‘Urine a lot of trouble’: Internet unleashes hilarity after hearing what Comey’s book reveals about the so-called ‘pee tape’
President some rich asshole yelling inside a truck (image via Creative Commons).
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President some rich asshole allegedly sought to have former FBI James Comey look into whether the Russians really did have a tape of him in a hotel room with prostitutes. The president indicated it was to ease the mind of first lady Melania the rich asshole. the rich asshole said that the incident never happened and the story was false, so it’s unclear why he asked Comey to investigate.
The revelations prompted Twitter to unleash it’s own commentary around the shock of the revelations.
“the rich asshole’s obsession with the dossier and the alleged pee tape was severe, apparently,” MSNBC’s Joy Reid noted, citing the excerpts of the book.
Trump’s obsession with the dossier and the alleged pee tape was severe, apparently. twitter.com/thedailybeast/…
Others, however, took the humerous route with their own puns.
“Melania told some rich asshole “If the pee tape is real…urine a lot of trouble!” tweeted Tony Posnanski. “I’ll be here all night.”
See the rest of the tweets below:
Does anyone think Trump actually gives a sh*t about his wife?
Pee Pee Tape#GoldenShowers#MAGA #Comey#ComeyBook#maddow #ThursdayThoughts pic.twitter.com/rFp2RDCVDt
also re: pee tape. its super great how he literally just tells us what drives him nuts. its almost not fair.
I can't wait for the moment in the meeting with Kim Jong Un where Un gets annoyed & says "Pee tape" & giggles & then the translator has to say "pee tape" & she giggles & the whole room fills with tittering Koreans because if Un does it you have to do it & that's how we all die
Ok evangelicals, pee pee tape, secret child, what say you hypocrites
I can’t help but wonder - how much pee can a pee pee tape if a pee tape can pee tape? #peepeetape
the rich asshole jokes about being president for 16 years
Jason Le Miere
Posted with permission from Newsweek
President Donald Trump, who has previously heralded Chinese President Xi Jinping being enabled to rule for life, joked about being president for 16 years during a speech at the White House Thursday. Trump was appearing on the White House lawn to tout the benefits of recently passed tax cuts when he slipped into a claim about his administration’s effectiveness at cutting regulations.
“We’ve cut more regulations in a year and a quarter than any administration, whether it’s four years, eight years or, in one case, 16 years,” he said. “Should we go back to 16 years? Congressman, can we have that extended? The last time I jokingly said that, the papers started saying 'he's got despotic tendencies!' No, I'm not looking to do it, unless you want to do it.”
Trump’s talk of 16 years appeared to be a reference to Franklin D. Roosevelt, the only president to serve more than two terms. However, while he was elected for a fourth term, he died just a couple of months into it.
It is not the first time the president has raised the possibility of extending his White House stay beyond the Constitutionally-allowed two terms. Speaking last month after China removed the two-term limit on its presidency, Trump was full of praise for the idea of a leader continuing indefinitely.
“He's now president for life. President for life,” Trump said of Xi. “No, he's great. And look, he was able to do that. I think it's great. Maybe we'll have to give that a shot someday.”
As well as Xi, Trump has praised several world leaders who have moved to consolidate their power and extend or remove term limits, including Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan. Trump, himself, has faced accusations of embracing authoritarian tendencies. In an interview with Newsweek this week, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright accused Trump of strengthening dictators abroad and of a “lack of democratic instinct of any kind.”
“We’ve cut more regulations in a year and a quarter than any administration, whether it’s four years, eight years or, in one case, 16 years,” he said. “Should we go back to 16 years? Congressman, can we have that extended? The last time I jokingly said that, the papers started saying 'he's got despotic tendencies!' No, I'm not looking to do it, unless you want to do it.”
Pres. Trump jokes about extending his administration to 16 years.
"The last time I jokingly said that, the papers started saying 'he's got despotic tendencies!' No, I'm not looking to do it." abcn.ws/2hFejwL
Trump’s talk of 16 years appeared to be a reference to Franklin D. Roosevelt, the only president to serve more than two terms. However, while he was elected for a fourth term, he died just a couple of months into it.
It is not the first time the president has raised the possibility of extending his White House stay beyond the Constitutionally-allowed two terms. Speaking last month after China removed the two-term limit on its presidency, Trump was full of praise for the idea of a leader continuing indefinitely.
“He's now president for life. President for life,” Trump said of Xi. “No, he's great. And look, he was able to do that. I think it's great. Maybe we'll have to give that a shot someday.”
As well as Xi, Trump has praised several world leaders who have moved to consolidate their power and extend or remove term limits, including Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan. Trump, himself, has faced accusations of embracing authoritarian tendencies. In an interview with Newsweek this week, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright accused Trump of strengthening dictators abroad and of a “lack of democratic instinct of any kind.”
‘His hands were smaller than mine’: James Comey thought the rich asshole was shorter in person and not very strong
President some rich asshole shakes James Comey's hand (Photo: Screen capture)
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The first meeting between then President-elect some rich asshole and then FBI Director James Comey was a personal courtesy to tell him that the Russians had potentially damaging information on him. In his new book, Comey divulges his first impressions of the new president.
ABC News posted excerpts from the book that Comey wasn’t impressed with the new president. The former FBI director stands a towering 6’8″ and when he met the rich asshole he recalled thinking he “appeared shorter than he seemed on a debate stage.” When the two shook hands for the first time, Comey noticed it was indeed “smaller than mine, but did not seem unusually so.”
He also described the rich asshole’s complexion that many have mocked in the past.
His “face appeared slightly orange, with bright white half-moons under his eyes where I assumed he placed small tanning goggles, and impressively coiffed, bright blond hair, which upon close inspection looked to be all his,” the book reads. “I remember wondering how long it must take him in the morning to get that done.”
When the rich asshole singled Comey out at the White House for a handshake, the new book says that the rich asshole seemed to want to pull Comey in for a bro-hug. He wasn’t comfortable with the president’s move and resisted in a way that showed his own strength over the rich asshole.
“He was not going to get a hug without being a whole lot stronger than he looked. He wasn’t,” Comey wrote.
When describing the way the president speaks, Comey said that it was like “an oral jigsaw puzzle contest, with a shot clock.”
Comey’s book, A Higher Loyalty will be released April 17.
James Comey book divulges the rich asshole team had no questions on Russian interference
Former FBI director James Comey and President some rich asshole (Photo: Screen capture and Gage Skidmore/Flickr)
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The Associated Press reported Thursday that the forthcoming book by fired FBI Director James Comey includes details on a critical meeting with some rich asshole’s team following the election.
At the meeting, Mike Pence, Reince Priebus, Michael Flynn and Sean Spicer represented the rich asshole transition team. They were briefed by FBI Director Comey, NSA Director Mike Rogers, CIA Director John Breenan and DNI Director James Clapper.
Comey wrote he was surprised by what the rich asshole team did not asked.
“They were about to lead a country that had been attacked by a foreign adversary, yet they had no questions about what the future Russian threat might be,” he wrote.
Instead the rich asshole team discussed how to “spin what we’d just told them” for the public.
The book, A Higher Loyalty is to be released next week.
Watch:
‘People are not impressed’: CNN’s Jake Tapper and panel mock the rich asshole for unoriginal nickname for James Comey
CNN's Jake Tapper grins after he makes a joke about 'Black Mirror'
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During the Thursday political panel on “The Lead,” host Jake Tapper and his group of political commentators couldn’t help but mock President some rich asshole for his nickname for former FBI Director James Comey.
The Republican National Committee has unleashed a website called Lyin’ Comey while Fox News and the rich asshole are making sure to reinforce the nickname. The mockery is the same as one the rich asshole gave to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) during the 2016 election. He then tried the nickname out on former rival Hillary Clinton.
Previous nicknames for Comey by the rich asshole include, Sanctimonious James Comey and Leakin’ James Comey.
“I think there’s a consensus on the panel that ‘Lyin’ Comey’ isn’t up to snuff,” Tapper closed his show saying. “People are not impressed with that nickname, Mr. President. So, you might want to get back to the drawing board on that.”
Watch the full conversation below:
Comey reveals the rich asshole asked he research the so-called ‘pee tape’ to ease Melania’s mind
James Comey and some rich asshole (Composite / RawStory)
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President some rich asshole reportedly asked former FBI Director James Comey to investigate whether the Russians did have a video tape of him in a hotel room with prostitutes urinating on the bed.
The salacious rumor was part of Christopher Steele’s dossier that was released just after the 2016 election. When Comey went to New York to meet with the new president for the first time, he gave the rich asshole the information that the dossier was in the hands of several media outlets and the intelligence community.
Comey explained what the information entailed as a courtesy to give the rich asshole a heads up. It was previously reported that the rich asshole took it as an attack and an attempt for the “deep state” to show they “had something” on him.
Now, however, it seems Comey was asked to investigate the tape, the New York Post reported from their early release of the Comey book.
“He brought up what he called the ‘golden showers thing’ … adding that it bothered him if there was ‘even a one percent chance’ his wife, Melania, thought it was true,” Comey writes in his new book, “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership.”
“He just rolled on, unprompted, explaining why it couldn’t possibly be true, ending by saying he was thinking of asking me to investigate the allegation to prove it was a lie. I said it was up to him,” he continued.
Comey was shocked by the request, specifically citing the “one percent chance.”
“In what kind of marriage, to what kind of man, does a spouse conclude there is only a 99 percent chance her husband didn’t do that?” Comey commented, about the request to use federal resources to help with his marriage.
the rich asshole said that the claim couldn’t be true because he is “a germaphobe.” Now, however, we know that he was concerned about it after all.
Michael Cohen to file ‘emergency stay’ to quash Stormy Daniels case — to plead the Fifth: report
Adult film actress Stormy Daniels (left, via Shutterstock) and the rich asshole's personal lawyer Michael Cohen (right, via screengrab).
