‘We’re in trouble’: Malcolm Nance sounds the alarm on ‘democracy under attack’ by conservatives ‘owned by the Kremlin’
Ian Bremmer and Malcolm Nance (Photo: Screen capture)
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Author and security expert Malcolm Nance sounded the alarm on a growing existential threat on liberal democracies across the globe and the increase of conservative parties that are “owned by the Kremlin.”
“Democracy is in retreat all around the world,” Nance warned. “And you know what? There is a threat going on right now in Europe. Conservative parties are owned lock, stock and barrel by the Kremlin. They fund them and they are all about destroying the Atlantic alliance, globalization and America’s standing in the world. They want an end to democracy.”
MSNBC host Chris Hayes noted that it is important to note that there is a constituency ready and willing to join the likes of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his leadership.
“They are embracing it and that’s what sort of gives these movements their power,” Hayes said.
Mona Charen, a columnist and senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, noted that Putin supports both the extreme left and the extreme right, because what he seeks is destabilization, regardless of the side.
Nance explained the strange way in which people like Libertarians who would come all the way around on the other side, but that Putin is done with that strategy and has gone all in on the far right.
“They own the neo-Nazi movement in Europe,” Nance said. “Anders Behring Breivik, the guy who mass murdered 69 school children in Norway — he did that because he was part of this conservative underbelly. He said that he did it to eliminate the next generation of liberals in Norway. These people exist everywhere in Europe. The United States, in Charlottesville, that was to be the American white supremacy’s coming out to join that global network. We’re in trouble.”
Watch the full segment below:
the rich asshole tries to implement new ban on transgender people serving in the military
He didn't even water it down.
On Friday evening, President the rich asshole announced that he was once again attempting to ban all transgender people from the military.
The new memo was filed in a federal court in Seattle, where one of four different legal challenges to his previous order is playing out. It specifies that anyone ever diagnosed with gender dysphoria is “disqualified” from serving:
Among other things, the policies set forth by the Secretary of Defense
state that transgender persons with a history or diagnosis of gender
dysphoria — individuals who the policies state may require
substantial medical treatment, including medications and surgery —
are disqualified from military service except under certain limited
circumstances.
These conclusions directly contradict what an extensive report found before President Obama first lifted the ban on transgender service in June 2016. The memo does not state what the “certain limited circumstances” would be under which a transgender soldier could continue serving.
The courts’ injunctions should, however, remain in place. A Pentagon official had told the Washington Blade earlier Friday evening, “DOD will still comply with federal court rulings and continue to assess and retain transgender service members.” Were the new order to take effect, it would have immediate repercussions for the many trans soldiers who have served openly since Obama first lifted the ban. It would also impact the several transgender people who have enlisted since the accession ban lifted on January 1.
Lambda Legal, which is representing some of the plaintiffs challenging the original ban, dismissed the new memo as “nothing more than a transparent ruse cobbled together with spittle and duct tape designed solely to try to mask discrimination.”
March 23 was the implementation date originally set by the rich asshole in his order last summer banning transgender people from serving or joining the military. The order also barred the military from funding “sex reassignment surgical procedures for military personnel.”
Those provisions had been enjoined by six different federal courts across the United States, including two appeals courts. As a result, the rich asshole administration announced in December that it would stop fighting for the ban in the courts and begin accepting transgender recruits.
The original order stated that the complete trans ban would remain in place until the secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security issued a different recommendation, which was due by February 21. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis originally missed that deadline, calling the matter “a complex issue.” Subsequent news reports suggested that he recommended lifting the ban, but his actual report to the rich asshole said the exact opposite. Mattis told the rich asshole that allowing any transgender servicemembers could “undermine readiness, disrupt unit cohesion and impose an unreasonable burden on the military that is not conducive to military effectiveness and lethality.”
Here’s the new US policy on transgender people in the military, in a memo from Mattis. It bans from service people “who require or have undergone” gender transitions, makes some limited exemptions for others. assets.documentcloud.org/documents/4420… pic.twitter.com/VTLVYwbo19
Sarah Sanders statement, at 9:22 PM Friday, says banning most trans people from service is about "military effectivess and lethality" - and equality. Argues that now the military can "apply well-established mental and physical health standards" "equally to all individuals." pic.twitter.com/2TjMBqwgqY
Friday’s memo states that the rich asshole has officially rescinded the original order, replacing it with this new memo, even though the new order attempts to do exactly the same as the prior one did — exactly what multiple courts have concluded he cannot do. the rich asshole may have watered down other policies like the Muslim ban to cater to the courts, but he appears to be standing firm on this blatantly discriminatory policy.
It’s not immediately clear what impact this will have on the ongoing cases challenging the rich asshole’s previous order — if any. As recently as Thursday, a federal court in Washington was demanding the administration turn over a list of the military experts the rich asshole consulted before tweeting out the ban last summer. The administration refused, citing executive privilege.
Last month, BuzzFeed reported on emails showing that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford, was surprised by the July announcement made by the rich asshole via Twitter, and that he had not been “consulted” by the president.
An August New York Times report suggested that Tony Perkins, head of the anti-LGBTQ hate group the Family Research Council, may have played a primary role in convincing the rich asshole to implement the ban. It may be the case that the reason the administration refuses to release a list of the military experts it consulted is because there were none.
