some women allege he had a nonconsensual relationship. So, we’re adults. Don’t care about porn star. Don’t care about coverups, do care about crime.”
Cortes tried to argue everyone knew about the allegations of sexual misconduct but Burnett cut in to ask if Cortes cares about the rich asshole violating the law. Cortes said that he did and Burnett explained that it means he does, in fact, care about Stormy Daniels.
“I don’t care about Stormy Daniels,” Cortes said.
“That’s the person who received $130,000 from the president’s personal attorney days before the election,” Burnett explained.
“I don’t care what a porn star who has been shown already incredibly on the public record to be a liar several times. I really don’t care what she says,” Cortes shot back.
“First of all, I’m not talking about what she says, and I’m not going to say which of them is more credible,” Burnett said. “I’m simply going to say she got $130,000 from Michael Cohen. Who cares about what she says? The point is, if that was a payoff, from a presidential election, it can be a violation of federal election crime. You either think that’s a story or you don’t.”
All Cortes could say is he’s not a lawyer.
Watch the smackdown below:
the rich asshole rattles pipeline industry by going rogue with steel imports tariff
Short-lived support for local control of fracking also unnerved the industry during the rich asshole's presidential run.
Immediately after taking office, President the rich asshole rewarded the pipeline industry for its support of his presidential run by clearing the way for the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline and the Dakota Access Pipeline. These early presidential actions were followed by countless agency actions in favor of fossil fuel extraction.
But every relationship, even one as seemingly perfect as the rich asshole’s alliance with the fossil fuel industry, has its rocky moments. The era of good feelings hit a bump this week when the rich asshole on Thursday imposed a 25 percent tariff on imported steel.
The industry quickly expressed displeasure when the proposal was first announced. Pipeline companies and their trade groups, however, did not offer any immediate reactions to the import tariff when it was officially announced on Thursday.
Prior to Thursday’s announcement, oil and gas industry associations asked the rich asshole, if he goes through with the tariffs, to allow exemptions when steel products are needed for energy transportation, production, and refining.
“We fear that broad tariffs on the specialty steels used by our industry would cause future projects to be delayed or canceled, thus threatening America’s energy dominance and risking higher prices for families at the gas pump, natural gas ratepayers, and energy-consuming employers nationwide,” the groups wrote in a letter delivered to the rich asshole on Wednesday.
Another trade group, the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA), sent a letter to the White House on Thursday arguing that pipeline and well steel should not fall under the tariff provisions. “American oil and natural gas extraction hinges on the availability of steel — particularly the steel needed for well construction, for surface management and for pipelines to gather and move its production,” IPAA President and CEO Barry Russell wrote in the letter.
As part of the tariff changes, the administration reportedly will allow the oil and gas industry to apply for certain products to be exempt from the tariff if they are not met by domestic production. The Department of Commerce will manage the applications for individual exemptions on a case-by-case basis.
This isn’t the first time the rich asshole has taken action or made comments that raised eyebrows in the oil and gas industry. On the campaign trail, the rich asshole said he supported local control over fracking and that communities should be allowed to ban the drilling practice. The statement put him at odds with industry groups, who believe the practice is safe and should be permitted nationwide.
Less than a month after he made the statement about fracking, Harold Hamm, billionaire owner of Continental Resources and the rich asshole’s top energy adviser, said he believed the then-presidential candidate no longer supported local and state fracking bans.
Oil and gas industry groups had hoped the rich asshole also would backtrack on his plan to impose tariffs on steel imports. In their letter to the president ahead of Thursday’s announcement, the industry groups — the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, Association of Oil Pipe Lines, Texas Pipeline Association, Natural Gas Supply Association, and the Center for LNG — explained that pipeline-grade steel is a high-cost product in a niche market in which few domestic manufacturers still operate.
“In fact, for certain pipeline steel products, there is zero domestic availability today. Applying steel tariffs to transmission pipelines, oil country tubular goods, and other parts of oil and gas production and transportation cannot be the best way to help,” the groups said.
Most of the domestic pipeline steel is made at a factory in Arkansas. Other pipeline steel is imported from Canada, India, and Italy.
The cost of a pipeline can be $2 million to $6 million a mile, depending on the terrain, according to Colton Bean, director of equity research at Tudor, Pickering, Holt and Co. According to a CNBC report, Bean estimates pipeline construction costs could rise 3 to 5 percent if the tariffs are imposed. Bean said the pipelines under construction now already have acquired steel, while pipelines scheduled for construction after 2020 could see cost hikes if the tariff is imposed.
In evaluating the effects of steel tariffs on pipeline construction, S&P Global Platts Analytics estimated that approximately 56 percent of oil and gas pipeline demand was met by foreign imports in 2017.
On Wednesday, more than 100 Republican members of the House of Representatives sent a letter to the president expressing concern about his proposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. If the rich asshole does impose the tariffs — as he now has — the Republicans insisted existing contracts to purchase steel or aluminum “should be grandfathered to allow duty-free imports and avoid disrupting the operation and finances of projects that are already budgeted and underway.”
the rich asshole held a ceremony at the White House on Thursday where he announced tariffs on both steel and aluminum imports would go into effect in 15 days. The president’s proclamation included a clause that exempted the tariffs from immediately taking effect on imports from Canada and Mexico.
Other nations also will be allowed to seek tariff exemptions in exchange for fairer trade with the United States, according to the administration. For countries that do not win exemptions, steel imports will be taxed at 25 percent and aluminum imports at 10 percent. If Mexico and Canada win permanent exemptions, tariffs on imports from other nations may have to be increased beyond 25 percent.
“The American steel industry has been decimated during the past decades by steel imported into our country at lower prices than domestic manufacturers can sustain,” the White House said in a fact sheet released Thursday.
Earlier this week, the steel tariffs were also brought up at the CERAWeek energy conference currently taking place in Houston. The head of Plains All American Pipeline warned that steel tariffs such as those proposed by the rich asshole could hurt pipeline construction in the United States. Company CEO Greg Armstrong told the conference that certain types and sizes of steel pipe are only available outside the United States. “We got about $1.5 billion of projects underway that use quite a bit of steel,” Armstrong said.
Plains All American has a history of pipeline accidents. Since 2004, the company’s pipelines have spilled more than a dozen times, releasing nearly 2 million gallons of hazardous liquid. In 2015, for example, a pipeline owned by Plains All American ruptured, causing more than 100,000 gallons of heavy crude oil to spill into the Pacific Ocean along the coast of Santa Barbara County, California.
Sen. Daniel Sullivan (R-AK) meanwhile told the CERAWeek audience that he disagrees with the rich asshole’s proposed steel tariffs, explaining they would raise costs for the energy sector. In a trade war, Sullivan said he worries other countries would harm Alaska by placing tariffs on seafood and energy supplies.
Also at the conference, Energy Secretary Rick Perry said he wasn’t sure if a 25-percent tariff on steel imports was the rich asshole’s final decision. “I’m not sure he has made up his mind” on the tariffs, Perry said on the sidelines of the conference, according to a Reuters report. At the conference Perry also highlighted the push to export U.S. fossil fuels to other countries.
Tariffs traditionally make companies in the export business nervous, according to Michael Smith, CEO of Freeport LNG, a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal. If steel prices go up 25 percent because of the tariff, the cost of proposed LNG export terminals in the United States will increase by 3.5 percent to 5 percent, Smith told S&P Global News, an industry news services. LNG terminals use huge amounts of steel.
The idea of promoting U.S. steel emerged during the rich asshole’s presidential campaign. And soon after taking office, the rich asshole signed a directive clearing several hurdles out of the way of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. At the time, the rich asshole touted a new requirement — that the pipeline be made with U.S.-manufactured steel. A month later, the White House flip-flopped, recognizing that the requirement to use domestic steel would conflict with the rich asshole administration’s pro-business stance. As part of the reversal, the rich asshole decided to exempt the Keystone XL pipeline from the made-in-America steel requirement.
