the rich asshole: Media would be 'very happy' if my presidency were extended
BY BRETT SAMUELS - 05/10/18 08:46 PM EDT
President the rich asshole on Thursday chided the media by saying news outlets would be “very happy” if he got an "extension" on his presidency.
During a rally in Elkhart, Ind., the rich asshole riffed on the opening of the new American embassy in Jerusalem. The president explained to the crowd how the building came to be, touting its cost and location compared to past new embassies.
“The new embassy, I said ‘when is it going to be open.’ They said ‘anywhere from five to 10 years,’ ” the rich asshole said.
“So, I said, ‘unless they give me an extension for the presidency, which I don’t think the fake news media would be too happy about,” the rich asshole continued.
“Actually they would be happy, because when I’m not here, their ratings are going to sink. So they’ll probably be very happy,” he added, before returning to the topic of the embassy.
The embassy is set to open on Monday. the rich asshole will not attend the ceremony.
It was not clear if the rich asshole was referring to getting reelected in 2020, or extending his presidency past a second term.
The president in March congratulated the Chinese Communist party for abolishing presidential term limits.
“I think it’s great. Maybe we’ll give that a shot someday,” the rich asshole joked.
the rich asshole referred to reporters at his Thursday rally as the “fake news media” on multiple occasions. He has had an increasingly combative relationship with the media since he hit the campaign trail in 2015.
Earlier this week, the president took issue with the number of negative stories published about his administration. He floated the possibility of rescinding press credentials in response.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the administration is “committed to a free press," but did not explicitly rule out the president’s suggestion.
Watch top attorney Renato Mariotti detail the disasters born from Michael Cohen’s ‘foolish’ legal strategy
Attorney Renato Mariotti on CNN/Screenshot
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It’s all kind of fuzzy now, but the reason that Michael Avenatti is on TV all the time is that he’s involved in a lawsuit about whether Stormy Daniels can defy an unenforceable and unsigned hush agreement between some rich asshole and the porn star with whom he carried on a brief affair.
Yes, Stormy Daniels has already told her story, first in a blockbuster 60 Minutes interview and now on Saturday Night Live and in a Penthouse interview where she hinted that the rich asshole has a small penis.
It’s all so silly as to be farcical, attorney Renato Mariotti said on CNN Thursday night.
“If I’m Michael Cohen sitting at home I really need a new legal team,” Mariotti said. “I was on the opposite side of Michael Avenatti on this case I would have just settled this case very early on and just let her talk.”
Indeed, he said, all Cohen had to do was allow Stormy Daniels to talk without threatening to sue her, and none of the events that have transpired would have happened.
“She’s ended up telling her story everywhere, on television every day,” he said. “And this is like death by 1,000 cuts. What they should have done is settle early on, give her what she wanted, let her tell her dang stories, and given Avenatti nothing to talk about.”
Watch below.
Kelly: the rich asshole 'embarrassed' by Russia probe
BY JOSH DELK - 05/10/18 10:37 PM EDT
White House chief of staff John Kelly says in a new interview that President the rich asshole is "somewhat embarrassed" by the investigation into Russia's attempts to meddle in the 2016 election.
Kelly told NPR that the subject tends to come up in the rich asshole's conversations with foreign leaders, saying while the long-running investigation "may not be a cloud" hanging over the presidency, "the president is, you know, somewhat embarrassed, frankly."
"When world leaders come in, it's kind of like, you know, Bibi Netanyahu is here and he — who's under investigation himself and it's like, you know, you walk in and you know the first couple of minutes of every conversation might revolve around that kind of thing," said Kelly, referring to the Israeli prime minister under investigation for bribery.
During the interview airing on Thursday's "Morning Edition," Kelly also cast doubt on what special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russia's election meddling could turn up.
"Something that has gone on this long without any real meat on the bone, it suggests to me that there is nothing there, relative to our president," Kelly said when asked if he agreed with the president's claim that the probe is a "witch hunt."
White House attorneys have been negotiating with Mueller's team of investigators about the terms of a possible sit-down meeting between the rich asshole and the special counsel.
