the rich asshole complains he’ll never beat the Bushes marriage record
Jason Le Miere
Posted with permission from Newsweek
President Donald Trump saluted Barbara Bush during remarks alongside Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Wednesday, going off script to state that he would never beat the length of her marriage to former President George H.W. Bush.
“Melania and I send our prayers to Barbara’s husband of 73 years,” he said in tribute to the former first lady who died at the age of 92 Tuesday, before adding “I’ll never beat that record.”
Trump is currently on his third marriage, having wed current wife Melania in 2005. His longest marriage, to first wife Ivana, lasted 15 years before he left her for Marla Maples.
The current first lady announced Wednesday that she planned to attend Bush’s funeral in Houston on Saturday. Former presidents and first ladies, Barack and Michell Obama and Bill and Hillary Clinton will also be present in honor of Bush, who was in the White House for four years and was also the mother of President George W. Bush. It is not yet known whether the president will attend.
"For decades Barbara was a titan in American life,” Trump added of Bush. “Her strength and toughness really embodied the spirit of our country, and her warmth and devotion earned the admiration of an entire nation and indeed the entire world.”
George H.W. Bush released a statement Wednesday, praising the woman he married in 1945 as well as the public reaction to her death.
"I always knew Barbara was the most beloved woman in the world," he said, "and in fact I used to tease her that I had a complex about that fact. But the truth is the outpouring of love and friendship being directed at The Enforcer is lifting us all up. We have faith she is in heaven, and we know life will go on—as she would have it. So cross the Bushes off your worry list."
Barbara Bush was far less positive about Trump during the 2016 election campaign, when he was running against her son Jeb, once stating that she was "sick of him."
"He doesn't give many answers to how he would solve problems," she told CNN at the time. "He sort of makes faces and says insulting things," she said about Trump when defending her son Jeb during a bruising Republican primary slog. "He's said terrible things about women, terrible things about the military. I don't understand why people are for him, for that reason."
“Melania and I send our prayers to Barbara’s husband of 73 years,” he said in tribute to the former first lady who died at the age of 92 Tuesday, before adding “I’ll never beat that record.”
Pres. Trump says he sends his prayers to "Barbara's husband of 73 years," adding, "I'll never beat that record." abcn.ws/2hFejwL
Trump is currently on his third marriage, having wed current wife Melania in 2005. His longest marriage, to first wife Ivana, lasted 15 years before he left her for Marla Maples.
The current first lady announced Wednesday that she planned to attend Bush’s funeral in Houston on Saturday. Former presidents and first ladies, Barack and Michell Obama and Bill and Hillary Clinton will also be present in honor of Bush, who was in the White House for four years and was also the mother of President George W. Bush. It is not yet known whether the president will attend.
"For decades Barbara was a titan in American life,” Trump added of Bush. “Her strength and toughness really embodied the spirit of our country, and her warmth and devotion earned the admiration of an entire nation and indeed the entire world.”
George H.W. Bush released a statement Wednesday, praising the woman he married in 1945 as well as the public reaction to her death.
"I always knew Barbara was the most beloved woman in the world," he said, "and in fact I used to tease her that I had a complex about that fact. But the truth is the outpouring of love and friendship being directed at The Enforcer is lifting us all up. We have faith she is in heaven, and we know life will go on—as she would have it. So cross the Bushes off your worry list."
Barbara Bush was far less positive about Trump during the 2016 election campaign, when he was running against her son Jeb, once stating that she was "sick of him."
"He doesn't give many answers to how he would solve problems," she told CNN at the time. "He sort of makes faces and says insulting things," she said about Trump when defending her son Jeb during a bruising Republican primary slog. "He's said terrible things about women, terrible things about the military. I don't understand why people are for him, for that reason."
CNN’s Cooper takes on the ‘symbiotic’ relationship between the rich asshole and Hannity: ‘It’s mutually beneficial’
CNN "AC 360" host Anderson Cooper.
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CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Wednesday mocked Fox News for continuing to support Sean Hannity despite recent news about the host’s connections to some rich asshole and lawyer Michael Cohen.
“In the two days that have elapsed since the president’s lawyer Michael Cohen was forced to reveal in court that the mystery client he tried to keep secret was, in fact, Sean Hannity, the consequences have been swift,” Cooper began.
“Fox News did what any respectable news organization would do when faced with the knowledge that one of its anchors went on the air time after time after time to breathlessly report on someone without disclosing his own personal connection to the story,” he added.
“I’m kidding, they don’t care,” Cooper continued. “They didn’t care.”
The CNN read a Fox News statement indicating Hannity “continues to have our full support,” noting that a recent Washington Post report noted the host’s near-constant communication with the president.
“It’s fascinating, the symbiotic relationship,” Cooper said. “It’s mutually beneficial.”
WATCH: Right-wing conspiracy theorist kicked out of Comey book signing after screaming he’ll ‘get locked up’
Laura Loomer being escorted out of a bookstore.
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Notorious right-wing troll Laura Loomer was ejected from a book reading in New York City on Wednesday, after interrupting the event to scream at former FBI Director James Comey.
Comey, the author of the new book, A Higher Loyalty, was doing a reading at the Barnes and Noble’s Union Square location, when Loomer began howling.
“You’re going to get prosecuted, you’re going to get locked up,” she can be heard shouting, as security gathered around her.
The crowd did not seem to enjoy the distraction.
“Moron,” one audience member can be heard saying.
“Don’t defend the orange clown,” another audience member remarked.
As security took her away, the audience cheered.
Loomer has also been banned by both Uber and Lyft.
Watch:
GOP House Judiciary Committee to subpoena Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein over Comey memos: report
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA). Photo by Gage Skidmore.
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The Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee intends to subpoena President some rich asshole’s Justice Department, CNN reported Wednesday.
Congressman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) is seeking memos that former FBI Director James Comey wrote to memorialize conversations with President the rich asshole.
House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) and House Oversight Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-SC) are also seeking the memos.
Former Director Comey is currently on a book tour for his new blockbuster, A Higher Loyalty, which was officially released on Tuesday.
Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), the ranking Democrat on the committee, was notified of the subpoena on Wednesday, the Washington Times reported. This started is a two-day notice waiting period before the memo can be issued.
The subpoena would be officially issued to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
Rep. Nadler, the ranking Democrat, slammed the decision.
Read my statement following notice of @RepGoodlatte’s proposed subpoena of @TheJusticeDept for #Comey memos:
the rich asshole caves to Rudy Giuliani lobbying and picks Twitter fight with NATO ally: report
Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Department of Defense photograph.
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Top some rich asshole advisor and former mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani, may be behind a controversial tweet directed at a NATO ally.
Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Maggie Haberman of The New York Times, reported that Giuliani may have successfully lobbied President the rich asshole to intervene against Turkey on behalf of American Pastor Andrew Brunson.
“This is something Giuliani and his partner, as well as another lobbyist, have pushed repeatedly for the rich asshole to address,” Haberman tweeted Wednesday. “[Reince] Priebus repeatedly blocked it, per two people close to White House.”
“No one has this time, she added.
This is something Giuliani and his partner, as well as another lobbyist, have pushed repeatedly for Trump to address. Priebus repeatedly blocked it, per two people close to White House. No one has this time. twitter.com/realdonaldtrum…
Zarrab is a client of Giuliani, who was once a U.S. Attorney.
In 2017, Giuliani reportedly traveled to Turkey to meet with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on behalf of Zarrab.
This is not the only time Giuliani’s name has surfaced in connection to a scandal involving Turkey.
Turkish-Iranian gold trader Reza Zarrab is linked to both Giuliani and former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.
Special counsel Robert Mueller is reportedly investigating whether Zarrab and Flynn conspired to “whisk away” a Muslim cleric in a “dead of night” kidnapping.
‘JFK would disagree’: CNN’s Jim Acosta digs at the rich asshole for saying ‘no one’s been tougher on Russia’ than him
President some rich asshole, following a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
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Following a joint press conference with the Prime Minister of Japan, President some rich asshole returned to the microphones on Wednesday to answer a question on Russia that was shouted by CNN chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta.
“There’s been nobody tougher on Russia than President some rich asshole,” the commander-in-chief claimed, while speaking of himself in the third-person.
“There has been nobody tougher than me,” he claimed. “With the media, no matter what I did, it’s never tough enough, because that’s their narrative, but Russia will tell you there has been nobody tougher than some rich asshole.”
“The president is insisting that no one has been tougher, no American leader has been tougher on Russia than he’s been,” CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer noted.
“That’s right,” Acosta replied. “I think Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy would probably disagree with that.”
