Multiple White House employees — including one Melania aide — fired over security clearance issues: report
President some rich asshole (AFP / MANDEL NGAN)
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The White House has either fired or reassigned multiple employees over problems with their security clearances, according to ABC News.
According to ABC News’ sources, the list of fired or reassigned employees includes “at least one individual employed in the Office of the First Lady,” although the report does not go into detail about exactly whom has been let go.
In addition to the staffers that have already been fired, ABC News’ sources say that there is “a list of several other individuals with security clearance issues that are under consideration for possible termination or reassignment in the coming days.”
White House chief of staff John Kelly has reportedly been making lists of White House employees with security clearance problems in the wake of the debacle surrounding former staff secretary Rob Porter, who was fired last month after it was revealed that he allegedly beat his two ex-wives.
Kelly has also downgraded the security clearance of the rich asshole son-in-law Jared Kushner, who can now no longer access top-secret classified information. Despite this, however, the president still sent Kushner to meet with Mexican officials as a diplomatic envoy on Wednesday.
Press coverage of nuclear is so negative this the rich asshole appointee says propaganda is needed
"You're going to start to see more positive stories featured in the news about nuclear"
On Tuesday, one of President the rich asshole’s appointees at the Department of Energy (DOE) complained about recent media coverage of nuclear energy and promised to do something about it.
Suzanne Jaworowski, chief of staff for DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy, told attendees at a nuclear summit, “A lot of the challenges that we have have been blown out of proportion in the media.” She reassured them, E&E News reported, that “You’re going to start to see more positive stories featured in the news about nuclear.”
Certainly media coverage of nuclear power has been tough over the last year. Just this week there have been several headlines that aren’t favorable to the nuclear industry, such as a March 5 one stating “S.C. utilities knew of big problems 6 months into nuclear project but didn’t tell customers.” Or one the next day which said “Belgium hands out millions of iodine pills in case of nuclear accident.” This was followed by a March 7 headline stating “Richland Nuclear Power Plant Under Extra Federal Scrutiny.”
Last summer the coverage was even more challenging, with the Financial Timesreporting in August, “It sometimes seems like US and European nuclear companies are in competition to see which can heap greater embarrassment on their industry.”
And Bloomberg certainly wasn’t doing the industry any favors reporting in June, “More than half of America’s nuclear reactors are bleeding cash, racking up losses totaling about $2.9 billion a year, based on a Bloomberg New Energy Finance analysis.”
There was also the leaked July study that found nuclear plants were closing because of “unfavorable market conditions” namely that “the marginal cost of generation for many nuclear plants is higher than the cost of most other generators.” The result is “the typical nuclear plant will lose money on every kWh produced.”
That leak came from a DOE staff draft of Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s grid study obtained by Bloomberg.
While Jaworowski might be able to stop departmental leaks, it may be more difficult to generate good press when Perry announces the department will authorize up to $3.7 billion in taxpayer-backed loan guarantees to finish building the last remaining new U.S. nuclear plant under construction. This construction has been described as a “financial quagmire,” by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and is more than $10 billion over budget.
But Jaworowski, who previously served as director of communications at Sunrise Coal in Indiana, has a plan: “We want to take the opportunity to right that information, to make sure that if people are going to form an opinion about nuclear, at least they can do it with the facts.”
What facts are the press and public missing? As E&E News reports, “the media campaign will focus on how nuclear touches medicine, food safety, NASA, military propulsion and other parts of people’s lives.”
DOE’s biggest challenge in turning around media coverage, however, was summed up in an August Houston Chronicle piece headlined, “Nuclear power as we know it is finished.” Business columnist Chris Tomlinson explained, “Let it be written that environmentalists didn’t kill the nuclear power industry, economics did.”
It’s hard to see how Jaworowski will be able to spin that.
Joe Scarborough smacks down Ted Cruz’s condescending AR-15 defense: ‘I don’t need you to lecture me’
Sen. Ted Cruz, Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough (MSNBC)
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Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) tried to throw up a smokescreen on gun violence, but MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough refused to let him wriggle off the hook.
The Texas Republican insisted the AR-15 military-style rifles used in so many mass shootings, including the Parkland, Florida, massacre last month, were essentially no different from deer rifles — and the “Morning Joe” host pounced.
“Your argument here is that deer rifles are just as lethal?” Scarborough said. “If somebody takes a deer rifle into a high school in Parkland, that deer rifle is going to be as lethal as an AR-15?”
Cruz then waved the Second Amendment and retreated into the minutiae of firearm mechanisms, as gun advocates often do whenever their legality is questioned — but Scarborough tried to pin him down.
“But you know, though, every American doesn’t have a constitutional Second Amendment right to carry an AR-15 — yes or no?” Scarborough said.
Cruz refused to debate the point, saying that was for the courts to decide, and lectured his fellow attorney on constitutional law.
“Senator, there are a lot of lawyers rolling their eyes at what you’re saying,” Scarborough said. “This percolation has been going on for 10 years.”
Cruz said his legal career was built on arguing before the Supreme Court, and he recognized that Scarborough had not, and the former congressman cut him off.
“I don’t need you to lecture me on what the Supreme Court does and what it doesn’t do,” Scarborough said. “If the Supreme Court denies cert time and time again, and they have since 2010, and they’ve allowed Connecticut’s laws to stand in place that actually ban assault-style weapons. The court is sitting back and allowing that to stay in place, and allowing that — that is constitutional right now. There is not a constitutional right, and you know it. You can talk down to me all you want to, but you know there is no constitutional (right to own assault-style weapons).”
Cruz argued the court recognized AR-15 ownership as constitutional because they were one of the most popular weapons in the U.S., but Scarborough said the Supreme Court hadn’t agreed to hear any challenges to them being banned.
“You are talking about what you want the law to be, I’m talking about what the law is,” Scarborough said. “I give you credit for swatting away legal reality.”
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March 7, 2018
The rich asshole economic team is in complete denial, protesting that they're "not trying to blow up the world" as their tariff policy implodes and senior economic advisers jump ship.
The rich asshole administration is in the middle of yet another mess of its own making, thanks to the poorly thought out decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum. It’s gotten so bad that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross was forced to declare publicly that the administration is “not trying to blow up the world.”
In an appearance on CNBC, Ross sounded apocalyptic when he sought to be reassuring. Anchor Becky Quick noted that Republicans have been critical of the tariffs, along with the World Trade Organization, the Canadian government and the European Union.
“We’re not trying to blow up the world,” Ross said, adding, “there’s no intention of that.”
That is a low bar.
The stock markets have responded poorly to the tariff idea the rich asshole announced in the middle of a spate of unflattering headlines, and there has not even been a formal unveiling of the tariffs. The language involved in the resolution is still unknown to the world.
Businesses are concerned about the additional costs the tariffs would likely add to goods and services, which would be passed on to consumers.
Gary Cohn, head of the rich asshole’s National Economic Council, resigned as the prospects of an international trade war have increased.
The poorly conceived and executed trade initiative is likely to cost American businesses $9 billionand 146,000 jobs. Such an impact would have an extremely negative impact on the American economy and after that, the world.
In a way, it would “blow up the world” when doing so is completely unnecessary and largely based on appealing to the rich asshole’s ego and vanity.
The idea that the rich asshole had any idea how to run a business was always a myth, based on his acting job as host of a reality TV show. Now in the presidency the world is reeling from his poor decision making and his team has been reduced to making reassurances that very few people believe.
They don’t have any credibility, so when they say they aren’t blowing up the world, why would anybody trust them?
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March 7, 2018
Remaining White House staff fear "death spiral" as top advisers continue to flee.
The unending brain drain from the rich asshole White has reached historic proportions barely one year into the Republican’s term. No end is in sight, and White House insiders now fear a “death spiral” for the rich asshole’s remaining team.