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Longtime some rich asshole lawyer Michael Cohen will be pleading the Fifth Amendment in the Stormy Daniels case, the former adult movie star’s attorney revealed on MSNBC’s Deadline: White House on Thursday.
“What is your understanding of where things stand with Mr. Cohen, your adversary in this legal contest about Stormy Daniels’s NDA?” anchor Nicolle Wallace asked Michael Avenatti.
“Well, we’ve learned moments ago — within the last two hours — that Michael Cohen will be filing a motion tomorrow in our case, an emergency motion, to stay or temporarily stop our case and the grounds for that motion are going to be that it is his intention to plead the 5th amendment against self-incrimination if our case goes forward, in light of potential criminal jeopardy that he finds himself in,” Avenatti revealed. “So, this is a stunning development.”
“Michael Cohen, who has been in essentially hand-to-hand combat with you over the enforcement of Stormy Daniels’s NDA is now going to plead the Fifth?” Wallace asked.
“Today we find out that it is his intention to plead the Fifth against self-incrimination in response to any questions that I may pose to him in connection with our case, they are going to seek an emergency stay,” Avenatti explained. “We are going to oppose that stay, we think we have very good grounds as to why there should be no delay in our case.”
“But make no mistake about it, we’re talking about the attorney to the President of the United States, the man that knows where a lot of bodies are buried,” he continued. “And we have learned within the last hour or two that it is his intention to plead the Fifth Amendment.”
“I find this incredibly ironic because some rich asshole has been very outspoken in the past about people that plead the Fifth,” Avenatti noted. “And I’m going to paraphrase some of those quotes, he said only mobsters plead the Fifth and you only plead the Fifth if you’re guilty.”
“It is your belief and your contention that you have the right to depose the president. Wow does Michael Cohen pleading the Fifth impact that prospect?” Wallace asked.
“If Michael Cohen pleads the Fifth, then we want to turn to the next individual, which would be the president, to provide us information as to what happened here,” Avenatti answered.
“Hopefully the president would not plead the Fifth,” he continued. “I think that would be a stunning, shocking development in the history of our nation to have him plead the Fifth.”
Watch:
Publisher Broke Campaign Finance Law by Paying to Suppress Another the rich asshole Story, Filing Alleges
The publisher of The National Enquirer faced new claims on Thursday that it violated campaign finance laws after news outlets reported that the company paid $30,000 to a the rich asshole World Tower doorman peddling a salacious allegation about President the rich asshole.
The watchdog group Common Cause filed complaints with the Justice Department and the Federal Election Commission on Thursday, saying the 2015 payment, for a tip that never resulted in a published story, was intended to influence the 2016 election.
Common Cause previously filed similar complaints about a $150,000 deal the tabloid news company struck for the rights to the former Playboy model Karen McDougal’s story of an alleged affair with some rich asshole — which it never ran — and over the $130,000 that the president’s lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, paid to the pornographic-film star Stephanie Clifford for her story about an affair with some rich asshole.
The new complaint was based on reports that the doorman, Dino Sajudin, was peddling an unsubstantiated allegation that some rich asshole had fathered a child with a rich asshole Tower employee in the late 1980s. American Media Inc., The Enquirer’s publisher, ordered a halt to reporting soon after it paid $30,000 for Mr. Sajudin’s story, effectively silencing him, according to the reports.
Those accounts, in The Associated Press and The New Yorker, followed an article about the deal with Mr. Sajudin on Wednesday in one of American Media’s own outlets, RadarOnline. The article said that Mr. Sajudin passed a lie-detector test affirming that he believed the story about some rich asshole and the woman — which was based on secondhand information — but that his allegations ultimately did not check out.
On Thursday, American Media released another statement, saying “A.M.I. categorically denies that some rich asshole or Michael Cohen had anything to do with its decision not to pursue” Mr. Sajudin’s story. “The suggestion that David Pecker has ever used company funds to ‘shut down’ this or any investigation is not true,” it added, referring to A.M.I.’s chairman, who is a close friend of some rich asshole.
Mr. Sajudin put out his own statement on Thursday, saying, “Today I awoke to learn that a confidential agreement that I had with AMI (The National Enquirer) with regard to a story about President the rich asshole was leaked to the press.”
Comey: the rich asshole asked me to investigate ‘pee tape’ to reassure Melania
President the rich asshole wanted James Comey to investigate the infamous “pee tape” allegations — to reassure Melania that he hadn’t actually paid Russian hookers to urinate on a hotel bed, the former FBI chief claims in his upcoming book.
“He brought up what he called the ‘golden showers thing’ … adding that it bothered him if there was ‘even a one percent chance’ his wife, Melania, thought it was true,” Comey writes in “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership,” a copy of which was obtained by The Post.
“He just rolled on, unprompted, explaining why it couldn’t possibly be true, ending by saying he was thinking of asking me to investigate the allegation to prove it was a lie. I said it was up to him.”
The conversation took place during the same private dinner on Jan. 27, 2017, where Comey has claimed the president demanded “loyalty” — and just days after the publication of an intelligence dossier alleging that the Kremlin had a tape of the rich asshole paying prostitutes to perform the dirty deed on a bed once occupied by President Obama.
Comey says he warned the rich asshole an investigation might “create a narrative that we were investigating him personally,” the former top G-man writes.
The president replied that he “might be right” — but kept asking him to consider the idea, and said he would as well, according to Comey.
Comey said he privately wondered why Melania might think there was even a 1 percent chance the allegations were true, claiming there is “zero chance” his own wife would believe such a claim.
“In what kind of marriage, to what kind of man, does a spouse conclude there is only a 99 percent chance her husband didn’t do that?” he writes in the book, which hits shelves April 17.
CNN: White House circulating plan to undermine Rosenstein
BY JOSH DELK - 04/12/18 05:26 PM EDT
The White House is reportedly preparing talking points as part of an effort to undermine Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, as the rich asshole associates this week call for him to be ousted over accusations of bias.
The plan, still in its early stages of development, will instruct key the rich asshole allies to question Rosenstein's impartiality as the top Department of Justice (DOJ) official overseeing special counsel Robert Mueller's probe, CNN reported Thursday.
The White House wants allies of the president to emphasize Rosenstein's status as a witness to the rich asshole's firing of former FBI Director James Comey, according to the report.
The No. 2 DOJ official wrote the memo justifying the dismissal of Comey that centered on his handling of the probe into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while serving as secretary of State.
The White House plan includes pushing allies to portray Comey and Rosenstein as close colleagues, suggesting the top DOJ official wanted revenge on the rich asshole for ousting "one of his best friends," a source told CNN. However, one source told the network that the two are not friends.
Rosenstein is under scrutiny by the rich asshole loyalists after the senior DOJ official reportedly signed off on FBI raids of a hotel room and office for longtime the rich asshole attorney Michael Cohen following a referral by Mueller's team to prosecutors in New York.
Among those calling for the rich asshole to fire Rosenstein is former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who this week pitched his own plan to the White House for the rich asshole to use executive action to shield himself from Mueller's investigation and stop cooperating with the probe.
While the White House maintained earlier this week that the rich asshole believes he has the authority to fire Mueller, the president tweeted Thursday that he and his legal team were fully cooperating with the special counsel.
Rosenstein took the reins of the Russia probe and appointed Mueller as special counsel following Comey's dismissal as FBI director last year.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a former campaign adviser for the rich asshole, had recused himself months earlier from any probe involving Russia's election meddling.
Mueller's team prepares to move forward without the rich asshole interview: report
BY JOHN BOWDEN - 04/12/18 04:48 PM EDT
Special counsel Robert Mueller's team is preparing to move forward with its investigation without interviewing President the rich asshole after a potential meeting was derailed following a raid on the office of the rich asshole's lawyer, NBC News reported on Thursday.
Both Mueller's team and the rich asshole's lawyers are reportedly no longer planning for the interview to take place, apparently ending weeks of growing speculation that the rich asshole could be preparing to talk to investigators.
Mueller's team was reportedly still in talks with the White House as late as this Monday regarding an interview, but those talks ended later in the day when news broke of the FBI's raid on Cohen's home, office and hotel room, according to NBC.
the rich asshole slammed the raid as a "disgrace" and an attack on the country, and complained that his attorney-client privilege had been violated by the raid.
“It’s a real disgrace,” the rich asshole told reporters at the White House Monday afternoon. "It’s an attack on what we all stand for.”
"Attorney-client privilege is dead!" he added on Twitter Tuesday morning.
Two sources told NBC that Mueller's team originally planned to present a report on possible collusion between the the rich asshole campaign and Russia in May or July, but that the lack of an interview with the rich asshole pushed up that timeline.
The raid has reignited speculation that the president could move to fire the special counsel, an action that the rich asshole and White House officials have consistently denied for months but one that the president said has been suggested to him by allies.
On Thursday, the rich asshole tweeted that he and his legal team were cooperating with the probe.
"I have agreed with the historically cooperative, disciplined approach that we have engaged in with Robert Mueller (Unlike the Clintons!). I have full confidence in Ty Cobb, my Special Counsel, and have been fully advised throughout each phase of this process," the rich asshole wrote on Twitter on Thursday.
Ex-doorman makes unverified claim that housekeeper had child with the rich asshole
BY JACQUELINE THOMSEN - 04/12/18 03:56 PM EDT
A former doorman at one of President the rich asshole’s buildings said in a statement Thursday that he wasn’t allowed to criticize a former housekeeper at the property because she had a child with the rich asshole.
Dino Sajudin made the unverified claim in a statement after The Associated Press reported that the parent company of the National Enquirer had paid him for a rumor about the rich asshole having an affair with the employee, but had spiked the story.