“That is just not really born out by the facts,” he concluded.
the rich asshole legal adviser warned the president Cohen will flip on him ‘if faced with criminal charges’
President some rich asshole has reacted furiously to an FBI raid on the home and office of his longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File / MARK WILSON, NICHOLAS KAMM
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A “longtime legal adviser” for some rich asshole has warned the president his longtime personal attorney, Michael Cohen, will flip on the president “if faced with criminal charges,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
According to the Journal report, the rich asshole sought out legal advice from Jay Goldberg, who in turn informed the president that on a stale of 1 to 100, where 100 is fully loyal to the president, Cohen “isn’t even a 1.”
Goldberg told the Journal he explained to the rich asshole, “Michael will never stand up [for you]” if faced with charges. Investigators are currently probing whether Cohen committed bank fraud when he paid adult film star Stormy Daniels $130,000 from his home equity line of credit in exchange for her silence on an alleged affair with the rich asshole.
Goldberg also warned the president Cohen may wear a wire to record conversations with the rich asshole and people close to him.
“You have to be alert,” Goldberg said he told the rich asshole. “I don’t care what Michael says.”
The longtime legal adviser also warned the rich asshole not to speak with special counsel Robert Mueller.
“Talking is a certain trap,” Goldberg says he told the president. “Don’t ever do it.”
170 lawmakers sign resolution calling for Scott Pruitt’s resignation, including zero Republicans
A few GOP lawmakers have been critical of Pruitt -- but none signed the latest resolution.
A group of 131 representatives and 39 senators, all of them Democrats, signed a resolution on Wednesday calling on embattled EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to resign.
Pruitt has been at the center of a storm of allegations recently, ranging from trying to use his motorcade’s sirens to get through a traffic jam to spending millions on a 20-person security detail and first-class airfares to renting a luxury D.C. apartment, owned by the wife of a top fossil fuel lobbyist, for the totally normal price of $50 a night.
“Scott Pruitt… misused taxpayer dollars by spending those taxpayer dollars on excessive personal conveniences and unnecessary office enhancements,” the resolution read. “[All] while dramatically cutting budgets and staff for critically important enforcement, research, and implementation activities.”
But despite the glaring misuse of government funds, not a single Republican signed the resolution. Some Republicans have said that Pruit should resign, including Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Carlos Curbelo (FL) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL), but none have reached across the aisle to put pen to paper with Democrats.
Major policy differences aside, @EPAScottPruitt‘s corruption scandals are an embarrassment to the Administration, and his conduct is grossly disrespectful to American taxpayers. It's time for him to resign or for @POTUS to dismiss him. twitter.com/jtsantucci/sta…
In fact, many Republicans have been doing their utmost to explain away Pruitt’s lavish spending. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD), for instance, tried to argue that Pruitt was actually saving taxpayers money because he’s been so successful in implementing the president’s policies of deregulation. (That’s not true.)
“We’ll nitpick little things. He has too many people on his security detail. It may add up to more then what the previous guy did,” Rounds said earlier in April on Meet the Press. “But what about the big picture of… how he’s taking care of the taxpayer’s dollars within the department?”
the rich asshole, unsurprisingly, has supported Pruitt despite the scandals. Last week he tweeted that Pruitt’s security spending was up as he had received death threats “because of his bold actions at the EPA.” But House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Trey Gowdy (R-SC) said that he was troubled by Pruitt’s spending — and added that he thought most people wouldn’t even recognize him.
“I’d be shocked if that many people knew who Scott Pruitt was,” he said in an interview on Fox News Sunday last week. “The notion that I’ve got to fly first class because I don’t want people to be mean to me — you need to go into another line of work if you don’t want people to be mean to you.”
But the controversy of Pruitt’s lavish spending masks a bigger problem: his roll in instigating a slew of rapid environmental rollbacks, including beginning the repeal of the Clean Power Plan and convincing the rich asshole administration to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement. So far, he has finalized 22 regulatory rollbacks, with another 44 pending — despite the rollbacks being so instituted quickly it’s left the EPA little time to amass the evidence needed to defend the deregulatory actions in court.
Haley spat fuels political chatter around White House
BY JORDAN FABIAN - 04/18/18 08:33 PM EDT
Nikki Haley’s public spat with the White House has underscored the rich asshole World’s obsession about the political ambitions of people in the president’s orbit.
Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, raised eyebrows Tuesday when she hit back at the White House after top economic adviser Larry Kudlow accused her of being confused when she prematurely announced new sanctions against Moscow on Sunday.
It is virtually unheard of for administration officials to openly discuss their political futures, and Haley, who is widely seen as a present and future GOP star, has not said anything significant about running for a higher political office.
Nonetheless, the comments had the rich asshole allies saying that Haley is thinking too much of her own political brand.
“Clearly she has machinations for higher office and will do anything to continue rising, even if it eventually means throwing President the rich asshole and his administration under the bus,” said one former White House official.
Haley’s office did not respond to a request for comment on this story, but the former South Carolina governor told reporters on Wednesday that her relationship with the rich asshole is “perfect,” according to Reuters.
A former Haley staffer called her “the most loyal politician I’ve ever been around,” adding that “it is unfair to say somehow she is disloyal to the president and just looking out for her political future.”
Loyal or not, however, there have been a number of differences between Haley and the rich asshole when it comes to Russia. The two have adopted contrasting tones which hint at a more fundamental divergence.
Haley is one of the administration’s most outspoken critics of the Kremlin, while the rich asshole has often taken a less aggressive approach in hopes of forging a closer relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
the rich asshole was frustrated when Haley said Sunday that new sanctions were coming on Russia.
“the rich asshole’s frustration has been building because it looks like she’s trying to outmaneuver the president while she works for him,” said one Republican with close ties to the White House. “We’ll see if she actually starts doing her job instead of trying to be secretary of State or secretary of Defense.”
The friction over Russia drew additional notice because a day earlier the rich asshole had quashed an effort by Vice President Pence to hire Haley’s deputy, Jon Lerner, as his national security adviser while Lerner continued serving at the U.N.
the rich asshole shot the hire down when he read that Lerner helped make anti-the rich asshole ads for the conservative group Club for Growth during the 2016 presidential primary.
Two the rich asshole supporters blamed the situation on Pence’s chief of staff, Nick Ayers, who brought Lerner aboard. Ayers, a veteran GOP operative who has worked on campaigns with Lerner, is seen as being tasked with protecting the vice president’s political brand.
He’s seen as more of a specialist in politics than national security, which led many to see Lerner’s joining the veep’s team as a political move.
the rich asshole’s White House has been characterized by infighting, and some say anyone suggesting that Pence, Haley and their subordinates are plotting a political future together are simply trying to cause problems and divide the rich asshole from Haley.
Officials say talk that Pence and Haley are thinking about forming a presidential ticket is ridiculous.
“No, this laughable conspiracy theory is totally false and beyond belief — even by Washington’s standards,” Pence press secretary Alyssa Farah said in a statement.
Plenty of people outside the White House also see it as a stretch to think that such machinations are in play.
A GOP strategist in contact with the White House said “there is no doubt” that Haley has eyes on a higher office, but that it is highly unlikely she will be running for the White House in the near term.
At the age of 46, Haley’s future in politics could go beyond the rich asshole’s presidency — which his supporters expect to last through 2024.
Haley’s defenders say it is natural for her speak out to maintain her integrity when she is criticized publicly.
“She has to stand up for herself because she is being characterized as confused,” said the GOP strategist. “Clearly, she does not move without coordinating with the White House. Because she has higher ambitions, she felt the need to correct the record publicly.”
While Haley’s sanctions comments angered the rich asshole, it’s not clear that he has completely soured on her.
“I think it is a question of competency and she is obviously competent,” said the former White House official when asked about the president’s feelings about Haley.
The ambassador has not become enmeshed in the type of ethics scandals that have plagued other Cabinet heads and her charisma and outspokenness, while grating to some, can be an asset for the president.
“She is a well-spoken female conservative and for better or for worse, that goes a long way with a lot of people. There is a deficit of that in the GOP,” the former official said.
Jonathan Easley and Niall Stanage contributed.
‘There was no collusion’: the rich asshole rants about the FBI ‘taking what it wants’ when asked about firing Mueller
President some rich asshole during a joint press conference with Japanese President Shinzo Abe at Mar-a-Lago on 4/18/18. Image via screengrab.
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When asked about whether he’s decided against firing special counsel Robert Mueller, President some rich asshole again insisted there was “no collusion” with the Russians, claimed Democrats were the ones to actually work with the Kremlin and took a shot at the FBI.