With the sudden departure of Gary Cohn, the rich asshole top economic adviser, nearly half of the president’s top advisers have left or been fired since Inauguration Day. That’s a stunning turnover rate that shatters all previous modern-day records.
To date, 43 percent of the rich asshole’s top advisers have left their positions, according to figures compiled by Kathryn Dunn Tenpas of the Brookings Institution.
Cohn’s exit comes after the rich asshole announced radical trade tariffs that Cohn, a free-trade advocate, adamantly opposes.
Not only does Cohn’s departure mean that the rich asshole will be advised on trade almost exclusively by protectionist zealots who are completely out of step with Wall Street’s view of economics — it also means the rich asshole’s already depleted staff takes another hit.
According to one White House official, there’s growing concern of a personnel “death spiral” in the West Wing, the Associated Press reported. “the rich asshole’s mercurial decision-making practices, fears of being drawn into special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation and a stalled legislative agenda are keeping top-flight talent on the outside.”
Indeed, those who have worked in the White House and have already left are reportedly finding a chilly reception from potential employees. Not only are some private companies not impressed with the rich asshole White House job descriptions on resumes today, but they see it as a demerit.
“Everyone is saying it’s a shitshow, that’s why they’re looking to leave early,” one Beltway hiring source told The Hill last month. “Normally you would want to serve the first term at least or the first half of the term. What I’m trying to figure out is, how toxic are some of these people?”
Note that back in January it was reported so many White House staffers were queuing up to leave this year that chief of staff John Kelly reportedly tried to get a head count on how many were exiting so he could stagger the departures in hopes of making the exodus not look so bad.
But that strategy has completely failed in recent weeks.
From the New York Times:
A host of top aides have been streaming out the White House door or are considering a departure. Rob Porter, the White House staff secretary and a member of the inner circle, resigned after spousal abuse allegations. Hope Hicks, the president’s communications director and confidante, announced she would leave soon. In recent days, the president has lost a speechwriter, an associate attorney general and the North Korea negotiator.
The Times notes that Cohn’s departure is perhaps the most significant this year because he’s among most senior advisers to walk out on the rich asshole in 2018.
But given the number of people fleeing the White House, Cohn certainly won’t be the last.
‘We’re not looking for a trade war’: US Commerce Secretary
Wilbur Ross stands after being sworn in as Secretary of Commerce in Washington, DC, U.S. February 28, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
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US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Wednesday said the United States is not seeking a trade war and the decision to impose steep tariffs on steel and aluminum imports was “thought through.”
“We’re not looking for a trade war,” Ross told the CNBC cable network, speaking a day after President some rich asshole’s top economic adviser Gary Cohn resigned in apparent protest over the controversial tariffs.
“We’re going to have sensible relations with our allies,” he added, arguing that a jump in steel prices could be avoided with increased domestic production of the commodity.
the rich asshole’s move on tariffs has infuriated US trade partners, but he says he was elected to protect American workers and industries harmed by trade policies.
Ross played down the Cohn resignation, insisting “this is not some sort of a palace coup.” He said the departing economic adviser “has been contemplating some sort of a move for some little while.”
The 57-year-old former Goldman Sachs executive lobbied passionately against the tariffs, but lost out to a decidedly more protectionist team that included Ross and White House trade adviser Peter Navarro.
“This is not going to be a big trade war,” Ross said Wednesday. “The president would not have indicated flexibility on Canada and Mexico if he just wanted to do very extreme things.”
“This is an idea that’s been thought through over time.”
the rich asshole said Canada and Mexico could be exempted from steel and aluminum tariffs if they showed greater willingness to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to address US interests.
Shortly after Ross delivered his comments US foreign trade figures for the month of January showed a widening of the trade deficit, which reached its highest level in nine years at $56.6 billion in one month.
the rich asshole took to Twitter Wednesday to emphasize that the annual US trade deficit had reached $800 billion last year — which he blamed on “bad policies & leadership” from his White House predecessors.
Porn star Stormy Daniels is suing President the rich asshole, arguing that her hush-money arrangement to not talk about an alleged affair with him is null and void because the rich asshole never signed it.
The lawsuit represents the latest development in an increasingly troubling situation for the White House. First it was reported that the rich asshole's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid Daniels $130,000. Then Cohen confirmed it in a carefully worded statement saying that the rich asshole Organization and campaign weren't involved — but conspicuously did not rule out the rich asshole's involvement. Then this week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Cohen had complained in the past about not being able to reach the rich asshole during the process and not being reimbursed — both suggesting that the rich asshole was indeed involved. That could open the rich asshole up to legal jeopardy.
Exactly how likely Daniels's lawsuit is to succeed is a major question. If she does prevail, it could free her up to talk about the (alleged) affair. But if nothing else, the lawsuit itself serves as confirmation of key details.
The full lawsuit is 28 pages and includes the alleged nondisclosure agreement. Below, I've isolated the key parts. (Note that the lawsuit refers to Daniels by her real name, Stephanie Clifford.)
"2. Defendant some rich asshole a.k.a. David Dennison ('some rich asshole'), an individual, is a resident of the District of Columbia (among other places). ...
"18. By design of Mr. Cohen, the Hush Agreement used aliases to refer to Ms. Clifford and some rich asshole. Specifically, Ms. Clifford was referred to by the alias 'Peggy Peterson' or 'PP.' some rich asshole, on the other hand, was referred to by the alias 'David Dennison' or 'DD.' ”
And the “Carlos Danger” saga all comes rushing back. Expect plenty of “David Dennison” jokes going forward.
The aliases were used in the nondisclosure agreement to protect the parties involved. The people to whom they referred were identified in another document attached to Daniels's lawsuit, although Dennison's real name is redacted in it.
"9. Ms. Clifford began an intimate relationship with some rich asshole in the Summer of 2006 in Lake Tahoe and continued her relationship with some rich asshole well into the year 2007. This relationship included, among other things, at least one 'meeting' with some rich asshole in a bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel located within Los Angeles County.”
In some ways, this lawsuit seems to be a way for Daniels to put her side of the story into the public record without directly telling it. Here, she confirms details about the alleged affair that she previously shared with InTouch magazine in a 2011 interview that wasn't published until recently.
"13. Within days of the publication of the Access Hollywood Tape, several women came forward publicly to tell their personal stories about their sexual encounters with some rich asshole.
"14. Around this time, Ms. Clifford likewise sought to share details concerning her relationship and encounters with some rich asshole with various media outlets.”
This also confirms previously reported details. But it's the first time Daniels has confirmed that she was shopping her story before the election. She has publicly been coy about the whole thing, apparently because of the nondisclosure agreement.
"16. After discovering Ms. Clifford's plans, some rich asshole, with the assistance of his attorney Mr. Cohen, aggressively sought to silence Ms. Clifford as part of an effort to avoid her telling the truth, thus helping to ensure he won the Presidential Election. Mr. Cohen subsequently prepared a draft nondisclosure agreement and presented it to Ms. Clifford and her attorney (the 'Hush Agreement').”
Two points here: First, this is Daniels alleging that the rich asshole was personally involved — something the White House and Cohen have declined to confirm or deny (despite the Journal's reporting). And second, she alleges that the effort was geared toward aiding the rich asshole's election. That may seem like a given, because it happened just before Election Day, but as The Washington Post's Philip Bump has reported, the payment is more legally problematic if it was clearly for this purpose.
Exactly how Daniels knew the rich asshole was involved is a big question, as is how she knows this was election-related.