“Today I awoke to learn that a confidential agreement that I had with AMI (The National Enquirer) with regard to a story about President the rich asshole was leaked to the press,” Sajudin said in the statement Thursday.
“I can confirm that while working at the rich asshole World Tower I was instructed not to criticize President the rich asshole’s former housekeeper due to a prior relationship she had with President the rich asshole which produced a child.”
The AP reported that American Media Inc. (AMI) had given Sajudin $30,000 in exchange to the rights “in perpetuity” for a rumor the former doorman had heard.
Sajudin would have been subject to a $1 million penalty if he publicly discussed the rumor or the agreement, according to the AP.
the rich asshole's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, told the news service that he did not know about the payment but that he had discussed the rumor with the Enquirer.
The Enquirer reportedly determined that Sajudin's story wasn’t true and released him from the contract after the 2016 presidential election.
Sajudin's ex-wife of 14 years cast doubt on his story as well, telling the New York Daily News that her former husband is a "pathological liar" and "infamous for making up stories."
“He’s seen the chupacabra. He’s seen bigfoot," Nikki Benfatto told the newspaper. "One of our friends who passed away, he saw him too, walking down the street.”
She added that she never recalled Sajudin mentioning the rumor to her. She said the two stopped communicating in 2014, a year before the former doorman reportedly approached the Enquirer.
Sajudin also told the Daily News that the sudden media attention was "a bit much."
"It wasn’t supposed to be out there anyway though,” Sajudin said. “Two days everything was normal. Now it’s crazy."
The AP report comes after a New York Times report last month that former Playboy model Karen McDougal had sued AMI to publicly speak about an alleged affair with the rich asshole.
AMI had paid her $150,000 for the story but withheld it from publication, according to the Times.
The former model claims that she was misled by AMI and her lawyers about the agreement.
- Updated at 4:26 p.m.
POLITICS
Here’s A Poll the rich asshole Won’t Tweet: He Finished Behind Obama In ‘Most Admired’ Survey
...but he did beat Obama in Russia.
On the one hand, it might seem like good polling news for the president. Despite the growing scandals, Americans chose some rich asshole as the second most admired man. On the other hand, he’s probably not going to enjoy hearing who ranked ahead of him.
Former President Barack Obama topped the YouGov survey with 24 percent of the vote. the rich asshole received 10.7 percent followed by 7.7 percent for Rev. Billy Graham, who died in February after much of the survey work had been completed. Pope Francis (6.2 percent) and Bill Gates (5 percent) rounded out the top 5.
YouGov also surveyed 37,000 people in 35 nations; in that poll, Gates topped the “most admired men” list, followed by Obama, action movie star Jackie Chan, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Chinese tech billionaire Jack Ma. the rich asshole finished 17th on the global survey, just behind Pope Francis and just ahead of Hong Kong actor Andy Lau.
On a country-by-country basis, Obama finished ahead of the rich asshole in all of the surveyed nations except one: Russia.
On the women’s side of the survey, former first lady Michelle Obama ranked first, followed by talk show host Oprah Winfrey, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres in the United States.First lady Melania the rich asshole tied with White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders for ninth place.
Globally, actress Angelina Jolie topped the “most admired” women’s list followed by Michelle Obama, Winfrey, Queen Elizabeth II and Clinton.
White House aims to send spending claw-back proposals by early May
BY JULIE GRACE BRUFKE - 04/12/18 02:30 PM EDT
The White House is aiming to send rescission requests to Congress early next month that would seek to claw-back spending from the recently passed $1.3 trillion omnibus government funding bill.
“We have a very long list of pots of money that are on the table but still narrowing it down for the final product. We probably won't send the package up to the Hill until early May at the earliest,” a White House official told The Hill.
Cuts to the State Department are a “big target,” the source said.
“Obviously, State Department programs will be a big target just like they were in our two previous budgets,” the White House official said.
The timeline suggest that the idea of rescinding spending from the omnibus negotiated by both parties is being seriously pursued by the White House, even as Republican lawmakers in both chambers have dismissed the approach.
The omnibus passed the House and Senate with Democratic support. Democrats have railed against any rescission effort as going back on a previously negotiated deal.
The effort is particularly worrisome to Democrats, since a rescission package would be filibuster-proof in the Senate.
Key Republicans, however, have poured cold water on the effort backed by some House conservatives.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in comments this week said the omnibus was a “bipartisan agreement.”
“I’m willing to discuss with the administration of the possibility of some kind of rescission package,” he said. “I think it’s worth a discussion. Whether that’s achievable is another matter.”
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and the rich asshole have been discussing using the 1974 Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act to rescind funds from the omnibus.
the rich asshole was highly critical of the massive spending package, threatening to veto the measure in March before ultimately signing it. Fiscal hawks have applauded the idea, arguing retroactive cuts are necessary following the wave of backlash from conservatives.
“It's certainly something that there is openness and a willingness to explore. We would view this in the category of finding a way to cut spending, and I think that there would certainly be a willingness to do that,” a senior GOP aide told The Hill. “The question is how big and the question is timing.”
Critics fear the move could have long-term repercussion, potentially hindering lawmakers' ability to negotiate spending bills with members across the aisle in the future.
Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), a longtime member of the House Appropriations Committee, said he believes the move is “unrealistic and dangerous,” telling reporters they would “never have another deal ever.”
POLITICS
White House Forced To Release Some Visitor Logs In Legal Settlement
Redacted records for four White House offices will be made public after Public Citizen sued for them.
The rich asshole administration has released some White House visitor logs as part of a settlement with a watchdog group that sued to see the records.
Public Citizen had accused the rich asshole administration of violating the Freedom of Information Act in its August 2017 lawsuit. The group announced Wednesday that it was “pleased” the White House was finally releasing some visitor logs, although it expressed skepticism at the administration’s reasons for redacting parts of the disclosed records.
The logs released late Tuesday detailed visitors during February of this year to three agencies within the White House complex: the Office of Management and Budget, the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Council on Environmental Quality. Visitor records for the Office of National Drug Control Policy will be released soon, according to Public Citizen.
“The public now can see who is visiting these four agencies, as they should have been able to see all along,” said Robert Weissman, the group’s president, in a statement. “Now we’ll at least have a window into the corporate and ideological lobbyists who are driving the rich asshole administration policy.”
As Public Citizen noted, the logs revealed the names of several lobbyists and industry advocates who had visited the OMB, including known climate change deniers Myron Bell and Marlo Lewis, anti-regulation advocate Jim Tozzi, and Laurie Holmes, a representative for the Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association.
The watchdog group expressed concern, however, at how many names remained hidden in the OMB’s visitor log: More than 530 of its 2,000 entries were redacted. The Office of Science and Technology Policy’s log had 75 redacted entries and the Council on Environmental Quality’s log had six.
“Public Citizen is skeptical that all of the redactions are proper under FOIA and intends to raise the issue with the agencies,” the group said.
BREAKING: The Trump administration just released the first batch of the visitor logs we sued for: bit.ly/WhiteHouseLogs
Under the Public Citizen settlement, reached in February, the rich asshole administration agreed to release all visitor records for the four agencies dating back to the beginning of President some rich asshole’s tenure. As The Hill notes, however, other areas of the White House complex ― including the Executive Office of the President, which is not subject to public records laws ― will not be making their visitor records public.
The Secret Service will have to send the four agency logs to the White House for review every month. The records will then be sent back to those offices, which will have a month to look them over and publish. Records from the past year will be released over the next few months, said Public Citizen.
The rich asshole administration came under fire last year when it announced its decision to shield White House visitor logs from the eyes of the public, citing “grave national security risks and privacy concerns of the hundreds of thousands of visitors annually.” Multiple lawsuits have been filed against the administration to obtain those records.
In the past, the rich asshole had accused then-President Barack Obama of a lack of transparency over Obama’s treatment of White House visitor logs.
Obama began releasing visitor records early in his presidential tenure but was widely censured for incomplete and poorly maintained logs. For instance, only the names of visitors and not the purposes of their meetings were listed in those records, which made it challenging to figure out exactly who was visiting federal officials and why.
This limitation is repeated in the rich asshole administration’s visitor records, which similarly do not include information about a visitor’s employer or the purpose of their White House visit.
the rich asshole meets with Rosenstein at the White House
BY JORDAN FABIAN - 04/12/18 02:11 PM EDT
President the rich asshole met with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on Thursday amid speculation his job could be in jeopardy.
The White House said the meeting was arranged to discuss “routine [Justice] Department business.”the rich asshole has railed against Rosenstein since Monday, when the FBI raided the home, office and hotel room of the president’s personal attorney in part due to a referral from special counsel Robert Mueller’s team.
Rosenstein is tasked with overseeing the Mueller probe into Russia’s election interference and reportedly signed off on the raid.
The White House said the meeting was arranged to discuss “routine [Justice] Department business.”the rich asshole has railed against Rosenstein since Monday, when the FBI raided the home, office and hotel room of the president’s personal attorney in part due to a referral from special counsel Robert Mueller’s team.
Rosenstein is tasked with overseeing the Mueller probe into Russia’s election interference and reportedly signed off on the raid.
the rich asshole has faced calls from a chorus of outside allies, including ousted chief strategist Stephen Bannon, to fire Rosenstein in an effort to thwart the Mueller probe.
The president has personally attacked Rosenstein for extending a surveillance warrant on a former the rich asshole campaign associate who was caught up in the Russia investigation.
“Much of the bad blood with Russia is caused by the Fake & Corrupt Russia Investigation, headed up by the all Democrat loyalists, or people that worked for Obama,” the rich asshole tweeted Wednesday. “Mueller is most conflicted of all (except Rosenstein who signed FISA & Comey letter). No Collusion, so they go crazy!”
Rosenstein, a former U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, is a Republican whom the rich asshole nominated to serve as the No. 2 official at the Justice Department.