“Have you concluded that it’s not worth the political fallout to remove either special counsel Mueller or Deputy Attorney General [Rod] Rosenstein?” Bloomberg’s Jennifer Jacobs asked the president during his joint press conference with Japanese President Shinzo Abe.
“I can say there was no collusion and that’s been so found, as you know, by the House Intelligence Committee,” the rich asshole responded, citing the recent closure of the Republican-led committee’s Russia investigation. “There is no collusion. There is no collusion with Russia other than by the Democrats, or, as I call them, the obstructionists. They truly are obstructionist.”
The president then switched gears to reiterate his belief that the Russia investigation is a “hoax,” claiming that it was “created largely by the Democrats as a way of softening the blow of a loss which is a loss that frankly they shouldn’t have had from the standpoint that it’s very easy for them to have a tremendous advantage in the electoral college.”
“You look at the kind of money that was paid, probably some went to Russia,” he continued. “You look at [Obama White House adviser] John Podesta having a company in Russia where nothing happened and people don’t talk about it. You look at the fact that their server, the DNC server, was never gotten by the FBI.”
In what appears to be a reference to the recent raid on his longtime personal attorney Michael Cohen, the president wondered why the FBI didn’t take the DNC server because they “take what they want.”
“They wouldn’t get the server,” he said. “This is a hoax.”
Watch below:
GOP chairman poised to subpoena DOJ for Comey memos
BY OLIVIA BEAVERS - 04/18/18 07:27 PM EDT
The head of the House Judiciary Committee is expected to subpoena the Department of Justice (DOJ) as soon as this week to obtain copies of the so-called Comey memos, The Hill has learned.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) is expected to issue the order in an effort to pressure the agency into granting access so lawmakers can review the seven memos former FBI Director James Comey wrote last year documenting his interactions with President the rich asshole, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
The chairman on Wednesday notified the ranking Democrat, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.), that a subpoena is forthcoming. Under Judiciary committee rules, the chairman must consult the ranking member two business days “before issuing any subpoena” — suggesting that the move is imminent.
The order comes after Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein asked three powerful House lawmakers — Goodlatte, Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) and Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) — to give him extra time to consult with the "relevant parties" on whether he can make the memos available to them.
A spokesperson from Goodlatte's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A DOJ spokesperson said they are unaware of a subpoena for the Comey memos.
Rosenstein told lawmakers on Monday that the Comey memos may relate to an “ongoing investigation,” contain confidential information and "report confidential presidential communications" so they have a "legal a duty to evaluate the consequences of providing access to them," according to copy of the letter obtained by The Hill.
Lawmakers suggested the relevant parties that must be consulted could mean both the White House and special counsel Robert Mueller's team.
"The position that they are taking is that it may relate to ongoing investigations, i.e. the special counsel," Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas), a House Judiciary Committee member, told reporters on Tuesday.
Nadler in a statement said he welcomes the opportunity to review some of the evidence surrounding the rich asshole's decision to fire Comey but described the GOP's move as political "theater" that may interfere or undermine Mueller's investigation by backing Rosenstein into a corner.
"The Comey memos are key to the Special Counsel’s work. Pursuant to long-standing Department policy and absent any satisfactory accommodation, the Department of Justice cannot simply hand over evidence that is part of an ongoing criminal investigation," Nadler said.
“If House Republicans refuse any accommodation short of the Department of Justice handing over custody of these documents —which it cannot do — I fear the Majority will have manufactured an excuse to hold the Deputy Attorney General in contempt of Congress. If they succeed in tarnishing the Deputy Attorney General, perhaps they will have given President the rich asshole the pretext he has sought to replace Mr. Rosenstein with someone willing to do his bidding and end the Special Counsel’s investigation," he added.
If the Comey memos relate to Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling, then lawmakers may face obstacles getting the DOJ to provide the information.
In Rosenstein’s Monday letter, he referenced a 1941 opinion of Attorney General Robert Jackson who found “all investigative reports are confidential documents of the executive department and that congressional and public access thereto would not be in the public interest,” pointing to a long line of his predecessors who agreed with such an opinion.
"Investigative reports include leads and suspicions, and sometimes even the statements of malicious or misinformed people. Even though later and more complete reports exonerate the individuals, the use of particular or selected reports might constitute the grossest injustice, and we all know that a correction never catches up with an accusation,” Jackson argued at the time.
Rosenstein additionally noted a memorandum issued by Assistant Attorney General William Barr in 1989. That memo indicated that, if the DOJ cannot accommodate a congressional subpoena because it would conflict with their responsibility to preserve "executive branch’s general interests in maintaining essential confidentiality," then the president may have to step in and assert executive privilege.
The GOP's efforts to obtain the memos coincide with the release of Comey's new book and the media blitz that has accompanied it.
Comey takes personal shots at the president in the book, commenting on the rich asshole's physical appearance and comparing him to a mob boss — comments that have been met with criticism by those who say he is politicizing the FBI and unfairly attacking the rich asshole.
His reentry into the spotlight has fueled a new wave of scrutiny from critics, including from the rich asshole allies.
The memos may bolster the rich asshole’s defense that there was no collusion between his campaign and Russia, Ratcliffe separately told Fox News on Monday.
During his congressional testimony last year, Comey said he wrote the memos because he felt the president inappropriately asked him to pledge his loyalty to him while he was spearheading the FBI's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
He also said the rich asshole asked him to drop his investigation into former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn, who was fired after reports revealed that he had lied to investigators about his contacts with a Russian diplomat. the rich asshole denies making such a request.
The ousted FBI chief said his exchanges with the rich asshole made him uncomfortable, prompting him to jot down what he has described as his personal recollections of what transpired during their interactions.
Comey has also maintained that he did not disclose classified information when he shared some of the contents of the memos with a friend, a law professor at Columbia University. The friend, Daniel Richman, then leaked the information verbally to The New York Times, in what became a successful effort to prompt the appointment of a special counsel.
the rich asshole has blasted Comey as an “untruthful slimeball,” a “leaker,” and the "worst FBI director in history."
- Updated at 7:48 p.m.
Kris Kobach held in contempt of court for disobeying judge’s orders
Kobach was supposed to tell a subset of Kansas voters they were eligible to vote. He didn't.
A federal judge ordered Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach held in contempt of court on Wednesday for disobeying her orders in a lawsuit over the state’s voter registration laws.
Kobach failed to send Kansas residents postcards confirming their registration status, as U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson had ordered. Prior to the November 2016 elections, Kobach had promised Robinson that he would send the postcards to let Kansans know they’d be allowed to participate.
“Kansans have come to expect these postcards to confirm their registration status, and Defendant ensured the Court on the record that they had been sent prior to the 2016 general election,” Judge Robinson said in her ruling. “They were not, and the fact that he sent a different notice to those voters does not wholly remove the contempt, nor does his attempt to resend postcards eighteen months after the election and five months after Plaintiffs notified him of the issue.”
In May of 2016, Kobach, a former member of the rich asshole’s voter fraud commission, was ordered to “register for federal elections all otherwise eligible motor voter registration applicants,” regardless of whether or not they’d shown proof of citizenship.
Last month, Robinson admonished Kobach for failing to fully comply with these court orders, which included adding voters to the rolls, making eligible voters cast provisional ballots, and sending voters a postcard to notify them of their registration status.
“You have a duty to tell them that and to assure me that they complied,” Robinson said in March, referring to county election officials, whom Kobach had blamed for not sending out the postcards. “It’s your duty to make sure they do what they are supposed to do and abide by the law.”
Kobach has repeatedly made comedic errors while representing himself in this landmark case, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). It’s one of several lawsuits challenging a 2011 Kansas law, introduced by Kobach, which requires proof of citizenship in order to complete voter registration. Last June, Kobach was also fined $1,000 for intentionally misleading the court about a document he carried into a 2016 meeting with some rich asshole.
In addition to being held in contempt Wednesday, Robinson ordered that Kobach cover the attorneys fees of his challengers, but said she’d hold off on further actions until her final decision on the ACLU’s lawsuit.
The ACLU has argued that Kobach’s law unnecessarily restricts certain groups from voting, including minorities, and that Kobach has failed to prove that voter fraud is an endemic problem.
the rich asshole on firing Mueller or Rosenstein: 'They're still here'
BY JORDAN FABIAN - 04/18/18 07:04 PM EDT
President the rich asshole on Wednesday sought to calm fears he is preparing to fire special counsel Robert Mueller and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to stymie the Russia probe, but did not rule out the possibility.