"22. On or about October 28, 2016, only days before the election, two of the parties signed the Hush Agreement — Ms. Clifford and Mr. Cohen (on behalf of EC). some rich asshole, however, did not sign the agreement, thus rendering it legally null and void and of no consequence. On information and belief, despite having detailed knowledge of the Hush Agreement and its terms, including the proposed payment of monies to Ms. Clifford and the routing of those monies through EC, some rich asshole purposely did not sign the agreement so he could later, if need be, publicly disavow any knowledge of the Hush Agreement and Ms. Clifford.”
Whether the rich asshole needed to sign this agreement is the major legal question here. According to the nondisclosure agreement attached to the lawsuit, there was a line for “DD” — apparently the rich asshole's alias, “David Dennison” — to sign it, but the line is blank. The NDA is signed by Daniels (using her real name) and Essential Consultants, the LLC set up by Cohen.
"25. ... Also in January 2018, and concerned the truth would be disclosed, Mr. Cohen, through intimidation and coercive tactics, forced Ms. Clifford into signing a false statement wherein she stated that reports of her relationship with some rich asshole were false.”
When the Journal first reported on the payment, Cohen released a statement from Daniels denying “a sexual and/or romantic affair.” Daniels added: “Rumors that I have received hush money from some rich asshole are completely false.” Daniels now says this was coerced.
From the alleged NDA:
“2.1 Prior to entering into this Agreement, PP [Daniels's alias] came into possession of certain 'Confidential Information' pertaining to DD, as more fully defined below, only some of which is in tangible form, which includes, but is not limited to information, certain still images and/or text messages which were authored by or relate to DD. ...
"2.2 ... DD claims that he has been damaged by alleged actions against him, including but not limited to the alleged threatened selling, transferring, licensing, publicly disseminating and/or exploiting the Images and/or Property and/or other Confidential Information relating to DD, all without the knowledge, consent or authorization of DD. PP denies all such claims.”
"2.2 ... DD claims that he has been damaged by alleged actions against him, including but not limited to the alleged threatened selling, transferring, licensing, publicly disseminating and/or exploiting the Images and/or Property and/or other Confidential Information relating to DD, all without the knowledge, consent or authorization of DD. PP denies all such claims.”
This may be the most salacious aspect of the whole 28 pages — an allusion to possible images or text messages that Daniels allegedly tried to release. If the agreement is voided, she could ostensibly release them.
European Union targets peanut butter, orange juice and whiskey in transatlantic trade war with the rich asshole
the rich asshole's planned tariffs on steel and aluminium have triggered fears of a trade war. (AFP / MANDEL NGAN)
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The EU said Wednesday it would hit flagship US products including peanut butter, orange juice and bourbon whiskey with counter measures if US President some rich asshole goes ahead with threatened steel and aluminum tariffs.
The blow by Brussels came hours after the rich asshole’s trade offensive brought the resignation of his top economic advisor Gary Cohn, an influential ex-Goldman Sachs banker who fiercely opposed the measures.
EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem said a full-on transatlantic trade war was “not in anybody’s interests” — a stark contrast from the rich asshole, who last week declared trade wars were “good and easy to win”.
“A trade war has no winners,” Sweden’s Malmstroem told reporters after the European Commission, which handles trade matters for the bloc, discussed the tariffs.
“We should be very careful with that word… there are only losers in that, and that’s why we will respond in a proportionate and balanced way.”
The European Union is holding fire on its reprisals as the rich asshole has yet to sign into effect his plan to set tariffs for what he calls unfair competition for US industry, but Malmstroem said a list of products had been drawn up including steel, industrial and agricultural items.
“Certain types of bourbon are on the list as are other items such as peanut butter, cranberries, orange juice,” Malmstroem said.
European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker on Friday threatened to hit big-name US brands such as Harley Davidson motorbikes and Levi’s jeans with import duties, prompting the rich asshole to fire back a threat to tax cars from the EU.
Despite Juncker’s headline-grabbing threat to iconic US brands, the EU’s hitlist does not mention specific businesses.
– ‘Thousands of jobs’ –
Malmstroem said the EU was still trying to persuade Washington not to go ahead with the tariffs, which she said would threaten “thousands of European jobs”.
The EU is also looking at “safeguard” measures to protect its industry — restricting the bloc’s imports of steel and aluminum to stop foreign supplies flooding the European market, which is allowed under World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.
the rich asshole, elected on a promise to roll back the effects of globalisation on the US economy with an “America First” platform, said Thursday he planned to impose 25 percent tariffs on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum.
Juncker, who on Wednesday met Lakshmi Mittal, the boss of the world’s top steelmaker ArcelorMittal, said last week the EU would “react firmly” to protect European industry.
Europe exports around five billion euros’ ($4 billion) worth of steel and a billion euros’ worth of aluminum to the US each year, and the commission estimates the rich asshole’s tariffs could cost some 2.8 billion euros.
As well as making it harder for European metal to find buyers in the US, tariffs could also mean other foreign producers redirect their output to the EU, pushing the market there down.
Brussels wants to maximise the political impact of its reprisals on the US while minimising the impact of a trade war on European consumers.
European Commission Vice President Jyrki Katainen told AFP on Friday the bloc could form a “coalition of like-minded countries” to file a complaint at the WTO, though this procedure usually takes around two years.
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March 7, 2018
Cruz has NRA talking points, Cuomo has facts.
Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz is laughing at efforts to control gun violence. But CNN’s Chris Cuomo had the last laugh when Cruz tried to lie his way through a recent appearance using gun lobby talking points.
During an interview on CNN’s “New Day” Wednesday morning, Cruz dragged out a tired talking point on gun control, telling Cuomo, “You see a lot of Democratic politicians posturing and advocating all sorts of gun control,” and then asserting that “it doesn’t work, it’s singularly ineffective.”
“How do you know it doesn’t work?” Cuomo asked.
“Because if you look at the jurisdictions with the toughest gun control laws,” Cruz replied, “cities like Chicago, cities like Washington, D.C., they almost invariably have the highest crime rates, the highest murder rates…”
No, but that’s not true,” Cuomo interrupted. “The Giffords Center analysis says that, with a few exceptions, states that have the strictest gun control measures have the lowest rates of gun deaths. Look at Connecticut. Look how they brought the numbers down.”
“Except you’re citing sources from a partisan source that is not reliable,” Cruz said.
“Where are you citing them from? The NRA?” Cuomo asked.
With no actual facts to cite, Cruz simply returned to parroting NRA lies.
Cuomo is absolutely right, and Cruz is lying when he says the Giffords Center analysis is somehow tainted by partisanship. The statistics are from the Centers for Disease Control, and a 2013 studythat was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found an even stronger correlation between gun control laws and lower rates of gun death.
Further analysis of the CDC data shows that some states with strong gun control laws are undermined by neighboring states with weak gun regulation, like California, which is surrounded by states with weak gun laws.
Cruz is running for his political life against a Democrat who is surging in a politically shifting Texas. Without the facts on his side, it looks like lying for the NRA is all he has left.
A rich asshole adviser tried to slut shame Stormy Daniels on CNN. It didn’t go over well.
"I don't know what to say about it."
During a CNN appearance on Tuesday night, former the rich asshole campaign senior economic adviser Stephen Moore tried to downplay adult film star Stormy Daniels’ new lawsuit to nullify an nondisclosure agreement surrounding a sexual relationship she says she had with some rich asshole. It did not go well.
After Republican strategist Kevin Madden said that “the fact that we’re even having this conversation should probably register on the Richter scale, that we’re discussing a sitting president being sued by a porn star,” Moore tried to dismiss Daniels as nothing more than an attention-seeker.
“Kevin, are you saying that a porn star would actually try to draw attention to herself? Shocking!”
A very awkward silence ensued.
Host Don Lemon then said to Moore, “that’s your only response, Stephen, is that a porn star is trying to [get] attention? A porn star with a very lengthy complaint from California. I mean, it’s $130,000 payout confirmed from the president’s personal attorney.”
