the rich asshole asks judge to block feds from reviewing documents seized in Cohen raid
BY BRETT SAMUELS - 04/15/18 09:35 PM EDT
Lawyers for President the rich asshole wrote a federal judge on Sunday asking her to halt federal prosecutors from reviewing documents seized in Michael Cohen’s office and home, arguing that the Department of Justice cannot fairly evaluate the materials.
A trio of lawyers for the president wrote to Judge Kimba Wood in the Southern District of New York to request the rich asshole and Cohen be allowed to identify privileged communications prior to a fuller review.
the rich asshole’s lawyers – Joanna Hendon, Christopher Dysard and Reed Keefe – wrote that potentially privileged information was seized during the raid. They argue that the rich asshole should be able to review those documents before a taint team made up of federal agents and prosecutors to ensure his right to attorney-client privilege.
“There is, as well, cause for concern that a taint team could not evaluate Mr. Cohen’s files (and, in particular, those relating to the president) fairly,” they continued, arguing that prosecutors would be disinclined to see certain communications as privileged.
the rich asshole has criticized his own Justice Department on multiple occasions, focusing on Attorney General Jeff Sessions and special counsel Robert Mueller in particular.
Cohen, who has worked as the rich asshole's lawyer for years, had his office and hotel room raided last week. He is reportedly under investigation for bank fraud and campaign finance law violations.
Federal agents reportedly seized bank records, communications between Cohen and the rich asshole, and documents related to related to payments to two women who alleged they had an affair with the president more than a decade ago.
Prosecutors in Manhattan obtained the search warrants for the raid "in part" based on a referral from special counsel Robert Mueller's office, which prompted President the rich asshole to launch a series of attacks on Mueller and his investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
President the rich asshole screamed at aides when he found out the US planned to expel 60 Russian diplomats: Report
President the rich asshole was reportedly furious when the U.S. plan to expel 60 Russian diplomats was made public, hurling expletives and insults at White House aides he claimed misled him regarding the magnitude of his own administration's response to the poisoning of a former Russian spy in the U.K.
“There were curse words, a lot of curse words,” a White House official told the Washington Post after the announcement was made public on March 26.
The day before staffers had briefed the rich asshole at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on their proposal to expel 60 Russian diplomats and suspected spies following the poisoning of Sergei Skripal with a military-grade nerve agent in the British city of Salisbury.
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The number approximately represented the same total number that would be ousted by European partners as part of a coordinated effort to condemn the act of Russian aggression on foreign soil.
“We’ll match their numbers. We’re not taking the lead. We’re matching,” the rich asshole reportedly told aides.
the rich asshole was then outraged at ensuring media coverage that portrayed the U.S. as taking the toughest stance against Russia compared to the likes of Germany and France, which only ousted four diplomats apiece.
“I don’t care about the total!” the rich asshole screamed, per the Post.
The report follows a week of ratcheted up rhetoric between the U.S. and Russia in the wake of chemical attacks in Syria, which the U.S. believes were perpetrated by Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime on his own people.
In ABC TV interview, former FBI director says US president treats women like meat and was a ‘stain’ on everyone who worked for him
James Comey has accused some rich asshole of being “morally unfit” to be president and treating women like “meat” in his first television interview in support of his new book, A Higher Loyalty.
Comey further described the rich asshole as a “stain” on everyone who worked for him, according to a transcript of a five-hour interview obtained by the New York Times.
A one-hour edited version of the interview with George Stephanopolous aired on ABC News on Sunday night.
“Our president must embody respect and adhere to the values that are at the core of this country,” Comey told Stephanopoulos. “The most important being truth. This president is not able to do that. He is morally unfit to be president.”
In his book, Comey compares the rich asshole to a mafia don and challenges the president’s character, honesty and commitment to public service.
Brisk pre-sales for the book, and the ambitious national tour Comey has planned beginning in New York City on Tuesday, have prompted criticism about the amount of money Comey seems to be making as he settles scores with the president.
Yet Comey’s career as a government prosecutor speaks to the seriousness of his commitment to the public good, and whatever other motivations he may have for going in front of the cameras, Comey clearly sees the rich asshole as a threat to the country and sees himself as capable of defending it.
“My book is about ethical leadership & draws on stories from my life & lessons I learned from others,” Comey wrote in a rare Twitter foray of his own on Sunday. “3 presidents are in my book: 2 help illustrate the values at the heart of ethical leadership; 1 serves as a counterpoint. I hope folks read the whole thing and find it useful.”