About half the steel used to build the Keystone XL pipeline will come from a plant in Arkansas, according to TransCanada Corp., the pipeline’s developer. The rest will be imported. TransCanada plans to break ground on the new oil pipeline in 2019.
In their letter sent on Wednesday to the rich asshole, the energy trade groups warned that promising pipeline projects have not gone forward because the costs were too high, or the needed building materials not sufficiently available.
“We fear that broad tariffs on the specialty steels used by our industry would cause future projects to be delayed or canceled, thus threatening America’s energy dominance and risking higher prices for families at the gas pump, natural gas ratepayers, and energy-consuming employers nationwide,” the groups said.
By
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March 8, 2018
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who has already been caught misusing taxpayer funds, spent over $139,000 on a door.
The Interior Department, led by Secretary Ryan Zinke, is spending nearly $139,000 to repair three sets of double doors in Zinke’s office.
By comparison, that is more than the median cost for a home in the state of Michigan.
The work order from contractor Conquest Solutions LLC for the six-figure expense was labeled as “Secretary’s Door.”
The expenditure is not an isolated incident for Zinke. He has been the subject of intense scrutiny for misusing taxpayer funds at the department.
At one point, he went on a helicopter ride and spent nearly $40,000 that had been earmarked to help people prepare for wildfires. According to the Associated Press, Zinke spent an estimated $53,000 on three helicopter trips in 2017, including one where he went on a horseback ride with Mike Pence.
There are also several instances of Zinke participating in partisan political activities while traveling on the public dime. In one of them, Zinke flew on a military plane at taxpayer expense to visit a steakhouse where a political fundraiser for Rep. Don Young (R-AK) was being held.
The scandal-plagued secretary even failed to disclose his financial holdings in a firearms company. He later met with the heads of that company in his capacity as Interior Secretary.
Other the rich asshole cabinet officials like HUD secretary Ben Carson have also been caught spending lavishly using taxpayer money. Their actions echo those of the rich asshole, who has regularly vacationed while taxes subsidize his activities, ever since he was sworn in.
The abuse is systemic and it starts at the top, running from the rich asshole to his cabinet. They clearly view the government as a pathway to luxury and insist that taxpayers foot the bill for their benefit.
Woman who accused the rich asshole of ‘inappropriate sexual contact’ has ‘confidential information’ on Stormy Daniels affair
President some rich asshole and adult actress Stephanie Clifford, whose stage name was Stormy Daniels, in a 2006 Myspace photo.
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A woman who previously accused President some rich asshole of “inappropriate sexual contact” reportedly has “confidential information” about his alleged affair with adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
CNN’s Ross Levitt tweeted Thursday that the woman was also “named in the non-disclosure agreement” Daniels signed.
The woman, another adult film actress named Jessica Drake, accused the rich asshole of sexual misconduct in October 2016. Drake also signed an NDA regarding her accusations against the rich asshole, and CNN’s MJ Lee confirmed that the pseudonym “Angel Ryan” refers to her.
Drake’s legal counsel includes celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred, who has also represented other the rich asshole accusers in the past. Allred has not yet elaborated on Drake and Daniels’ relationship.
NEW: A woman named in Stormy Daniels' NDA as having confidential info about Stormy's affair with Trump -- "Angel Ryan" -- is Jessica Drake, an adult film performer who herself accused Trump of sexual misconduct.
Gloria Allred, the lawyer representing Drake, confirms to CNN that Drake = Angel Ryan. But Allred would not comment further on the nature of Drake's relationship with Stormy Daniels.
Paul Ryan says he’s not interested in the rich asshole’s potential $130,000 campaign finance violation
"I haven't put a second of thought into this. It's just not on my radar screen."
During a news conference in Atlanta on Thursday, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) was asked for his thoughts about news that President the rich asshole’s personal lawyer made a $130,000 hush payment just days before the 2016 election to an adult film actress who allegedly had an affair with the rich asshole — a payment that the White House accidentally admitted on Wednesday the president was involved in.
While watchdog groups argue the payment may have violated federal elections law, Ryan — who was in Atlanta to speak with Home Depot employees about the Republican tax cut bill — indicated he couldn’t care less.
“I’m not even — I haven’t put a second of thought into this,” Ryan said, a look of frustration visible on his face. “It’s just not on my radar screen.”
The CNN reporter who asked Ryan the question wanted him to respond to comments made on Wednesday by Rep. Mark Sanford (R-SC), who called the Daniels story “deeply troubling.”
“What we can’t do in the body politic is whitewash the past or be purely tribal in our thinking, wherein, let’s reverse the shoes, if it was a Democratic president and hush money had been paid in the campaign, would there be a series of hearings going on?” Sanford said. “I think you could probably point to a fair number of indications that suggest there would be.”
Not only is the Daniels payment morally problematic, but it might have been illegal. Paul Seamus Ryan, the Vice President of Policy and Litigation at watchdog nonprofit Common Cause, told ThinkProgress that the payment the rich asshole’s attorney made to Daniels may have violated federal law, depending on where the money came from.
“This was a big payment, $130,000 payment, to keep information away from voters that voters probably would have cared about when they were walking into the election booth back in November of 2016,” Ryan said. “We don’t know where this $130,000 came from… If it came from anyone other than some rich asshole himself, then it was an illegally large, or perhaps an illegal corporate, political contribution.”
But the Speaker of the House can’t be bothered about any of that. And Thursday wasn’t the first time Ryan has signaled that he’s completely disinterested in the scandals constantly surrounding the rich asshole. In October, Ryan urged the American public to “forget about” the rich asshole’s tweets, despite the fact that numerous White House officials have characterized them as official statements.
Ryan has suggested he’s not being honest when he professes ignorance about what the president says and does. During a roast in October, he said, “Every morning, I wake up in my office and scroll Twitter to see which tweets I will have to pretend that I didn’t see later.”
the rich asshole HUD appointee spread conspiracy about Hillary Clinton’s satanic ritual: report
John Gibbs/Screenshot
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Joe Gibbs, one of President the rich asshole’s appointees in the Department of Housing and Urban Development, spread the false rumor that Hillary Clinton is a Satanist during the 2016 election, CNN reports.
John Gibbs was a conservative commentator tapped to join HUD as the head of a program aimed at spurring economic development and now holds the title of senior adviser in the community planning and development division.
On Twitter, Gibbs used the “#spiritcooking” hashtag, helping spread the rumor that Clinton and her campaign chairman John Podesta participated in a Satanic ritual involving the consumption of bodily fluids. #Spiritcooking evolved into the better-known #pizzagate despite being debunked at every turn.
The tweets from Gibbs are archived on the Wayback Machine.
He also used the term “cucks” in a defense of Milo Yiannopoulos and defended anti-Semitic white supremacy commenter Ricky Vaughn when he was banned from Twitter.
‘His credibility is pretty much shot’: Kamala Harris tells Sessions to stop twisting U.S. history
"I think that these folks are really mired in rolling back the clock in time, and that’s not going to happen."
Senator Kamala Harris has a message for Attorney General Jeff Sessions: California is not the Deep South, and her state’s bid to protect the rights of undocumented immigrants has absolutely nothing to do with the Civil War.
On Wednesday, Sessions likened California’s decision to defy the federal government’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants to acts of defiance by slave-owning Southerners against the federal government in the mid-19th century that ultimately led to the Civil War.