So far the investigation has led to the indictment of multiple former the rich asshole campaign associates, some of whom face charges of conspiracy against the U.S. and lying to the FBI about their contacts with Russia.
‘He loves ritual humiliation’: Watch CNN analyst explain why the rich asshole slammed Kirstjen Nielsen in front of his cabinet
Author Chris Whipple appears on CNN/Screenshot
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President the rich asshole screamed at his cabinet for about 30 minutes, prompting Kirstjen Nielsen, Chief of Homeland Security to draft a resignation letter that she was on the brink of handing him, the New York Times reported Thursday night.
According to the report, the rant went on as everyone in the room became uncomfortable and exchanged grimaces.
CNN political analyst Ryan Lizza explained that the rich asshole’s problem is the fact that he just cannot figure out how to be an effective president.
“He thinks that the head of DHS should be able to push a button and change immigration policy in a way that some rich asshole talked about during the campaign,” Lizza said. “And what’s disturbing about this report is how unhinged he seems in this conversation, just sort of yelling at this woman. I don’t think he understands the subtleties of how the President interacts with his cabinet. Even 18 months into this president, the rich asshole does not understand how to be president. He does not understand how to move the levers of power… He hasn’t really learned the job.”
Author Chris Whipple, who wrote a well-reviewed book about the importance of the chief of staff, said that the rich asshole “has learned nothing” during his first 18 months in office.
“But this is not at all surprising,” he said. “This is who he is. He loves ritual humiliation. He did it to Reince Priebus. He did it to Rudy Giuliani during the campaign… this is the price of admission if you’re going to work for some rich asshole at this level. If goes with the territory and, quite frankly, they know what they signed up for.”
Angry Giuliani snaps back at former law firm for not consulting him before issuing critical statement
Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani of New York speaking at a forum titled “Countering Iran’s Nuclear Terrorist Threats” hosted by the Iranian American Community of Arizona in Phoenix, Arizona. (Gage Skidmoer/Flickr)
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New details are emerging about Rudy Giuliani’s bitter break-up with his law firm, Greenberg Traurig.
The firm’s partners had reportedly been especially angry about Giuliani’s remarks that payments like the one Michael Cohen made to Stormy Daniels were “common” at the firm, even without the knowledge of clients.
“That was money that was paid by his lawyer, the way I would do, out of his law firm funds,” he told Fox News. “Michael would take care of things like this like I take care of this with my clients.”
Giuliani had taken a leave of absence but has now reportedly “resigned.”
“We cannot speak for Mr. Giuliani with respect to what was intended by his remarks,” the firm’s spokeswoman said. “Speaking for ourselves, we would not condone payments of the nature alleged to have been made or otherwise without the knowledge and direction of a client.”
CNN’s Dana Bash is now reporting that Giuliani has complained he was not consulted before the firm distanced itself from him and, in effect, called him a liar. Some of the firm’s attorneys disliked the rich asshole, he said, and that has caused a schism.
“The law firm has a lot of good people and a lot of people that hate my client and I don’t particularly appreciate that,” he said.
the rich asshole’s Attempt To Make An Example Of The Immigrant ‘Caravan’ Is Backfiring
Immigration prosecutions are normally open-and-shut cases. But the president’s tweets are once again undermining him in court.
The rich asshole administration sought to make an example of 11 migrants, whom officials say were part of a large refugee caravan, by making a public affair of hauling them into criminal courts rather than putting them through the civil deportation system.
But President some rich asshole’s caravan prosecutions are already hitting roadblocks. Lawyers are challenging most of the normally open-and-shut misdemeanor immigration prosecutions and using the president’s tweets and public statements about Central Americans to do it.
The severity of the cases hardly matches the outsized pronouncements from U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Prosecutors have offered to release most of the 11 migrants based on time served if they agree to plead guilty. Then they would then take their claims to immigration court, having their currently clean criminal records stained with a conviction.
In an unusual step, though, at least six of the 11 alleged caravan members are seeking to have their cases dismissed entirely, contending the rich asshole administration selectively prosecuted them based on their national origin as it sought to deter Central American asylum seekers. Some secured reduced bonds, which may allow them to fight their cases without being jailed.