The White House did not reply to a query about whether the rich asshole planned to watch the Comey interview, which was taped earlier in the week.
But the rich asshole was plainly focused on Comey on Sunday, posting five tweets about him and his book and branding the former director a “leaker,” a “liar,” “slippery” and a “slimeball.”
“I never asked Comey for Personal Loyalty,” read one tweet. “I hardly even knew this guy. Just another of his many lies. His “memos” are self serving and FAKE!”
“Slippery James Comey, a man who always ends up badly and out of whack (he is not smart!), will go down as the WORST FBI Director in history, by far!” read another.
But the public does not agree with the rich asshole about Comey’s supposed unreliability, polling indicates. A Washington Post-ABC News poll timed to the release of Comey’s book found that Americans thought Comey “more believable” than the rich asshole by a 48-32 margin.
“Public perception of the two men actually hasn’t changed since last May, when the rich asshole fired Comey,” CNN’s Harry Enten wrote on Saturday. the rich asshole’s average approval rating across all polls is at abou 41%.
The national Republican party has gotten foursquare behind the president’s campaign to smear Comey’s reputation, despite the fact that Comey himself is a Republican, as are the senior justice department figures overseeing the Russia investigations. The GOP launched a website last week at lyincomey.com that echoes the president’s attacks.
Comey: the rich asshole 'treats women like they're pieces of meat'
BY BRETT SAMUELS - 04/15/18 10:02 PM EDT
Former FBI Director James Comey said in an interview with ABC Sunday night that President the rich asshole treated women like “meat" and is morally unfit to be president.
Comey blasted the president during his first television interview since he was fired last May, describing him as a serial liar and a “stain” on everyone who worked for him.
"I think he's morally unfit to be president," Comey told ABC’s George Stephanopoulous.
"A person who sees moral equivalence in Charlottesville, who talks about and treats women like they're pieces of meat, who lies constantly about matters big and small and insists the American people believe it, that person's not fit to be president of the United States, on moral grounds," he continued.
Comey’s interview with coincided with the release of his book, “A Higher Loyalty,” which details his interactions with the president and the fallout from the 2016 presidential campaign.
In the days since the first excerpts of Comey’s book were released, President the rich asshole has lashed out at the former FBI director, labeling him a “leaker and liar,” a “slimeball” and “worst FBI Director in history, by far!”
the rich asshole fired Comey last May. His ouster from the FBI led to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller to lead the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign.
‘In public he did nothing’: MSNBC’s Kasie Hunt makes a lowlight reel of Paul Ryan’s appeasement of the rich asshole
Paul Ryan and some rich asshole/Screenshots
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This week House Speaker Paul Ryan announced that he will retire after 20 years in congress.
Ryan, who rose to prominence as Mitt Romney’s running mate, leaves with his reputation tied closely to the rich asshole—a man he vowed not to defend, and then proceeded to defend tirelessly.
MSNBC’s Kasie Hunt put together a series of clips where Ryan defended the rich asshole from the same type of allegations that led him to turn on Roy Moore, and where he refused to name the president while criticizing his comments after Charlottesville.
“When some rich asshole won the White House, against all odds, Republicans who were left without a country hoped Ryan would be the voice of reason, of decency when there seems to be no decency left,” Hunt said. “And Paul Ryan let them all down.”
Watch the lowlight reel of Ryan defending and equivocating below.
Michael Cohen’s Catch 22
A federal judge put him in a major bind and there is no easy way out.
A federal judge has ordered Michael Cohen, the rich asshole’s longtime personal attorney and “fixer,” to turn over his list of clients by Monday at 10 a.m. The list, the judge says, will be made public.
For Cohen, this is a major problem.
The request comes after Cohen’s home, hotel room and office were raided by F.B.I. agents on April 9. The raid came after the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York sought and obtained a search warrant. Prosecutors sought the warrant following a referral from special council Robert Mueller, who apparently uncovered information that he believed might be evidence of a crime.
The information seized reportedly relates to hush money payments made to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, two women who allegedly had affairs with some rich asshole.
Cohen sought a temporary restraining order last week to prevent prosecutors from reviewing the information, claiming that it was covered by attorney-client privilege. The seized records “contain thousands if not millions of documents that are protected by attorney-client privilege,” Cohen’s attorney, Todd Harrison, told U.S. District Judge Kimba Woods.
Federal prosecutors, however, say this is all a ruse. They claim Cohen is “performing little to no legal work” and his only real client is some rich asshole, who doesn’t use email. As a result, prosecutors argue there is little to no privileged information in seized material.