“They’ve been saying I’m going to get rid of them for the last three months, four months, five months, and they’re still here,” the rich asshole said during a joint press conference with the prime minister of Japan.
The president also expressed a desire to end the Russia investigation, which he called a “very bad thing for our country.”
“So we want to get the investigation over with, done with, put it behind us,” he said.
the rich asshole repeated his assertion that his campaign did not collude with Moscow’s effort to interfere in the 2016, the central question of the Mueller probe.
“They won’t find any collusion, it doesn’t exist,” the president said.
the rich asshole's comments come at a time when legal problems are mounting for his inner circle.
Last week, the FBI raided the offices, residence, hotel room and safety deposit box of the rich asshole's personal attorney Michael Cohen, in part because of a tip provided by Mueller's team.
Last week, the FBI raided the offices, residence, hotel room and safety deposit box of the rich asshole's personal attorney Michael Cohen, in part because of a tip provided by Mueller's team.
Cohen is a key figure in the Russia probe and played a central role in negotiating payouts to a porn star and a Playboy playmate who claim they had affairs with the rich asshole, allegations which his representatives have denied.
the rich asshole allies are extremely worried about the raid, believing it could put the president in serious jeopardy. Cohen has been at the rich asshole’s side for a decade and is said to have recordings of sensitive conversations about his dealings in the rich asshole’s orbit.
The raid also renewed speculation that the president could fire Mueller or Rosenstein — the Justice Department official responsible for overseeing the probe — in an attempt to end his legal woes.
the rich asshole has stepped up his public criticism of Mueller and Rosenstein, a Republican he appointed to the Justice Department, accusing them of having conflicts of interest that make it impossible for them to lead the probe. But thus far, he has not moved to dismiss them.
Some outside allies and Republican lawmakers have urged the rich asshole not to fire either official, warning that it could trigger a constitutional crisis that could effectively end his presidency.
— Updated 7:13 p.m.
WATCH: Devin Nunes tells Sean Hannity the Russians ‘could have information on Comey’
Congressman Devin Nunes (R-CA), photo by Gage Skidmore and screenshot of James Comey during his ABC News interview. Composite image.
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Congressman Devin Nunes (R-CA) joined Fox News personality and close some rich asshole confidante Sean Hannity to try out a new deflection defense of the Republican administration.
On the same day former FBI Director James Comey’s new book, A Higher Loyalty, was publicly released, the Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence went on Fox News to shield the White House.
Congressman Nunes began by misquoting the former FBI director.
“I think he said it’s ‘certainly possible that the Russians could have information on the rich asshole,'” he claimed.
Comey’s quote, in an ABC News interview, was actually far more specific, referring to the salacious Steele Dossier.
“I honestly never thought these words would come out of my mouth, but I don’t know whether the current president of the United States was with prostitutes peeing on each other in Moscow in 2013,” Comey said. “It’s possible, but I don’t know.”
Congressman Nunes then deflected by listing other things that were “possible.”
“Well, it’s certainly possible that the Russians could have information on Comey,” Nunes suggested. “It’s certainly possible that the Russians could have information on Hillary Clinton. It is certainly possible that they have information on all kinds of people.”
House Republican uses obsolete talking point to downplay the rich asshole’s interest in firing Mueller
Somebody get Chris Stewart a newspaper.
During a CNN interview on Wednesday afternoon, Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT) used an obsolete talking point to downplay President the rich asshole’s interest in firing Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
Stewart was asked if he shares Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) belief that the rich asshole will not move to fire Mueller, who is currently investigating claims of collusion between the rich asshole campaign and Russia, as well as possible obstruction of justice by the president. He replied by saying he “absolutely” does, citing the rich asshole’s comments from three weeks ago — a period of time before the FBI raided the home, office, and hotel room of Michael Cohen, the rich asshole’s longtime personal attorney.
“The president has made it clear as recently as I think three weeks ago — he has no intention of firing Mr Mueller, and he shouldn’t,” Stewart said.
Instead of explaining why the rich asshole shouldn’t fire Mueller, Stewart immediately started listing reasons why the rich asshole’s frustration is justified.
“Look, if you think there is evidence of collusion there, or you’re hanging your hat on that — it just simply hasn’t materialized. I think the president sees that,” Stewart said.
the rich asshole’s frustrations over the Mueller investigation have become increasingly public since the FBI’s raid on Michael Cohen. Hours after the raid — which happened as a result of a criminal referral from Mueller — the rich asshole responded by calling it “an attack on our country, in a true sense,” and admitted he was considering firing Mueller.
“Many people have said, ‘you should fire him.’ Again, they found nothing, and in finding nothing, that’s a big statement,” the rich asshole said. “This is a pure and simple witch hunt.”
The next day, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters that the White House “has been advised” that the rich asshole has the power to unilaterally fire Mueller. Her comment suggested the White House has sought legal advice about the rich asshole possibly moving on Mueller — a change from March, when a White House attorney said the president “is not considering or discussing” firing the special counsel.
Republican members of Congress like McConnell and Stewart have tacitly given the rich asshole the green light to move on the special counsel. During a Fox News interview on Tuesday, the Senate majority leader talked out of both sides of his mouth, saying that while he doesn’t think the rich asshole should or will fire Mueller, he won’t allow legislation to protect the special counsel to come up for a vote on the Senate floor.
Former Playboy model let out of agreement, can discuss alleged the rich asshole affair
BY JACQUELINE THOMSEN - 04/18/18 05:20 PM EDT
Former Playboy model Karen McDougal has reportedly been let out of a contract with the parent company of The National Enquirer and can now freely discuss her alleged affair with President the rich asshole.
McDougal reached a settlement Wednesday with American Media Inc. (AMI), freeing her from the deal for the exclusive rights to her story, The New York Times reported.
McDougal had sued to be released from the agreement, claiming she was misled about the terms. She also claimed that Michael Cohen, the rich asshole's personal attorney, inappropriately intervened in the deal.
Under Wednesday's terms, AMI will retain the rights to photographs of McDougal that it purchased and holds claim over up to $75,000 in any future profits she makes off the story. The former Playboy model will keep the original $150,000 payment.
"Today, I’m doing my victory dance,” McDougal told the Times, adding she currently has no plans to sell her tale to a second buyer.
“It’s a total win,” said her lawyer, Peter Stris. “We got everything we were fighting for — she got out of the contract, gets the life rights back and owes AMI nothing more.”
The alleged affair, which McDougal says happened more than a decade ago, came after the rich asshole's marriage to now-first lady Melania the rich asshole.
AMI had sought to have McDougal's case dismissed in court, but that was before last week's FBI raids on Cohen's home and office, reportedly seeking documents on McDougal, among other topics.
The raid came in part from a referral from special counsel Robert Mueller.
Cohen is reportedly under criminal investigation for possible campaign finance and bank fraud violations.
The Times reports that AMI is facing a Federal Election Commission complaint that its $150,000 payment to McDougal was an illegal campaign expenditure.
Cohen is still being sued by adult-film star Stormy Daniels, another woman who says she was paid for her silence about an affair with the rich asshole.
The White House says the rich asshole denies both women's stories.
Stormy Daniels’ lawyer Michael Avenatti says they’re considering a defamation suit against the rich asshole over his ‘con job’ tweet
Michael Avenatti (NBC News)
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Stormy Daniels’ attorney Michael Avenatti told CNN’s Blitzer his client is considering a defamation suit against some rich asshole after the president tweeted about her on Wednesday.
In response to the sketch, the rich asshole tweeted that it was “a total con job.”
A sketch years later about a nonexistent man. A total con job, playing the Fake News Media for Fools (but they know it)! twitter.com/shennafoxmusic…
Stormy Daniels broke the internet when she released a sketch of a man she says sexually assaulted her. The adult film star is currently in a legal battle against President the rich asshole, who she claims sexually assaulted her in 2006 at a golf course.
In the interview, Avenatti said: “He has no reason to tweet about me or my client while a party in litigation when it comes to making misstatements about his client,” he said. “He has now told the American people that she’s a liar, that she’s a con, and that she has made up this threat and this sketch and I’m outraged by it and there are serious consequences for it. We will likely be amending our complaint and looking at doing that to add a defamation claim against the president.”
Watch the full interview below.
the rich asshole silent as Puerto Rico hit with island-wide blackout
Lawmakers call on Army Corps to stay in Puerto Rico beyond current exit date.
As workers were getting close to fully restoring power to Puerto Rico, seven months after Hurricane Maria made landfall, the area was hit with another island-wide blackout.
The massive blackout on Wednesday came less than a week after a tree fell on a power line, knocking out power to 840,000 residents on the island. According to reports, it could take up to 24 to 36 hours to bring power back online.