Speaking to California police and sheriffs, Sessions announced a lawsuit against the state for laws he says thwart federal agents’ efforts to apprehend undocumented immigrants. The Alabama-born former senator rather oddly compared sanctuary city laws in California to attempts by slave-holding states to “nullify” federal laws, and blasted state officials for their “radical, open borders agenda.”
“There is no nullification. There is no secession,” Sessions declared at a gathering of police and sheriffs. He also took aim at Oakland’s liberal Mayor Libby Schaaf, accusing her of actively aiding illegal immigrants last month by warning them of an impending sweep by federal deportation officers.
Harris (D-CA) later blasted Sessions’ Civil War rhetoric, and said he has no “credibility” to comment on anything having to do with America’s sordid racial legacy.
“As far as I’m concerned, Jeff Sessions should be advised, and I’ll advise him right now, that it’s a bad idea for him to start talking about anything to do with the history of slavery or Reconstruction or the Civil War in the United States,” Harris said on MSNBC’s “All In With Chris Hayes” program. “His credibility is pretty much shot on those issues.”
Governor Jerry Brown (D) at a press conference Wednesday after Sessions’ speech also condemned the lawsuit, calling it “an act of war,” against California and accused Sessions of “initiating a reign of terror” against immigrants there.
Harris echoed those views, saying they are a throwback to a long gone and best forgotten past. “I think that these folks are really mired in rolling back the clock in time, and that’s not going to happen. California represents the future, and they don’t like it,” she said adding that “Jeff Sessions has clearly put a target on the back of California, and California’s going to fight.”
Sessions, 71, was considered one of the U.S. Senate’s most stalwart conservatives long before being tapped last year by President some rich asshole to be his top federal prosecutor. Before assuming his current position, Sessions earned notoriety for arch conservative — many have said racist — views.
The Senate Judiciary Committee in 1986 voted down his nomination by Ronald Reagan for a federal judgeship, amid allegations that he had called a black law colleague “boy” and admonished him to “be careful what you say to white folks.” Another attorney interviewed by the committee at the time said Sessions told him he thought the Ku Klux Klan was “OK until I found out they smoked pot.”
The Alabama-born attorney general’s very name — Jefferson Beauregard Sessions — invokes two of the most revered heroes of the confederacy. He was named for Jefferson Davis, the president of the secessionist Confederate States of America and P.G.T. Beauregard, the southern general who led the bombardment of Fort Sumter in South Carolina launching the bloody, four-year-longwar between the North and the South.
Conservative site publishes op-ed penned by Russian oligarch offered private the rich asshole campaign briefings by Manafort
Paul Manafort (Youtube)
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The conservative Daily Caller blog on Thursday afternoon published a column written by a Russian oligarch that was given private briefings by former the rich asshole campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
In the editorial, former Manafort employer and Russian steel magnate Oleg Deripaska claims the alleged collusion between the rich asshole campaign and the Kremlin is a manufactured non-scandal.
“The ever-changing ‘Russia narrative’ in American politics is today’s ‘Wag the Dog’ scenario,” Deripaska wrote, likening the many government investigations into potential the rich asshole-Russia collusion to the 1997 black comedy in which a fictitious American president creates a war with Albania to distract from his own sex scandal.
Deripaska, who Manafort offered to give private updates on the rich asshole campaign’s status when he was its helm, went on to charge people suspicious of the rich asshole campaign’s connections to Russia with making it up as a means to boost the military.
Citing his attendance at the Munich security conference in February as evidence, the Russian oligarch charged Democrats bashing “Deep State”-obsessed right wingers with promoting the “military-industrial complex.”
“One of the panelists, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), said: ‘What the Breitbart crowd would call the ‘Deep State’ is what many of us would call ‘knowledgeable professionals,'” Deripaska wrote. “The panel’s uniform message was essentially: Ignore some rich asshole and increase your defense budget to 2 percent, because the generals who are ‘operationalizing policy’ remain in charge.”
“What has been inelegantly termed the ‘Deep State’ is really this: shadow power exercised by a small number of individuals from media, business, government and the intelligence community, foisting provocative and cynically false manipulations on the public,” he continued. “Out of these manipulations, an agenda of these architects’ own design is born.”
Manafort, who has been indicted on 32 counts by Mueller primarily related to bank fraud and his work for a Ukranian political party, wrote to an intermediary just before the rich asshole accepted the Republican nomination that he’d be willing to give Deripaska “private briefings” if he required them. Deripaska sued Manafort and his deputy Rick Gates in January for $25 million in damages stemming from a failed business deal.
the rich asshole campaign staffer in Florida unwittingly funneled information to Russian trolls in 2016
Men wearing "troll face" masks (Image via Creative Commons)
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A low-level the rich asshole campaign staffer in Florida unwittingly communicated with a Russian troll Facebook account who wanted the campaign’s help in planning a “YUGE pro-the rich asshole flash mob in every Florida town.”
The New York Times on Thursday reported that the staffer who ran the “Florida for the rich asshole” page thought they were communicating with an individual named Matt Skiber who turned out to be a front created by the St. Petersburg, Russia-based Internet Research Agency.
Known now as the “Russian troll farm” used to sow discord in the 2016 election, this wasn’t the first time the Kremlin-linked agency tried to plan events on American soil. It does, however, appear to be the first time one of their imposter accounts communicated with the rich asshole campaign itself.
In the message transcript between Florida For the rich asshole and “Matt Skiber,” which were provided by the Times, the aide in control of the page’s communications passed along the campaign email of the state’s campaign director and also advised the troll account to contact another person who could help plan the flash mobs. It remains unclear whether or not the events, where were referred to as “Florida Goes the rich asshole” in special counsel Robert Mueller’s indictment against the IRA, actually happened.
Here are the Facebook messages that a low-level Trump campaign aide in Florida unwittingly sent to Russian trolls nyti.ms/2GbVGsp
Karen Giorno, a GOP operative who directed the rich asshole campaign’s Florida branch at the time of the August 2016 messages between the campaign and the Russian troll account, defended the employee in a statement to the Times.
“Nobody reasonably would have asked — or even thought to ask — ‘Are you sure you’re not with Russia?’” Giorno, said. “It’s just not something that normally you would think you have to watch out for.”
The big mistake the rich asshole’s attorney made in his attempt to silence Stormy Daniels
A comedy of errors.
On Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders surprised many when she announced that the rich asshole had “won” his case against Stormy Daniels in arbitration. It was an odd thing for Sanders to say because it appeared to confirm that there was an agreement between the rich asshole and the adult film star.
Later we learned that, on February 27, the shell company set up by the rich asshole’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, obtained a temporary restraining order against Daniels through an arbiter, purportedly preventing her from speaking about her relationship with the rich asshole until the order is modified.
Arbitration is essentially a private, alternative judicial system. There are lots of legitimate uses for arbitration — it is cheaper, faster and more flexible than the traditional court system. But arbitration is also favored by corporations and the wealthy as it enables them to keep their misconduct secret and frequently obtain favorable decisions against less sophisticated parties.
The arbitration proceeding brought by Cohen against Daniels was supposed to be secret, but the order was leaked to numerous media outlets, including the New York Times.
Daniels’ attorney argues that the entire agreement between the rich asshole, Cohen’s shell corporation, and Daniels is invalid because the rich asshole never signed it. Therefore, this arbitration decision, issued pursuant to that agreement, is invalid.
But even if the courts ultimately reject that argument and find there is a binding agreement between the parties, Cohen continues to make basic legal errors.
Cohen filed the complaint with the arbiter only on behalf of his shell company, Essential Consultants, LLC. But the agreement between the rich asshole, Daniels, and Essential Consultants only provides for arbitration between the rich asshole and Daniels. In order to use an arbitration process, all parties must agree. Even if you accept the agreement as valid, Daniels did not agree to arbitration with Essential Consultants.