Moore then tried to argue that the matter had already been litigated by the voters who elected the rich asshole president.
“Look, I don’t have any idea what went on, my only point is that are we really, I mean, a porn star?” he said. “You know, who knows what some rich asshole did 10 years ago, but look — wasn’t this litigated during the campaign when all these women came forward? And, you know, people knew about this when they voted for some rich asshole, and he still won.”
But as Lemon pointed out, voters didn’t have the opportunity to learn about the rich asshole’s affair with Daniels — an affair that began a year after he married Melania, and the same year as his youngest son Barron was born — because of the $130,000 settlement.
“No, we didn’t learn about it because of the hush money — he paid her to be quiet so nobody knew about it until now,” Lemon said.
But Moore argued that nobody should be surprised to learn that the rich asshole had an affair, and anyway, Democratic presidents have done it too.
“I think people know that trump had had some women, and gee, who would’ve ever thought we’d have a president that had sex out of marriage, i mean, certainly not Bill Clinton or John F. Kennedy, right?”
As Lemon pointed out, however, no other president has had an affair with an adult film star, and then paid her money to stay quiet about it just weeks before an election.
Finally, Moore was left speechless.
“I don’t know what to say about it,” he said. “My point was, Don, that people knew that there were women in some rich asshole’s past and people got past it, and this is something that happened 10 years ago. I don’t think the American people really care about that, they care about jobs, the economy, you know, how the country is doing.”
While Moore may not believe that the American public cares about what happened between the rich asshole and Daniels, Daniels’ attorney disagrees.
During a Wednesday morning appearance on Today, Daniels’ attorney, Michael Avenatti, said that his client is “looking to disclose the truth about what happened.”
“At this point, in light of the amount of misinformation that Mr. Cohen has put out there to The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and others, I think it’s time for her to tell her story and for the public to decide who’s telling the truth,” he said.
Avenatti went on to raise questions about whether the $130,000 payment Daniels received came from the account of the rich asshole’s personal attorney or somewhere else. Watchdog groups have raised concerns that the hush money payment to Daniels may have violated campaign finance laws.
“We think it’s highly questionable as to whether it came from his personal funds,” Avenatti said. “The idea that an attorney would go off on his own, without his client’s knowledge, engage in this type of negotiation, and enter in this type of agreement quite honestly I think is ludicrous.”
The Wall Street Journal reported that there was a delay in sending the payment when Cohen had issues contacting the rich asshole. After the election, “Cohen complained to friends that he had yet to be reimbursed for the payment to Ms. Clifford.”
the rich asshole adviser stuns Fox & Friends: Stormy Daniels’ hush agreement is ‘not valid’ if Donald didn’t sign
Jay Goldberg (Fox News/screen grab)
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Jay Goldberg, a longtime adviser and former lawyer for some rich asshole, explained on Wednesday that the president’s non-disclosure agreement with adult film star Stephanie Clifford — who goes by the stage name Stormy Daniels — was invalid if he failed to sign it.
Clifford’s attorney announced on Tuesday that his client was suing the rich asshole because he failed to sign a non-disclosure agreement that offered her $130,000 to keep quiet about an alleged affair with the former reality star.
The hosts of Fox & Friends on Wednesday gave former the rich asshole attorney Goldberg a chance to shoot down the lawsuit, but he surprised them with an answer that was ominous for the president.
“It’s true,” Goldberg said. “An agreement, you need the signature of both parties. And if there’s no signature by him, it’s not valid.”
“Non-disclosure agreements are looked at with skepticism,” he continued. “Because it impairs negatively on the right of free speech.”
“Okay, alright,” Fox News host Steve Doocy replied, sounding stunned with disappointment.
Watch the video below from Fox News.
Should Kellyanne Conway resign?
The Jersey Journal
Posted with permission from NJ.com
The Office of Special Counsel says she violated the Hatch Act twice last year.
"Ms. Conway, in her official capacity, attempted to influence the Alabama special election by advocating for the success and failure of candidates in that race," the report stated. Her comments came in separate interviews with Fox News and CNN.
Some are calling on Conway to resign or to be fired.
Because she is a presidential appointee, it is up to Trump to decide what -- if any -- punishment she will receive.
Career government officials found to have violated the Hatch Act can be fired, suspended or demoted, and fined up to $1,000.
Conway, a New Jersey native, came under fire for violating a different ethics provision last year, when she pushed Trump supporters to purchase products sold under the Ivanka Trump brand.
Should Conway resign over the latest findings?
Vote in our informal, unscientific poll and tell us how you voted in the comments.
Ex-the rich asshole advisor Gary Cohn complained he only used 20 percent of his brain power in the White House: report
White House National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn at the Davos World Economic Forum in 2016 (image via World Economic Forum/Creative Commons).
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Outgoing the rich asshole economic adviser Gary Cohn reportedly complained that he wasn’t being used to his full potential shortly before he announced his departure from the administration.
According to Axios’ Mike Allen, Cohn told the rich asshole recently that he was only “working at like 20 percent of my capacity,” and he said he wanted a job where he could, in Allen’s words, “he would use 80% or 90% of his brain capacity.”
Additionally, Allen reports that Cohn was regularly frustrated that much of his job revolved around trying — and eventually failing — to educate the rich asshole about the nuances of international trade and the dangers of sparking a trade war with other nations.
“the rich asshole announced this week that he planned to impose sweeping tariffs on steel and aluminum — an embarrassment to Cohn, who had boasted to his Wall Street and Hamptons buddies that he had kept the president on the right track on trade,” writes Allen.
Ex-Defense official tells MSNBC: ‘Putin has crossed every red line’ — and the rich asshole has done ‘precisely nothing’
Jeremy Bash (MSNBC)
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A former chief of staff for the Department of Defense and the CIA said President some rich asshole has done “precisely nothing” to respond to Russia’s escalating provocations.
Jeremy Bash, who served a senior advisor to Leon Panetta in both roles, disputed the president’s claim that his administration was “working very hard” to counter Russian attacks on American democracy.
“They have done precisely nothing to secure our election systems,” Bash said.
The director of national intelligence, Dan Coats, warned Tuesday that Russia had launched a “cyber attack” against the U.S., but Bash said the president was still claiming that other nations or individuals may be to blame.
“We’re talking about the 400-pound guy in the basement,” Bash said. “He’s minimizing Russia’s role, notwithstanding the intelligence assessments I’ve received.”
“What do they have on him?” co-host Mika Brzezinski asked.
The rich asshole administration has refused to enact the Russia sanctions passed by Congress, and the State Department hasn’t spent any of the $120 million budgeted to fight foreign election interference.
“Presidential leadership — I mean, it really comes from the top,” Bash said. “If the president doesn’t convene his national security team and say this is a top priority, it simply won’t get done — and I think that’s exactly what’s happening. The president is sending mixed signals, and his team doesn’t know whether they have the running room to take on Russia.”
The Kremlin and president Vladimir Putin have grown increasingly bold in just the past week, Bash said, with the announcement of two new nuclear weapons and the suspected poisoning of a Russian spy in London.
“Putin has crossed every red line and our government, our president, is doing nothing about it,” Bash said.
the rich asshole vows to reverse 30 years of history to restore manufacturing economy in manic tweet
HERSHEY, PA - DECEMBER 15, 2016: President-Elect some rich asshole speaks of his relief to have won the state of Texas on Election night during his speech at the "Thank You Tour" rally at the Giant Center (Shutterstock).
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President some rich asshole promised to rebuild the manufacturing economy that has withered in the United States since the 1980s.
The president tweeted Wednesday morning that he would “make America great again” by reversing that decline, which he said started under former President George H.W. Bush.