In an effort to evaluate these competing narratives, Woods has ordered Cohen to turn over his client list to the court on Monday morning. Cohen was unable to tell the court how many clients he has last Friday because he didn’t bother to show up at court, opting instead to smoke cigars with his buddies.
This is where things get very dicey for Cohen.
Although Cohen worked pretty much exclusively for the rich asshole, he also appears to serve as a “fixer” for the rich asshole’s friends and family. Cohen, it seems, has a specialty in covering up affairs.
It was revealed last week that Cohen recently helped Elliott Broidy, a major the rich asshole fundraiser, negotiate a non-disclosure agreement with a Playboy Playmate he impregnated. (He reportedly charged Broidy $250,000 for this service.) Cohen also successfully killed an US Weekly story about an alleged affair between some rich asshole Jr. and singer Aubrey O’Day in 2013. (The story was reported after the rich asshole filed for divorce last month.)
So Cohen could provide the court with an expansive list of everyone he assisted and claim they were his clients. This would maximize the chance that potentially damaging information will be withheld from prosecutors under attorney-client privilege. In so doing, however, he may subject many people to the assumption that they sought his help to cover up an affair or other misconduct.
Alternatively, Cohen provide a very short list to the court. This would serve to protect the identities of people who sought his help to silence a woman or for other unappealing matter. But it would also all but ensure that more potentially incriminating materials makes it to federal prosecutors.
Cohen could also try to defy the court order and not turn over a list of his clients at all. Defying an order of a federal judge is not a particularly good option, however.
For years, Cohen has secretly done the dirty work for some rich asshole and his associates under the protective umbrella of “attorney-client privilege.” This isn’t really legal work but pretending it was helped ensure it stayed secret. The gig may be up.
‘Comey’s publisher should declare ‘Mission Accomplished’: the rich asshole roasted for promoting book with crazed attacks
some rich asshole at the NBCUNIVERSAL 2015 Winter TCA Press Tour at The Langham Huntington Hotel (Shutterstock)
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President some rich asshole on Sunday continued to attack former FBI Director James Comey with a series of tweets aimed at undercutting the credibility of his upcoming book, “A Higher Loyalty.”
Among other things, the rich asshole called Comey a “slimeball” who should go to “jail” and who wrote “FAKE” memos aimed at smeared the president.
However, the president’s tweets also had the unintended consequence of promoting Comey’s book, which has already rocketed up the charts on Amazon’s bestseller list despite the fact that it doesn’t officially release until Tuesday.
Many Twitter users noted the irony of the rich asshole helping his former FBI director sell more books — check out some of the reactions below.
Comey’s book publisher is the one who should be declaring “Mission Accomplished” https://t.co/hfrc0AfIoV— Carlos Lozada (@CarlosLozadaWP) April 15, 2018
I wonder if Stormy Daniels will get this many tweets when her book comes out? My guess…probably not a single one.— Greg Shugar (@GregShugar) April 15, 2018
James Comey’s book publisher must be so happy this morning.— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 15, 2018
Is Comey's publisher sending you a cut? Every tweet on this is making him sooooooo much money
That sound was Comey's book publisher asking for another million in print.
Hey Dumbfella trump, of course you asked him for his loyalty. The fact that you were too arrogant and stupid to realize professional law enforcement take notes is your problem - stop your whining.
If your Twitter meltdown last longer than 4 hours, please call your doctor.
Cohen used same company to make payments to two women: report
BY BRETT SAMUELS - 04/15/18 08:37 PM EDT
Federal prosecutors are reportedly looking into Michael Cohen’s use of a private company in Delaware to get money to women who alleged they had affairs with two of his clients.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that Michael Cohen used Essential Consultants LLC to send money to a former Playboy model who alleged top Republican donor Elliott Broidy had impregnated her.
He used the same company to pay $130,000 to adult film star Stormy Daniels, who claims she had an affair with President the rich asshole in 2006.
The newspaper reported on Friday that Cohen had negotiated a $1.6 million settlement for Broidy, who served as the deputy finance chair for the Republican National Committee (RNC).
Broidy acknowledged the affair, and later resigned his post with the RNC.
The new report comes less than a week after federal agents raided Cohen’s office and hotel where he’s staying. Cohen is reportedly under investigation for bank fraud and campaign finance law violations.