It’s all spelled out in Section 5.2 of the original agreement.
Note that this provision provides for a “voluntary system of alternative dispute resolution” between “DD on the one hand and PP on the other hand.” (DD is a pseudonym for some rich asshole and PP is a pseudonym for Stormy Daniels.) It does not talk about arbitration rights for “EC,” the shell corporation set up by Michael Cohen. Yet, it was “EC” that is listed as the claimant in the arbitration.
This could make the arbitration decision, which was obtained “ex parte,” or without the presence of Daniels or her representatives, invalid.
It’s one of a series of basic mistakes that Cohen has made in his efforts to protect the rich asshole, his client. Notably, the secret agreement, which is no longer secret, acknowledges the existence of “still photos” documenting the relationship between Daniels and the rich asshole. The agreement also states, in Section 4.4, that “substantial effort and expense have been dedicated to limit the efforts of the press, other media, and the public to learn of personal and business affairs involving [the rich asshole].” At another point the agreement discusses the rich asshole’s “sexual partners, alleged sexual actions or alleged sexual conduct, related matters or paternity information.”
Cohen also told the Federal Election Committee that the $130,000 payment was made with his personal funds, opening himself up to further legal problems if the FEC determines the payment was intended to benefit the rich asshole’s campaign.
Steve Mnuchin just had to remind the rich asshole to sign the symbolic tariff document
Steve Mnuchin whispering to the rich asshole to sign the documents (Photo: Screen capture)
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President some rich asshole signed a symbolic bill that puts new tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum. The document wasn’t a piece of legislation or an executive order, but it was revealed that the rich asshole wanted a ceremony and wanted to sign something and the White House had to scramble.
Thus, today, the rich asshole joined with steel workers in the White House. Toward the end of his speech he asked the workers if they wanted to come into the Oval Office for a photo.
However, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin had to remind the president to actually sign the document. In the past, the rich asshole has left the room after his speech and forgotten to sign it. In another instance, Vice President Mike Pence had to stop the rich asshole from walking out before signing it.
Republicans are not happy with the rich asshole over the tariff.
See the hot-mic moment below:
Defying GOP, the rich asshole orders steel and aluminum tariffs
BY JORDAN FABIAN AND VICKI NEEDHAM - 03/08/18 03:40 PM EST
President the rich asshole on Thursday officially announced steep tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, defying his own party and delivering on a campaign promise to fight what he sees as unfair practices by U.S. trading partners.
the rich asshole signed paperwork enacting tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum during a hastily arranged event at the White House.
"Today, I am defending America’s national security by placing tariffs on foreign imports of steel and aluminum," the rich asshole said in the Roosevelt Room, flanked by steel and aluminum workers.
the rich asshole called the struggles of domestic steel and aluminum industry a "travesty."
"This has been an assault on our country," he said.
The president temporarily exempted Canada and Mexico from the tariffs, arguing his administration would continue talks with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners. the rich asshole has separately discussed withdrawing the United States from NAFTA.
"This has been an assault on our country," he said.
The president temporarily exempted Canada and Mexico from the tariffs, arguing his administration would continue talks with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners. the rich asshole has separately discussed withdrawing the United States from NAFTA.
the rich asshole alluded earlier there could be additional carve-outs for Australia, though it’s unclear what that will entail.
“We'll be doing something with them,” the president said during a Cabinet meeting. “We'll be doing something with some other countries.”
White House officials said that all other countries will be able to make their case as to why they should be exempt from the tariffs and what they will do to shore up their national security relationship with the United States.
The president will have the discretion to add or subtract countries and raise and lower the tariffs at any time, a senior administration official said.
Republican lawmakers, business groups and overseas allies spent all week trying to persuade the president to scrap or curtail the tariffs, worrying that they could spark a global trade war.
But the rich asshole could not be convinced, determined to deliver on his campaign promise to take a tougher approach on trade.
“It’s a promise made and a promise kept,” said a senior administration official, who added there should not be “any kind of surprise at any kind of actions we are taking.”
the rich asshole has long argued that tariffs are needed to revive the U.S. steel and aluminum industries. He enacted the steel and aluminum measures using a rarely used legal provision that allows the president to impose tariffs unilaterally if imports are determined to pose a national-security risk.
The administration official argued that the president's tariff policy will actually strengthen the global rules-based trading system by clearing out "all the market distortions" created by China's steel overcapacity and the "burdensome and discriminatory trade practices of so many of our trading partners."
Critics have called it a thinly veiled excuse to enact protectionist policies and gain leverage over Canada and Mexico in the ongoing renegotiation of NAFTA.
The tariffs were the subject of an intense debate within the White House, pitting protectionists like trade adviser Peter Navarro against free traders like National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn, who argued that the measures could anger allies and hurt the economy.
Cohn announced Tuesday he was resigning from the White House after losing the tariff debate, adding to the turmoil that has wracked the West Wing.
Congressional Republicans also expressed deep concern over the moves, voicing fear that the rich asshole could be poised to take even more aggressive actions on trade in the future, including ripping up NAFTA.
“We urge you to reconsider the idea of broad tariffs to avoid unintended negative consequences to the U.S. economy and its workers,” 107 House Republicans wrote on Wednesday in a letter to the rich asshole.
the rich asshole has indicated he is ready to go even further on trade. He tweeted Wednesday that “the U.S. is acting swiftly on Intellectual Property theft,” referring to an ongoing probe into whether China’s practices are hurting American businesses.
He also called on Beijing to reduce its trade surplus with the U.S. by $1 billion, a figure that was adjusted up to $100 billion, less than one-third of the $375.2 billion trade deficit the U.S. had with China last year.
“Our relationship with China has been a very good one, and we look forward to seeing what ideas they come back with. We must act soon!” he tweeted.
The anti-the rich asshole fight California wants
Los Angeles (CNN)When the rich asshole administration declared war on California with a lawsuit challenging sanctuary state policies this week, it played right into the hands of Kevin de León -- and virtually every other Golden State Democrat running for higher office.
There is nothing that de León, the state Senate leader who is challenging Sen. Dianne Feinstein, relishes more than a fight with President some rich asshole -- in this case, on a law that he authored making California a "sanctuary state."
"They are angry and they're upset, because we won't participate with them tearing apart honest, hard-working families," de León said Wednesday in a telephone interview. He argued that Senate Bill 54, one of the laws being challenged, did not in any way prevent federal immigration agents from doing their job, but does prevent them from entering sensitive spaces like hospitals, churches, courthouses and public schools.
"If they have a judicial warrant they may move forward," de León said. "But we don't want them raiding schools and churches. We don't want them going to emergency room centers, which they did in the state of Texas, where they pulled out a woman who was there for chemotherapy. That just demonstrates the cruelness and inhumanity of an administration that one would expect from a rogue nation, not the greatest nation."
With the administration now suing California over parts of three "sanctuary" laws that are intended to protect undocumented immigrants from federal immigration officials, de León noted that he'd directed former US Attorney Eric Holder -- who helped craft the initial bill -- to draft an amicus brief in response to the lawsuit arguing that the state is on solid constitutional ground.
"This has less to do with law, and more to do with politics -- weaponizing immigration policy," he said. "This is more about intimidating the state of California into conforming our values to President the rich asshole's inhumane and xenophobic immigration policies."
Joining de León in his outrage was the full slate of Democrat gubernatorial candidates -- including Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and State Treasurer John Chiang -- as well as potential 2020 presidential contenders like Eric Garcetti and Kamala Harris.
Garcetti tweeted that while the federal government "wastes time and resources on threats, we will continue to focus on keeping our people safe."
"Imagine," the LA Mayor tweeted, "if the rich asshole's Justice Department were to put this much energy into actually solving problems."