Run-of-the-mill immigration prosecutions are rarely celebrated with press releases and statements from the attorney general, as these were. Sessions’ actions have done something he likely didn’t intend: He’s given them the right to a court-appointed attorney and new legal defenses for cases that have historically been extremely difficult to win.
The 11 migrants, three women and eight men, were arrested in late April and accused by Border Patrol agents of taking part in a caravan of hundreds of Central American asylum seekers. The caravan organizers dispute that, saying the 228 people who had crossed through the port of entry at San Ysidro in San Diego to make asylum claims were the only ones officially affiliated with their group. The Department of Justice filed criminal charges against the 11 on April 30.
The prosecutions were unusual because three involved mothers traveling with their children, and at least five plan to seek asylum — two categories the government had typically put directly into civil immigration proceedings rather than filing criminal charges. But they promise to become more common after Sessions implemented a “zero tolerance” policy this month, calling for the referral of all migrants arrested at the border for prosecution, with the express intent of separating families who cross illegally.
Although immigrants are deported on the orders of immigration judges in civil courts, crossing into the United States illegally is a crime. The first offense is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in prison; subsequent offenses can be punished with up to 20 years in prison, depending on the person’s criminal history.
Because of the threat of long sentences and the ease with which prosecutors can win at trial — all they need to secure a conviction is an affidavit signed by a Border Patrol agent or documentation showing a previous deportation — defendants almost always plead guilty. And public defenders rarely urge immigration defendants to go to trial, knowing that their clients would likely remain jailed while their cases play out because they often can’t afford to post bond.
But the original $10,000 bonds sought by the government have already been reduced in several of the “caravan” cases. A judge ordered Thursday that Olga George of Honduras could be released on an unsecured $5,000 bond without requiring a deposit — just her signature. In another case, Morena Mendoza’s bond dropped from $10,000 to $5,000, and the judge allowed her to be freed with a $500 deposit, according to court filings.
In both of those cases, lawyers argued that their clients are not flight risks because they are seeking asylum in the United States. Judges had lowered bond for three others by Thursday. In some cases, the judges allowed the migrants to be freed with a co-signature from someone with enough money to pay a lowered bond of $5,000, instead of requiring a deposit.
In all of the contested cases, court-appointed lawyers argue that the judges should dismiss the charges based on what they say is selective prosecution by the government. Five of the migrants being prosecuted were traveling in a group of 18 people, including three Indian nationals, and the Border Patrol arrested all of them. But only four Hondurans and a Guatemalan in that group were charged ― and none of the Indians ― becoming part of the group of 11 publicized prosecutions. (The government has not revealed the identities of the others in the group, although attorneys asked them to do so as part of discovery.) All of the 11 alleged caravan members being prosecuted are from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico.
“This kind of invidious discrimination based on alleged country of origin is forbidden by the equal protection guarantees of the Fifth Amendment’s due process clause,” Eric Fish, a federal public defender in San Diego representing several of the migrants, wrote in one of the court filings.
To prove that there is selective prosecution, Fish and another court-appointed attorney, Richard Boesen, pointed in court filings to the words of the rich asshole condemning the caravan and the U.S. asylum process.
They listed several of the rich asshole’s tweets raging against the asylum-seeker caravan, composed mostly of Central Americans, and ones singling out Honduras and Mexico, which the filings characterized as “two of the countries whose migrants he desired to keep out of the United States.”
‘There is nothing sadder than a former reality star’: Creator of reality TV explains the rich asshole’s rapid decline into a ‘thirsty bitch’
Reality TV creator Michael Hirshorn (Photo: Screen capture)
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During a Thursday panel discussion with MSNBC’s Ari Melber, reality TV creator Michael Hirschorn, the host noted that President some rich asshole took an important event for America and turned it into something about himself.
“some rich asshole was involved in a good thing that he turned into a really weird thing,” Melber said introducing the segment.
He played the rich asshole’s comments about the three American hostages released by North Korea and how he made it about how he caused high ratings for cable news shows at 3 a.m.
“Come on,” Melber responded. “We call that not sticking the landing. some rich asshole standing next to three people who literally, let’s be real about what they were going through, literally didn’t know if they’d ever get home again, and if they would live through their ordeal. And he turned it immediately to TV ratings. This is, of course, as everyone has said, a reality TV presidency and ratings appear to be part of how he measures his job.”