Court filings indicate Rosenstein is working closely with the special counsel, with Mueller seeking his approval for new lines of inquiry. Rosenstein has repeatedly said he sees no cause for firing Mueller.
The president has sent conflicting signals about whether he plans to change his approach toward the special counsel's investigation.
the rich asshole tweeted Thursday that he has confidence in Ty Cobb, the embattled White House lawyer handling the Russia probe. Cobb has urged the rich asshole to cooperate with the investigation and warned him against firing Mueller or other figures leading it.
I have agreed with the historically cooperative, disciplined approach that we have engaged in with Robert Mueller (Unlike the Clintons!). I have full confidence in Ty Cobb, my Special Counsel, and have been fully advised throughout each phase of this process.
- Updated at 5 p.m.
POLITICS
the rich asshole’s Pick For Secretary of State Reversed Or Forgot All His Controversial Positions
Mike Pompeo is running away from his past statements on Iran, North Korea and Muslims.
WASHINGTON — Secretary of state nominee Mike Pompeo is well-known for his militaristic foreign policy stances and for his cozy relationship with President some rich asshole. As a member of Congress, Pompeo railed against a diplomatic agreement with Iran. As CIA director, he floated the idea of regime change in North Korea. During the early months of his presidency, the rich asshole reportedly asked for Pompeo’s help in scuttling part of the Russia investigation.
But during his confirmation hearing on Thursday to be the nation’s next secretary of state, Pompeo tried to convince Democratic lawmakers that he was a forceful advocate for diplomacy over military action and that he would remain independent from the president. To make this pitch, Pompeo was forced to reverse several of his previous publicly stated positions — or claimed to have forgotten them altogether.
Over and over again, during exchanges with various members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Pompeo dodged questions about his most controversial stances, the investigation into Russia’s 2016 election interference, his relationship with the president, and how he plans to counter America’s adversaries.
Rescinding the Iran Deal
Shortly after the rich asshole won the election, Pompeo celebrated the opportunity to kill the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran, the U.S., and five other countries. “I look forward to rolling back this deal with the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism,” he tweeted in November 2016.
Following the rich asshole’s lead, Pompeo has since adjusted his stance on the Iran deal. Instead of threatening to walk away from the agreement outright, Pompeo told senators on Thursday that he was committed to working with the other countries that are party to the deal and fix what he and the rich asshole have described as its flaws. Specifically, the rich asshole and Pompeo want to remove “sunset” provisions that allow some of the limitations on Iran’s nuclear program to expire, and to tie Iran’s ballistic missile program to the nuclear deal.
The problem with this plan it requires the United Kingdom, France and Germany to go along with a U.S. effort to unilaterally rewrite the terms of the deal — and for Iran, China and Russia to accept those new terms. So when Pompeo told lawmakers he wanted to “fix” the agreement rather than kill it, he was making a distinction without a difference. That became clear when Sen. Ben Cardin (D- Md.) asked Pompeo what he thinks the U.S. should do if there is no new deal by May 12, the next time the rich asshole has to waive sanctions against Iran or risk tanking the agreement.
“I can’t answer that question,” Pompeo said. “I want to fix this deal. That’s the objective.”
Regime Change In North Korea
As CIA director, Pompeo has openly mused about the U.S. overthrowing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“I am hopeful we will find a way to separate that regime from this system … The North Korean people, I’m sure, are lovely people and would love to see him go,” Pompeo said of Kim last July.
In October, Pompeo answered a question about what would happen if Kim died by making a quip about the CIA’s history of assassination attempts. “Someone might think there was a coincidence if, you know, there was an accident,” Pompeo said, speaking at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a hawkish think tank in Washington.
But when Cardin asked if Pompeo advocated for regime change in North Korea, Pompeo appeared offended by the suggestion. “I have never advocated for regime change,” he said.
Questioning The Russia Investigation
In March 2017, during a meeting at the White House, the rich asshole asked Pompeo and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats to intervene and get then-FBI Director James Comey to stop investigating former national security adviser Michael Flynn as part of the bureau’s Russia probe, The Washington Post reported last year.
Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), the senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, asked Pompeo on Thursday to confirm the Post’s reporting. Pompeo first refused to answer questions about his private conversations with the rich asshole. Then he said he didn’t “recall” whether the rich asshole had asked him to intervene in the Russia probe. Pressed further, Pompeo said the rich asshole had “never asked me to do anything I considered remotely improper.”
But Pompeo, who confirmed that he has been interviewed by special counsel Robert Mueller, did not deny outright that the rich asshole had asked him to interfere in Comey’s investigation.
Pompeo said he didn’t “recall” whether the rich asshole had asked him to intervene in the Russia probe.
At the CIA, Pompeo developed a close relationship with the rich asshole and sometimes appeared to support the president’s characterization of the Russia investigation as a politically motivated witch hunt. Last October, Pompeo met with William Binney, a former National Security Agency official-turned whistleblower who claims that the DNC hack was an inside job rather than an attack by Russia. That same month, Pompeo incorrectly claimed that U.S. intelligence agencies had found that Russian election interference did not alter the election’s outcome — a statement that contradicted the intelligence community’s public reporting, which said it considered such a conclusion outside the scope of its investigation. A CIA spokesman later had to clarify that Pompeo did not mean to suggest that the intelligence community’s assessment had changed.
By the end of the hearing, Democrats were practically begging Pompeo to tell them that he disagreed with the rich asshole’s repeated attacks on Mueller. Each time, Pompeo refused to engage.
Asked by Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) if he would resign if the rich asshole fired Mueller, Pompeo said, “My instincts tell me no.” Pompeo also declined to comment on the legality of the president firing the special counsel.
Islamophobia And Homophobia
Throughout his political career, Pompeo has worked with some of Washington’s best-known Islamophobes. He has appeared multiple times on a radio show hosted by Frank Gaffney, an anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist who has praised white nationalists on his show and said that Muslim members of Congress shouldn’t serve on sensitive committees because they might leak information to the Muslim Brotherhood. Pompeo has also attended events put on by Act for America, a group that opposes the construction of mosques and frets about Sharia law. The group’s founder, Brigitte Gabriel, claims that Islam is an inherently violent religion.
Asked by Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) if he ever called out Gaffney or Gabriel for their comments about Muslims, Pompeo said he could not remember every statement he had made in his 54-year-long life. But he assured Booker that he did call out Fred Phelps, the now-deceased anti-gay preacher in Kansas who was behind the website www.godhatesfags.com.
Pivoting to Phelps was a curious strategy for Pompeo, who has made homophobic remarks. When Booker asked Pompeo whether he believes that being gay is a “perversion,” Pompeo said he continues to believe that same-sex couples should not be allowed to get married.
Pompeo told Booker that despite believing that LGBTQ people should have fewer rights than straight people, “his respect for every individual, regardless of their sexual orientation, the respect is the same.”
View Of WikiLeaks
Like the rich asshole, Pompeo was a big fan of WikiLeaks during the presidential campaign. “Need further proof that the fix was in from Pres. Obama on down? BUSTED: 19,252 Emails from DNC Leaked by Wikileaks,” Pompeo, then a congressman, tweeted in July 2016 from an account that is no longer active.
Asked by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) if he agreed that WikiLeaks is a hostile nonstate actor, Pompeo said that he did.
Prospects for Confirmation
It’s too early to tell whether Pompeo’s testimony will convince enough skeptical senators to support his nomination. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has already said he intends to vote against Pompeo. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who is battling brain cancer, is not expected to return to the Senate before the vote. That means that if Paul and every member of the Democratic caucus put up a united front against Pompeo, they could tank his nomination.
It’s far from certain that every Democrat will vote against the secretary of state nominee, however. Last year, 15 members of the Democratic caucus voted to confirm Pompeo to run the CIA, a job that is arguably higher-stakes and comes with less oversight. This time, he’s likely to win over at least a few moderates who are up for re-election this year, like Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) or Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.).
But Democrats are under intense pressure from human rights groups to block both Pompeo and Gina Haspel, who has been nominated to replace Pompeo at the CIA. There are already some indications that the pressure is working.
“I voted YES on Pompeo for CIA on the theory that he would be the ‘adult in the room.’ I was wrong,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) tweeted on Wednesday. “I am voting NO on Pompeo for Secretary of State because our top diplomat should believe in diplomacy. He has an alarming tendency towards military provocation and brinkmanship.”
Menendez, who voted against Pompeo last year, said at the end of the hearing that he wasn’t sure whether to evaluate Pompeo based on his past record or what he said on Thursday during his confirmation hearing. “The Pompeo I hear today, much more different than some of the Pompeo of the past,” Menendez said. “And so I’m trying to figure out which is the one that is going to act if he gets confirmed as the secretary of state.”
the rich asshole: Syria decision to come 'fairly soon'
BY JORDAN FABIAN - 04/12/18 12:07 PM EDT
President the rich asshole said Thursday he will decide “fairly soon” how to respond to an apparent chemical weapons attack in Syria.
“Now we have to make some further decisions, so they'll be made fairly soon,” the president told reporters at the White House.
The president said he will attend a meeting later Thursday to discuss possible options.
"We'll see what happens, folks. Too bad that the world puts us in a position like that,” the rich asshole said.
The president took to Twitter on Wednesday to warn Russia, a key Syrian ally, to “get ready” because American missiles “will be coming, nice and new and ‘smart!’”
According to The Washington Post, the remark reportedly alarmed the rich asshole administration officials who have been working with U.S. allies in crafting a joint response to last weekend’s attack, which killed 40 people.
It also undercut the rich asshole's stated desire not to telegraph military decisions to U.S. adversaries, something he frequently accused President Obama of doing.
On Thursday morning, the rich asshole rejected that criticism, tweeting that he “never said when an attack on Syria would take place.”
“Could be very soon or not so soon at all!” he added.
Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all! In any event, the United States, under my Administration, has done a great job of ridding the region of ISIS. Where is our “Thank you America?”