In this election season of discontent with the rich asshole, all of California's Democratic candidates have attempted to position themselves as the strongest adversary to the President, whose approval rating has fallen below 30% in the state, according to a recent Gallup survey.
The Department of Justice lawsuit offered a new hook -- providing rich anti-the rich asshole material to mine on the campaign trail before California's top-two primary in June.
Sessions announced the Justice Department lawsuit on Wednesday during an appearance at a state law enforcement gathering in Sacramento. But even before that, Harris, a former prosecutor, had positioned herself as the interrogator-in-chief, drilling the rich asshole's nominees on their policy on immigration and the so-called Dreamers in a series of Senate hearings.
Garcetti has encouraged fellow Democrats to take a cooler approach to the rich asshole -- by simply dismissing his more outrageous statements as nonsense unworthy of discussion.
California Gov. on Sessions lawsuit: 'It's a lie' 03:09
In the governor's race, Newsom has styled himself as the candidate with the courage to stand up to the rich asshole and demand change. On Wednesday, he hosted a "Facebook Live" from his office in Sacramento with several immigrants who felt shielded by the state's immigration policies.
Newsom invoked the racist, nativist rhetoric around Proposition 187, the 1994 ballot measure that would have barred immigrants from getting basic state services. (The measure passed overwhelmingly, but was ultimately struck down by the courts).
"California is remarkably resilient; it's a point of pride and it's also a point to punctuate," Newsom said in his Facebook Live Wednesday afternoon. "We'll get through this moment despite that same kind of xenophobia, that same kind of nativism, that same kind of fear-mongering that we saw front-and-center today here in our state's capitol from Jeff Sessions."
Villaraigosa called the Department of Justice lawsuit "a publicity stunt" that amounted to Sessions "trying to keep his job."
"Nobody is saying that they can stop ICE agents from deporting people who are here illegally," said Villaraigosa. "But we are saying we don't have to cooperate with them. The state's principal function is protecting public safety, not enforcing their immigration laws. That's their responsibility."
Chiang has often noted the racism and bigotry that his parents faced as immigrants, declaring that "California needs to stand up to a bully named some rich asshole."
"We're fighting for what American laws stand for," Chiang said. "We had laws that discriminated against African-Americans; that discriminated against Asians; that treated women as second-class citizens. This is the battle of the 21st century today."
Pointing to some of the state's vanguard legal battles, Chiang argued that Californians "are the visionaries; we're the fighters. And we're employing an argument that Republicans and conservatives will understand. We're fighting for states' rights. We get to decide who we are and what we believe in."
Paul Manafort pleads not guilty to second indictment in Virginia, wants jury trial
Paul Manafort Reuters Joshua Roberts
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President some rich asshole’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort pleaded not guilty on Thursday to additional criminal charges ranging from bank fraud to filing false tax returns.
U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller brought them as part of a wide-ranging probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election, possible obstruction of justice, and alleged financial crimes by Manafort and others.
the rich asshole has denied that his campaign colluded with Russia.
Reporting by Katanga Johnson and Mark Hosenball; Additional reporting by Lisa Lambert; Editing by Chris Reese
Corey Lewandowski defies Intel Committee on conversations with the rich asshole and the rich asshole Tower Russia meeting
Corey Lewandowski (Facebook)
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Former the rich asshole campaign manager Corey Lewandowski reportedly refused to answer lawmakers’ questions about President some rich asshole and a meeting between Russians and the rich asshole campaign that took place in the rich asshole Tower.
During what was described as “tense” testimony to the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday, Lewandowski was said to have followed the pattern of other the rich asshole campaign staff — like Hope Hicks and Steve Bannon — who have declined to answer questions about conversations with the then-candidate, even though events that occurred during the campaign are not covered by presidential executive privilege, according to reporters who spoke to lawmakers.
For his part, Lewandowski claimed that he had answered all “relevant” questions.
Read some of the tweets from reporters below.
Speaking to reporters after Lewandowski interview, @RepAdamSchiff introduces a new name that he wants to bring before House Intel Cmte: Stephen Miller
Meanwhile, Schiff says Democrats want the committee to subpoena Lewandowki to make him return to answer certain questions that Schiff says Lewandowski didn’t answer today.
Schiff said the questions that Lewandowski didn’t answer pertain to the drafting of the statement about the Trump Tower meeting, the firing of James Comey, and “any discussions that Mr. Lewandowski had with the president about the potential of firing of Bob Mueller.”
Schiff says Lewandowski did answer a bunch of other questions about his time after the campaign, though.
“We’ve requested a subpoena,” but unsure whether Republicans will agree, Schiff said.
Fox News’ judicial analyst defends Mueller probe: It’s his job to ‘go down any rabbit hole he finds’
Fox News' Judge Napolitano and special counsel Robert Mueller
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Fox News judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano on Thursday defended the credibility of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, noting it’s the former FBI director’s job to “go down any rabbit hole he finds.”
Napolitano was reacting to a Washington Post report, published Wednesday, that revealed Mueller is looking into a “secret meeting in the Seychelles” that occurred right before some rich asshole’s inauguration. Blackwater founder Erik Prince—whose sister, Betsy DeVos, is the rich asshole’s education secretary—attended the meeting with businessman George Nader, an adviser to the UAE who the New York Times reports is cooperating with Mueller.
“I don’t think this impairs the credibility of the Mueller probe,” Napolitano said on “America’s Newsroom.”
“I also think that Bob Mueller on his own can expand his own authority and investigate this,” Napolitano said. “The federal regulation promulgated by the Department of Justice and approved by the Congress … authorizes Bob Mueller really to go down any rabbit hole he wants.”
“We don’t know what happened [in the Seychelles meeting], but if [Mueller] fails to investigate that, he’s not doing his job,” Napolitano said. “So not only may he go down any rabbit hole he finds, he must go down any rabbit hole he finds to see if there is any evidence of criminal behavior there.”
Watch below, via Fox News:
the rich asshole warned ‘constantly’ by John Kelly and others to stop talking to Mueller witnesses: report
Gen. John Kelly (Wikimedia Commons) and some rich asshole (AFP)
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News that President some rich asshole has been talking with witnesses in special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe about their testimonies is apparently not sitting well with chief of staff John Kelly.
A White House source tells CNN’s Jim Acosta that Kelly and other White House staffers have warned the rich asshole regularly to not talk with Mueller witnesses about their testimony, as it could constitute witness tampering.
“It’s pretty clear that Kelly admonishes him constantly and he’s not the only one,” the source tells Acosta.
The New York Times on Wednesday reported that the rich asshole had talked with both White House counsel Don McGahn and former chief of staff Reince Priebus about their testimonies with Mueller. In particular, the rich asshole reportedly instructed McGahn to deny reports that he had tried to get Mueller fired last year — despite the fact that McGahn knew first-hand that this was untrue.
the rich asshole’s video game violence panel features police trainer who says lethal force leads to ‘the best sex’
Police trainer Dave Grossman (Screen cap).
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President some rich asshole is hosting a discussion on violence in video games on Thursday — and it features a controversial police trainer who encourages cops to be more willing to use lethal force.
The Washington Post’s Radley Balko, who has written extensively on Grossman’s courses in the past, writes on Twitter that Grossman not only tells cops they should employ more lethal force, he also tells them that “after killing a man, they’ll have the best sex of their lives.”
Grossman is a police trainer who tells cops they should be using *more* lethal force, and that after killing a man, they'll have the best sex of their lives.
The White House will hear his I'm-sure-it-isn't-crazy-at-all expertise about video games.twitter.com/oliverdarcy/st…
In a Washington Post article on Grossman published last year, Balko noted that Grossman believes that officers ought to think of themselves more as warriors than as public servants — and he wants them to be always on edge about evil doers who are out to kill them.