“From Bush 1 to present, our Country has lost more than 55,000 factories, 6,000,000 manufacturing jobs and accumulated Trade Deficits of more than 12 Trillion Dollars,” the rich asshole tweeted. “Last year we had a Trade Deficit of almost 800 Billion Dollars. Bad Policies & Leadership. Must WIN again! #MAGA”
From Bush 1 to present, our Country has lost more than 55,000 factories, 6,000,000 manufacturing jobs and accumulated Trade Deficits of more than 12 Trillion Dollars. Last year we had a Trade Deficit of almost 800 Billion Dollars. Bad Policies & Leadership. Must WIN again! #MAGA
Jared Kushner’s company is desperately trying to keep its partners secret — but why?
Eric Umansky, ProPublica, and Andrea Bernstein, WNYC
Posted with permission from ProPublica
We’ve seen headline after headline about Jared Kushner. We’ve heard that Trump’s son-in-law company has been on a global search for cash, that the company got giant loans from two big financial firms after Kushner met with officials from the companies in the White House, and that countries believe they can manipulate Kushner through his “complex” business arrangements.
Just like his father-in-law, Kushner has not fully divested from his family’s business. He still owns at least $761 million in assets. Meanwhile, the company has found itself owing hundreds of millions of dollars in debt that comes due in less than a year.
All of this while the company has worked very hard to keep some of its partners a secret.
It all gets back to a familiar question: How can we know whether Kushner is operating in interests of the country or his company?
For our episode, we contacted Kushner Companies, which said it “is financially very strong,” and that “Jared Kushner is not in any way involved in the management of the business.” Jared Kushner’s attorney’s spokesman, Peter, Mirijanian told us that Kushner “has followed the ethics advice he has received for all of his work which include the separation from his business and recusals when appropriate.”
Joining us on the podcast are Bloomberg’s David Kocieniewski and Caleb Melby, who’ve broken a series of stories about the Kushner Companies financial stress. They take us on a tour of some of the Kushner Companies’ marquee properties.
And then we take a different kind of tour with ProPublica’s Alec MacGillis, who has tracked the travails of Kushner Companies tenants in Baltimore apartment complexes — and the extent to which the Kushner Companies will go to avoid naming their partners.
Listen to the episode.
And remember, we want to hear from you: Do you happen to know who the Kushner’s business partners are? Perhaps you know about other Kushner financial transactions or his White House meetings?
We also want to hear your questions. What would you like to know about Trump’s businesses? What confuses you?
You can contact us via Signal, WhatsApp or voicemail at 347-244-2134. Here’s more about how you can contact us securely.
You can always email us at tips@trumpincpodcast.org.
And finally, you can use the postal service:
Trump Inc at ProPublica 155 Ave of the Americas, 13th Floor New York, NY 10013
Even at the high end, wind has less than 3% of the emissions of coal
JUSTIN WORLAND / HOUSTON @JUSTINWORLAND
March 6th, 2018
Justin Worland is a Washington D.C.-based writer for TIME covering energy and the environment.
In a speech before oil and gas industry executives, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke argued that the production and transportation of wind turbines contributes to global warming, but he overstated the factual case, especially when compared with other forms of energy.
Speaking at the CERAWeek energy conference hosted by IHSMarkit in Houston, Zinke also echoed a long-held argument from President some rich asshole that wind turbines kill birds.
“We probably chop us as many as 750,000 birds a year with wind and the carbon footprint on wind is significant,” Zinke said. “I always thought the best place for wind was on the roof of a house.”
In his remarks, Zinke acknowledged that fossil fuels generate carbon dioxide emissions to argue that “every type of energy has a consequence,” though he did not expand on that concern.
He also overstated the numbers on bird deaths.
President some rich asshole has long complained on Twitter about wind farms and opposed one that he feared would affect views from his golf course in Scotland. While promoting his energy plan in 2016, the rich asshole made a similar claim, arguing that “more than 1 million birds a year” are killed by wind farms.
It's Friday. How many bald eagles did wind turbines kill today? They are an environmental & aesthetic disaster.
Wind turbines, with blades that can extend more than 300 feet in the air and spin at speeds topping 150 miles per hour, do kill birds with some estimates in the hundreds of thousands. But scientific studies peg the actual number of bird deaths as anywhere from 20,000 to 573,000 a year, while the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that it’s around 500,000.
Birds are also killed in other forms of energy production — and industry more broadly — at even higher numbers. A 2012 Bureau of Land Management memo estimated that between 500,000 and 1 million birds die in oil fields each year, for instance. And birds also face a threat from climate change caused driven by carbon dioxide emissions. The Audubon Society, a nonprofit dedicated to the protection of birds, supports wind power as key to solving global warming.
Zinke’s comments came as part of call for an “all of the above” energy strategy in which oil and gas continue to play a significant role. Zinke also criticized large solar installation for taking away from public lands used for recreation and hunting and acknowledged that oil and gas generate carbon emissions.
“There’s no such thing as free energy,” he said.
‘the rich asshole is running amok’: GOP strategist warns Cohn departure proves ‘the guy writing crazy tweets’ is now making policy
GOP strategist Mike Murphy
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GOP strategist Mike Murphy on Tuesday issued a stark warning to fellow Republicans, explaining the latest announcement that some rich asshole’s chief economic adviser Gary Cohn is resigning shows the president “is running amok.”
Murphy was speaking with CNN’s Don Lemon and HBO’s “The Circus” executive producer Mark McKinnon after another whirlwind news day culminated in reports porn star “Stormy Daniels” is suing some rich asshole over a hush agreement she alleges he never signed.
Lemon asked Murphy what he thinks about Daniels. “Her work, or—?” Murphy joked.
“First of all, I think the president should have come up with a better phony porn name when he paid her off than ‘David Dennison,’” Murphy suggested (the rich asshole was named in Daniels’ lawsuit under the alias ‘David Dennison’). “He should have been ‘Orange Olsen’ or something a little more creative.”
“When you run a reality show presidency, you get into these kinds of things,” Murphy said, adding he believes the rich asshole faces “bigger problems” than Daniels’ lawsuit—including the ongoing investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller.
“Another big brick falls every day,” Murphy said of Mueller’s investigation. Asked by McKinnon what the “two [best and worst] possible scenarios” are for the rich asshole, Murphy explained the worst case scenario would be if Mueller is able to connect “financial favors to the family from overseas and maybe even money moving into the campaign.” Murphy said such a connection could be “criminal and catastrophic” to the president.
“It’s not rocket science to wonder why [the rich asshole] has never released his tax returns,” Murphy said. “He’s been incredibly defensive about his personal financial stuff and that usually doesn’t happen without motive.”
Murphy said another problem the rich asshole faces is his hasty decision to levy tariffs on imported aluminum and steel—a move that reportedly prompted Cohn to resign as his economic adviser.
“What a lot of the rich asshole supporters tell people like me who have been the rich asshole critics in the Republican party is ‘Look, the tweets are all crazy just ignore them … don’t worry about the crazy tweets,” Murphy said.
“The guy writing the crazy tweets is the guy forcing policy to his entire White House,” he continued. “None of his economic grown-ups are for this.”
“the rich asshole is running amok, it’s ‘Home Alone,’” Murphy surmised.
Turning to the rich asshole’s press conference with the Swedish prime minister Tuesday, Murphy suggested the president “looks like he just left the kind of meetings I’ve been to with Republican pollsters.”
“They’re all looking at the floor and sitting with the desk and nothing in front of them with a bottle of whiskey and a revolver,” Murphy explained. “It is dire, internally, in the polling right now.”