“So, in my old VH1 days, they would have called him a thirsty b*tch,” he said before spelling out the word. “Just a little bit try-hard. And I think a really smart producer would not actually describe what he’s doing. He would just accept the ratings and move on. So, I find there’s a little slippage in the rich asshole’s reality TV.”
Hirschorn explained that when he says “thirsty” he means the rich asshole, as a reality TV star, is approaching the presidency like a celebrity and not as someone who recognizes his real-world implications.
“I think he’s potentially undermining his position vis-a-vis North Korea,” he continued. “He’s undermined his position vis-a-vis the entire world by pulling out of the Iran deal. So, we’re heading to the point now finally where these types of theatrics are starting to really have a significant impact.”
Melber noted that the mask seems to be dropping and the rich asshole is speaking “back stage” as he would about ratings rather than as a president or a leader.
“Right, it’s the classic the rich asshole administration malevolence tempered by incompetence,” Hirschorn said. “So, we hope that will save us.”
Watch the full commentary below:
the rich asshole: We didn't pay for release of prisoners from North Korea
BY BRETT SAMUELS - 05/10/18 08:00 PM EDT
President the rich asshole on Thursday evening touted the release of three Americans prisoners from North Korea who arrived home this week, noting that the U.S. did not pay for their release.
“[North Korean leader] Kim Jong Un did a great service to himself and to his country by doing this. But those hostages came out, with respect, we didn’t pay for them,” the rich asshole said during a rally in Elkhart, Ind.
“What he did was the right thing, but they came out for nothing and the others came out for $1.8 billion in cash,” the rich asshole added.
the rich asshole appeared to be referring to a January 2016 deal in which the Obama administration agreed to pay Iran $1.7 billion to settle a case related to the sale of military equipment before the Iranian revolution.
The payment coincided with the release of five imprisoned American citizens who were released in exchange for seven Iranians detained in the U.S.
The White House at the time disputed that it was a ransom payment.
the rich asshole early Thursday morning greeted the three Americans who were freed from captivity in North Korea earlier this week. He has touted their release as an act of good will by Kim ahead of a planned summit between the two leaders on June 12 in Singapore.
WATCH: the rich asshole and Pence hold Indiana rally in wake of Cohen cash windfall reports
Republican rich asshole (L) and vice presidential candidate Mike Pence speak at a campaign event in Roanoke, Virginia, U.S., July 25, 2016. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
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President some rich asshole and Vice President Mike Pence will hold a campaign-style rally in Indiana to promote the candidacy of a local Republican and tout the release of three hostages from North Korea as turmoil rages around cash payouts made to the president’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, before and after the 2016 election.
The rally to be held Thursday night in Elkhart, and is ostensibly being held to persuade Hoosiers to vote for the GOP Senate candidate Mike Braun who is challenging Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly.
the rich asshole is targeting Donnelly in the deeply conservative state that the rich asshole easily carried in the 2016 general election.
You can watch the video below via YouTube:
WATCH LIVE: the rich asshole holds campaign rally in Indiana
BY THE HILL STAFF - 05/10/18 07:24 PM EDT
President the rich asshole is holding a campaign rally in Indiana on Thursday night.
The rally comes just two days after Greg Pence, the brother of Vice President Pence, was projected to win the GOP primary for the seat now held by Rep. Luke Messer (R-Ind.).
The event, held at Atlantic Aviation in South Bend, Ind., is set to start at 7 p.m.
His campaign noted that this will be the president’s ninth rally in Indiana — and his second in South Bend — since announcing his presidential campaign in 2015.
Watch the live stream above to see the rich asshole's full remarks.
POLITICS
John McCain’s Wife Rebukes White House Official Who Mocked Him As ‘Dying Anyway’
The aide reportedly tossed out the cruel remark in response to the senator’s opposition to the CIA director nominee.
Cindy McCain, wife of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), hit back at reports that a White House official mocked her husband’s health status during a Thursday meeting about CIA director nominee Gina Haspel.