“We fight violence,” Grossman tells students, according to a report on a class published by Mother Jones. “What do we fight it with? Superior violence. Righteous violence.”
The reason that Grossman is attending a panel on violence in video games is that he believes these games are literally training young people to become mass killers.
“From a military and law enforcement perspective, violent video games are ‘murder simulators’ that train kids to kill,” Grossman wrote in a 2013 article published byVariety. “They act just like police and military simulators, providing conditioned responses, killing skills and desensitization, except they are inflicted on children without the discipline of military and police training.”
And as Balko notes, Grossman believes so strongly in linking video games with mass shootings that he thinks people who deny the link are on par with Holocaust deniers.
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March 8, 2018
Twelve of the 15 states that will likely take the biggest tariff hits are states that sent the rich asshole to the White House.
More than 100 Republican members of the House have signed off on a letter condemning the rich asshole’s looming tariffs. That’s a rare occurrence for a GOP whose obsequiousness to the rich asshole has become a hallmark.
Rushing in to try to stop the rich asshole as he blindly readies his plan to impose stiff tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, angry Republican politicians, especially red state representatives, are getting an up-close look at what it’s like dealing with an erratic, illogical president.
In Wisconsin, which went for the rich asshole by the narrowest of margins, Republican Gov. Scott Walker has warned that tariffs could hurt the state’s canning and beer industries. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) has also condemned the looming trade war. And Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) lamented how the White House doesn’t understand today’s global economy.
Red state leaders are freaking out, and not only because most of them oppose the rich asshole’s protectionist agenda: Many realize the real damage could come when U.S. trading partners strike back — and the states that are going to pay the highest price are the GOP states that voted for the rich asshole.
“We will put tariffs on Harley-Davidson, on bourbon and on blue jeans — Levis,” European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker announced last week. (Since then, the EU has expanded its possible tariff hit list to include a huge array of American products.)
Harley-Davidson is based in Wisconsin and of course, red states such as Kentucky and Tennessee are seen as the home of American spirits.
In fact, 12 of the 15 states that will likely take the biggest tariff hits are red states, according to new analysis from the Brookings Institute.
“Many businesses in states that carried [the rich asshole] in the election, including manufacturers in the Rust Belt region, rely heavily on steel and aluminum imports,” CNN reports. “States with these kinds of imbalances could experience greater secondhand effects than they do in benefits.”
Louisiana, for example, is a huge importing state and relies on steel and aluminum imports for its gas industries. And in Ohio, 410,300 workers are directly employed in industries that use steel and aluminum, according to Crain’s Cleveland.
The list goes on and on:
Of course, when the rich asshole follows through with the tariff threat, he could imperil the future of the U.S. auto industry, which President Obama pulled back from the brink of collapse.
According to Section 232 of a U.S. trade law, the president can impose tariffs on imported materials for national security purposes. But the rich asshole has made virtually no effort to show that his tariffs on steel and aluminum are directly related to national security concerns.
All of the heartburn was created by the rich asshole’s radical and hasty trade announcement. When the rich asshole first brought up tariffs last week, “no one at the State Department, the Treasury Department or the Defense Department had been told that a new policy was about to be announced or given an opportunity to weigh in in advance,” according to an NBC report.
Now the rich asshole’s red states have to pick up the pieces.
Sarah Sanders declines on-camera briefing day after admitting the rich asshole is part of Stormy Daniels scandal
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders (Screenshot)
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White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders on Thursday declined to schedule an on-camera briefing a day after she reportedly angered her boss by admitting he was party to the “hush agreement” with adult film actress Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Sanders admitted for the first time that President some rich asshole was connected to the $130,000 that lawyer Michael Cohen allegedly paid Clifford to keep quiet about an affair with the rich asshole.
A report on Wednesday asserted that the president was furious at Sanders for pumping “steroids” into the story by speaking about it from the White House podium.
As of Thursday morning, Sanders had not scheduled an on-camera briefing for the day. In fact, the White House live events page states that there are “no live events scheduled” on Thursday.
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March 8, 2018
Gary Cohn is sent off with an epithet popularized by Breitbart.
the rich asshole economic adviser Gary Cohn resigned this week, and the rich asshole bid him farewell by using what amounts to an anti-Semitic slur at a cabinet meeting.
Cohn, who did not resign after the rich asshole called Nazis “very fine people,” finally quit this week after the rich asshole announced tariffs that could lead to a trade war.
On Thursday morning, the rich asshole told his assembled cabinet, “This is Gary Cohn’s last meeting in the cabinet, of the cabinet. He may be a globalist, but I still like him.”
“He’s seriously a globalist, there’s no question,” the rich asshole continued. “You know what? In his own way, he’s a nationalist, because he loves our country.”
The term “globalist” evolved from a mere dog whistle into an outright slur when white nationalist hub Breitbart used the term to describe Cohn in September, and mimicked the white supremacist code for Jewish people by bracketing it with three globe emojis.
Despite daughter Ivanka’s conversion to Judaism, the rich asshole has displayed a deep and wide anti-Semitic streak that includes the aforementioned praise of Nazis, his failure to act on anti-Semitic threats and violence, and his history of senior advisers with Nazi and white Supremacist ties.
Cohn may have a high enough tolerance for the rich asshole’s bigotry to laugh it off, but it underscores a shocking reality for the rest of us who can’t just walk away from the rich asshole.
Sean Spicer: We should ‘encourage’ the rich asshole to talk to Mueller’s witnesses because he just says ‘pleasantries’
Sean Spicer appears on Fox News (screen grab)
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Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer argued on Thursday that President some rich asshole should be “encouraged” to talk to witnesses in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation because he was only sharing “pleasantries” with them.
Fox News host Harris Faulkner ended an interview with Spicer by noting that the rich asshole had recently been accused of confronting people who had spoken to Mueller’s investigators or testified before his grand jury.
“I’m not aware of conversations that the president may or may not have had with those individuals,” Spicer admitted. “But there’s a difference between checking in with someone and saying, ‘I saw in a media report you did [testify], how did it go?'”
“I don’t think by any standard, ‘How was it? Were they nice to you? Did you get treated well?’ is any attempt to influence the process,” he continued. “And by all accounts, none of that occurred.”
According to Spicer, the rich asshole “is a guy that likes to talk and ask questions, ‘How are you doing? How was your day?'”
“That’s hardly an attempt to influence or do more than just check in on people that he cares about,” the former press secretary opined. “It was a pleasantry. Asking someone how they’re doing or how their day went or are you being treated well is something that we should probably encourage more of.”
The New York Times reported on Thursday that Chief of Staff John Kelly had warned the rich asshole not to talk with witnesses about Mueller’s Russia investigation.
Watch the video below from Fox News.
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March 8, 2018
the rich asshole has been a loud voice against women from the perch of his presidency. Then he used a male-dominated cabinet meeting to speak about International Women's Day.
Surrounded by his almost all-white, all-male cabinet, the rich asshole read a statement recognizing International Women’s Day. His remarks did not acknowledge that his administration has systematically excluded women or that he is an admitted sexual predator.
the rich asshole said, “We recognize that today is International Women’s Day, and we’re proud in all of the measures we’ve taken economically to empower women, especially in the workplace.”
the rich asshole has less women in his cabinet than any first-term president has had in 17 years. There are four female cabinet secretaries under the rich asshole, while President Barack Obama had 7 in his first cabinet.
Two of the women in the rich asshole’s cabinet are not white, while three of the women who served with Obama were non-white.
Paul Light, a professor at New York University’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, told the New York Times, “some rich asshole is rolling back the clock on diversity in the cabinet.”