Watch the video below:
‘C’mon brother’: Watch this CNN panel’s painfully awkward response to the rich asshole backer’s Stormy Daniels joke
Washington Post reporter Josh Dawsey, USA Today columnist Kirsten Powers, economic adviser Stephen Moore and Republican strategist Kevin Madden (CNN)
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A panel on CNN’s “Don Lemon Tonight” Tuesday appeared stunned by ardent some rich asshole supporter Stephen Moore after he tried to make light of a new lawsuit filed by Stephanie Clifford (“Stormy Daniels”) against some rich asshole (“David Dennison”).
Clifford on Tuesday filed suit against the rich asshole in in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging the president never signed the nondisclosure agreement that resulted in a $130,000 payout for the porn star. Clifford says the “hush agreement” is invalid because it lacks the rich asshole’s signature.
Lemon declared the saga was “like an eighties nighttime soap opera” before bringing on contributors to discuss Clifford’s lawsuit against the president.
Republican strategist Kevin Madden noted he can “pretty much predict what the White House is going to say” about Clifford’s lawsuit, “which is this is somebody trying to get attention, trying to drive their own sort of PR effort here.”
“But there are some very credible claims,” Madden acknowledged. “And the fact that we are even having this conversation should be—you know—it should probably register on the Richter Scale that we’re discussing a sitting president being sued by a porn star. But we’re having it. And it’s part of almost like the routine of today’s news cycle, which is the interesting part of it.”
That’s when Moore tried to mock Clifford’s profession.
“Kevin, are you saying that a porn star would actually try to call attention to herself?” Moore asked, adding: “Shocking, right? I mean, that’s what porn stars do.”
Fellow panelists—and Lemon—immediately pounced.
“Stephen, that’s your only response?” Lemon asked. “Is that a porn star is trying to call attention—a porn star with a very lengthy complaint from California? I mean, it’s, you know, hey, $130,000 from the president’s personal attorney. Come on, brother.”
Watch the full exchange below:
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A porn star who has said she had sex with President some rich asshole filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to invalidate a nondisclosure agreement that she signed days before the 2016 presidential election, which prevented her from discussing the alleged sexual encounters.
The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleges that the agreement is “null and void and of no consequence” because the rich asshole didn’t personally sign it.
Adult film actress Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, said she wanted to go public with the details of her alleged sexual relationship with the rich asshole in the weeks leading up to the election, according to the lawsuit. Clifford and the rich asshole’s attorney Michael Cohen signed the nondisclosure agreement on Oct. 28, 2016.
Clifford alleges that she began an “intimate relationship” with the rich asshole in 2006 and that it continued “well into the year 2007,” according to the lawsuit. She said the relationship included encounters in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, and Beverly Hills, California.
the rich asshole married his current wife, Melania the rich asshole, in 2005.
Clifford has claimed she had sex with the rich asshole once and then carried on a subsequent yearslong platonic relationship. She has also, through a lawyer, denied the two had an affair. Cohen has denied there was ever an affair.
Cohen has said he paid the porn actress $130,000 out of his own pocket as part of the agreement. He has also said that “neither the rich asshole Organization nor the rich asshole campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly.”
The lawsuit charges that the “hush agreement” is legally invalid because it was only signed by Clifford and Cohen. The agreement refers to the rich asshole as David Dennison and Clifford as Peggy Peterson, but an attached exhibit details their true identities.
Clifford’s lawsuit also alleges that the rich asshole and Cohen “aggressively sought to silence Ms. Clifford as part of an effort to avoid her telling the truth, thus helping to ensure he won the Presidential Election.”
“To be clear, the attempts to intimidate Ms. Clifford into silence and ‘shut her up’ in order to ‘protect some rich asshole’ continue unabated,” the lawsuit said. Clifford alleges that as recently as last week, the rich asshole’s attorney tried to initiate an arbitration proceeding against her.
Neither Cohen nor the White House immediately responded to requests for comment Tuesday evening.
NBC News first reported the existence of the lawsuit.
White House reinstates HHS official who claimed Ted Cruz frequents prostitutes: report
Ted Cruz speaks to Fox New (screen grab)
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Jon Cordova, the HHS principal deputy assistant secretary for administration, will be back at his tax-payer funded job on Wednesday, Politico reported Tuesday.
Cordova had been placed on administrative leave after CNN reported on his conspiracy theory views posted on social media during the 2016 campaign when he worked for the rich asshole’s campaign and was a rich asshole delegate to the Republican National Convention.
During the 2016 campaign, he had falsely claimed that Gold Star father Khizr Khan was a “Muslim Brotherhood agent” paid by the Clinton Foundation.
Cordova also suggested that Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) frequented prostitutes and that Democrats were “the real racists” in America.
“Mr. Cordova has expressed sincere and deep apology for those statements and for any harm or injury he may have caused to readers of any of his social media posts,” an HHS spokesperson told POLITICO. “While he continues to work at HHS, Mr. Cordova – along with all department employees – will be expected to demonstrate a full commitment to inclusiveness and respect for all Americans that we serve.”
Politico cited four sources who claimed Cordova was repeatedly seen at work after allegedly being suspended.
“He has acknowledged that he may have allowed the heat of the political campaign to undermine his better judgment, resulting in posted content by him that may have inadvertently offended many,” the HHS spokesperson added.
the rich asshole administration is suing California over sanctuary city laws
President some rich asshole addressed the nation following the Florida school shooting. (AFP / Mandel NGAN)
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The rich asshole administration is moving forward with plans to sue the state of California over their enactment of so-called “sanctuary city” laws aimed at protecting undocumented immigrants from raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Politico reported Tuesday that the suit will focus on three laws passed within the California state legislature last year in opposition to President some rich asshole’s promised crackdown on undocumented immigration.
The move comes after a Northern California federal judge declined a proposed injunction brought by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra that would have blocked the administration from taking such action.
In his decision, Judge William Orrick wrote that the case “may help define the contours of the state’s broad constitutional police powers under the Tenth Amendment and the federal government’s ‘broad, undoubted power over the subject of immigration and the status of aliens.’”
Attorney General Jeff Sessions intends to tout the government’s lawsuit at a law enforcement meeting on Wednesday in Sacramento, where the litigation is being brought.
“The Department of Justice and the rich asshole administration are going to fight these unjust, unfair and unconstitutional policies that have been imposed on you,” Sessions’ planned remarks to the California Peace Officers Association meeting read. “We are fighting to make your jobs safer and to help you reduce crime in America. And I believe we are going to win.”
the rich asshole’s top economic adviser abruptly quits over the rich asshole’s trade war
By
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Even Gary Cohn can't take any more of this nonsense.
the rich asshole suffered yet another humiliating blow Tuesday afternoon, as the head of his National Economic Council, Gary Cohn, announced his resignation.
“Officials insisted there was no single factor behind the departure of Mr. Cohn,” The New York Times reported. Cohn had reportedly been considering quitting as early as August 2017 following the rich asshole’s horrendous response to the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville. Cohn had even penned a resignation letter at that time.
But the last straw seemed to be the rich asshole’s announcement of a 25 percent tariff on all steel imports, a nonsensical decision that his administration defended very poorly. Already, this decision has led the United States into a trade war with our own allies. And it stands to cost American businesses $9 billion and 146,000 jobs.
And the departure of Cohn, a former investment banker with Goldman Sachs, is just the latest in an endless cycle of staff turnover at the White House.
Last year, 36 percent of the rich asshole’s top staff quit or were fired, the worst first-year rate for a president in over three decades. And many other staffers have left in even more spectacular fashion, including multiple officials busted for domestic violence.
Furthermore, entire advisory councils have had to be disbanded because of all the business leaders who no longer wanted anything to do with the rich asshole.
There can be no question that this White House is a damaging place to work, with some referring to it as “career suicide.”
But Cohn, for the longest time, stuck by the rich asshole and helped him sell some of his worst policies.