According to multiple news outlets, White House aide Kelly Sadler responded to McCain’s opposition to Haspel’s nomination with the comment, “He’s dying anyway.”
The “joke... fell flat,” a source told CNN’s Jim Acosta.
Haspel’s controversial nomination has prompted Democrats and Republicans to raise concerns over her tenure at the agency, in particular her involvement in the CIA’s now-defunct torture program. McCain, who was tortured as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War and is currently fighting an aggressive form of brain cancer, has vehemently opposed her nomination.
Soon after reports about the insulting attack, McCain’s wife took to Twitter to reach out to Sadler directly.
“May I remind you my husband has a family, 7 children and 5 grandchildren,” she wrote.
CNN later reported that Sadler called McCain’s daughter Meghan, who is a co-host on “The View,” to apologize for her comment. Meghan McCain will reportedly respond to the comment Friday during the ABC morning program.
CNN is reporting that @kellysadler45 called @MeghanMcCain to apologize today for her insensitive remarks about her father.
Cindy McCain also came to her husband’s defense earlier on Thursday, when a guest on Fox Business praised torture as an interrogation method, claiming it “worked” on John McCain.
Host Charles Payne issued an apology after the show, saying he regretted not confronting his guest about his incendiary comment.
The White House also issued a statement in response to Sadler’s comment. While they didn’t reference the aide or her remark, the White House reiterated its respect for McCain’s service to the U.S.
WH released statement from an “official” to respond to staffer’s McCain cancer comment: “We respect Senator McCain's service to our nation, and he and his family are in our prayers during this difficult time." (*Nobody had the guts to put their name on it) cnn.com/2018/05/10/pol…
Michael Avenatti drops bombshell on Cohen and the rich asshole associates: ‘We have ‘more e-mails, texts, other financial info’ to share
Michael Avenatti (MSNBC)
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Stormy Daniels’ lawyer, Michael Avenatti gave a loud and clear warning to Michael Cohen on Thursday.
In an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Avenatti asserted that he was just getting started. Earlier this week, Avenatti broke the internet when he released documents that claimed Michael Cohen received roughly a half a million dollars from a Russian oligarch.
Avenatti said he has more information just waiting to be told.
“I’ll tell you we haven’t even scratched the surface with this email and the information we released, we have e-mails, text messages, other financial information and people better be very careful in the representations they make — and I’m speaking to you Michael Cohen,” Avenatti said. “You better be careful in the representations you make in court filings and the American people because we’ll prove you wrong if the need be, period.”
Watch his interview below:
POLITICS
Homeland Security Denies Report That Secretary Drafted Resignation Letter
The New York Times says the rich asshole berated Kirstjen Nielsen’s ability to secure the border.
The Department of Homeland Security is denying a New York Times report that Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen drafted a resignation letter after President some rich asshole openly berated her during a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
According to the Times, the rich asshole launched a tirade about the lack of progress in deterring immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. As the head of homeland security, Nielsen reportedly felt that the president’s anger was directed toward her and considered leaving her position.
The Times says Nielsen told colleagues after the meeting that “she should not continue in the job if the president did not view her as effective.”
“One person familiar with the president’s blowup at the meeting said it was triggered by a discussion about why Mexico was not doing more to prevent illegal border crossings into the United States,” the Times reported. “Another person said the president was primarily focused on the homeland security department because he views Ms. Nielsen as primarily responsible for keeping illegal immigrants out of the country.”
Two unnamed sources told the Times that Nielsen drafted a resignation letter but has not submitted to the president.
DHS later issued a statement calling the Times article “false” and saying that Nielsen “is hard at work today on the President’s security-focused agenda.′
Nielsen also released her own statement, saying the rich asshole was “rightly frustrated” about border security and that she shared his frustration.
The Senate confirmed Nielsen, a former White House aide, in December 2017 to replace John Kelly as he moved into his role as White House chief of staff. It has been Nielsen’s role to implement the rich asshole’s strict immigration policies at the borders, a job that has become difficult as immigration advocates push back against the administration’s tactics.