In preparing the new order, Mattis reportedly consulted with medical experts, but the American Medical Association favors lifting the ban. It remains to be seen who these experts are and what biases they might have that are inconsistent with mainstream medical consensuses on affirming transgender people in their identities and protecting them from discrimination.
The Republican National Committee endorsed the ban in February, and several conservative lawmakers have expressed a desire to pass a ban on transgender military service through legislation if courts continue to block the rich asshole’s orders.
Maddow puts money on the rich asshole pardoning Michael Flynn on Sunday afternoon to distract from Stormy Daniels
MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow.
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MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow is wagering that President some rich asshole will pardon disgraced former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn on Sunday afternoon in an effort to distract from the 60 Minutes interview of Stormy Daniels scheduled to air that evening.
“Even among White House sources, there’s now open speculation that the firing H.R. McMaster and hiring of John Bolten was timed by the president to distract from one particular interview that aired last night on CNN,” Maddow reported.
“If the speculation is true, that the national security adviser to the President of the United States was fired to distract from the Karen McDougal interview, heaven help us,” Maddow prayed. “For whatever is this president and this White House are going to do to distract us this weekend? Because the Stormy Daniels is due to air Sunday night on 60 Minutes.
Maddow then revealed her pick in The Rachel Maddow Show betting pool.
“If you fire the national security advisor to distract from the first interview, what do you do to distract from the second interview?” Maddow asked. “In the you-have-to-buy-me-tacos staff betting pool on the subject, my pick is Mike Flynn … pardon on early Sunday afternoon.”
“I do really love tacos,” the host admitted. “I have a square — Mike Flynn pardon and my timing early Sunday afternoon.”
Watch:
the rich asshole classifies transgender soldiers as having a medical dysfunction that they won’t pay for
FILE PHOTO: A rainbow flag flies as people protest U.S. President some rich asshole's announcement that he plans to reinstate a ban on transgender individuals from serving in any capacity in the U.S. military, in Times Square, in New York City, New York, U.S., July 26, 2017. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
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In a statement from the White House, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders responded to the military’s memo about allowing transgender service members to serve.
“Today, the President rescinded his previous memorandum on transgender service in the military in order to allow Secretary Mattis to implement a new policy developed through extensive study by senior uniformed and civilian leaders, including combat veterans,” Sanders said in a statement.
“The experts’ study sets forth a policy to enhance our military’s readiness, lethality, and effectiveness,” the statement continued. “On the advice of these experts, the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security have concluded that the accession or retention of individuals with a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria—those who may require substantial medical treatment, including through medical drugs or surgery—presents considerable risk to military effectiveness and lethality.”
The statement went on to read that the new policy will continue to “enable the military to apply well-established mental and physical health standards—including those regarding the use of medical drugs—equally to all individuals who want to join and fight for the best military force the world has ever seen.”
The medical diagnosis of “gender dysphoria,” however, does not necessarily apply to transgender individuals. This statement seems to indicate anyone diagnosed with “gender dysphoria” would be discharged from the military rather than giving hormone treatments as is the policy today. The military also provides hormone treatments for fertility.
It is unclear if the White House is now declaring “gender dysphoria” a psychological defect.
the rich asshole moves to ban most transgender people from serving in military
BY AVERY ANAPOL - 03/23/18 09:18 PM EDT
President the rich asshole on Friday moved to formally ban most transgender people from serving in the military, with limited exceptions.
The White House issued a memorandum on policies determined by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, stating that transgender people are "disqualified from military service except under limited circumstances."
The memorandum, filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, states that "transgender persons with a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria -- individuals who the policies state may require substantial medical treatment, including medications and surgery -- are disqualified from military service except under certain limited circumstances."
Mattis will have some leeway in implementing the policy, the memo states, as will Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen when it comes to the Coast Guard. The pair "may exercise their authority to implement any appropriate policies concerning military service by transgender individuals," the memo reads.
LGBT advocates quickly denounced the move.
"There is simply no way to spin it, the the rich asshole-Pence Administration is going all in on its discriminatory, unconstitutional and despicable ban on transgender troops,” Human Rights Campaign president Chad Griffin said in a statement.
“some rich asshole and Mike Pence are pushing their extreme anti-transgender prejudices onto the military over the overwhelming objections of bipartisan officials, national security leaders and the American public," Griffin added.
“The the rich asshole-Pence administration’s continued insistence on targeting our military families for discrimination is appalling, reckless, and unpatriotic," added American Military Partner Association president Ashley Broadway-Mack.
The Palm Center, a group that promotes the study of LGBT people in the military, accused the Pentagon of having "distorted the science on transgender health to prop up irrational and legally untenable discrimination that will erode military readiness."
"There is no evidence to support a policy that bars from military service patriotic Americans who are medically fit and able to deploy. Our troops and our nation deserve better," the group said.
the rich asshole first called for a ban on transgender troops in a series of tweets last summer, and followed up in August by issuing a memo banning transgender people from enlisting.
The ban has since been battled over in court, with Mattis in February giving the rich asshole a final recommendation. It was expected that he would recommend the rich asshole allow transgender troops to remain in the military.
A Pentagon spokesman declined to comment on Mattis's recommendation in February, only confirming that the Defense chief had advised the president on the subject.
Several federal courts blocked the rich asshole's initial ban, with one ruling in November that the military would be forced to resume accepting transgender recruits starting this year.