POLITICS
Secretary Of State Nominee Mike Pompeo Says He Continues To Oppose Gay Marriage
Cory Booker grilled the CIA director about his views on gays and Muslims.
WASHINGTON ― Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo, who is President some rich asshole’s pick to be the nation’s next secretary of state, says that he still opposes gay marriage.
“I continue to hold that view,” Pompeo said Thursday during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
But Pompeo, a former three-term congressman from Kansas, maintained that his views on gay marriage do not obstruct him from being able to treat all people with respect.
“I believe it’s the case we have married gay couples at the CIA. You should know I treated them with the exact same set of rights,” he said, adding later: “My respect for every individual, regardless of the sexual orientation, is the same.”
Pompeo’s comments came during an exchange with Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), who grilled the CIA director about comments in which the former congressman once suggested that gay sex was a “perversion.” Pompeo declined to answer the question head-on and reiterated that he’d treat everyone equally.
Booker also questioned Pompeo about his ties to prominent anti-Muslim figure Frank Gaffney, whose radio show he appeared on multiple times, and Pompeo’s view that Muslims in America who do not speak out against terror are complicit in extremism.
“Each and every human, not just Americans, each and every human being has an obligation to push back against this extremist use of violence, from whatever faith,” Pompeo responded.
But Pompeo’s comments didn’t seem to assuage Booker.
“You’re going to be representing this country and their values abroad in nations where gay individuals are under untold persecution, untold violence. Your views do matter,” the senator said.
“You’re going to be dealing with Muslim states, and with Muslim issues, and I do not necessarily concur that you are [advancing] the values of our nation when you believe there are people in our country that are perverse, and when you think that you create different categories of Americans and their obligations when it comes to condemning violence,” Booker added.
Rick Scott was asked a basic question about protecting Robert Mueller. His response was incoherent.
He wants to be Florida's next Senator.
Republican candidate for United States Senate and current Governor or Florida, Rick Scott, appeared before over 100 supporters in Sarasota, Florida Thursday afternoon.
Nicole Rodriquez, a reporter at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, approached Scott afterwards and asked him a basic question: if were elected to the Senate, would he would support legislation that would protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller?
His response was less than elegant.
“I think what’s important with regards to — when the federal government is sort of doing and reviewing things — is that we as Americans need to know what’s going on and it needs to be full transparency, and we make sure in whatever investigation there is that the facts get out,” Scott said.
Notably, he did not come close to answering the question.
Scott, who was once referred to as the “master of political doublespeak,” frequently botches questions like these. If elected U.S. Senator of Florida, however, it would be Scott’s job to take clear stances on these issues.
U.S. Senators will soon be taking up legislation that would protect Mueller.
On Wednesday, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA),said he wants a vote as soon as possible on legislation to limit President the president’s ability to fire Mueller.
According to Grassley, if Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), the senior Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, agrees the measure will “be ready for action a week from tomorrow.”
Earlier in the week Grassley said it would be “suicide” for the rich asshole to fire Mueller.
Former EPA Aide Accuses Scott Pruitt Of ‘Unethical, Potentially Illegal’ Behavior
Kevin Chmielewski, the EPA’s deputy chief of staff until he was removed for raising alarm over Pruitt’s spending, spoke to five Democrats investigating the EPA chief.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt directed staff to book travel that allowed him to personally accrue more frequent flier miles, insisting on flying first class on an airline not on the government’s approved list and staying in pricey hotels, according to a bombshell new letter released Thursday by congressional investigators.
The allegations come from Kevin Chmielewski, a lifelong Republican and former the rich asshole aide who served as the EPA’s deputy chief of staff until he was removed for raising alarm over Pruitt’s spending, and are detailed in a six-page letter signed by two senators and three House members, all Democrats. The lawmakers ―Reps. Elijah E. Cummings (MD), Gerald Connolly (Va.), Donald Beyer (Va.) and Sens. Tom Carper (Del.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (RI) ― sent the letter to Pruitt and President some rich asshole.
“He said that when he refused to approve your inappropriate and unethical spending, he claimed he was marginalized, removed from his senior position and placed on administrative leave,” the letter to Pruitt reads.
It adds: “The new information provided by Mr. Chmielewski, if accurate, leaves us certain that your leadership at EPA has been fraught with numerous and repeated unethical and potentially illegal actions on a wide range of consequential matters that you and some members of your staff directed.”
Pruitt allegedly told staff to “find me something to do” in locations around the country to justify spending taxpayer money, according to the letters. Pruitt “frequently stayed in” hotels that exceeded the allowable government per diem by as much as 300 times the cap permitted in exceptional circumstances. On trips to Australia and Italy, the administrator “refused” to stay in the hotels recommended by the U.S. embassy staff there, instead booking more expensive hotels with less on-site security, bringing his personal bodyguards in tow.
Pruitt was reimbursed for these travel expenses when he personally laid out the money for them, though some of his security detail were not fully compensated for their luxury travel, Chmielewski alleged.
Chmielewski told investigators he overheard Pruitt speaking to his landlord, the energy lobbyist who gave him a sweetheart $50-a-night deal on a room in a Capitol Hill condominium. The lobbyist, J. Steven Hart, whose wife co-owns the building, complained that the administrator had failed to pay rent, and that his adult daughter, McKenna Pruitt, damaged the hardwood floors by repeatedly rolling her luggage though the residence while she stayed there during a White House internship.
“We acknowledge the receipt of this letter from Democrats on Capitol Hill and look forward to responding,” EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox said in a statement to HuffPost.
The letters put more pressure on Pruitt to resign as a ballooning scandal over accusations of rampant corruption and runaway spending continues into a third consecutive week. In a testament to just how quickly the disparate controversies have mounted, The Washington Post reported earlier on Thursday that Pruitt used four different email addresses, prompting concerns that he has avoided releasing documents requested in public records disclosures.
The allegations come as the Senate is poised to vote to confirm Andrew Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist and Republican congressional staffer, as the EPA’s deputy administrator, putting him next in line to take over the agency should Pruitt exit.
Read the letter to Pruitt:
Read the letter to the rich asshole:
the rich asshole to explore entering Pacific trade pact he once called 'a disaster'
BY JORDAN FABIAN AND VICKI NEEDHAM - 04/12/18 12:53 PM EDT
President the rich asshole on Thursday instructed top administration officials to explore re-entering the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) — a trade pact he pulled the U.S. out of last year while calling it a “disaster.”
Speaking after a trade meeting with the rich asshole, Republican senators said the president told White House National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to look into joining the deal, which 11 other Pacific Rim nations signed in March.
“The president multiple times reaffirmed in general to all of us and looked right at Larry Kudlow and said, ‘Larry, go get it done,'" Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), a vocal proponent of free trade, told reporters at the White House.
Sasse cautioned that the rich asshole “is a guy who likes to blue-sky a lot and entertain a lot of different ideas,” suggesting the president could eventually change his mind.
White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said the president would only re-enter TPP if the deal was made "substantially" better.
"He has asked Amb. Lighthizer and Director Kudlow to take another look at whether or not a better deal could be negotiated,” she said in a statement.
If the U.S. were to reenter the TPP, it would be a remarkable about-face for the rich asshole, who repeatedly blasted the trade pact during his 2016 presidential campaign.
During the 2016 campaign, the rich asshole called TPP a “disaster” that is backed by “special interests who want to rape our country.”
His decision to pull out of the agreement, one of his first moves as president, was blasted by Republicans who said it put the U.S. at a disadvantage to China on the global stage.
In late February, 25 Senate Republicans wrote a letter to the rich asshole calling on him to rejoin the agreement, arguing it would broadly boost the U.S. economy.
the rich asshole told lawmakers he now believes the TPP “might be easier for us to join now” because the 11 other nations are close to finalizing a deal without the United States, according to the Nebraska senator.
In early March, the 11 other nations signed the renamed Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership in Chile after spending the better part of the last year reworking the deal.
the rich asshole's instructions come at a time when he is engaged in a roiling trade dispute with China and is pushing to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico, who are also parties to the TPP.
Before President Obama left office, advocates for the sweeping Pacific Rim deal argued that the agreement was important for the United States because it would anchor the nation in the rapidly growing Pacific region while providing a buffer against China.
the rich asshole earlier this year opened the door to reentering the trade deal if the terms were more favorable for the United States.
“I would do TPP if we were able to make a substantially better deal,” the rich asshole told CNBC during an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
the rich asshole called the Pacific Rim trade pact a “horrible deal” as written.
Besides Canada and Mexico, the members of the pact are Australia, Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
POLITICS
the rich asshole’s Deputy National Security Adviser To Leave White House
More National Security Council personnel changes are expected following John Bolton’s appointment as its leader.
President some rich asshole’s deputy national security adviser is leaving the White House, officials confirmed Thursday.
Ricky Waddell “plans to step down from his position,” a spokeswoman for the White House confirmed in a statement to HuffPost.
“He will stay on board for the immediate future to help ensure a smooth and orderly transition,” according to the statement. “Dr. Waddell is highly respected and very well liked within the White House, and the United States Army. We thank him for his continued service.”
Waddell’s departure, first reported by Axios, comes about three weeks after the rich asshole announced that H.R. McMaster was leaving his role as national security adviser.
the rich asshole appointed John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, to replace McMaster. Bolton started his new position on Tuesday and is expected to make personnel changes, Axios reported. At least two other senior National Security Council officials have resigned since Bolton’s appointment.
Waddell, a major general for the U.S. Army Reserve, assumed his role in May 2017. His departure date has yet to be confirmed, a White House spokesperson told Axios.
Waddell is the latest the rich asshole administration official to leave in recent months. Homeland security adviser Tom Bossert resigned Tuesday, and David Shulkin was fired as the secretary of veteran affairs on March 28.