Lawmakers expressed frustration with the conditions that Puerto Ricans have been forced to live under over the past seven months. They also questioned President the rich asshole’s unwillingness to make recovery from the hurricane a higher priority of his administration.
“Thousands still without power, scores of schools & businesses shuttered and now an island-wide blackout. We can’t be focused on a non-existent crisis on our border when Americans are suffering from a real crisis in Puerto Rico,” Rep. Anthony Brown (D-MD) tweeted Wednesday afternoon.
#PuertoRico hasn't recovered after #HurricaneMaria. Thousands still without power, scores of schools & businesses shuttered & now an island-wide blackout.
We can't be focused on a non-existent crisis on our border when Americans are suffering from a real crisis in Puerto Rico. twitter.com/AP/status/9866…
the rich asshole tweeted on Wednesday about James Comey being “the worst FBI director in history” but had not commented on the crisis still haunting Puerto Rico.
“We are the wealthiest country in the world,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) tweeted Wednesday. The nation’s “full resources must be brought to fix not just this blackout, but the ongoing outages that have left hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans without power since Hurricane Maria,” he said.
Last November, Sanders released a $146 billion recovery package for both Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The comprehensive bill — The Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands Equitable Rebuild Act — offers immediate help for the island and also addresses long-term needs. The bill has received little support in the Senate.
We are the wealthiest country in the world. Our full resources must be brought to fix not just this blackout, but the ongoing outages that have left hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans without power since Hurricane Maria.cnn.com/2018/04/18/us/…
When Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico the morning of September 20, it knocked the island into a total blackout. Since then, Puerto Rico’s 3.4 million residents have been experiencing an extremely unstable power grid. The blackout has been the worst in U.S. history and the second worst in world history.
On Wednesday, House Democrats sent a letter to FEMA Administrator Brock Long seeking an extension of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ mission to restore power to Puerto Rico. The Army Corps’ work is scheduled to end on May 18. About 49,000 people are still without power.
The Democrats said the Army Corps must continue its work to restore electrical service on the island until power is fully restored. Although FEMA recently extended the Army Corps assignment to May 18, “we have received no assurance that power will be fully restored by this date,” the lawmakers wrote.
The letter was signed by Reps. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Peter DeFazio (D-OR), the top Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, House Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member Bennie Thompson (D-MS), and House Natural Resources Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ).
“Today’s blackout follows an incident last week when nearly 900,000 people — more than half of all power customers in Puerto Rico — lost power when a tree fell onto a primary power line, forcing the main hospital and international airport to switch to generator power,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter.
The Army Corps’ transition of full control of grid repairs to the government-owned Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority will require a clear strategy developed with Puerto Rican officials, they wrote.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Wednesday described the latest island-wide blackout as “unacceptable.” He said his office is in touch with the rich asshole administration, “hoping to get to the bottom of this ASAP.”
At a House hearing last week on the status of repairs to Puerto Rico’s power grid, Charles Alexander, director of contingency operations and homeland security for the Army Corps, said his agency is doing everything possible to restore power to all residents.
Work is now occurring in some of the most rugged and hard-to-access areas in Puerto Rico, Alexander said. Crews, equipment, and supplies need to be ferried in by helicopter. But the Army Corps is committed to restoring as many customers as possible, he said.
the rich asshole’s former voter fraud czar Kris Kobach held in contempt of court over ‘proof of citizenship’ law
some rich asshole and Kris Kobach (Screengrab)
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Kansas’ attorney general and the former leader of the now-defunct Electoral Integrity Commission has been placed in contempt of court over his state’s controversial Documentary Proof of Citizenship law.
ProPublica’s Jessica Huseman on Wednesday tweeted a screenshot from the Kansas District Court’s order placing Kobach in contempt for not following a judge’s orders when they placed an injunction on the DPOC law. The order stems from a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union against Kobach over the law.
Judge on Cohen case, appointed by Reagan with unanimous Senate confirmation, smeared by right wing
Senior United States District Judge Kimba Wood was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 1988.
Last week, the legal challenge surrounding the raid by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York of the office of some rich asshole’s fixer and attorney Michael Cohen was assigned to Senior United States District Judge Kimba Wood. Though she was appointed by Republican President Ronald Reagan at the recommendation of then-U.S. Sen. Alfonse D’Amato (R-NY), the right-wing smear machine has cranked up to attack her.
The lines of attack are the fact that Bill Clinton planned to announce her as his second choice for Attorney General in 1993 (before issues with a former nanny caused her to withdraw her name from consideration), the fact that she briefly worked for the Playboy empire in the 1960s (long before the rich asshole appeared on the magazine’s cover), and the fact that she officiated at the wedding of liberal billionaire George Soros in 2013. With these three irrelevant facts, pro-the rich asshole conspiracy theorists and media outlets determined that Wood’s decision to require Cohen to name all of his legal clients must be a rigged “deep state” attack on the rich asshole.
Conservative and conspiracy-minded media outlets highlighted those details, front and center. A Fox News headline read: “Who is Kimba Wood? Judge on Cohen case officiated Soros wedding, was Clinton AG pick.” The Washington Times published a story entitled “Judge in Michael Cohen’s case officiated George Soros’ wedding.” The Daily Caller wrote, “Judge In Cohen Case Was Almost Bill Clinton’s AG Nominee.” And InfoWars claimed, “No Joke: Judge who forced Cohen to ID Hannity performed Soros wedding; Leftists stripping away attorney-client privilege.”
The right-wing then went on the attack:
This is the woman presiding over the court case involving @realDonaldTrump’s lawyer.
Her name is Kimba Wood.
She forced lawyer Michael Cohen to disclose the names of his OTHER clients.
She is a Clinton confidante who was chosen by Hillary to be AG.
The #DEEPstate is real.
The Judge who forced Michael Cohen to identify Sean Hannity performed Soros Wedding pscp.tv/w/baUgyDE0MDc0…
On the same day that Soros-funded Media Matters announces a boycott,
- The judge who performed Soros' wedding names Sean Hannity as a Michael Cohen client.
TOTAL COINCIDENCE.
Cohen case is heard by Judge Kimba Wood — aka the 'Love Judge' nydn.us/2qBqI5u She worked as a Playboy Bunny at a Playboy casino in 1966. She was “Love Judge” in 1995 when diary of multimillionaire Wall Street financier (her lover) passionate prose re his trysts w jurist.
#KimbaWood is pure Clinton crony deep state. Of course she’s the judge in Mueller’s attack on Cohen.
Predictably, these conspiracy claims spread quickly around twitter. As of Wednesday, scores had tweeted about how Wood is part of a “deep state” cabal.
French president Macron will take his case for unity with the rich asshole to the president’s favorite TV network
some rich asshole and Emmanuel Macron (Twitter / Screengrab)
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Macron already bragged of talking the rich asshole into firing missiles at Syria despite the rich asshole’s isolationist impulses, and now he’s going onto the president’s allied network, Fox News, to pitch the president’s supporters.
Macron will talk to Chris Wallace at Élysée Palace on Sunday.
This #FNS: FOX News Sunday’s Chris Wallace travels to Paris for an Exclusive TV interview with French President Emmanuel Macron ahead of his state visit to the United States.
Chris will sit down with Mr. Macron at the Élysée Palace this Friday.
Interview airs Sunday.
the rich asshole’s “bromance” with Macron will continue when Macron visits the U.S. later this month.
the rich asshole: We'll put sanctions on Russia 'as soon as they very much deserve it'
BY BRETT SAMUELS - 04/18/18 07:07 PM EDT
President the rich asshole on Wednesday said his administration would levy additional sanctions on Russia “as soon as they very much deserve it.”
The comments, made at a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, capped a four-day stretch of confusion over whether the rich asshole administration would punish Moscow for its alleged role in a recent chemical attack in Syria.
the rich asshole began to walk away from the microphone, but returned to answer a shouted question about the sanctions. He then went on to tout his record on confronting Russia.
He noted that he has helped raise money for NATO, as well as touted a recent military strike in Syria that was carried out in coordination with France and the United Kingdom.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Sunday that additional sanctions against Russia would be announced as soon as Monday in response to its alleged role in a recent chemical attack in Syria.
However, the White House said Monday that the rich asshole had decided not to impose sanctions, contradicting Haley’s comments.
Top White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters that Haley had “gotten ahead of the curve” or had confusion about the policy.
Haley quickly fired back, saying “With all due respect, I don’t get confused.”