In February, the Pentagon confirmed that one transgender recruit had joined a branch of the military after the ban was lifted due to the court order. That individual passed all tests including medical, officials said.
It's unclear what the rich asshole's decision will mean for that unnamed recruit and the estimated thousands of other transgender Americans currently serving active duty in the military.
While the exact number of transgender individuals in active duty service is unknown, a 2016 Rand Corporation study commissioned by the Pentagon estimated the number to be anywhere from 1,320 and 6,630, with 830 to 4,160 others serving in the reserves.
Updated: 9:45 p.m.
POLITICS
some rich asshole Sticks With Ban On Most Transgender Troops
The White House says transgender people are “disqualified from military service except under limited circumstances.”
President some rich asshole announced Friday that he’s sticking to his ban on transgender people in the military, even though the Pentagon showed little enthusiasm for the proposal.
In a memo released Friday night, the White House said that transgender individuals are “disqualified from military service except under limited circumstances.” The full ban was set to officially take effect Friday, though a pair of federal courts in December ordered the U.S. military to allow the recruitment of transgender citizens into the armed forces despite the rich asshole’s declaration.
“Transgender persons with a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria ― individuals who the policies state may require substantial medical treatment, including medications and surgery ― are disqualified from military service except under certain limited circumstances,” the memo says.
the rich asshole’s decision to keep the ban comes one month after a Washington Post report suggested that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis would urge the rich asshole to allow transgender citizens to continue serving in the military.
Mattis delivered his recommendations to the rich asshole in late February, but their conversation remained private.
In a statement following the memo, the White House said Friday’s announcement allows Mattis to “implement a new policy developed through extensive study by senior uniformed and civilian leaders, including combat veterans.”
The White House added that Mattis and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen have concluded that the “accession or retention of individuals with a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria ... presents considerable risk to military effectiveness and lethality.”
The rich asshole administration’s controversial transgender military ban has faced opposition at every corner since the rich asshole announced the policy change in a series of surprising tweets last summer.
In July, the rich asshole said he was banning transgender citizens from the armed forces because of the supposed “burden” of their “tremendous medical costs.” (Transition-related care costs the military only a fraction of its overall budget. The Department of Defense spends tremendously more on Viagra for erectile dysfunction than it does on transgender medical costs.)
His tweets, which reportedly took the Pentagon by surprise, were followed by an official White House memo sent to the departments of defense and homeland security that provided details and a timeline for his proposed ban.
The memo required the armed forces to stop accepting transgender recruits by Jan. 1 and halt the use of federal funds for transition-related care for military personnel by March 22.
Despite the memo, the Pentagon began accepting transgender recruits again on Jan. 1, complying with federal court orders calling for a halt to the ban while it was being legally challenged.
In late February, the U.S. military accepted its first openly transgender recruit to sign up for service since the rich asshole’s pronouncement. The Department of Defense confirmed that the recruit had signed a contract for service in the military and would be attending basic training in the coming months.
A Pentagon spokesman said that the Defense Department will continue allowing transgender people in the military as ordered by the federal court, despite the rich asshole administration’s announcement. Speaking to the Washington Blade before Friday’s announcement, Army Maj. David Eastburn said the “DOD will still comply with federal court rulings and continue to assess and retain transgender service members.”
Stormy Daniels' lawyer: Disc tweet is 'warning shot' to the rich asshole
Washington (CNN)The lawyer representing the porn star suing President some rich asshole called a tweet he posted of an apparent data disc a "warning shot" to the President.
On Thursday night, Michael Avenatti tweeted an image of what looked like a CD or DVD, with the caption: "If a picture is worth a thousand words, how many words is this worth???? #60minutes #pleasedenyit #basta."
Avenatti said in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer that the disc contains evidence proving the porn star's claims about her alleged affair with the rich asshole.
"I want to be really clear about this: It is a warning shot. And it's a warning shot to Michael Cohen and anyone else associated with President the rich asshole that they better be very, very careful after Sunday night relating to what they say about my client and what spin or lies they attempt to tell the American people," Avenatti said.
Avenatti is representing Stephanie Clifford, otherwise known as Stormy Daniels, who is suing the rich asshole over a nondisclosure agreement she argues is void.
In the court filing, Clifford alleges she and the rich asshole had an affair more than a decade ago, but just before the 2016 election, the rich asshole's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid her $130,000 through a private LLC.
CBS is set to air an interview with Clifford on its program "60 Minutes" this Sunday, March 25.
the rich asshole aides are ‘at their wits’ end’
The president’s unpredictable behavior has West Wing staffers worried about their own credibility.
Forget senior White House staffers, outside advisers, friends and others “close” to the president. There’s only one person who truly knows what some rich asshole is thinking at any given moment: some rich asshole.
MARCH 23, 2018 / 5:58 PM / UPDATED 4 HOURS AGO
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Incoming White House national security adviser John Bolton’s history of clashes with U.S. intelligence agencies suggests how he might handle North Korea and Iran, two of the thorniest challenges he and U.S. President some rich asshole face.
FILE PHOTO: Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton arrives for a meeting with U.S. President-elect some rich asshole at the rich asshole Tower in New York, U.S., December 2, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo
Bolton takes over on April 9 from retiring Army Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster. Based on his public statements, he shares the rich asshole’s dislike of the Iran nuclear deal and often-bellicose stance toward North Korea.