This story has been updated with comment from the White House and with details of other departures.
Senator Booker just destroyed Pompeo on his Islamophobia and homophobia
"Do you believe gay sex is a perversion, yes or no?"
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) absolutely destroyed Mike Pompeo during his confirmation hearing Thursday — taking him to task for his bigotry towards Muslims and members of the LGBTQ community.
“I want to talk about many of your past statements concerning Muslim Americans,” Booker began. “I want to start with some of your language. In a speech you talked about folks who worshiped other gods and called it multiculturalism. You sort of mourned that we live in a country where that happens. Do you have any views that the Muslim faith or people who believe in worshiping ‘other gods,’ is that just something negative in our country?”
Pompeo said he didn’t believe this, and pointed to his record of working with Muslim leaders and Muslim countries — basically the equivalent of arguing that “I’m not racist because I have a black friend.”
But Booker was undeterred.
Booker asked Pompeo about his view that a special obligation falls on Muslims to condemn attacks by others of Muslim faith. He famously criticized Muslim leaders for their “silence” — he made this silence up — after the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013.
“You said people who are silent are complicit in those terrorist attacks,” Booker said. “Do you think that Muslim Americans in this country who serve in our military, who serve in the State department, their failure to speak up, is that — are they complicit in terrorist attacks?”
Pompeo said that “each and every human” should condemn violence, but after Booker pressed him on whether he was creating a “special obligation” for Muslims, Pompeo admitted that he considers them differently.
Pompeo: I also do believe this firmly, that for certain places, for certain forms of violence, there are [folks] who are more credible, more trustworthy who have a more shared experience. And so when it comes to, when it comes to making sure that we don’t have a terrorist brewing in places where Muslims congregate, there’s a special place, right? They have a, they have a — It’s more than a duty, more than a requirement. It’s an opportunity, right, to be treated as — when someone from another faith says it, it can get characterized —Booker: If I can go on, because I have more questions. So, you think that Muslims in America who are in positions of leadership have a different category of obligation because of their religion, that’s what I’m hearing you saying?”Pompeo: I don’t see it — it’s not an obligation, it’s an opportunity, senator.
Booker said he agreed with Pompeo that it’s important to “speak in the face of injustice” and asked about his support for key Islamophobic figures.
“[Gaffney] has talked about Muslims who abide by the adherence of their faith should be considered to be tried for acts of sedition and should be prosecuted,” Booker said. “Did you remain silent when you were on his show? Because I have a lot of his statements here. Did you remain silent? And from my notes, at least, you’re a friend of his. Were you silent in your position of authority in these words that be violative of the American constitution?”
“Sir, my record on this is unambiguous,” Pompeo replied.
“Sir, then if that’s your response, you did not say anything to call out his remarks.”
Frank Gaffney is an infamous Islamophobe who has called his political rivals members of the Muslim Brotherhood, called Obama a Muslim, said the United States is succumbing to shariah law, and spread countless other conspiracy theories.
Pompeo similarly couldn’t clarify whether he has disavowed Bridgette Gabriel, who, as Booker pointed out, runs an organization that’s considered an anti-Muslim hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
But Booker didn’t stop there. He moved on to Pompeo’s bigoted record on LGBTQ rights.
“Is being gay a perversion?” Booker asked.
“Senator, when I was a politician, I had a very clear view on whether it was appropriate for two same-sex persons to marry,” Pompeo said. “I stand by that.”
“So, you do not believe it’s appropriate for two gay people to marry?
“Senator, I continue to hold that view,” Pompeo simply said.
Pompeo refused to clarify whether he believes gay sex is a perversion.
“I will conclude by saying, sir, you’re going to be Secretary of state of the United States at a time that we have an increase in hate speech and hate actions against Jewish Americans, Muslim Americans, Indian Americans, hate acts are on the increase in our nation,” Booker concluded. “You’re going to be representing this country and their values abroad in nations where gay individuals are under untold persecution, untold violence.”
Pompeo’s personal views about Muslims and about the LGBTQ community will undoubtedly have a real effect in the way he leads foreign policy under the rich asshole administration and how he leads the department.
Former secretaries of state Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, for example, took huge steps to recognize LGBTQ rights. It became easier for transgender people to change their passport to reflect their gender, the United States began accepting visa applications for same-sex couples, and the State Department more generally fought for the rights of LGBTQ foreign service officers.
Even Now, Paul Ryan Really Doesn’t Want To Talk About some rich asshole
The retiring House speaker dodged a chance to say what he really thinks about the president.
WASHINGTON ― A day after House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) announced his retirement from Congress, he steadfastly refused to acknowledge whether concerns about President some rich asshole contributed to his decision, in a sit-down interview on “CBS This Morning.”
Asked Thursday by CBS’ Gayle King if “the rich asshole fatigue” was a factor in his decision not to seek re-election, Ryan quickly said “no.” Then he immediately repeated talking points about his accomplishments as speaker and his desire to be more than “a weekend dad” to his children.
.@GayleKing: “Did ‘Trump fatigue’ in any way play a role in this?” @SpeakerRyan: “No, the other factor is, I feel like I’ve gotten most done what I wanted to do… I’ve been working on tax reform since I got here. We got that done…”cbsn.ws/2HyroRe
King pressed for a more definitive answer, asking Ryan why he didn’t more forcefully criticize or condemn the rich asshole’s actions. Ryan has regularly faced criticism for his lukewarm responses to incendiary the rich asshole comments and policy proposals.
But Ryan again declined to directly comment on the president, saying he does not wish to “score points,” and believes he and the rich asshole “have a very good dialogue.”
“I decided to talk to the president than about the president,” he said. “I have a much better result in speaking personally with him, rather than on TV.”
the rich asshole met with Ryan and other congressional leaders at the White House on Wednesday night, and tweeted a photo of the gathering.
Honored to have Republican Congressional Leadership join me at the @WhiteHouse this evening. Lots to discuss as we continue MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
King, noting that all of those in the photo are white men, asked if Ryan plans to do more to improve diversity in the Republican Party.
“When I look at that picture, Mr. Speaker, I have to say, I don’t see anyone that looks like me, in terms of color or gender,” King said. “When I look at the picture, I don’t feel very celebratory. I feel very excluded.”
“I don’t like that you feel that way,” Ryan answered. “We need more minorities, more women in our party.” He pointed to Rep. Mia Love (R-Utah), one of the few GOP women of color in Congress.
Ryan told King he hopes to devote more time to making the GOP more inclusive after he leaves Congress. For now, he said, he still has “a busy day job.”
Dems: Former Pruitt aide alleges more wasteful spending, retaliation at EPA
BY TIMOTHY CAMA AND MIRANDA GREEN - 04/12/18 11:35 AM EDT
A former top aide to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt is accusing him of extravagant spending, unnecessary security, employee retaliation and more, according to congressional Democrats.
Kevin Chmielewski, who was formerly Pruitt’s deputy chief of staff for operations, spoke this week to both Democratic and Republican congressional staff and, according to them, corroborated much of the recent reporting about Pruitt’s spending and ethics controversies while providing some new details.
“Mr. Chmielewski described an environment in which you sought to marginalize, remove or otherwise retaliate against agency employees who advised you not to take these troubling actions, or refused to take or justify such actions at your direction,” they wrote.
Chmielewski was put on leave from the EPA earlier this year, in what he said was retaliation for questioning or pushing back on Pruitt’s decisions.
Chmielewski was a campaign aide to President the rich asshole before his time at the EPA, and the rich asshole once brought him on stage at a campaign rally to thank him for his work.
The former EPA aide met with Senate and House Democratic staffers Wednesday. He returned to Capitol Hill Thursday to speak with Republican staff on the House Oversight Committee, a committee spokesperson confirmed to The Hill.
Carper is the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Cummings is the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
The Democrats also sent a copy of the letter directly to the rich asshole.
EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox said the agency "will respond to members of Congress through the proper channel."
During his briefing with the GOP committee staff, Chmielewski confirmed much of what he told the Democrats, the committee spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said the GOP staff found Chmielewski to be "very credible" and that they were "impressed by the amount of information he was able to share."
The spokesperson said the committee hopes that next steps will be done in a bi-partisan way. GOP members of the House Oversight committee, including Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C), were not alerted to the Democrat's interview with Chmielewski until reports surfaced Wednesday.
Gowdy has opened up two investigations into Pruitt, for his use of first class travel and his $50 a night condo rental from the wife of an energy lobbyist.
After The New York Times reported on many of the allegations last week, Wilcox said they came from “a group of disgruntled employees who have either been dismissed or reassigned.”
Pruitt has been under from both Republicans and Democrats in recent weeks over ethics allegations, including that he paid $50 for each night he slept at a condo owned by the wife of an energy lobbyist and directed pay raises for two aides despite the White House refusing to approve them.
In their six-page letter, the Democrats lay out a host of new allegations against Pruitt and asked for various documents and pieces of information about them.
The allegations include that the EPA paid for bulletproof locks and weapons, biometric locks, new SUVs for Pruitt’s travel and a $30,000 contract with private Italian security officers for his trip there.
Pruitt far exceeded the $5,000 limit to redecorate his office, Chmielewski said, and he often made his security staff use lights and sirens to speed through Washington, D.C., including in residential neighborhoods.
Chmielewski said he was in EPA chief of staff Ryan Jackson’s office once and heard a phone conversation with J. Steven Hart, an energy lobbyist whose wife, Vicki, was Pruitt’s landlady. Hart alleged that Pruitt hadn't paid him rent and that Pruitt’s adult daughter damaged hardwood floors in the apartment.
A spokesman for the Harts disputed Chmielewski's charges.
"As the landlord, Vicki Hart was the only person who handled rent payments. The rent was paid in full and the hardwood floors were never damaged," said Ryan Williams, a spokesman for the couple.