Prosecutors in Manhattan obtained the search warrants for the raid "in part" based on a referral from special counsel Robert Mueller's office, which prompted President the rich asshole to launch a series of attacks on Mueller and his investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
More than 20 percent of the rich asshole campaign spending this year has gone to legal fees
BY MORGAN GSTALTER - 04/15/18 07:34 PM EDT
President the rich asshole’s 2020 reelection campaign has spent more than 22 percent on legal fees so far this year, according to the latest fundraising reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.
The campaign has spent around $835,000 in legal fees in the first few months of 2018.
The money was divided up between at least eight different firms and the rich asshole Corporation, according to an analysis from Buzzfeed.
the rich asshole is in the middle of a costly legal battle with adult film star Stormy Daniels, who is suing the president to get out of a nondisclosure agreement he didn’t sign.
Daniels alleges she had an affair with the rich asshole and was paid “hush money” by his personal lawyer to keep quiet about the relationship.
The two legal firms involved in the fight with Daniels — Harding LLP and Larocca, Hornik, Rosen, Greenberg & Blaha — were paid a combined total of $280,000.
The most donor spending — $350,000 — went to Jones Day, the firm that has represented the rich asshole campaign since the 2016 election and handled all litigation relating to it, Buzzfeed reported.
About $125,000 was spent by the campaign at the rich asshole-owned businesses, hotels and restaurants.
The campaign has also made 20 different purchases from Amazon, notable because the president has been attacking the company on Twitter this month.
Johnny McEntee, the rich asshole’s former personal assistant who was forced out when he couldn’t be get security clearance, was hired by the campaign in March.
Reports indicate that he was paid $22,000.
The campaign has raised over $10.1 million so far this year. They have spent $3.9 million and reported have $28.3 million cash on hand.
France's Macron says he convinced the rich asshole to stay in Syria long-term
BY BRETT SAMUELS - 04/15/18 07:11 PM EDT
French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday he has convinced President the rich asshole to keep U.S. troops in Syria long-term.
“Ten days ago, President the rich asshole was saying ‘the United States should withdraw form Syria.’ We convinced him it was necessary to stay,” Macron said in an interview with French media, according to Reuters.
In addition, the French president said he persuaded the rich asshole that the U.S. and its allies should only carry out missile strikes aimed at Syrian chemical weapons facilities. Macron said officials helped narrow the president's focus for potential strikes after he had "gotten a little carried away over tweets," Reuters reported.
“America does not seek an indefinite presence in Syria,” he said. “It’s a troubled place. We will try to make it better. But it’s a troubled place.”
the rich asshole had warned Russia that "nice and new and 'smart'" missiles would be heading to Syria prior to his administration's announcement of the strikes.
The president had in recent weeks raised uncertainty over the future of the U.S.’ role in Syria moving forward. He said during an appearance in Ohio late last month that he planned to withdraw troops “very soon.”
the rich asshole reiterated that stance again during a press conference with Baltic leaders earlier this month, adding that the U.S. could extend its military presence in Syria if other countries, including Saudi Arabia, pay for it.
Multiple military advisers and lawmakers pushed back on the rich asshole's comments, with many warning that pulling troops out of Syria would be a mistake.
Partisan tensions rise as Mueller bill delayed
BY JORDAIN CARNEY - 04/15/18 06:24 PM EDT
Legislation protecting special counsel Robert Mueller is running into steep political headwinds even as President the rich asshole is weighing cracking down on the Russia investigation.
The bill got a boost of momentum when GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley (Iowa) said it would get a committee vote, but the legislation almost immediately got bogged down in partisan finger-pointing and entrenched skepticism among most Republicans.
A blame game has broken out among Senate Judiciary Committee members about why the bill is being punted until days before the next recess. Grassley, in a whirlwind move, tried to get the panel to take up the bill late last week; instead, a vote isn’t expected until April 26.
The legislation would limit the rich asshole’s ability to fire Mueller and let him be reinstated if a court determines he wasn’t fired for “good cause.” In a sign of Republicans’ anxiety that the rich asshole could try to interfere with the Russia probe months before the midterm elections, a small but growing number of Republicans are signaling they are open to the idea of the bill.
But Democrats are deeply worried that Republicans will try to weaken the bill or attach “poison pill” amendments.
“[I] urge the members of the Judiciary Committee to approve this legislation without watering it down or weakening it with amendments,” said Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who isn’t a member of the panel but weighed in on the looming fight from the Senate floor.
“[I] urge the members of the Judiciary Committee to approve this legislation without watering it down or weakening it with amendments,” said Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who isn’t a member of the panel but weighed in on the looming fight from the Senate floor.