Kudlow later apologized, but the incident sparked speculation that all of the rich asshole administration was not on the same page regarding its policy toward Russia.
the rich asshole has faced criticism from lawmakers for being hesitant at times to speak out forcefully against Russia and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
POLITICS
Federal Judge Holds Kris Kobach In Contempt For Failing To Follow Court Order To Register Voters
She said the Kansas secretary of state had failed to properly inform people they were eligible to vote.
A Kansas federal judge ruled Wednesday that Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R) was in contempt of court for failing to follow her order to register voters who had signed up to vote at the DMV but had failed to present proof of citizenship.
U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson said Kobach had failed to comply with a 2016 preliminary injunction that blocked a Kansas law requiring people to provide proof of citizenship when they register to vote. The decision affected roughly 18,000 people whose registrations were being held up, and Robinson told Kobach to make sure those voters were fully registered. Kobach assured her that he would and that he would send out postcards to any affected voter.
Kansans usually get a postcard before an election informing them of their polling place, and those who didn’t get them before an election would likely have been confused, the plaintiffs said at the trial.
More than a year and a half later, the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the voters who challenged the Kansas law, filed a motion to hold Kobach in contempt, saying he had failed to send out the postcards and update the county election manual to reflect Robinson’s 2016 order. In a contentious hearing, Kobach said his office had orally instructed county clerks to send out the postcards but could not force them to do anything. Robinson was furious, saying that Kobach had assured her in court that he would send out the postcards.
Robinson imposed sanctions on Kobach on Wednesday, saying he had to pay the ACLU for attorney fees and that “any further remedial measures” would be decided when she ruled on the merits of the case.
The plaintiffs, a handful of eligible voters unable to get on the rolls, argue that the Kansas law, which went into effect in 2013, violates a 1993 federal law called the National Voter Registration Act. The federal law requires state motor vehicle agencies to offer people the chance to register to vote and only allows them to ask for the minimum amount of information necessary to do so. Robinson’s 2016 preliminary injunction put the law on hold and she oversaw a bench trial in the case in March. A final ruling is expected later this year.
Secretary Kobach likes to talk about the rule of law. Talk is cheap, and his actions speak louder than his words.Dale Ho, the ACLU’s top voting rights lawyer.
Kobach defends the law as necessary to prevent noncitizens from voting in the state, but he has produced just 129 instances in which noncitizens attempted to vote in Kansas. The ACLU says the law is extremely restrictive and unnecessary.
“The Secretary of State’s Office will be appealing this decision,” said a Kobach spokesperson after the contempt ruling. “Secretary Kobach has no additional comment at this time.”
Robinson’s Wednesday order was scathing, and was particularly directed to Kobach, who made the unusual choice to represent his own office at the trial. She said that Kobach, who is running for governor of Kansas, had made disingenuous arguments to the court and suggested that her 2016 order was dynamic and not law. She also said Kobach had a history of “noncompliance” and “disrespect” for the court in the case. Kobach, who ran President some rich asshole’s voter fraud commission until it was disbanded in January, was fined $1,000 for making misleading statements to the court in the case last year.
“The judge found that Kris Kobach disobeyed the court’s orders by failing to provide registered voters with consistent information, that he willfully failed to ensure that county elections officials were properly trained, and that he has a ‘history of noncompliance and disrespect for the court’s decisions,’” Dale Ho, the ACLU’s top voting rights lawyer, who faced off against Kobach in court during the trial, said in a statement. “Secretary Kobach likes to talk about the rule of law. Talk is cheap, and his actions speak louder than his words.
Bryan Caskey, the state director of elections and a staffer in Kobach’s office, recently filed an affidavit in the case saying that he had instructed county election officials to send out the postcards and had orally done so before trial. Robinson said that was “too little, too late” to avoid a contempt finding. She noted that Kobach had maintained until the trial that he wasn’t obligated to send out the postcards. She said she didn’t find it credible that his staffer had orally instructed counties to send out the postcards before the trial.
Robinson also took Kobach to task for suggesting at the trial that it wasn’t his fault that his office didn’t ensure the postcards were sent out. She noted that he was the chief election official in the state and it was his responsibility to follow through on the orders of the court.
Kobach had said he complied with the court order because he sent out a separate notice from the court to the 18,000 affected voters ahead of the 2016 election informing them they could vote.
Robinson also criticized Kobach for failing to update the county’s election manual to reflect the fact that people applying to vote at the DMV don’t have to prove their citizenship. Caskey testified he was “too busy” to update the document in 2016 and Kobach’s office recently took it offline.
Kobach and his lawyers indicated that he didn’t need to update the document because of the preliminary injunction since it wasn’t the final law. Robinson said such a claim was nonsensical, given that it had been nearly two years since her initial preliminary injunction and that her order amounted to current law.
the rich asshole posts incorrect tweet about Mike Pompeo’s North Korea visit
The president's comments come one day after White House officials announced they would not discuss the CIA director's travel plans publicly.
President the rich asshole tweeted incorrect information this week when announcing CIA Director Mike Pompeo’s visit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to discuss the country’s nuclear efforts and plans for a summit between the two leaders.
“Mike Pompeo met with Kim Jong Un in North Korea last week. Meeting went very smoothly and a good relationship was formed,” the rich asshole tweeted early Wednesday morning. “Details of Summit are being worked out now. Denuclearization will be a great thing for World, but also for North Korea!”
According to White House officials who spoke with the Washington Post on Tuesday evening, Pompeo — who was recently nominated by the president to replace Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State — actually met with the North Korean dictator over Easter weekend, more than two weeks ago. It wasn’t clear whether the rich asshole simply made a mistake or intentionally tweeted the faulty information. The White House has not yet issued a clarification of the president’s tweet.
Additionally, as the Post noted on Tuesday night, White House officials initially declined to speak about or confirm Pompeo’s visit, saying it “would not discuss the CIA director’s travels.” It was not immediately clear whether the president had discussed with White House officials his plan to tweet about the visit before posting on Wednesday morning.
Yesterday, the White House said the administration doesn’t comment on the CIA director’s travel. twitter.com/realdonaldtrum…
the rich asshole’s tweet comes just after the president made comments from his estate and private club in Florida on Tuesday afternoon, hinting at growing discussions with the North Korean dictator.
“We’ve also started talking to North Korea directly. We have had direct talks at very high levels, extremely high levels, with North Korea,” he said, sitting next to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was there to discuss joint efforts at curtailing North Korean nuclear efforts. “I really believe there is a lot of good will, good things are happening — we’ll see what happens.”
The White House was later forced to clarify in a statement through Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders that the rich asshole had meant “the administration has had talks at the highest levels,” and added that they were not with him directly.
Although plans for an in-person meeting between the rich asshole and Kim have been in the works for some time, Wednesday’s revelation that Pompeo had personally met with Kim likely caught Abe and other Japanese officials off guard. As the New York Times’ Tokyo bureau chief Motoko Rich noted on Wednesday morning, the administration’s decision to send Pompeo to North Korea signals to Abe that the United States is increasingly “acting independently of Japan, its strongest ally in Asia” on North Korean denuclearization efforts.
Wednesday’s announcement also appears to contradict the rich asshole’s earlier statements this week, when he said on Tuesday that “Japan and ourselves are locked and we are very unified on the subject of North Korea.”
the rich asshole has made an effort in recent days to take credit for advancing discussions on the Korean peninsula, using his joint press appearance with Abe on Tuesday to claim responsibility for the success of the Pyeongchang Olympics and give his unsolicited (and completely meaningless) permission for North and South Korea to discuss a truce.
“Without us and without me in particular, I guess, you would have to say, that they wouldn’t be discussing anything including the Olympics, which would have been a failure,” the rich asshole said.
Referring to the ongoing North Korean and South Korean conflict, he added, “They do have my blessing to discuss the end to the war.”
In the past, the rich asshole has taken a much more aggressive stance on North Korea. In August of last year, after reports surfaced that North Korea had developed a miniature nuclear warhead capable of fitting inside its missiles, the rich asshole threatened Kim, saying the country would be met with “fire and fury” if it continued its nuclear development efforts.
“North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States,” the rich asshole said, speaking before a group of reporters during a “working vacation” at the rich asshole National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. “They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen. He has been very threatening, and as I said, they will be met with fire, fury, and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before.”
North Korean leaders immediately responded to those comments by threatening to strike the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam.
President Liar Pants Just Made Up His Own Approval Rating To Prove He’s Popular
some rich asshole has never gotten over the fact that he lost the popular vote. In fact, the former reality show star is the most unpopular president in this history of polling. In January, the rich asshole bragged about a poll that actually credited former President Barack Obama for the strong economy. On Tuesday, the deeply insecure so-called president took to his Twitter account to boast about his approval rating with the conservative-leaning pollster Rasmussen. The only problem is that his approval rating with Rasmussen isn’t at 51 percent as he claims. The pollster has the fake news president at 49 percent.