He is of course also an admitted sexual predator. He was recorded bragging that the way to treat women is to “grab ’em by the pussy” because “you can do anything” when “you’re a star.”
Many other women have accused the rich asshole of sexually assaulting them, and instead of admitting to any of his behavior, he has denied the reports.
As a result, he has inspired a groundswell of grassroots activism against his presidency and the Republican Party. Women are running for office from coast to coast in unprecedented numbers, even in states like Texas where the Republicans have had major advantages.
the rich asshole’s lip service to International Women’s Day was insulting, and the setting where he chose to make the announcement immediately highlighted his hostility. But his behavior is not without consequence as his embrace of bigotry and misogyny is mobilizing a new generation of advocates.
They will rise up against the rich asshole-style attacks on women, and in the long run they will win.
Bombshell report shows how Don Jr might have responded to Russian invitation without falling into legal jeopardy
some rich asshole, Jr. speaking with supporters of his father, some rich asshole, at a campaign rally at the Sun Devil Fitness Center at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)
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One of the distinguishing characteristics of the rich asshole-Russia saga has been the president and his associates’ eagerness to meet or cooperate with Kremlin-connected oligarchs and agents.
In report after report, President some rich asshole, his family and associates readily accept invitations that later place them under investigation — and one detail in the bombshell Michael Isikoff–David Corn report stands in sharp contrast to their careless eagerness.
The report places the rich asshole, a few Russians, a couple of beauty pageant winners and others on June 15, 2013, in a Las Vegas nightclub that would be shut down a few months later for “lewd” performances featuring women, urine and simulated bestiality.
Emin Agalarov, the pop star son of Russian oligarch Aras Agalarov, ran into the son of billionaire philanthropist George Soros in the owner’s box at the nightclub The Act.
The singer soon chatted up Alex Soros and invited him to visit Moscow, but the American tapped the brakes.
“You should know, I’m no fan of Mr. Putin,” said Soros, whose father funded opposition to the Russian president.
The younger Soros then added that he was an admirer of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, an oligarch then imprisoned in Siberia for challenging Putin.
Emin laughed off the remarks, according to the report, and it’s not clear whether Soros ever accepted the invitation.
By contrast, some rich asshole Jr. was invited to meet with a Russian attorney promising campaign dirt on Hillary Clinton in June 2016 by British music promoter Rob Goldstone, who was part of the group that visited The Act three years before.
Goldstone made the offer by email on behalf of Emin, and the Republican presidential candidate’s son expressed no reservations about accepting campaign assistance from the Russian government, as the invitation made clear.
“I love it especially later in the summer,” the rich asshole Jr. replied.
Energy Secretary Rick Perry says moving from fossil fuels to renewables is ‘immoral’
But it's okay to waste $1.6 trillion on energy sources that put millions of lives at risk and destroy the climate.
Energy Secretary Rick Perry said on Wednesday that it was “immoral” to help poor nations shift off of fossil fuels.
“Look those people in the eyes that are starving and tell them you can’t have electricity,” said Perry in remarks after his big speech to the oil and gas industry at the annual CERAWeek energy conference in Houston. “Because as a society we decided fossil fuels were bad. I think that is immoral.”
Perry’s logic and morality are both blinkered. First, despite being in charge of a $2 billion clean energy program, Perry seems completely unaware that solar and wind are now cheaper sources of electricity than fossil fuels.
Indeed, solar power keeps crushing its own record for cheapest unsubsidized electricity “ever, anywhere, by any technology.” And in Colorado, building new renewable power plus battery storage is now cheaper than running old coal plants.
Second, what’s immoral is not shifting away from dirty fossil fuels, but blindly sticking with them. A recent study shows that 1.1 million people die prematurely every year in India from air pollution, which primarily comes from burning fossil fuels.
And a 2017 Lancet study concluded that globally, air, water, and soil pollution kill more than 9 million people a year. Air pollution alone accounts for 4.5 millions deaths, and those numbers are projected to rise sharply in developing countries in the coming years.
Finally, there’s climate change, a subject Perry conspicuously never mentioned in his big CERAweek speech. But as the Financial Times reported Wednesday, “Fossil fuel companies risk wasting almost $1.6 trillion on oil, gas and coal projects that will become uneconomic” if the world adopts the policies needed to avoid catastrophic global warming.
The world is currently on track to spend $4.8 trillion on fossil fuel production by 2025, finds a new study by Carbon Tracker. But to get on the path needed to preserve a livable climate — keeping total warming below 2°C (3.6°F) as the world unanimously agreed in the 2015 Paris climate accord — we should spend no more than $3.6 trillion on fossil fuels.
The failure to shift rapidly to clean energy will therefore squander trillions of dollars in the coming decades, while killing millions and irreversibly destroying the climate for centuries to come.
Back in 2015, the Pope expounded at great length in his climate encyclical on the immorality of inaction on global warming. So shifting off fossil fuels much faster than we currently are is one of the most moral things the world can do right now.
What’s immoral are the efforts by Rick Perry and his boss President the rich asshole to undermine clean energy, reverse U.S. climate action, and thwart the Paris climate accord.
Joy Behar tears down Sarah Huckabee Sanders: ‘That girl is an amateur liar — the rich asshole is a professional’
Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Joy Behar
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“The View” on Thursday ripped Sarah Huckabee Sanders over her response to the “Stormy Daniels saga,” with co-host Joy Behar calling the White House press secretary “an amateur liar.”
Whoopi Goldberg explained that during a press briefing Wednesday, Huckabee Sanders insisted while “none of the allegations” of a hush money payout by some rich asshole’s attorney Michael Cohen “are true,” the case has nonetheless “been won in arbitration.”
“Arbitration?” Goldberg asked. “So she’s kind of just confirmed that there was an arbitration over the nondisclosure agreement, which would mean this is the first time that the White House is admitting that an NDA even exists and it directly involves Stormy Daniels and you-know-who.”
“Is this going to change anything?” Goldberg asked. “Do people care? Where are we?”
“Can I just say one thing about [Huckabee Sanders]? That girl is an amateur liar,” Joy Behar said as Meghan McCain protested. “Her boss is a professional.”
“She’s not a good liar is what you’re saying,” Goldberg replied.
“She’s not good enough of a liar,” Behar explained. “Like, ‘Out of the mouths of babes comes the truth,’ you know?It was almost like, painful to watch that.”
Watch below, via ABC:
the rich asshole upset with Sanders over Stormy Daniels response
Washington (CNN)President some rich asshole is upset with White House press secretary Sarah Sanders over her responses Wednesday regarding his alleged affair with porn star Stormy Daniels, a source close to the White House tells CNN.
Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, filed suit against the rich asshole this week alleging he hadn't signed a nondisclosure agreement that would have prevented her from discussing their alleged sexual affair.
On Wednesday, Sanders told reporters that the arbitration was won "in the President's favor." The statement is an admission that the nondisclosure agreement exists, and that it directly involves the President. It is the first time the White House has admitted the President was involved in any way with Daniels.
"POTUS is very unhappy," the source said. "Sarah gave the Stormy Daniels storyline steroids yesterday."
This week's developments are the latest installment in a continuing controversy for the White House involving Daniels, and a distraction from the rich asshole's attempted rollout of tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.
Just weeks before the 2016 election,the rich asshole's legal counsel Michael Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 of his own money, which he admitted to in February. Cohen has said the President "vehemently denies" any sexual encounter between the two.
Hallie Jackson corners the rich asshole tariff defender: The plan is a ‘hot mess and that is a factually correct statement’
Hallie Jackson speaks to Tom Reed (MSNBC/screen grab)
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MSNBC’s Hallie Jackson pointed out to a Republican defender of President some rich asshole’s tariff proposal that the plan was a “hot mess.”