The Democrats’ concern centers on a forthcoming amendment from Grassley that, according to the GOP senator, would increase reporting to Congress about changes in the probe by Mueller, or any other special investigation, and require lawmakers to be notified if the rich asshole was going to fire a special counsel.
“If the amendment compromises or defeats the basic purpose of the bill [it’s] a non-starter,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a member of the committee.
Democrats acknowledge they haven’t seen the amendment, which is part of why they wouldn’t sign off on putting the legislation on Thursday’s agenda. But that hasn’t stopped them from publicly fretting that the apparent boost of momentum could result in legislation that actually undermines the special counsel legislation.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), noting that Congress shouldn’t put “political pressure” on Mueller’s probe, added in her first statement about the bill that, “I’m worried about an amendment we haven’t been able to review that could undermine the investigation.”
Pressed by reporters about her concerns, Feinstein added, “obviously it’s in a sensitive subject area” and Democrats wanted to see it before they vote. She declined to say if more congressional oversight would be a non-starter for Democrats, noting she hadn’t yet seen the amendment.
The apparent lack of trust comes as the Judiciary Committee has fractured over its handling of its own Russia investigation.
Democrats announced they were starting their own probe late last year when Republicans wanted to circle back to Obama-era scandals instead of potential collusion with Russia and the firing of former FBI Director James Comey.
This time around, Democrats worry that Republicans could use the additional oversight to influence the probe or force Mueller to signpost his investigation.
“I am concerned if it does anything to violate the separation of powers and the fact that the investigation should be allowed to continue and not have … Congress dictating what’s happening,” said Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.).
Republicans counter that Democrats are being paranoid and slowing down legislation that they have pushed for as the rich asshole has repeatedly lashed out.
Grassley called concerns that he is trying to undermine the special counsel “completely unfounded.”
“I’m at a loss to see how a call for the administration to be more transparent about decisions involving the special counsel … would undermine the Mueller investigation. ... This delay is uncalled for and unnecessary,” Grassley said in a statement.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) added, “I do hope that my colleagues on the other side will take a serious look at the amendment that we’re talking about; I think it makes sense. Part of it’s just, you haven’t seen it.”
Tillis added that the forthcoming amendment also includes “increased transparency to address some of the concerns with some of the actions of some of the people in the Department of Justice that didn’t seem appropriate.”
With Republicans in the majority, if every GOP senator supports the amendment Democrats on the committee would not be able to stop it from being added to the legislation. That could force them to decide whether or not to vote against the overall bill — preventing it from going to the floor.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), one of the original co-sponsors of the bill, downplayed the stalemate and noted he was open to changing the legislation.
“They’re trying to work out an amendment … which I think is a good amendment,” he said. “We’ll see if they can do that.”
Feinstein noted Democrats could let the bill get a vote on Thursday, but Grassley predicted that GOP opposition to the bill would delay it until April 26.
The legislation doesn’t face an easier path once it reaches the full Senate, much less the more conservative House, where the rich asshole allies are publicly urging the president to fire top Justice Department officials.
And while White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters that the administration doesn’t have an official position on the bill, senators expect it would need to ultimately get a two-thirds majority — enough to override a presidential veto.
That’s a herculean task for GOP leadership, who have shown no inclination to bring up the legislation, much less stage the rich asshole’s first veto override going into a midterm election where they are increasingly anxious about holding on to their majorities.
Grassley’s decision to give the bill a committee vote appeared to catch GOP leadership off guard.
“Frankly, there hadn’t been a lot of communication from the committee or anybody else about what’s going on,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas).
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told reporters that “most members of Congress” believe Mueller should be able to continue his investigation, but he still has not seen a “clear indication” that they need to pass legislation.
But Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) suggested he thought a supermajority in Congress would vote to let that happen.
“There’s a two-thirds majority at least in both bodies, perhaps a three-quarters majority, who want this investigation to be completed,” he said on ABC’s “The View.”
The fate of the Russia investigation has rattled Washington as the rich asshole has publicly blasted — and reportedly privately mused about firing — Mueller or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees the probe, after the FBI raided the office of his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen.
But many GOP senators say they remain convinced, at least publicly, that the rich asshole will not try to fire Mueller.
GOP Sen. John Kennedy (La.) said the rich asshole is “smart enough” to know that getting rid of the special counsel will “provoke a reaction from Congress.”
“I just think all this is premature and academic,” he said. “The president likes to manage out loud. ... He clearly grows anxious when he has an unexpressed thought.”