In particular, Cohn went to bat for the GOP tax scam. He even laughed in the faces of CEOs who directly told him they would not put their tax savings into investments or jobs.
But even he had his limits, and apparently the rich asshole’s reckless trade war was a bridge too far for Cohn.
the rich asshole cannot keep his house in order. And foolish decisions like starting a trade war will do nothing but force out more and more top staffers.
the rich asshole’s labor chief gets nailed for letting bosses steal workers’ tips
By
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Rep. Rosa DeLauro let Labor Secretary Alex Acosta have it over a rule that would allow employers to rip off tipped workers.
Labor Secretary Alex Acosta tried to defend a rule that would allow restaurants to steal workers’ tips. But New York Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro didn’t let him get away with it.
During a House Appropriations Committee hearing, DeLauro demanded answers from Acosta about the rule that would rip off tipped workers. But after several minutes of evasion from Acosta, DeLauro was clearly fed up.
“The fact of the matter is that in fact employers will be allowed to pocket the tips of their employees, yes or no?”
But when Acosta tried to demure again, DeLauro shut him down. “So the answer is yes, they can pocket those.”
DeLauro asked whether the Labor Department had ever done a quantitative analysis of the rule. But Acosta again offered nothing but evasions, each prefaced with a condescending “Ranking Member DeLauro …”
“I know my name,” DeLauro responded. “Was there an analysis conducted, yea or nay?”
Acosta then took several more minutes to explain, in equally condescending fashion, that the answer was no.
“So, we have established that employers can pocket their employees’ tips, we have also established that there was no quantifiable analysis,” DeLauro said. And she noted that the public had been denied “the chance to comment on the full effects of the proposed tip-sharing rule.”
“Finally, will you withdraw the notice of proposed rule-making, yes or no?” DeLauro asked.
“No,” Acosta replied with a thin smile.
In February, attorneys general from 17 states signed a letter to Acosta condemning the proposed rule change. And reports show that the rich asshole administration deliberately withheld data that showed billions of dollars in tips could be taken from workers.
The proposed rule received over 385,000 comments, without the data that DeLauro asked about.
Time after time, the rich asshole administration has made clear that it stands with wealthy businesses over American workers. But Democrats like DeLauro will continue to hold them to account for it.
the rich asshole won’t give troops in Niger imminent-danger pay after deadly ambush
By
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Withholding danger pay from troops in Niger makes it painfully clear that the rich asshole doesn't care about the well-being of the nation's service members.
It has been five months since the deadly terrorist ambush in Niger that killed four Army Special Forces troops. And the rich asshole continues to thumb his nose at their memories.
The New York Times reports that the rich asshole officials have refused to approve imminent-danger pay for U.S. forces stationed in the region. Gen. Thomas D. Waldhauser, who heads the United States Africa Command, “had some time ago ‘submitted a packet for Niger to qualify’ for the additional pay in combat zones.”
“He said the decision rested with the White House Office of Management and Budget, adding that ‘it’s at the national level now for final approval,'” the Times notes.
But the White House has yet to approve the request, adding further insult to grievous injury.
Everything about the events before and after the ISIS attack that killed Staff Sgts. Bryan Black, Jeremiah Johnson, Dustin Wright, and Sgt. La David Johnson seemed to be an error with horrible consequences.
On the rich asshole’s watch, these men were sent on a doomed mission despite military warnings that they needed more support.
the rich asshole has blamed the “generals” for authorizing the mission. But no one actually seems to know how it was ordered.
Johnson was apparently captured, bound, and brutally executed. After weeks of ignoring the tragedy, the rich asshole proceeded to disrespect the deceased sergeant to his pregnant widow. And members of his administration picked a fight with a congresswoman who stood up for her.
Stalling on danger pay for troops who are potentially in the same lethal situation is a slap in the face.
And all of this is occurring while the rich asshole toys with the idea of forcing the military to put on a $30 million parade for his satisfaction.
The men and women of the armed forces deserve far better from their ostensible commander in chief.
Instead, the rich asshole is treating them like jingoistic props to bolster his brand when it suits him. He should recognize what our service members have given to the country, which is far more than he ever did.
Stormy Daniels files lawsuit against the rich asshole
BY BRANDON CARTER - 03/06/18 08:04 PM EST
Adult film star Stormy Daniels has filed a civil suit against President the rich asshole in an effort to void a nondisclosure agreement between the two.
Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, claims in her suit filed Tuesday that the nondisclosure agreement is not valid because the rich asshole never signed the deal, according to documents revealed publicly by her attorney, Michael Avenatti.
Earlier today, we filed this complaint seeking a ct order voiding the alleged “hush” agreement between our client S. Clifford aka Stormy Daniels and Donald Trump. dropbox.com/s/ocvnkwprbs7e…
NBC News first reported on the lawsuit.
"To be clear, the attempts to intimidate Ms. Clifford into silence and 'shut her up' in order to 'protect some rich asshole' continue unabated," the suit says. "On or about February 27, 2018, some rich asshole's attorney Mr. Cohen surreptitiously initiated a bogus arbitration proceeding against Ms. Clifford in Los Angeles."
The lawsuit also claims Daniels and the rich asshole engaged in an intimate relationship that lasted from summer 2006 “well into the year 2007.”
Cohen acknowledged last month that he paid Daniels $130,000 in October 2016 as part of the agreement that ensured she would not speak about an alleged 2006 sexual encounter with the rich asshole.
Cohen said that he made the payment out of his own pocket and denied that it violated campaign finance laws.
The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Cohen was unable to locate the rich asshole prior to making the payment, and as a result had to wire the funds himself.
Despite the payment, Cohen and a White House official have denied the affair ever took place.
Daniels gave a detailed interview to In Touch Magazine in 2011 on her encounter with the rich asshole, but has not commented on it publicly since Cohen's payment was first reported.
A manager for Daniels said last month that the actress believed that Cohen’s acknowledgement of the payment have broken the nondisclosure agreement, leaving her free to talk about the affair.
the rich asshole: 'Many people' want to replace Cohn as top economic adviser
BY BRETT SAMUELS - 03/06/18 08:10 PM EST
President the rich asshole claimed Tuesday night that “many people” want to be his next chief economic adviser hours after Gary Cohn resigned from the position.
“Will be making a decision soon on the appointment of new Chief Economic Advisor. Many people wanting the job - will choose wisely!” the rich asshole tweeted.
Will be making a decision soon on the appointment of new Chief Economic Advisor. Many people wanting the job - will choose wisely!
Cohn resigned earlier Tuesday amid a dispute with the rich asshole over trade policy. Cohn had been trying to talk the rich asshole out of a blanket 25 percent tariff on steel imports and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports, but the president has remained committed to the plan.
During a joint press conference on Tuesday afternoon with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, the president told reporters that "everybody" wants to work in his White House despite a recent string of exits among high-level aides.
"The White House has tremendous energy, it has tremendous spirit. It is a great place to be working. Many, many people want every single job," the rich asshole said.
"I could take any position in the White House and I'll have a choice of the 10 top people having to do with that position, everybody wants to be there," he added.
White House communications director Hope Hicks, communications official Josh Raffel and chief economic adviser Gary Cohn have all announced their resignations in the last week.
Kris Kobach and the ACLU begin their weeklong face-off over voter registration
The first day of the landmark trial was marked by voters' stories and the secretary of state's disorganization.
KANSAS CITY, KANSAS — At the start of trial Tuesday in litigation over the Kansas law requiring documentary proof of citizenship to vote, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union began the day by reminding the judge that “this case is about the most fundamental right in our democracy.”
Dale Ho, an attorney for the ACLU, explained that tens of thousands of Kansas voters have been disenfranchised as a result of Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s (R) law, which was implemented in 2013 in an attempt to combat voter fraud.