However, his pronouncements on both issues are at odds with the assessments of U.S. intelligence agencies.
In a 2017 article in the conservative National Review, Bolton accused Iran of “significant violations” of the 2015 nuclear accord curbing the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.
U.S. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, however, told Congress in February that Tehran has been in compliance with the deal, which is working as designed.
Bolton has characterized North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs as a threat best eliminated by a pre-emptive military strike. U.S. intelligence analysts have warned that such a strike would trigger a North Korean counterattack that would kill tens of thousands of South Koreans, American troops and civilians, and others as far away as Japan.
As a senior State Department official from 2001 to 2005, Bolton exaggerated what the U.S. government knew about weapons programs in Iraq, Cuba and Syria, and retaliated against analysts who differed with him, according to intelligence officials involved in the events.
“The question is, is he (Bolton) going to be like that, and start with the answer and shoehorn the intelligence to fit,” or take a more balanced view, said a former CIA official with more than 30 years’ experience.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, reflected many intelligence veterans’ wariness at Bolton’s appointment.
Bolton declined comment via a spokesman. A CIA spokeswoman also declined comment.
Bolton, 69, is known as a dedicated hawk who marries bureaucratic savvy with belligerent rhetoric.
The decisions the White House confronts on North Korea and Iran require, officials say, complicated judgments based on imperfect information about the status of secret weapons programs, conditions that Bolton’s critics say he has seized on in the past to promote his own agenda.
‘NOT REFLECTED BY INTELLIGENCE’
During President George W. Bush’s first term in office, Bolton was the State Department’s top official on weapons proliferation.
In a May 2002 speech, he declared that Cuba had “at least a limited offensive biological warfare research and development effort,” and was sharing the technology with other countries.
Greg Theilmann, a top State Department intelligence official at the time, recounted how Bolton tried to retaliate against one of Theilmann’s analysts for disputing that conclusion.
“Bolton wanted to make charges about Cuban biological warfare capabilities which were not reflected by the intelligence,” Theilmann said in a telephone interview.
Bolton tried to have analyst Christian Westermann reassigned for challenging him, but he and Carl Ford, the head of the State Department’s intelligence bureau, refused, Theilmann said.
In his 2007 memoir, “Surrender is Not an Option,” Bolton wrote that the language on Cuba’s bioweapons programs had been approved by U.S. intelligence agencies. Westermann, he wrote, “was attempting to impose his own policy views,” which intelligence analysts are not supposed to do.
Fulton Armstrong, who was the intelligence community’s top Cuba expert, said Bolton and several of his associates in government also tried to have him removed over the biological weapons issue.
Bolton “showed every despicable trait of an obsessed policy person who, when frustrated in his attempts to cook the intelligence, lashed out at the person delivering the news,” Armstrong said.
Bolton crossed swords with U.S. spy agencies again in July 2003, when the CIA and other agencies objected to testimony he planned to give describing Syria’s development of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons as a threat to Middle East stability.
Additional reporting by Mark Hosenball; Editing by John Walcott and James Dalgleish
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Bolton Expected to ‘Clean House’
The incoming national security advisor aims to ax dozens of White House officials as he dismantles McMaster’s NSC.
Incoming National Security Advisor John Bolton and people close to him are expected to launch a massive shake-up at the National Security Council, aiming to remove dozens of current White House officials, starting with holdovers from President Barack Obama’s administration, according to multiple sources.
Those targeted for removal include officials believed to have been disloyal to President some rich asshole, those who have leaked about the president to the media, his predecessor’s team, and those who came in under Obama.
“Bolton can and will clean house,” one former White House official said.
Another source said, “He is going to remove almost all the political [appointees] McMaster brought in.”
A second former White House official offered a blunt assessment of former Obama officials currently detailed or appointed to the NSC: “Everyone who was there during Obama years should start packing their shit.”
On Thursday evening, just hours after the rich asshole tapped him for the job, Bolton held a call with longtime advisors, including Matthew Freedman, a Republican consultant who once advised Bolton at the State Department and the United Nations. Freedman is currently helping manage the transition, according to a source familiar with the call.
“Freedman is a very political guy that Bolton likes,” one Republican source said. “He is overly ambitious about cleaning house.”
Freedman disputed that account, saying he was not aware of the Thursday phone call. “I can tell you there is no list,” he said.
Another source close to Bolton said it was premature to be talking about personnel changes.
the rich asshole and Bolton see eye to eye on a more hawkish foreign policy, especially when it comes to North Korea and Iran, and are equally averse to multilateral diplomacy, whether that means the U.N. or working with the European Union.
That has veterans of the rich asshole administration predicting that Bolton will quickly seek to install his own team at the NSC, which functions as a clearing house for policy advice and is supposed to integrate the different perspectives of U.S. government agencies.
Among the officials Bolton’s allies are urging him to fire is Nadia Schadlow, currently the deputy national security advisor for strategy. Schadlow was the primary author of the administration’s recently released National Security Strategy, which was viewed as a surprisingly mainstream document that reaffirmed many traditional U.S. foreign-policy positions. Another official likely to be targeted in a Bolton purge is McMaster’s deputy, Ricky Waddell.