POLITICS
Sara Huckabee Sanders Tweets ‘Quantum Entanglement’ Mike Pence Photo
The White House press secretary’s Saturday tweet featuring the vice president is confusing people on Twitter.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweeted a photo Saturday of President some rich asshole and Vice President Mike Pence at a briefing on Syria, saying “Last night the president put our adversaries on notice.”
One small glitch: Pence, who is sitting next to the rich asshole in the accompanying photo, couldn’t have possibly been at a Friday briefing. Pence was in Peru Friday.
Twitter went nuts. Walter Shaub, former head of the office of government ethics, responded: “Fascinating tweet in which Sarah Sanders reveals that Mike Pence was simultaneously in Peru and Washington. If this new capability doesn’t scare our enemies, nothing will.” He added the hashtag: #QuantumEntanglementPence.
Fascinating tweet in which Sarah Sanders reveals that Mike Pence was simultaneously in Peru and Washington. If this new capability doesn’t scare our enemies, nothing will. #QuantumEntanglementMike twitter.com/presssec/statu…
On Sunday, Huckabee Sanders clarified that while the Syria missile strikes were Friday, and her Saturday tweet referred to “last night,” the photo accompanying the tweet was actually taken Thursday.
Huckabee Sanders insisted in her explanation that she had “said that.” She also told Politico that her original tweet was “not misleading at all.”
Huckabee Sanders apparently had little choice but to explain, given the avalanche of responses after her initial tweet:
Pence was in Peru...but the pic "from last night" that she posted has him in it. As usual - she's lying.
Look carefully at this picture. @POTUS seems really confused. And wasn't Vice President Pence in Peru at the time?
Also, the air strikes last year didn't deter Assad. Why would these recent air strikes deter Assad? twitter.com/PressSec/statu…
WATCH: Scholar Reza Aslan examines whether the rich asshole’s entire presidency is a ‘religious cult’
Reza Aslan on The Daily Show (Screenshot)
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Reza Aslan, a religion scholar and former CNN host who has written extensively about Islamic fundamentalism, is featured in a new Big Think video in which he asks the question of whether the followers of President some rich asshole constitute a “religious cult.”
Aslan begins by noting that the rich asshole received unprecedented support from American evangelicals during the 2016 presidential election — even more than former President George W. Bush, who identified specifically as an evangelical.
“This makes no sense,” Aslan said. “Especially when you consider that the rich asshole is not just the most irreligious president in modern history — that his entire worldview makes a mockery of core Christian values, such as humility and empathy and care for the poor.”
To examine why this could be, Aslan pointed in part to the rise of the so-called “Prosperity Gospel” that was once seen as completely heretical by most Christians, but that now has garnered a significant following.
“The essential gist of [Prosperity Gospel] is, ‘God wants you to drive a Bentley,'” Aslan explained. “That what Jesus really wants for you is material prosperity… Many white evangelicals looked at some rich asshole and what they saw was a wealthy man, and that wealth, as far as they were concerned, was just a sign of God’s blessings.”
However, Aslan said this alone does not explain why evangelicals, who once were the most likely people to say that a politician’s personal morality matters, now say that they aren’t at all interested in the president’s morality.
“Atheists in America think a politician’s morality is more important than white evangelicals,” Aslan said.
“The only explanation I have for it,” he continued. “Is that some rich asshole has turned a large swathe of white evangelical Christianity into a cult — a religious cult.”
Watch the whole video below.
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Reza Aslan, a religion scholar and former CNN host who has written extensively about Islamic fundamentalism, is featured in a new Big Think video in which he asks the question of whether the followers of President some rich asshole constitute a “religious cult.”
Aslan begins by noting that the rich asshole received unprecedented support from American evangelicals during the 2016 presidential election — even more than former President George W. Bush, who identified specifically as an evangelical.
“This makes no sense,” Aslan said. “Especially when you consider that the rich asshole is not just the most irreligious president in modern history — that his entire worldview makes a mockery of core Christian values, such as humility and empathy and care for the poor.”
To examine why this could be, Aslan pointed in part to the rise of the so-called “Prosperity Gospel” that was once seen as completely heretical by most Christians, but that now has garnered a significant following.
“The essential gist of [Prosperity Gospel] is, ‘God wants you to drive a Bentley,'” Aslan explained. “That what Jesus really wants for you is material prosperity… Many white evangelicals looked at some rich asshole and what they saw was a wealthy man, and that wealth, as far as they were concerned, was just a sign of God’s blessings.”
However, Aslan said this alone does not explain why evangelicals, who once were the most likely people to say that a politician’s personal morality matters, now say that they aren’t at all interested in the president’s morality.