Pruitt’s travel destinations were based on a desire to visit certain cities or countries, and he sometimes asked aides to find him official business to do there, according to Chmielewski. He also asked staff to ensure he could get to his home in Oklahoma on the weekends by finding trips near there.
Chmielewski said he pushed back on many of Pruitt’s requests. But he says his refusal to retroactively approve a first-class ticket for then-Pruitt aide Samantha Dravis to return from Morocco in December appears to have been what made Pruitt want to remove him from his job.
Updated at 3:22 p.m.
by Jill Brooke April 12, 2018, 7:00am PDT
Jill Brooke, a former New York Post journalist, reveals how the future president engineered one of the most well-known tabloid covers ever — even as she can’t be sure Marla Maples actually said the famous line.
Living in New York for more than 30 years, I have had a front-row seat to The rich asshole Show. And that includes the spectacle of the rich asshole and his three wives.
My most memorable experience with the rich asshole was sitting in the office of New York Post editor Jerry Nachman, an award-winning, street-wise savant who drank in information with the same gusto he gulped down countless cups of coffee. This was the heyday of the Donald/Ivana divorce, in 1990, when I was the Post's TV and radio columnist. The dueling Post and New York Daily News were documenting the couple's very public breakup. Ivana the rich asshole, via Liz Smith, had won a front-page story — and public sympathy — at the News, portrayed as the spurned wife losing her husband to the younger Marla Maples — and Donald didn't like it.
Sitting in Nachman's office while he was editing one of my pieces, I heard his secretary yell, "It's Donald." Nachman motioned me to "shhh" and put the rich asshole on speaker. "Those fucking bitches," the rich asshole bellowed. "I want a front-page story tomorrow."
Jerry calmly replied, "Donald, you just don't demand a front-page story. There has to be a story." "For all the newspapers I've sold for you, you should give me one." "That's not how it works." "What gets a front-page story?" Donald asked.
The veteran newsman contemplated the question. "It's usually murder, money or sex." Donald fired back: "Marla says with me it's the best sex she's ever had." Nachman's face lit up like a firecracker. "That's great!" he said. "But you know I need corroboration."
The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
the rich asshole and Maples at the Plaza hotel on their wedding day, Dec. 20, 1993. His three children with Ivana did not attend.
"Marla," the rich asshole yelled into the background. "Didn't you say it's the best sex you ever had with me?" From a distance, we heard a faint voice: "Yes, Donald." Only years later did we learn that the rich asshole sometimes impersonated voices to reporters. I still can't be sure whether the voice in the room was really hers.
Thus was born one of the most famous tabloid headlines in history: "Best Sex I've Ever Had!" Hanging up, Jerry looked at me and we giggled. Back then, men of that rank didn't discuss their sex lives on the record.
This was before Facebook. This was before reality TV. This was when privacy mattered and oversharing was considered crass.
"Jerry, every young girl who is targeting a rich older guy always says, 'It's the best sex I ever had,'" I told him. The seasoned Brooklyn-born editor — who died in 2004 — smirked and said, "It's still great." And then I was shooed out of the office as a team of editors clustered around Jerry to craft the infamous New York Post headline and story.
The Post scored with that headline. So did the rich asshole in the PR war. Shameless and wily, he instinctively knew even then how to steer the media conversation.
The rich asshole Show continued with Maples, the Georgia model whom he met in New York and took to Aspen. But Marla soon made the same mistake as Ivana. Ivana, an engaging Czech immigrant and the mother of Ivanka, Donald Jr. and Eric, believed they were equal partners. Donald got her a job at The Plaza, which kept her busy. But he wanted a cheerleader, not a co-host. There could be only one star.
Complicating matters, Ivana wanted to conquer New York society, dragging him to parties he detested. He preferred to stay home, eat burgers and watch TV.
Ron Galella/Getty Images
Donald and Ivana in 1987 at Forbes magazine's 70th anniversary party.
Now that he was with Marla, a similar problem developed. The small-town beauty queen wanted credibility to ease into NYC life. She was obviously nagging him. So Donald made some calls — and sources revealed that Lifetime was going to give her an audition to anchor a new series.
A home-wrecker who had a scantily clad résumé didn't deserve that opportunity, I wrote. Especially with a network that billed itself as an advocate for women's stories. The nagging for the rich asshole must have gotten even worse because I was summoned into Jerry's office. "You need to meet with Donald at the Plaza," he said. "Your story has made Marla go nuts." "She has no qualifications for that job," I replied. "Just meet him," said Nachman. "He wants to show Marla that he's doing something. You don't have to write anything."
Upon my arrival at the gilded hotel, from which poor Ivana had been banished, I was greeted by Donald and Marla. As if on cue, Marla left to go to the bathroom. "Donald you have so many connections," I said. "Ivana is the mother of your children."
"Lifetime is the channel where discarded women can find stories about building a new life," I said. "Get Marla a job somewhere else." His bottom lip started to quiver and curl. "I like you," he said. "You tell it like it is."
Moments later, after Marla returned, he got up and explained he had business to do. I finished my lunch with Marla — who never got the Lifetime gig. She and the rich asshole separated in 1997.
In 1998, he met Melania, who understood the deal. Many wives of powerful men must contend with money-seeking predators pawing at their husbands. The wives often hold out hope that their true love will create a force field that repels beauty queens on the prowl. Melania never had such illusions.
After the Post, I was a CNN correspondent and the editor-in-chief of Avenue, an upscale magazine about New York society. At Avenue, I got to observe Melania. I learned that Melania couldn't care less about attention. She was steely and impressively impenetrable. She had no interest in befriending anyone or playing the game of hosting charity events.
Ivana told her side of the story to the Post rival Daily News in 1990.
She was an immigrant from Slovenia. When you experience that type of hardship, where food and opportunities are scarce, you really don't care whether your husband fools around with porn queens named Stormy or is overly complimentary to his daughter Ivanka. You've lived through the storm. This immigrant was ready to accept a Faustian bargain. Her modeling career wasn't financially viable, but her flirtation with Donald was. She didn't expect to change him.
Furthermore, in the circles of the very rich, the young new wife can enjoy credit card purchases and posh apartments, but the family of origin often is pushed to the sidelines. some rich asshole has been one of the few husbands I've seen who is willing to live in proximity to his in-laws. The Knauss family has accommodations at the rich asshole Tower. For Melania, protecting her family is everything. I'm told that the rich asshole deeply values Melania. Her lack of sentimentality for anyone not a blood relative also makes her a keen observer and confidante.
Before his election, a friend told me she had seen the two at Ralph Lauren's Polo Bar celebrating their anniversary. "Did they seem to have a connection?" I asked. "Very much so," replied my friend.
Hanging up, I reflected on the marriage. They each got the deal they wanted, best sex or not.
A version of this story first appeared in the April 12 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
Deputy national security adviser to leave White House amid Bolton reshuffle
BY JORDAN FABIAN - 04/12/18 10:58 AM EDT
Ricky Waddell, the No. 2 official on the National Security Council (NSC), plans to leave his post as new national security adviser John Bolton seeks to form his own team.
"Dr. Rick Waddell plans to step down from his position at the White House," said White House spokesperson Lindsay Walters. "Dr. Waddell is highly respected and very well liked within the White House and the United States Army. We thank him for his continued service."
Walters said Waddell "will stay on board for the immediate future" to help with the transition to his successor.
Waddell is the fourth national security aide to leave or be ousted since Bolton started in his new role on Monday.
The Army Reserve general was hired last May by Bolton’s predecessor, H.R. McMaster, to run operations at the NSC. He took over for K.T. McFarland, the deputy to the rich asshole’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn.
Waddell’s departure is the latest sign Bolton is seeking to clean house at the NSC and bring in his own people.
It comes one day after deputy national security adviser Nadia Schadlow, who authored the rich asshole’s national security strategy, submitted her resignation.
Homeland security adviser Tom Bossert and NSC spokesman Michael Anton are the other two officials who are leaving the White House due to Bolton.
More changes are expected in the coming days and weeks.
Updated at 11:49 a.m.
Reporter behind infamous ‘best sex’ the rich asshole tabloid story finally comes clean — and reveals how a jealous Donald demanded story
The New York Post cover and Marla Maples talking about the relationship on The View/Screenshot
DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY!
The author of one of the most infamous tabloid stories about some rich asshole has come clean about the details in a new essay for the Hollywood Reporter.
In 1990, in the middle of the rich asshole’s messy divorce from his first wife Ivana, Jill Brooke penned a story headlined the “Best Sex I’ve Ever Had” in the New York Post. The front page story quoted Donald’s second wife, Marla Maples, and was ordered up directly by the rich asshole.
The story as Brooke tells it came about because the New York Daily News wrote sympathetically about Ivana and a jealous and bitter the rich asshole reached out to a friendly editor at the Post to counter it.
“Those fucking bitches,” the rich asshole bellowed over the phone, according to Brooke. “I want a front-page story tomorrow.”
“Donald, you just don’t demand a front-page story,” Brooke’s boss told him. “There has to be a story.”
“For all the newspapers I’ve sold for you, you should give me one,” the rich asshole demanded. “What gets a front-page story?”
When the editor told the rich asshole that it’s usually “murder, money or sex” the rich asshole gave him a sex story—that his new wife said sex with him was the best she ever had.
The editor asked to talk to her and the rich asshole held out the phone—as Brooke says, she did not realize at the time that the future president had a habit of impersonating other people on the phone.
the rich asshole later went back to Brooke to try to get his new wife a TV gig—which did not work out. Read the full essay here.
Watch Maples talk about her marriage to Donald on The View below.
Watch live: Mike Pompeo testifies at secretary of State confirmation hearing
BY THE HILL STAFF - 04/12/18 09:00 AM EDT
Mike Pompeo, the current director of the CIA, will face the Senate Foreign Relations committee Thursday.