“Rasmussen just came out at 51% Approval despite the Fake News Media,” the Dotard tweeted. “They were one of the three most accurate on Election Day. Just about the most inaccurate were CNN and ABC News/Washington Post, and they haven’t changed (get new pollsters). Much of the media is a Scam!”
Twitter users pounced.
Rasmussen is a proven fake news source, you absolute moron!
Sigh... another day of stupidity & lies from President Shithole?
Can't you just stfu?
Loser.#ImpeachTrump #NotMyPresident #VoteBlue2018
51 is still not good
Yet another easily disprovable lie: rasmussenreports.com/public_content…
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows that 49% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of President Trump’s job performance. Fifty percent (50%) disapprove.
49% of Likely U.S. Voters in Rasmussen’s daily tracking report approve of the rich asshole’s job performance. Fifty percent (50%) disapprove. Furthermore, the right-leaning pollster says that “the latest figures include 33% who Strongly Approve of the way the rich asshole is performing and 41% who Strongly Disapprove,” giving him a Presidential Approval Index rating of -8.
RealClearPolitics has the rich asshole at a 42 percent approval rating with 54.4 percent disapproving of his job performance. Rasmussen Reports routinely pegs the rich asshole’s approval ratings higher than other pollsters. Facts still matter, even in the age of the rich asshole.
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
New York attorney general seeking power to prosecute the rich asshole aides who are pardoned by the president
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman [Facebook]
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The Attorney General of New York is urging state lawmakers to modify state law so prosecutors would be free to charge in local court anyone federally pardoned, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
“We are disturbed by reports that the president is considering pardons of individuals who may have committed serious federal financial, tax, and other crimes — acts that may also violate New York law,” Eric Schneiderman said in a statement. “We must ensure that if the president, or any president, issues such pardons, we can use the full force of New York’s laws to bring such individuals to justice.”
Schneider sent a three-page letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) and legislative leaders. Also included were two pages of endnotes citing legal precedence.
Long ago, SCOTUS made clear that presidents cannot pardon for state crimes—now it’s time for New York law to do the same.
No one accused of breaking NY’s laws should escape accountability merely because of a strategically timed presidential pardon. pic.twitter.com/Dc3U06lLFX
We are disturbed by reports that @POTUS is considering pardons of individuals who may have committed serious federal crimes—acts that may also violate NY law.
We must ensure that if any president issues such pardons, we can use NY’s laws to bring such individuals to justice. pic.twitter.com/oPEkwTrB0S
By
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April 18, 2018
A federal judge found Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach in contempt of court for ignoring her previous orders. And she ordered him to pay the ACLU's legal fees stemming from the hearings.
the rich asshole’s voter suppression czar Kris Kobach just got hit with a double whammy in federal court. Republican U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson found the Kansas secretary of state in contempt of court for failing to comply with her 2016 preliminary injunction against his voter ID scheme.
And on top of that, she directed him to pay the ACLU’s legal fees stemming from the organization’s motion filing.
Kobach has worked for years to push burdensome ID requirements on voters. His scheme has led to more than 36,000 Kansans being shunted from the voter rolls, often without realizing it until they went to the polls.
The Kansas law implemented far stricter requirements for proof of citizenship than most states require. And voters were often not told that they were missing required documentation at the time of registering. They would show up at the polls, only to be told they were not on the rolls and could only vote with a provisional ballot.
Robinson had already reprimanded Kobach for “a number of procedural missteps” in the landmark voting rights case. In March, she slammed him for failing to properly comply with the injunction and to ensure that people knew they were eligible to vote. Kobach had assured her that the affected voters would receive the usual postcard letting them know where and when to cast their ballots.
But apparently, all he did was have his office give oral instructions to county clerks to send the postcards. He claimed he couldn’t force them to do so.
Robinson wasn’t having it. She handed down the contempt finding, citing Kobach’s “history of noncompliance and disrespect for the court’s decisions.”
And because the ACLU had been forced by his inaction to file the motion, Robinson also ordered Kobach to pay the group’s attorney fees.
Kobach’s behavior and his total disregard for the rule of law are atrocious. But they also make it clear why the rich asshole wanted him on the so-called “Election Integrity Commission” with Mike Pence.
Both Kobach and the rich asshole continue to chase the fever dream of rampant voter fraud. Kobach’s Interstate Crosscheck System erroneously purged millions from voter rolls in multiple states. And the rich asshole, of course, still clings to his fantasy that “millions and millions” of people voted illegally in 2016.
Neither man let the fact that the rich asshole was forced to dissolve the commission because states refused to go along with its nonsense sway them from their beliefs.
Indeed, Kobach likely won’t give up his voter suppression crusade even after the contempt finding and having to cut a check to the ACLU. But his efforts will continue to be beaten down by judges who see through his charade.
some rich asshole’s Supreme Court Pick Neil Gorsuch Just Dealt Him A MAJOR Blow
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court ruled that part of a federal law that makes it easier to deport immigrants convicted of crimes is too vague. some rich asshole’s SCOTUS pick, Justice Neil Gorsuch, was the tiebreaking vote. Gorsuch sided with the court’s four liberal justices in favor of the immigrant, James Garcia Dimaya, a native of the Philipines. The government was seeking to deport Dimyaya after his second first-degree burglary conviction in California in which he pleaded no contest.
The Justice Department argued that Dimyaya’s first-degree burglary conviction constituted a crime of violence, an aggravated felony that would result in deportation under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), but the court said that the law’s definition of a crime of violence is too vague.
Gorsuch wrote that “no one should be surprised that the Constitution looks unkindly on any law so vague that reasonable people cannot understand its terms and judges do not know where to begin in applying it.”
Business Insider reports:
Immigration judges would have allowed Dimaya to be deported, but the federal appeals court in San Francisco struck down the provision as unconstitutionally vague. The Supreme Court affirmed that ruling Tuesday.
the rich asshole’s nominee to the high court joined the liberal majority’s 5-4 opinion in deciding that the law passed by Congress failed to define what would qualify as a violent crime, and the rich asshole supporters aren’t taking it very well.
Gorsuch is a traitor to America twitter.com/marklevinshow/…
Justice Neil Gorsuch provided the decisive vote Tuesday in a Supreme Court ruling striking down a key provision that made it easier to deport immigrants convicted of violent crimes, in a blow to the Trump administration fxn.ws/2JRcxlu
such a disgrace, sad to have such a sorry ass Supreme court. I will be the first to sue all of the POS judges if one of these immigrants hurts me or mine ! @potus please do whatever you have to do, to override this poor decision
— MHG⛳ (@MHGlogh) April 17, 2018
We look forward to the rich asshole tweeting while on the toilet tomorrow morning (maybe this evening) to bash his own pick and call him a liberal activist judge. By the way, some rich asshole, you can’t fire a Supreme Court Justice.
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.
The interview the rich asshole desperately wants you to forget
Nearly a year later, the rich asshole tries to walk it back.
During an interview conducted just days after the firing of James Comey, President the rich asshole admitted that his annoyance with the Russia investigation motivated his decision to terminate the FBI director.
“And in fact when I decided to just do it [i.e., fire Comey], I said to myself, I said ‘you know, this Russia thing with the rich asshole and Russia is a made-up story, it’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won,'” the rich asshole said during the interview, which aired on May 11.
As ThinkProgress wrote at the time, the rich asshole’s acknowledgment that the investigation into his campaign motivated his decision to fire Comey seemed to amount to an obstruction of justice confession. The White House took steps to prevent the rich asshole from again speaking so frankly to a journalist — his interview with Holt remains the most recent one he’s done with a non-Fox News TV journalist.
Eleven months later, the rich asshole is trying to walk it back. Amid a week where he and his allies are pulling out all the stops in an effort to discredit Comey — whose new book contains a number of incriminating anecdotes about the rich asshole — the rich asshole tweeted on Wednesday that Comey “was not fired because of the phony Russia investigation where, by the way, there was NO COLLUSION (except by the Dems)!”
the rich asshole did not bother to try and explain the contradiction between what he said last May and what he’s saying now.
Comey’s firing led to deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein appointing Robert Mueller as special counsel to oversee the Russia investigation. Part of Mueller’s investigation pertains to whether the rich asshole obstructed justice when he fired Comey.