“Atheists in America think a politician’s morality is more important than white evangelicals,” Aslan said.
“The only explanation I have for it,” he continued. “Is that some rich asshole has turned a large swathe of white evangelical Christianity into a cult — a religious cult.”
Watch the whole video below.
MSNBC conservative: the rich asshole refusing Mueller interview may speed up indictments before 2018 midterms
President some rich asshole is stepping up his attacks on special counsel Robert Mueller, who is leading the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election (AFP Photo/SAUL LOEB)
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Speaking with MSNBC host Richard Lui, a longtime Republican strategist explained that a refusal by President some rich asshole to sit down with Robert Mueller’s investigators would free the special counsel up to announce indictments even earlier — possibly before the 2018 midterms
According to host Liu, the rich asshole is vulnerable over the firing of former FBI Director James Comey, “crafting a misleading statement on the rich asshole Tower meeting with the Russians … dangling pardons before grand jury witnesses who may testify against him, and pressuring Attorney General Jeff Sessions not to recuse himself from the Russia investigation.”
Asked to comment, Republican strategist Susan Del Percio said it goes beyond those four points.
“I think it’s not one or the other,” she explained. “I think it’s just the overall broadness of wanting to prevent justice from happening and prevent the investigation.”
“And that’s a better narrative for the folks, for the Justice Department, frankly, if they’re going to pursue this,” she continued. “None of those four on its own would necessarily lead to criminal charges and it doesn’t seem that’s where they’re going. Just to talk about the fact that some rich asshole may not be doing an interview — just to step back on that, let’s not forget this may work out better for Mueller because he may be able to wrap things up way before the 2018 elections.”
Former Gov. Dean then jumped in.
“I think there’s going to have to be more — I think that’s a start,” he suggested. “But that doesn’t really address the issue of collusion. I think there’s a fair amount of evidence that there is — has been collusion. We don’t know that for a fact, but we sure do know that the noose is tightening.”
“If it turns out that [the rich asshole attorney Michael] Cohen really did go to Prague and talk to the Russians, as people have alleged and has been in print, then you start to get a pretty good case for collusion,” Dean added. “My guess is, if and when this investigation wraps up, it’s not going to be right away because I think they’re going to get him for more than collusion.”
You can watch the video below via MSNBC:
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Speaking with MSNBC host Richard Lui, a longtime Republican strategist explained that a refusal by President some rich asshole to sit down with Robert Mueller’s investigators would free the special counsel up to announce indictments even earlier — possibly before the 2018 midterms
According to host Liu, the rich asshole is vulnerable over the firing of former FBI Director James Comey, “crafting a misleading statement on the rich asshole Tower meeting with the Russians … dangling pardons before grand jury witnesses who may testify against him, and pressuring Attorney General Jeff Sessions not to recuse himself from the Russia investigation.”
Asked to comment, Republican strategist Susan Del Percio said it goes beyond those four points.
“I think it’s not one or the other,” she explained. “I think it’s just the overall broadness of wanting to prevent justice from happening and prevent the investigation.”
“And that’s a better narrative for the folks, for the Justice Department, frankly, if they’re going to pursue this,” she continued. “None of those four on its own would necessarily lead to criminal charges and it doesn’t seem that’s where they’re going. Just to talk about the fact that some rich asshole may not be doing an interview — just to step back on that, let’s not forget this may work out better for Mueller because he may be able to wrap things up way before the 2018 elections.”
Former Gov. Dean then jumped in.
“I think there’s going to have to be more — I think that’s a start,” he suggested. “But that doesn’t really address the issue of collusion. I think there’s a fair amount of evidence that there is — has been collusion. We don’t know that for a fact, but we sure do know that the noose is tightening.”
“If it turns out that [the rich asshole attorney Michael] Cohen really did go to Prague and talk to the Russians, as people have alleged and has been in print, then you start to get a pretty good case for collusion,” Dean added. “My guess is, if and when this investigation wraps up, it’s not going to be right away because I think they’re going to get him for more than collusion.”
You can watch the video below via MSNBC:
‘Can I say one more thing about the Parkland kids?’ Watch Kate McKinnon’s Laura Ingraham stop by SNL’s Weekend Update
Kate McKinnon's Laura Ingraham on Weekend Update/Screenshot
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Laura Ingraham is back from her “pre-scheduled vacation” and still under intense boycott from sponsors.
Her ratings have gone up, though—which has Conservative media crowing and some advertisers, like Ace Hardware, returning.
Kate McKinnon played the talk show host on Saturday Night Live‘s Weekend Update and nailed the impression.