“Enforcing this law is like taking a bazooka to a fly,” Ho said.
Up until now, courts have agreed: The law was in effect for more than three years before it was temporarily blocked by a judge in 2016, a ruling the ACLU hopes to make permanent.
During the first day of trial, the federal courthouse in windy, snowy Kansas City was packed with dozens of voters and concerned citizens filling the benches and spilling into the jury box. The trial took place, appropriately, on the citizenship floor of the large, concrete government building. Colorful signs about Kansas’ history of welcoming immigrants line the walls.
Throughout the day, the ACLU called as witnesses three Kansas citizens who were all barred from voting because of the law. Tad Stricker and TJ Boynton — white men in their late 30s living in Wichita — testified that they have access to their birth certificates but were never asked to show the document when they registered to vote at the Department of Motor Vehicles in 2014 because of a clerk’s oversight or error.
Stricker testified that he was frustrated and upset when he was forced to cast a provisional ballot that would not count. “I don’t think the average Kansas citizen should have to sue the secretary of state to get registered to vote,” he said. “I want to make it easier for people to vote and I think that’s what we should be doing.”
The third voter witness, 59-year-old Donna Bucci, was born in Maryland and does not have her birth certificate. Bucci testified that she works in the kitchen at the Kansas Department of Corrections helping inmates prepare meals, and she does not have the time during the workday to visit or call her elections office or make calls to Maryland to get another copy of her birth certificate. When Bucci attempted to vote in 2014 after registering at the DMV, she was told she was not on the rolls.
“I was pretty mad,” Bucci said. “There’s just a lot of things I see going on in Kansas I’d like to be involved with.”
To win — and restore his documentary proof of citizenship law — Kobach will have to prove both that there are a substantial number of non-citizens on the voter rolls in Kansas and that nothing less than the law would address the issue. The ACLU, which is arguing that both prongs have not been met, claimed that the number of non-citizen voters is not substantial — Kobach has only convicted one non-citizen of voter fraud out of millions of voters. They also argued that there are many methods of weeding out non-citizens on the rolls that don’t involve disenfranchising tens of thousands of eligible voters.
Kobach is representing himself in court. Throughout the day, Kobach and his co-counsel repeatedly fumbled — sometimes literally. The team dropped papers, did not have enough copies of exhibits, and at one point, accidentally handed the ACLU a copy of an exhibit with their notes on it. When Sue Becker, an attorney with Kobach’s office, cross-examined Bucci, the attorney seemed not to understand basic legal rules. At one point, the judge prohibited evidence that Kobach’s team failed to send to the ACLU with the required 24 hour notice — the email with the document was time stamped 10:43 pm the night before trial began. The judge also had to explain to Becker how to lay the foundation before presenting evidence.
“Evidence 101,” she told Becker.
The silence in the courtroom grew to murmurs as Kobach’s team shuffled through papers.
“This is a great snapshot of exactly how Kansas politics works,” Jenni Baker, a voter observing the trial, whispered to ThinkProgress.
During an afternoon break, Rosanne Rosen and Susan Dickson, voters from Johnson County, Kansas, claimed that they were more impressed with the conduct of the ACLU than with Kobach. While they spoke, Kobach walked by wearing a noticeably rumpled suit jacket.
“I don’t think the average Kansas citizen should have to sue the secretary of state to get registered to vote.”
“He’s a mess,” Dickson said. “I mean, he’s brilliant but he does not handle himself well. The ACLU is so much more prepared.”
Both women said they have been involved with voter registration drives in Kansas and have opposed the proof of citizenship law because of its effects on those efforts. They cited the potential burden on individual voters.
“These are people who are not able to vote and they’re citizens,” Dickson said. “If there’s one person who’s not able to vote because of the law, the law is wrong.”
Most of Tuesday afternoon was dedicated to one of the ACLU’s expert witnesses, Michael McDonald. McDonald is a professor at the University of Florida who has authored a number of peer-reviewed articles on voter participation and turnout. In a report for this case, McDonald determined that roughly 30,000 people have had their registrations suspended as a result of the documentary proof of citizenship law, and that a disproportionate number of them are young voters or voters unaffiliated with a political party.
Kobach tried to argue that voter turnout in Kansas went up from 2010 to 2014, so the law could not have suppressed voters, but McDonald claimed that only some elections are competitive and there are many factors to consider when studying turnout.
During his cross-examination, Kobach presented McDonald with a series of tweets the expert had written about Kobach, trying to prove that he has a person bias against him. In one, McDonald quoted Vice President Mike Pence and called Kobach a “shit sandwich.”
McDonald claimed that he harbors no bias. “They’re tough, but they’re tweets,” he said.
At the end of the day, Judge Robinson denied Kobach’s attempt to block evidence related to his attempts to amend the National Voter Registration Act. The court previously ruled that a document he’d been photographed holding after a meeting with then-President elect the rich asshole in 2016 had to be turned over to the ACLU. Judge Robinson said both the exhibits and Kobach’s deposition about them could be admitted as evidence.
Kobach will present his side later in the week, but his 30-minute opening statement — double the allocated time — offered a preview of the arguments he intends to make. The Republican elections official will claim that non-citizen voting is a substantial problem and that Kansas’ old system, one in which individuals registering to vote had to attest by signature that they are U.S. citizens, is inadequate.
Rosen pointed out the hypocrisy in Kobach’s argument.
“They raise their right hand to swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,” Rosen told ThinkProgress, referring to the oath witnesses take in the courtroom. “That’s good enough for every court in the land, but to say under oath that you’re a citizen isn’t good enough?”
Jon Levine
The Wrap March 6, 2018
Sam Nunberg has issued a pointed warning to President some rich asshole, saying that he would not tolerate any attempt by the White House to publicly disparage him.
“He should just be careful,” the former the rich asshole campaign aide told TheWrap Monday night after a series of odd TV interviews in which he vowed to defy a subpoena from special counsel Robert Mueller. “I could make his life terrible if I wanted to.”
Nunberg, who was fired by the nascent the rich asshole presidential campaign in August 2015 after the disclosure of past social media posts using the N-word, declined to reveal any major new damaging information about the president or his campaign but said he could rain down a storm of bad press.
“I could call for him not to run for reelection. I could call for him to get impeached, if I wanted to,” he told TheWrap. “I’m not Steve Bannon — I’ll go to war with him.”
Nunberg also said White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders “should shut her fat mouth” — before quickly clarifying, “And when I say she has a fat mouth I’m not talking about the fact that she’s fat, I’m talking about that she has a big mouth and stop talking s— about me. I’ll make her life terrible.”
The White House did not immediately respond to request for comment from TheWrap over Nunberg’s comments.
The short-lived campaign aide, who has been subpoenaed to testify before special counsel Robert Mueller, seemed to suggest that he was the target of a whisper campaign impugning his character.
“Well, the funny thing was, was that the rich asshole had the White House saying, ‘I’m a drug addict, I’m an alcoholic,'” Nunberg told TheWrap — although no White House official has publicly accused Nunberg of either. “He should really be careful. He shouldn’t do s— like that.”
The ex-the rich asshole operative appears to have been responding to claims from CNN host Erin Burnett who told him on Monday, “I reached out to a rich asshole ally … and essentially this person told me … you’re drunk or off your meds. At least half a dozen other CNN reporters have received similar messages.”
“I really could care less what the rich asshole White House has to say about me,” he snapped back on air.
On Tuesday, Nunberg walked back his statements on Monday that he would defy Mueller’s subpoena, telling TheWrap that he would act on the advice of his lawyers and cooperate with the ongoing investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. He also said he was suspending all TV appearances for the foreseeable future.
“My plan is to spend many hours to comply with the subpoena,” he told TheWrap. “I am listening to my lawyer. I got in enough trouble yesterday.”
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