Pompeo was tapped by President the rich asshole to helm the State Department. the rich asshole removed Rex Tillerson from the secretary of State post last month.
The hearing is a first step in the Senate's consideration of Pompeo's nomination to the position.
The hearing is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m.
Watch live in the video above.
Paid-off the rich asshole Tower doorman breaks his silence — says Donald ‘produced a child’ with a housekeeper
some rich asshole during CNN debate (Photo: Screen capture via video)
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A former the rich asshole Tower doorman has released a statement on reports that The National Enquirer paid him $30,000 to keep quiet about a love child that some rich asshole fathered with an employee.
Dino Sajudin took a polygraph test about his claims.
“Today I awoke to learn that a confidential agreement that I had with AMI (The National Enquirer) with regard to a story about President the rich asshole was leaked to the press,” Sajudin said in a statement, CNN reported Thursday.
“I can confirm that while working at the rich asshole World Tower I was instructed not to criticize President the rich asshole’s former housekeeper due to a prior relationship she had with President the rich asshole which produced a child.”
Watch:
Loss of Ryan hits hard for House Republicans
BY BEN KAMISAR - 04/12/18 06:00 AM EDT
Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) decision to retire from Congress has set off more alarm bells for Republicans worried about whether they can hold the House in the midterm elections.
The ripple effects of Ryan’s announcement will not be clear for months. But in the early hours after the news broke, some Republicans framed the news as both the latest sign that Republicans are headed for the minority as well as a spark that could set off more GOP retirements.
“It’s just another illustration of the harbinger of things to come. There’s no Republican who’s optimistic about the November elections,” said Terry Sullivan, a GOP strategist who ran Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) presidential campaign. “It’s the 300th example that there is a wave coming.”
Ryan’s retirement had been rumored for months, but the Speaker’s Wednesday announcement caught most in Washington off guard. In a press conference explaining his decision, the House Speaker attempted to brush aside the idea that his retirement would have any impact on the GOP’s chances of retaining the House.
Instead, Ryan framed his decision as a personal one, characterizing himself as a reluctant Speaker who just accomplished a major victory on tax reform and now wants to spend more time with his family.
“I really do not believe that whether I stay or go in 2019 is going to affect a person’s individual race for Congress,” Ryan told reporters.
“If we do our jobs, which we are, we are going to be fine as a majority,“ he said.
Rep. Steve Stivers, the Ohio Republican tasked with running the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), echoed Ryan in a statement, saying that the GOP’s “mission to hold the House” continues “unabated.”
Democrats, buoyed by special election upsets and President the rich asshole’s low approval rating, were already feeling good about their chances of taking back the 23 seats they need to regain the House.
Now they’re framing Ryan’s retirement as more proof that the GOP is bracing for a brutal midterm cycle.
“Speaker Ryan sees what is coming in November, and is calling it quits rather than standing behind [the] House Republican agenda,” said Tyler Law, a spokesman with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, in a statement. “Stay tuned for more retirements as Republicans increasingly realize that their midterm prospects are doomed.”
Nonpartisan analysts agree that Ryan’s retirement sends a signal that Republicans will struggle to keep the House.
Kyle Kondik, a political analyst with the University of Virginia’s Sabato’s Crystal Ball, wrote Wednesday that “many will view Ryan’s retirement as a concession that Republicans are resigned to losing the House in the fall.”
“The Ryan exit is another bad sign for GOP House prospects and a sign that Democrats probably have the inside track for taking control of the House, at least right now,” added Kondik, who still sees the race for the House as a toss-up between the two parties.
The most immediate effect of Ryan’s decision could be felt on other Republicans weighing retirement.
Rep. Dennis Ross (R-Fla.) publicly announced his own retirement just hours after Ryan.
Ross told The Hill that he found out about Ryan’s retirement as he was meeting with top aides preparing to deliver his own retirement news to his staff. In an interview with CNN, Ross cited a frustration with the political climate as one reason he chose to step aside.
“As we continue to see the polarization in our society over politics, we fail to understand the fundamentals of the process,” he said.
Ryan’s decision could convince other Republicans to head out the door. So far, more than 40 House Republicans are not seeking reelection to the House next year — the highest figure in more than 25 years, according to Pew Research.
“If the leader of Republicans in Congress doesn’t want to be there, what is the reason they should be?” Sullivan said. “That says more about where Congress is at, and where the Republican Party is at, than anything else.”
Dave Wasserman, an analyst with the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, tweeted Wednesday that there 58 GOP lawmakers in the 19 states where the candidate filing deadlines are still to come. Lawmakers in those states could retire while still giving their party time to find a new option.
Any additional retirements could expand the House battlefield even more. The retirement announcements from Ryan and Ross prompted analysts to move those races in favor of Democrats.
But former New York GOP Rep. Tom Reynolds, who once ran the NRCC, told The Hill that outside factors have less of an impact on members considering retirement.
“I look at retirement as a personal decision — looking at the individual itself, the family, and then other considerations,” he said.
Ryan’s retirement could also impact the GOP’s fundraising operations, which have boomed under his leadership.
Ryan’s fundraising committee had just announced that it raised $54 million in the past 15 months, sending $40 million of that to the NRCC. The Congressional Leadership Fund, the super PAC allied with Ryan and House leadership, has raised $41 million this cycle through that same period.
“The message to donors, activists and other Republicans is ‘I don’t have confidence in this,’ ” Scott Jennings, a GOP strategist and former aide to President George W. Bush, said on NPR’s “Morning Edition.”
“Now everyone, I think, will probably focus on the Senate,” Jennings said.
Reynolds, the former NRCC chairman, said the House GOP leadership’s fundraising network is strong enough to overcome losing Ryan.
“It has to have an impact when [the Speaker] is no longer intending to seek reelection because some of that money rallies around your vision as a leader of the conference,” he said. “But money has not been the challenge of getting people reelected.”
Zack Roday, Ryan’s former political spokesman, told The Hill that Ryan’s decision to serve out his term would be an important one.
“He has incredible assets that will be so helpful to the Republican Congress, and him not running for reelection does not take those inherent advantages away,” he said.
Art Pope, a major GOP donor in North Carolina, said Republicans’ fate in the midterms has more to do with other factors, such as the rich asshole.
“What is more impactful on the support of donors and activists and on whether the Republicans have the majority in Congress is whether the threat of tariffs or a trade war has an impact on the economy,” Pope told The Hill.
“There are much more graver concerns than Speaker Ryan making an understandable decision at this point in his life,” Pope added.
Republicans retiring and not running for higher office
Paul Ryan (Wis.)
Bob Goodlatte (Va.)
Jeb Hensarling (Texas)
Rodney Frelinghuysen (N.J.)
Trey Gowdy (S.C.)
Darrell Issa (Calif.)
Joe Barton (Texas)
Lamar Smith (Texas)
Charlie Dent (Pa.)
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Fla.)
David Reichert (Wash.)
Pat Tiberi (Ohio)*
Frank LoBiondo (N.J.)
Lynn Jenkins (Kan.)
Dennis Ross (Fla.)
John Duncan Jr. (Tenn.)
Sam Johnson (Texas)
Ted Poe (Texas)
Dave Trott (Mich.)
Ryan Costello (Pa.)
Trent Franks (Ariz.)*
Blake Farenthold (Texas)*
Bill Shuster (Pa.)
Gregg Harper (Miss.)
Ed Royce (Calif)
Patrick Meehan (Pa.)
Tom Rooney (Fla.)
Bob Goodlatte (Va.)
Jeb Hensarling (Texas)
Rodney Frelinghuysen (N.J.)
Trey Gowdy (S.C.)
Darrell Issa (Calif.)
Joe Barton (Texas)
Lamar Smith (Texas)
Charlie Dent (Pa.)
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Fla.)
David Reichert (Wash.)
Pat Tiberi (Ohio)*
Frank LoBiondo (N.J.)
Lynn Jenkins (Kan.)
Dennis Ross (Fla.)
John Duncan Jr. (Tenn.)
Sam Johnson (Texas)
Ted Poe (Texas)
Dave Trott (Mich.)
Ryan Costello (Pa.)
Trent Franks (Ariz.)*
Blake Farenthold (Texas)*
Bill Shuster (Pa.)
Gregg Harper (Miss.)
Ed Royce (Calif)
Patrick Meehan (Pa.)
Tom Rooney (Fla.)
* Have already resigned from the House
POLITICS
the rich asshole Attacks NYT Report, Insists He Has Power To Fire Robert Mueller
Experts, however, say only Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has the power to remove Mueller.
President some rich asshole bashed The New York Times once again Thursday, claiming a report that suggested he sought to fire special counsel Robert Mueller in December was “fake news.”
the rich asshole tweeted that he “would have fired” Mueller, the head of a federal probe into whether the rich asshole’s 2016 presidential campaign colluded with Russia, in December had he wanted to do so.
the rich asshole’s insistence that he has the power to remove Mueller is at stark odds with many legal experts who say Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is the only person who can directly fire Mueller.
According to a Department of Justice regulation:
The Special Counsel may be disciplined or removed from office only by the personal action of the Attorney General. The Attorney General may remove a Special Counsel for misconduct, dereliction of duty, incapacity, conflict of interest, or for other good cause, including violation of Departmental policies. The Attorney General shall inform the Special Counsel in writing of the specific reason for his or her removal.
Since Attorney General Jeff Sessions has recused himself from the Russia probe, the next person in line to hold such power would be Rosenstein.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Tuesday that she believes the rich asshole “certainly” has the ability to remove Mueller from the investigation.
“I know a number of individuals in the legal community, and including at the Department of Justice, said he has the power to do so,” Sanders told reporters during a press briefing.
Sanders did not respond to HuffPost’s request for comment about which members of the Justice Department supposedly affirmed the rich asshole’s authority on the matter.
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