It wouldn’t be the first purge to follow a change in the rich asshole’s national security advisor. When Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster replaced retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn in the job last year, McMaster systematically eliminated officials seen as loyal to his predecessor. According to four sources close to the White House, those so-called “Flynnstones” — advisors loyal to Flynn — are believed to be plotting their return to the NSC.
Whether Bolton will sign off on the staff purge his allies and advisors are pushing is less clear, though he has been insistent about ousting so-called Obama holdovers. “You could easily say that people close to Bolton want these people to go,” one source said. Other sources stress that Bolton, a veteran bureaucratic infighter, makes his own decisions.
A source close to Bolton cautioned that any staffing changes would take time, given the need to process security clearances. That means Bolton will likely be stuck with his current staff for the May summit meeting between the rich asshole and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Bolton is a known quantity for the rich asshole, who has for years watched the former George W. Bush administration official on Fox News. He enters the White House with the rich asshole’s ear, the source close to Bolton said, which promises to further raise tensions with chief of staff John Kelly. Whether Kelly and Bolton are able to forge a working relationship will mark an early test for both men’s ability to run a well-functioning staff.
Another question concerns Bolton’s traditionally hard-line stance toward Russia and Russian President Vladimir Putin, which is at odds with the rich asshole’s. Two sources familiar with Bolton’s relationship with the rich asshole said one of the big unknowns was how Bolton’s approach to Russia will go over with the president or if he’s even aware of those differences.
the rich asshole and Bolton have discussed staffing changes since at least last July, when Bolton was offered the job as McMaster’s deputy, the position currently held by Waddell. the rich asshole told Bolton that the deputy job would lead to the top post, but Bolton declined, saying he’d rather wait until he was offered the national security advisor job, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
McMaster’s departure may have been hastened by leaks emanating from the White House. Two sources familiar with the matter said McMaster was going to stay on until early summer.
But when the Washington Post reported this week that the rich asshole had congratulated Putin in a phone call on his fraudulent election win — after receiving written briefing materials from the NSC instructing him not to congratulate Putin — the president reacted furiously and blamed McMaster. The story caused the rich asshole to speed up McMaster’s departure, the sources said.
Former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe pens shocking op-ed schooling Jeff Sessions on definition of ‘candor’
Andrew McCabe (Screen capure)
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In a shocking op-ed that was posted Friday night, former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe schooled Attorney General Jeff Sessions on the proper definition of “candor.”
“I have been accused of ‘lack of candor,'” wrote McCabe for the Washington Post. “That is not true. I did not knowingly mislead or lie to investigators. When asked about contacts with a reporter that were fully within my power to authorize as deputy director, and amid the chaos that surrounded me, I answered questions as completely and accurately as I could.”
He went on to say that when he realized any of his answers weren’t fully accurate or may have been misunderstood he corrected the record.
“At worst, I was not clear in my responses, and because of what was going on around me may well have been confused and distracted — and for that I take full responsibility,” he continued. “But that is not a lack of candor. And under no circumstances could it ever serve as the basis for the very public and extended humiliation of my family and me that the administration, and the president personally, have engaged in over the past year.”
He noted that never in his “worst nightmares did I ever dream my FBI career would end this way.” He also revealed that he learned of his “firing” from a friend, who saw it breaking live on CNN.
“She read me the attorney general’s statement,” he wrote.
He went on to send a message to the members of the FBI who work daily doing their jobs while under attack from the president of the United States.
“To those men and women, I say: Fear not. Set the headlines aside and give in to what draws you to this work. The country needs you,” he wrote.
03-23-2018
- Former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe wrote about his firing in an emotional opinion column in The Washington Post on Friday.
- "Not in my worst nightmares did I ever dream my FBI career would end this way," he said.
- McCabe rejected one of the main reasons for his dismissal from the bureau — a charge that he was not honest about his handling of disclosures to the media, an accusation that Attorney General Jeff Sessions described as a "lack of candor."
- McCabe ended the column with an inspirational message for current members of the federal law-enforcement community. "The country needs you," he said.
Former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe wrote about his firing in an emotional opinion column in the The Washington Post on Friday, one week after Attorney General Jeff Sessions dismissed him from the agency just hours before he was set to retire with a lifetime pension.
"Not in my worst nightmares did I ever dream my FBI career would end this way," McCabe wrote.
In his column, McCabe described how he learned of his firing, late at night, through a friend who had heard about it on the news: "Despite all the preparation for the worst-case scenario, I still felt disoriented and sick to my stomach," he said.
"So, after two decades of public service, I found out that I had been fired in the most disembodied, impersonal way — third-hand, based on a news account," McCabe wrote.
McCabe was dismissed for what was described as a "lack of candor" in the investigation surrounding his handling of disclosures to the media during the bureau's probe of Hillary Clinton's emails. McCabe pushed back on the assertion that he had been dishonest, calling it "not true."
"When asked about contacts with a reporter that were fully within my power to authorize as deputy director, and amid the chaos that surrounded me, I answered questions as completely and accurately as I could," McCabe said.
"And when I realized that some of my answers were not fully accurate or may have been misunderstood, I took the initiative to correct them."
McCabe acknowledged that, at worst, some of the statements he made at the time may have been unclear, "and for that I take full responsibility," he said.
"But that is not a lack of candor." he added.
The former deputy director took exception to the manner in which President some rich asshole responded to his firing. the rich asshole celebrated it on Twitter last Friday, calling it "a great day for democracy." The president had engaged in months of public attacks on McCabe and his wife, a move that critics described as an effort to push McCabe out of the agency.