Last month, Bloomberg reported that Mueller’s obstruction investigation is “close to completion, but he may set it aside while he finishes other key parts of his probe, such as possible collusion and the hacking of Democrats.” In the wake of last week’s FBI raid of his personal lawyer, the president has reportedly cooled on the idea of sitting for an interview with Mueller’s team.
the rich asshole responded to that raid by casually admitting to obstruction of justice on Twitter, saying he only did it to “fight back.”
“I (we) are… doing things that nobody thought possible, despite the never ending and corrupt Russia Investigation, which takes tremendous time and focus,” the rich asshole tweeted. “No Collusion or Obstruction (other than I fight back), so now they do the Unthinkable, and RAID a lawyers office for information! BAD!”
But there is no “fighting back” exception to obstruction of justice charges, which were part of the articles of impeachment against Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton.
House GOP Demands Mass Prosecutions Of the rich asshole’s Political Enemies
We’ve almost reached the point of no return. Nearly a dozen of the rich asshole’s allies in the House have signed a letter demanding that Attorney General Jeff Sessions prosecute numerous the rich asshole opponents — including, of course, James Comey and Hillary Clinton.
The letter, which was issued Wednesday morning, begs Sessions to “investigate” and prosecute eight thorns in the rich asshole’s side:
- Hillary Clinton
- Former FBI FBI Director James Comey
- Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe
- Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch
- Former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates
- FBI General Counsel Dana Boente
- FBI Agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page
…Notice a running theme here?
The letter accuses Hillary Clinton of campaign finance violations related to the Steele Dossier, Lynch of obstruction of Justice related to the right-wing “Uranium One” conspiracy, and Comey of leaking classified information when he passed on his personal memos (which did not contain classified information) to the media through a friend. The GOP wants Yates and Boente prosecuted for their roles in the completely legal FISA warrant that caught Carter Page doing some pretty naughty things. And Strzok and Page? Well, they said mean things about the rich asshole, of course!
“Because we believe that those in positions of high authority should be treated the same as every other American, we want to be sure that the potential violations of law outlined below are vetted appropriately,” the lawmakers wrote, somehow forgetting that they refuse to hold the rich asshole and his friends accountable for anything.
“We are especially mindful of the dissimilar degrees of zealousness that has marked the investigations into Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the presidential campaign of some rich asshole, respectively,” the letter says. Clinton, as they have apparently forgotten, endured years and years of witch hunts led by the Right.
The letter was signed by Ron DeSantis, Andy Biggs, Dave Brat, Jeff Duncan, Matt Gaetz, Paul Gosar, Andy Harris, Jody Hice, Todd Rokita, Claudia Tenney and Ted Yoho.
This isn’t how fascism begins. Fascism begins when a populist blowhard convinces stupid people that only he can save them and that he is right no matter what he does. What is happening now is what happens just before fascism takes hold.
It may very well be that the 2018 elections are our last chance — and midterm elections aren’t exactly Democrats’ strong point when it comes to voter turnout. Let’s change that.
the rich asshole brags about being tough on Russia right after caving to Russia
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'There has been nobody tougher than me' on Russia, the rich asshole said Wednesday, apparently hoping that America is suffering from collective amnesia.
the rich asshole reiterated his claim on Wednesday that “there has been nobody tougher than me” on Russia, just days after he publicly undermined his own administration’s plan to impose additional sanctions on Russia.
the rich asshole made the remarks at the end of a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday evening.
After walking away from the microphone, the rich asshole returned to answer a question about whether he would go through with his administration’s plan to impose new sanctions on Russia as punishment for its role in supporting Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.
“We’ll do sanctions on Russia as soon as they very much deserve it,” the rich asshole said, implying that providing assistance to a dictator who gasses his own people is not worthy of punishment.
After refusing to commit to new sanctions on Moscow, the rich asshole proceeded to brag about how “tough” he has been on Russia.
“There has been nobody tougher on Russia than some rich asshole,” he said, listing off a series of actions he has taken — like strengthening our military — that have no direct impact on Russia.
Before stepping off the stage, the rich asshole repeated himself, saying, “There has been nobody tougher on Russia than me.”
On Sunday, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said that additional sanctions would be announced Monday. The next day, the White House reversed course, saying that the rich asshole had decided not to approve new sanctions.
Far from being tough on Russia, the rich asshole has resisted taking action against Russia at every turn.
As The Washington Post reported last week, the rich asshole adamantly insisted that the U.S. response to the poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter in Britain be limited. This was after he refused to condemn the poisoning, against the recommendations of his own national security advisers.
the rich asshole was reportedly furious when he found out that the U.S. was expelling 60 Russian diplomats from the country — a move that the rich asshole viewed as far too tough on Russia. According to the Post, the rich asshole flew into a rage and screamed expletives at other White House officials upon hearing the news that the U.S. was taking retaliatory action against Russia.
“There were curse words,” one official told the Post. “A lot of curse words.”
Despite the rich asshole’s repeated capitulations to Russia and frequent praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the rich asshole has repeatedly boasted of his “tough” stance towards Moscow.
Last month, the rich asshole declared that “nobody has been tougher on Russia” than he has. Moments later, the rich asshole restated his desire to forge a good relationship with Putin.
During Wednesday’s press conference, the rich asshole once again reiterated his frequent claim that “no collusion” had taken place between his campaign and Russia — even as evidence of collusion seemed to be pouring out of his mouth.
the rich asshole Cancels New Russia Sanctions As Soon As They Are Announced
It’s no secret that some rich asshole has wanted Vladimir Putin to be his “new best friend” since the Miss Universe Pageant in Moscow in 2013 (or even before that), but his actions during the 2016 campaign and his presidency show that he wants more than a friendship with the dictator — especially his most recent decision to immediately cancel new sanctions against Russia before they were even implemented.
On Friday, U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley announced that the rich asshole administration would soon be announcing additional sanctions against Russia. The White House maintains that the rich asshole has been “consistent and tough” with Putin, but the only “consistent” part is the rich asshole’s refusal to sanction his “best friend.”
“You will see that Russian sanctions will be coming down. Secretary Mnuchin will be announcing those on Monday, if he hasn’t already,” Halay said. “And they will go directly to any sort of companies that were dealing with equipment related to Assad and chemical weapons used. And so I think everyone is going to feel it at this point. I think everyone knows that we sent a strong message, and our hope is that they listen to it.”
However, White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley says that the rich asshole hasn’t signed off on the announced sanctions.
“The administration is looking at sanctions on Russia, potentially some more sanctions, quite frankly, but we don’t have any announcement to make at this time,” Gidley says. “There is a chance that we do issue more sanctions. We just don’t have a decision yet from the administration.”
According to the Washington Post, “the rich asshole conferred with his national security advisers later Sunday and told them he was upset the sanctions were being officially rolled out because he was not yet comfortable executing them.”
The White House says that sanctions are being considered, but that the rich asshole doesn’t feel they are necessary at this time.
Watch These Dumbass Conservatives Blame Comey For the rich asshole’s Pee Tape Paranoia
Conservatives are a strange sort of people who seem unable to a.) recognize or b.) care about reality as long as someone is catering to their assorted fears, paranoias, and prejudices — and a CNN panel of the rich asshole enthusiasts shows that perfectly.
According to this group of people whose family trees fork few (if any) times, the rich asshole isn’t responsible for his paranoia about the numerous investigations into his associates’ criminal conduct with regard to Russia — James Comey is.
After being shown a clip of the former FBI director saying that he felt isolated and besieged by all sides after releasing the Hillary Clinton letter credited with winning the rich asshole the presidency, the Trumpian drones called him “weak” and “thin-skinned.”
The rich asshole fans also felt that there was no problem with the rich asshole demanding personal loyalty from Comey, arguing that anyone who serves any President owes him personal loyalty above all else. Personal loyalty to the President is, after all, loyalty to the country, they argued (just don’t ask them whether everyone should have been loyal to President Obama).
One the rich asshole supporter said during the segment that Comey was responsible for the rich asshole’s paranoia about the “pee pee tapes” of legend — because he did his job and informed President Stable Genius that the Steele dossier mentioned them.
“That set the stage very poorly,” she said.
“So you blame Comey for making the rich asshole paranoid?” CNN’s Gary Tuchman asked her.
“That’s exactly what he intended to do!” the rich asshole fan replied.
the rich asshole famously hounded Comey about whether or not tapes of him paying two Russian prostitutes to pee on a bed in which Barack and Michelle Obama once slept in Moscow.
According to this group of the rich asshole voters, Comey is simply being petty because “his childhood dream” of being FBI Director was ripped away from him by some rich asshole.
Watch this jaw-droppingly stupid exchange below:
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