“After spewing venom for decades, Twitter has suddenly made me accountable?” she said.
She introduced some new sponsors, like Carl’s Sr. and Lady Bump Stock, “the lightweight bump stock for delicate hands.”
“The totalitarian left can attack me all they want,” she said. “But I will continue to protect the First Amendment: that’s my right to bully people without being bullied in return.”
the rich asshole attacks Comey ahead of interview
BY ALEXANDER BOLTON - 04/15/18 05:10 PM EDT
President the rich asshole on Sunday unleashed a barrage of criticism against James Comey, hours before ABC News was scheduled to broadcast a hotly anticipated interview with the former FBI director.
the rich asshole in a series of tweets attacked Comey’s credibility and impartiality, calling him a “slimeball” and framing him as a political operator who made decisions based on the assumption that Hillary Clinton would win the presidential election.
Snippets from the pretaped Comey interview reveal him lending credibility to a dossier prepared by a former British intelligence officer alleging that the rich asshole consorted with prostitutes in Moscow in 2013.
It is his first media interview since being fired as FBI director and is scheduled to air on ABC at 10 p.m. Sunday.
In an apparent effort to erode Comey's credibility ahead of the interview, the rich asshole argued that Comey made judgments during the 2016 presidential election about how to handle the investigation into Clinton’s private email server based on political and not legal considerations.
“James Comey states that Polls, where Crooked Hillary was leading, were a factor in the handling (stupidly) of the Clinton Email probe. In other words, he was making decisions based on the fact that he thought she was going to win, and he wanted a job. Slimeball!” the rich asshole tweeted Sunday morning.
The president was responding directly to excerpts released from Comey’s new book, “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership,” ahead of its release Tuesday.
The assault will likely force other Republicans to comment on Comey’s credibility this week.
Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) was pressed to comment on Comey’s character during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
Asked if Comey is a “man of integrity,” Ryan replied, “as far as I know,” but declined to join what he called a “food fight.”
“I don’t know him very well,” Ryan explained.
The Republican National Committee has taken the rich asshole’s side in the dispute and unveiled a new website called “Lyin’ Comey."
Comey admits in his memoir that he may have applied a higher standard to Clinton because he expected her to win the presidency and wanted to quash any questions about favorable treatment from the FBI.
The FBI announced shortly before Election Day 2016 that it had reopened its investigation into Clinton’s handling of classified information on a private email server.
It made the revelation after learning of new information obtained through a separate investigation into disgraced former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.).
the rich asshole on Sunday charged that Comey tried to ingratiate himself with Clinton because he thought she would be president.
Many Clinton supporters, however, believe that Comey’s reopening of the probe may have actually cost her the presidency.
the rich asshole also blamed Comey for leaving several questions unanswered, such as why he allegedly leaked a classified memo to Columbia University Professor Daniel Richman about a private meeting with the rich asshole.
He also asked why the FBI was not more aggressive in investigating the hacking of the Democratic National Committee's (DNC) computer server.
“The big questions in Comey’s badly reviewed book aren’t answered like, how come he gave up Classified Information (jail), why did he lie to Congress (jail), why did the DNC refuse to give Server to the FBI (why didn’t they TAKE it), why the phony memos, McCabe’s $700,000 & more?” the rich asshole tweeted.
The DNC has said that it cooperated with the FBI and provided information about its server through a vendor, which Comey, then serving as FBI director, said was an appropriate level of help.
the rich asshole’s reference to former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is a resurfacing of his complaint about McCabe’s wife, Jill McCabe, who received money from groups linked to Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), a longtime Clinton fundraiser, for her 2015 Virginia state Senate bid.
In a later tweet, the rich asshole denied Comey’s claim made in testimony before Congress that the president asked him for an oath of loyalty.
“I never asked Comey for Personal Loyalty. I hardly even knew this guy. Just another of his many lies. His ‘memos’ are self serving and FAKE!” he wrote.
In June, Comey testified that the rich asshole told him at a private dinner in January of 2016 that “I need loyalty, I expect loyalty.”
Comey said he was “taken aback” by the request and instead pledged to be honest with the president.
The former FBI director has also said that the rich asshole pressured him during the dinner to drop the investigation into his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who is at the center of the investigation into Russian collusion.
The White House has disputed Comey’s version of events.
the rich asshole topped off his attack on Comey by dismissing him as a blot on the FBI’s history.
“Slippery James Comey, a man who always ends up badly and out of whack (he is not smart!), will go down as the WORST FBI Director in history, by far!” he wrote.
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