The reason, those critics said, could be related to the fact that former FBI director James Comey, who the rich asshole fired in May last year, told McCabe and two other top FBI officials about his conversations with the rich asshole that may be germane to an obstruction-of-justice case special counsel Robert Mueller is building in the Russia investigation.
McCabe painted the rich asshole as being out of touch with the rank-and-file of federal law-enforcement.
"I was sad, but not surprised, to see that such unhinged public attacks on me would continue into my life after my service to the FBI," McCabe continued. "President the rich asshole's cruelty reminded me of the days immediately following the firing of James B. Comey ... the president's comments about me were equally hurtful and false, which shows that he has no idea how FBI people feel about their leaders."
McCabe ended his column with an inspirational message to current FBI officials and people who were interested in a career in law-enforcement: "To those men and women, I say: Fear not. Set the headlines aside and give in to what draws you to this work. The country needs you."
"There is nothing like having the opportunity to be a part of the greatest law-enforcement organization in the world, working every day for goals that you respect and cherish. It is the best job you will ever have."
By BRYAN BENDER
03/23/2018 09:08 PM EDT
President some rich asshole on Friday issued orders to ban transgender troops from serving in the military except in select cases — following through on a controversial pledge last year that has been under review by the Pentagon and fought out in the courts.
The memorandum, filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, states that while the Secretary of Defense and other executive branch officials will have some latitude in implementing the policy, "persons with a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria – including individuals who the policies state may require substantial medical treatment, including medications and surgery – are disqualified from military service except under limited circumstances.”
‘I don’t know what they’re talking about’: Ex-national intelligence director calls BS on the rich asshole’s attack tweet
some rich asshole and James Clapper (Photo: Shutterstock and Screen capture)
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Former national intelligence director James Clapper was attacked on Twitter by President some rich asshole, but he told CNN in a conversation today that he can’t respond to it, “because I don’t know what they’re talking about.”
“House Intelligence Committee votes to release final report,” the rich asshole began his Friday tweet. “FINDINGS: (1) No evidence provided of Collusion between the rich asshole Campaign & Russia. (2) The Obama Administrations Post election response was insufficient. (3) Clapper provided inconsistent testimony on media contacts.”
“I want to ask what the president said about you today came out and tweeted,” began host Erin Burnett. “I want to emphasize, general, we have not seen the report which is put out by the Republican majority on the committee. But I want to start with the president’s accusation against you. ‘Clapper provided inconsistent testimony on media contacts.’ Your response to President the rich asshole?”
Clapper began by saying that the first thing that struck him was that it was strange that an intelligence report from a committee would come with so many recommendations, three of which pertained to Clapper.
“I thought it kind of strange of all the many, many recommendations, most of the three he cited, one of them pertained to me, which I thought in the relative scheme of things pretty inconsequential,” Clapper responded. “So, I don’t know why he did it. Secondly, I don’t know what they were talking about. My attorney reached out to the majority staff of the House Intelligence Committee to ask for some explanation or clarification.”
Unfortunately for Clapper, the committee must submit the report for it to be declassified, which he said could take weeks.
“So I don’t know when I’ll find out about it, but it kind of blindsided me,” he confessed. “They didn’t reach out to me to ask me about it. I would just contrast this process with that which was followed by the subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee after Sally Yates and I testified last — 8th of May.”
He said there was some confusion about questions from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who “went on television saying that I had answered inconsistently.” He explained that he and his attorney went back to read the transcript of questions by Graham and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA).
“They weren’t the same question, I answered them differently,” he said. “And we explained that to the committee and they accepted it. To me is a better process than this. Maybe it was my evil twin. I don’t know.”
He went on to say that he thinks the point of the tweet was an outright “smear” and use of “innuendo, which I can’t respond to, because I don’t know what they are talking about.”
Watch the full discussion below:
Stormy Daniels attorney reveals ‘thuggish’ acts by the rich asshole fixer ‘delivered in person’ — and warns DVD ‘contains evidence’
Michael Avenatti, the attorney for Stephanie Clifford, AKA Stormy Daniels on MSNBC's "Hardball"
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During a Friday MSNBC appearance, the attorney for Stormy Daniels revealed offered more details about the physical threat his client allegedly received and his nature of the cryptic insurance policy he posted on Twitter.
“President the rich asshole is under siege from three separate lawsuits filed by an adult film actor, a former Playboy model and a former contestant on his show The Apprentice,” Matthews reminded. “It doesn’t look like it’s about to let up.”
Matthews noted the “cryptic picture” posted by Daniels’ attorney Michael Avenatti on Twitter.
If “a picture is worth a thousand words,” how many words is this worth?????#60minutes #pleasedenyit #basta
“For more, I’m joined by Michael Avenatti, attorney for Stormy Daniels,” Matthews noted. “I think you’re a match for the president, sir. I’ve been watching you, I never seen it done quite so well.”
“This is a picture, I assume, a tape of her taking the lie detector test?” Matthews asked. “Would that be a good guess?
“No, that would not be a good guess, Chris, I appreciate the compliment,” Avenatti answered.
“We’re getting close, it is a DVD?” Matthews followed-up.
“Let me tell you this, Chris, that DVD contains evidence of this relationship.”