The White House did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
By
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May 10, 2018
When the rich asshole touted the economic recovery in Elkhart, Indiana, on Thursday, he accidentally celebrated President Obama's legacy.
the rich asshole traveled to Elkhart, Indiana, on Thursday to hold another self-congratulatory non-campaign rally, where he devoted much of his speech to touting the economic recovery in the area.
As he so often does, the rich asshole repeated the same talking points about the unemployment rate and the return of manufacturing jobs, soaking up the applause with each line.
But there’s one thing he didn’t seem to realize: By celebrating Elkhart’s economy, the rich asshole accidentally touted President Barack Obama’s legacy at his own rally.
Apparently, the rich asshole was unaware that Obama is widely credited with reviving the economy in Elkhart, which had the nation’s highest unemployment rate in 2009.
Thanks to the Obama-era stimulus package — which included grants for the Elkhart region — and simultaneous bailout of the automobile industry, Elkhart’s economy saw a dramatic turnaround between 2009 and 2016.
Under the Obama administration, the unemployment rate in Elkhart went from 19 percent to 4 percent. Vehicle manufacturing jobs more than doubled. And the high school graduation rate climbed to a new high.
“President Obama came in 2016 to collect credit for the unemployment rate going from 20% to 4%,” Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of nearby South Bend, told CNN. “And now the rich asshole wants to come collect credit for it going from 4% to 3%.”
When the rich asshole climbed on stage Thursday night and bragged about the low unemployment rate, he was actually touting the work of his predecessor — and when the crowd cheered in response, they were actually applauding Obama’s legacy.
Meanwhile, all the rich asshole has to offer the town is the historically unpopular GOP tax scam and a trade war that is likely to harm Elkhart’s automobile manufacturing industry.
As much as the rich asshole tries to downplay Obama’s legacy, he sure seemed proud of it when he touted it Thursday night. the rich asshole’s voters seemed pretty happy with Obama’s accomplishments, too — even though none of them seemed to realize they were celebrating Obama by cheering for the rich asshole.
White House official mocked 'dying' McCain at internal meeting
BY JONATHAN EASLEY AND JORDAN FABIAN - 05/10/18 05:42 PM EDT
A White House official mocked Sen. John McCain’s brain cancer diagnosis at an internal meeting on Thursday, a day after the Arizona Republican announced his opposition to President the rich asshole’s nominee for CIA director, Gina Haspel.
Special assistant Kelly Sadler made the derisive comments during a closed-door White House meeting of about two-dozen communications staffers on Thursday morning.
“It doesn’t matter, he’s dying anyway,” Sadler said, according to a source familiar with the remarks at the meeting.
The White House did not deny the account of Sadler’s remarks, which came amid a discussion of Haspel’s nomination and McCain’s opposition to it.
“We respect Senator McCain’s service to our nation and he and his family are in our prayers during this difficult time,” the White House said in a statement to The Hill.
Sadler did not respond to a request for comment and the White House did not make her available to The Hill. A source later told The Hill that Sadler called the senator's daughter Meghan McCain to apologize.
The Thursday morning meeting was led by deputy press secretary Raj Shah. Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was not present. White House counselor Kellyanne Conway showed up to the meeting after the remark was made, according to the first source.
A source who heard Sadler’s remarks could not confirm her exact wording, but agreed that Sadler made comments along the lines described by the first source.
Both sources said they believed the comment was intended as a joke, but that it did not go over well with others at the meeting.
There was “discomfort” in the room after Sadler’s comment and the conversation continued without addressing it, according to the second source.
Sadler is a former opinion editor for The Washington Times. At the White House, she focuses on illegal immigration, often sending out press releases to highlight stories about the issue to reporters.
The White House is engaged in a high-stakes nomination fight for Haspel, who faces opposition from many senators for her association with harsh interrogation techniques as a CIA agent after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
McCain, who was tortured as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, urged his Senate colleagues to oppose Haspel’s nomination, saying that “her refusal to acknowledge torture’s immorality is disqualifying.”
The president has long had a fraught relationship with McCain, who has been a sharp and unrelenting critic of the rich asshole and his administration.
In a speech shortly after announcing his presidential bid in 2015, the rich asshole responded to criticism from McCain by saying “he’s not a war hero” because he was taken prisoner by the North Vietnamese.