While speaking to Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY) on Thursday, Jackson noted that the congressman had not signed a letter opposing the rich asshole’s proposed tariffs on steel and aluminum.
“I want to send a message to the world and the president that I’m standing with him,” Reed insisted. “I’m standing with him in regards to disrupting this trade policy that has left many Americans behind because of the trade policies that allow countries to take advantage of us. And he’s doing something that prior presidents have not done. And that is leading on this issue aggressively and vigorously. And I appreciate that.”
Jackson wondered how Reed was seemingly “not concerned” about retaliatory measures from the European Union.
“Short term pain, in my opinion, may be something that we have to incur in order to get long term gain for all of us as a country,” the congressman opined. “And I’m willing to go down that path.”
Jackson went on to remind Reed that Republican leadership in Congress opposes the tariffs.
“The way that this tariff plan unfolded has been a hot mess,” the MSNBC host observed. “And I think that is just a factually correct statement based on our reporting over the last six or seven days since the president announced it.”
“Why is there so much chaos in the White House?” Jackson asked. “And doesn’t that start with the president himself and his leadership?”
“This is part of a style that the president has deployed,” Reed replied.
“A style of hot messes?” Jackson pressed.
“No, this is a about keeping people on their heels,” the New York Republican remarked. “That causes a lot of people not to react in the way that you typically see D.C. establishment folks react. And that type of disruption comes at it with what some people feel is chaos, which some people feel is disruptive. And that’s what it’s all about.”
Watch the video below MSNBC.
The Justice Department’s completely unhinged take on the Civil War
Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III needs a history lesson.
Wednesday evening, the rich asshole administration filed a suit against the state of California, relying largely on dubious legal theories to claim that several of the state’s pro-immigrant laws must be struck down. California governor Jerry Brown (D), in response, mocked the suits, describing them as “pure red meat for the base,” “a political stunt,” and “basically going to war against the state of California.”
Well, the war of words continues apace. And the Justice Department’s response to Brown, which DOJ spokesperson Sarah Isgur Flores shared on Twitter, was truly something to behold.
My response to Governor Brown's comments today:
John C Calhoun, who popularized the theory of nullification before the Civil War, also thought enforcing federal law was an "act of war," but every student of American history (except the Governor of California it would seem) knows that debate was settled at Appomattox Courthouse
In fairness, the fact that Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions’ Justice Department opposes nullification is, perhaps, a sign that the rich asshole administration rejects some of the most radical voices within the Republican Party. That said, the idea that the debate over nullification — the erroneous theory that state lawmakers can invalidate federal laws within the state’s borders — was “settled at Appomattox Courthouse” is quite controversial among many of Sessions’ allies. In fact, that very debate only recently experienced something of a renaissance during the Obama administration.
Let’s attend to the highlight reel. In 2013, Alabama’s senate passed a bill purporting to declare all federal gun laws “null and void.” Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) signed a similar bill into law. Energy Secretary Rick Perry (R), during his time as governor of Texas, signed a bill purporting to partially nullify — of all things — a 2007 federal light bulb law signed by President George W. Bush.
Flores’ statement, however, does not simply take an oversimplified view of American history. It suggests that the United States Justice Department either does not grasp, or is intentionally blurring, an important legal distinction.
Again, “nullification” refers to the theory that state laws can effectively invalidate federal laws by unilaterally declaring those laws unconstitutional. This theory is erroneous because it conflicts with two provisions of the Constitution.
The Constitution’s Supremacy Clause provides that “this Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof . . . shall be the supreme Law of the Land.” Thus, if there is a conflict between a state and a federal law, the federal law must prevail. Meanwhile, Article III of the Constitution provides that “the judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.” So if a state believes that a federal law is unconstitutional, its recourse is to seek a court order striking down the law, not to simply declare the law unconstitutional on its own authority.
But more to the point, the pro-immigrant California laws challenged by the Justice Department are not acts of nullification and do not purport to be.
One of them withholds state assistance from federal officials seeking to enforce immigration laws — while fully permitting federal officials to enforce those laws on their own. Another provides certain limits on private employers who wish to cooperate with federal immigration officials, but that law also explicitly states that employers must still comply with federal government requests that are “required by federal law.” A third provision at issue in DOJ’s lawsuit merely instructs the state attorney general to inspect “county, local, or private locked detention facilities in which noncitizens are being housed or detained for purposes of civil immigration proceedings in California.”
Historically, conservatives on the Supreme Court and within the legal profession have fought hard to maintain the distinction between unconstitutional nullification, and entirely constitutional state laws withholding state resources from the federal government. Indeed, a pair of Supreme Court decisions spearheaded by conservative justices established that states have an absolute right to refuse to cooperate with federal law enforcement.
Yet, while more sophisticated conservatives have carefully policed this distinction, the American right’s more radical elements have often sought to blur this line. The Tenth Amendment Center, which led many of those efforts to revive nullification during the Obama years (and who have clearly been operating under the assumption that the debate survived General Robert E. Lee’s surrender), labeled California’s 1996 ballot initiative legalizing medical marijuana “the beginning of the modern nullification movement.”
In reality, that initiative had nothing to do with nullification — it created an exemption to the state’s ban on marijuana use for a patient “who possesses or cultivates marijuana for the personal medical purposes of the patient upon the written or oral recommendation or approval of a physician,” but it did not touch federal laws banning marijuana. In Gonzales v. Raich, the Supreme Court reaffirmed that, whatever the wisdom of a federal marijuana ban, the federal government does have the constitutional authority to enforce such a ban.
Nullificationists, in other words, have often tried to muddy the distinction between entirely lawful acts of state resistance to federal policies and unconstitutional acts of nullification. Doing so risks the lending of credibility to nullification, by creating the false impression that states commonly engage in this practice or even that the Supreme Court endorses it.
And now the United States Justice Department is obscuring the same lines.
Stormy Daniels: the rich asshole lawyer obtains restraining order
GETTY IMAGES
US President some rich asshole obtained a restraining order against an adult film actress to prevent her from speaking publicly about their alleged affair, legal documents show.
Mr the rich asshole's personal lawyer obtained the order against Stormy Daniels in private arbitration proceedings last month.
It bars her from sharing "confidential information" about their alleged relationship, US media report.
Mr the rich asshole says allegations against him are all false.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters on Wednesday that the president had won arbitration proceedings against the actress, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.
"This case has already been won in arbitration and anything beyond that, I would refer you to the president's outside counsel," she said.
But the attorney representing Ms Clifford told CBS News that he was "dumbfounded" by the White House's comment.
"For the White House spokesperson to stand up and claim that the rich asshole won the case in arbitration is ludicrous," Michael Avenatti said.
"How do you win something when the other side is not even invited?" he said.
"The document itself is to remain confidential and not to be disclosed to anyone as per the terms of the judge's order," the email said.
Details of the restraining order have emerged a day after Ms Clifford filed a lawsuit against Mr the rich asshole, alleging that a non-disclosure contract she signed was invalid.
She said the agreement, drawn up before the 2016 election, was "void" because he had not signed it.
The civil lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles on Tuesday, says that only days before the election, Ms Clifford and Mr Cohen signed a "hush agreement" but Mr the rich asshole did not, "thus rendering it legally null and void and of no consequence".
It also refers to last month's "bogus arbitration proceeding" where the restraining order was obtained by Mr Cohen.
The order, issued on 27 February, bars Ms Clifford from sharing any information related to the non-disclosure agreement.
Mr Cohen confirmed last month that he had privately paid Ms Clifford $130,000 (£95,000) but did not say what it was for.
He said neither the rich asshole Organization nor the rich asshole campaign was a party to this transaction.
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