“How vidid and how threatening was the bodily threat, the threat of bodily harm?” Matthews asked. “Was it delivered in person or on the phone?”
“Chris, here’s what I’ll tell you, the threat was delivered in person, my client is going to describe it in detail on Sunday,” Avenatti answered. “It was very frightening to her and I think [viewers] are going to come away with a firm understanding after that interview of exactly what happened here.”
Matthews also asked if the threat of harm influenced her decision to sign the non-disclosure agreement.
“I think absolutely,” he replied. “When the president’s fixer exerts pressure on you to sign a document, you don’t ask a lot of questions, you do as you’re told.”
“Chris, it has nothing do with infidelity. I know people are interested in the salacious details, et cetera, I get it,” Avenatti explained. “It’s much bigger than that.”
“It’s about the cover-up. It’s about people in positions of power abusing that power, putting people that are less fortunate, that don’t have a many resources as they do, under their thumb threatening them, intimidating them and engaging in thuggish tactics,” he continued. “Those days as it relates to my client are over!”
Watch:
Here are the top 3 theories for why the rich asshole used back-door stairs to board Air Force One
President some rich asshole's hair blows, revealing his scalp while boarding Air Force One. Image via screengrab.
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As President some rich asshole arrived at Joint Base Andrews to depart for another weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, the White House press corps noticed two fascinating details. First Lady Melania the rich asshole was not traveling with the president as was listed on the official schedule. And that the rich asshole used the bellow-belly airstairs instead of the ceremonial staircase.
CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller reported that the rich asshole walked from the Oval Office to Marine One alone.
“The official schedule said Mrs. the rich asshole would be leaving with him, but she wasn’t seen,” he noted.
David Nakamura of The Washington Post noticed the unusual use of airstairs.
“Looks like the rich asshole used the non-ceremonial, below-belly stairs to board AF1 again. He did that a week or two ago. I almost never saw Obama do it. Wonder what that’s about…”
On Twitter, speculation was largely grouped by speculation over the president’s marriage, hair, and known fear of stairs.
Here are some of the top entries in each category:
Marriage Difficulties:
Mel whacked his knee caps with a bat?
Avoiding being brushed off by Melania.
Melania is busy making notes in the margins of her pre-nup
Combover Conspiracy:
So his combover wont blow up
Wind + Hair = Bald Spot
Avoiding his hair in the wind.
Fear of Stairs:
He’s afraid of stairs.
Isn’t he supposed to have a stair phobia? Hate to say it but I don’t wish him well when I see him de-plane.
Can't haul his fat ass up the regular stairs? Just a guess....
Fox News’ Jesse Watters whines the spending bill is ‘huge defeat’ for the rich asshole: ‘There’s no way to spin it’
Fox News host Jesse Watters (left) and President some rich asshole (right). Images via screengrab.
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Fox News personality Jesse Watters on Friday described the spending bill as a “huge defeat for the president,” noting some rich asshole did not secure funding for his border wall and will never “change the dynamic in Congress” to get the money he needs.”
“Mexico’s not going to pay for the wall and neither are we,” Watters said on “The Five,” explaining despite the president’s bluster on the wall “the only fencing that’s going to be done is backup fencing and repairs.”
“This was a huge defeat for the president on his signature issue,” Watters said. “It’s really, really bad—there’s no way to spin it.”
Watters said while the rich asshole secured spending for the military, “he sacrificed everything else” to get it.
“The border is a mess,” Watters said, lamenting the fact that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) won funds for the Gateway tunnel connecting New York and New Jersey.
“It’s really insulting, and [the rich asshole] says it’s never going to happen again,” Watters said. “I don’t see how he’s going to change the dynamic in Congress to have this never happen again.”
Watch below:
Fox News’ Chris Wallace calls out the rich asshole for blaming Democrats on DACA: ‘Where has the president been?’
Fox News anchor Chris Wallace (Screen cap).
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“Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace on Friday fact-checked some rich asshole after the president claimed the Democrats are refusing to do anything to protect DACA recipients, telling “Shepard Smith Reporting” fill-in Trace Gallagher, “you sort of wonder: where has the president been.”
Wallace was discussing the rich asshole’s impromptu non-news conference, during which the president argued against the spending bill as he signed it into law.
“I don’t know what to make of it, because it wasn’t just Republican leaders who were [saying] the president was on board, it was the White House own budget director in the White House briefing room yesterday who said the president was going to sign the bill,” Wallace said.
“He acted today as if this was all a surprise,” he added.
the rich asshole also used the press conference as an opportunity to blame Democrats for not reaching a resolution on DACA recipients—despite the fact that the rich asshole has repeatedly bucked bipartisan efforts to bridge a deal on Dreamers.
“For the president suddenly to talk about DACA and the wall—Democrats came to the White House and offered the president a deal in return for protecting 1.8 million DREAMERS and people eligible for that, they were going to give him the $25 billion of spending for the wall weeks ago,” Wallace explained. “The president turned it down … You sort of wonder: where has the president been while he and his team have been negotiating for months on all these issues.”
Watch below, via Fox News:
Author of the rich asshole dossier moves closer to testimony in lawsuit
March 23, 2018
Kevin G. Hall
McClatchy Washington Bureau
Posted with permission from Tribune Content Agency
WASHINGTON — The U.S. lawyer for a Russian tech mogul suing online news site BuzzFeed will travel to London to take testimony from the former British spy at the center of the allegations of possible Trump campaign collusion with the Kremlin.
A British court on Wednesday accepted a compromise between lawyers that compels narrow testimony from Christopher Steele, who produced the so-called Trump dossier that prompted congressional and federal investigations in the United States.
Aleksej Gubarev and his Cyprus-based company XBT Holdings, who are suing BuzzFeed for defamation, will be permitted to question Steele about the final page of the document, where both are mentioned.
Gubarev's lawyers brought separate suits early last year in South Florida and London, alleging BuzzFeed should have given him an opportunity to comment when it published the dossier on Jan. 10, 2017, setting in motion political drama in London, Moscow and Washington, D.C.
"We are going to do (the deposition) ourselves," Valentin Gurvits, a Boston-based lawyer representing XBT and Gubarev, said Friday. "We're going to videotape him. BuzzFeed's counsel will be there." Steele agreed not to appeal the London court's decision.
The timing of the session, however, is unclear because attorneys for BuzzFeed have appealed in London, arguing that questions to Steele should not be limited to just the part about XBT and Gubarev.
"Now that the court has ordered this deposition, we believe Mr. Steele should be able to tell the full story behind his work on the dossier," said Matt Mittenthal, a BuzzFeed spokesman.
The 35-page dossier's final section alleged that Gubarev and his company, over a period from March to September 2016, were instrumental in the hacking of leaked Democratic Party emails embarrassing to Hillary Clinton and other Democrats during the presidential campaign. The dossier was paid for initially by Republican opponents and later a lawyer tied to the Democratic National Committee and Trump's Democratic rival for the White House, Hillary Clinton.
The document didn't detail how this information was learned and Gurvits said in an interview that he wants to ask Steele what is meant by later descriptions of information in the dossier being "raw and unsolicited."
BuzzFeed maintains it published the dossier under what's known as fair-report privilege, meaning it can't be sued because it was reporting about an official document, action or proceeding. It argues the dossier already was been in the hands of the FBI and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., at the time of publication.
"We fully expect the information contained in Mr. Steele's deposition to reaffirm our decision to publish the dossier, which was at the center of official investigations and circulating at the highest levels of government," said Mittenthal.
Gurvits counters that the version of the dossier that the FBI and the senator had did not include the final memorandum from December 2016 that made the allegations about XBT and Gubarev.
"The document that the government was looking at was not the version that BuzzFeed published," he insisted.
Gubarev is a venture capitalist who owns Florida-based Webzilla Inc., Cyprus-based XBT and other tech companies that collectively are involved in web hosting, online storage and internet services.
A McClatchy profile of the company last year detailed XBT's complicated ownership structure and found that its hosting of file-sharing sites had made it a target of anti-piracy advocates.
‘He Has Screwed Us Over!’: the rich asshole Supporters Turn On Their President After Signing Spending Bill
some rich asshole had quite a day today on Twitter and his supporters initially ate it up but now the fever seems to be breaking as his cult-like following finally realizes that he’s not a man of his word.
“I am considering a VETO of the Omnibus Spending Bill based on the fact that the 800,000 plus DACA recipients have been totally abandoned by the Democrats (not even mentioned in Bill) and the BORDER WALL, which is desperately needed for our National Defense, is not fully funded,” he tweeted Friday morning.
Well, first off, the rich asshole ended DACA and a Republican blocked it yesterday, but the so-called president is continuing his blame-game.
The MAGAs were behind him all the way, tweeting to veto that bill. We’ll show you a couple of examples.
Do it!! We did not vote you in to roll over for the swamp rats!! We want rhe wall, illegal immigration stopped, opiods stopped, defense increased and borderes secured.
Veto. Your base supports a veto 100%. This spending bill is a disgrace
If you want your voters to keep believing in you, then that is a wise decision. If you go with this new bill you will have only proved you have fallen into the swamp not drained it. At all cost stay on track as to what you won the election on, your promises
Then he announced a news conference.
Calls to veto the bill loudly rang out again.
Sign this and you sign your impeachment papers #ImpeachTrump This is not an acceptable budget
Then he signed it on Friday afternoon and Twitter exploded.
And his supporters turned on him.
I am in total disbelief.
For the first time, I'm questioning my support for Trump. Through everything we've been through I never wavered, but this? This may be it for me.#FakeVeto
So sad. Absolutely betrayed!
we are not happy! This is BS. Planned Parenthood needs not to be funded and our debt is disgusting.
you should fix headline.
Fake Veto, TRUE BETRAYAL!
WTF did you do @realDonaldTrump ??
They used your playbook against you.
I am not confident and would love to see some polls right about now.
Pretty sure you're at ZERO right now.
This is it... no more Trump. I'm done.
Where the hell is the man we voted for? Today u were a big disappointment. U can’t hide behind military spending for signing this. U say u are not doing this again u shouldn’t have done it in the first place.
MAGAacct Only!Impeach Trump-Trump supporter
He has screwed us over. Just when things were looking good. He has now abandoned the base.
What kind of morons give Dems everything, and remove all possible legislative wins in 2018 and go against the agenda the GOP was elected on in 2016? What kind morons get more R's to vote NO than D's?
Wtf just happened
Never so disappointed or disillusioned——S
Slowly they turn, step by step…
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