“He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured,” the rich asshole said at the time.
McCain’s office declined to comment on Sadler’s remark.
The New York Times reported last week that McCain’s allies informed the White House that they would like Vice President Pence to attend McCain’s funeral, but not the rich asshole. Former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush are expected to give eulogies at the memorial.
McCain has a new book coming out, “The Restless Wave,” and he has remained engaged as he recovers at home in Phoenix.
In the book, McCain rips the rich asshole for his rhetoric on immigrants and refugees; alleges that the president’s attacks on the press are being mimicked by dictators abroad; and says he “doesn’t know what to make of President the rich asshole’s convictions.”
McCain also confirmed that he passed along the infamous “Steele dossier” to the FBI, which was later presented as evidence to a secret spy court to justify eavesdropping on the rich asshole campaign officials.
“I did what any American who cares about our nation’s security should have done,” McCain writes.
At a Senate hearing on Wednesday, senators grilled Haspel over the use of controversial interrogation techniques. Haspel told senators that torture “does not work” and that she would defy orders to restart the programs. But she dodged questions about whether she believed it to be “immoral.”
Haspel needs support from 50 senators for confirmation and Republicans have only a slim 51-49 majority in the upper chamber. McCain and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) have already announced their opposition, but Haspel has picked up support from Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who is running for reelection this year in a state the rich asshole carried by 42 points in 2016.
Updated: 8:56 p.m.
‘You’re a disgrace – apologize’: Internet rips the rich asshole aide and calls for resignation over ‘dying’ John McCain joke
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John McCain, a political foe of President some rich asshole, is fighting a valiant battle with cancer.
But McCain, whose harrowing experience in a North Vietnamese prison camp was once mocked by his fellow Republican who said that he preferred soldiers who did not get captured, is making a maverick move by opposing some rich asshole’s nominee to lead the CIA, Gina Haspel, as a result of her involvement in torture.
As reported by conservative political news site The Hill, the rich asshole’s special assistant Kelly Sadler joked that McCain’s vote against the rich asshole’s pick for CIA, Gina Haspel was not important.
“It doesn’t matter, he’s dying anyway,” Sadler said of McCain’s opposition.
Sadler has gotten push-back on Twitter from many people who are demanding she resign.
Here’s a sampling of the comments.
Trump has been unable to hire competent people. Exhibit A is Kelly Sadler.
Today, Sadler mocked Sen. John McCain's brain cancer at a meeting in front of 20 or so Trump incompetents where McCain's vote was being discussed.
Sadler said, "It doesn't matter, he's dying anyway" pic.twitter.com/bz3Bl61Ecb
Kelly Sadler should resign.
Any member of the Trump administration who does not demand Kelly Sandler’s resignation should resign.
Any WH staffer who did not walk out of that meeting should resign.
Hell, they should all resign.thehill.com/homenews/admin…
The White House communications official who mocked “dying” McCain during a meeting, is @kellysadler45. Our taxes pay her damn salary.
Oh, one more thing. Kindly, don’t ever talk to me again about the cruelty of a “smoky-eye” joke. twitter.com/thehill/status…
A WH official confirms WH aide Kelly Sadler mocked John McCain’s cancer diagnosis saying “he’s dying anyway” in response to his opposition to Haspel nomination. The “joke... fell flat” the official said.
I hope the WH Aide, Kelly Sadler, never has to watch his/her parent fight aggressive cancer and see them take their last breath.
Kelly Sadler is an example of the stain this administration is upon America.
Standing with you, @cindymccain & @MeghanMcCain
The White House communications official who mocked “dying” McCain during a meeting, is @kellysadler45. Our taxes pay her damn salary.
Oh, one more thing. Kindly, don’t ever talk to me again about the cruelty of a “smoky-eye” joke. twitter.com/thehill/status…
Kelly Sadler (who?) will eventually get old and sick and die. But no one will care. She is not a national hero. She is nobody. And nobody will give a grand f*ck when she is gone. But losing John McCain is a tragedy for the entire world.
@LouiseMensch now this is who is reported to have said the incredibly mean-spirited comment about Senator McCain, that we should ignore him because he will be dead soon anyways. Turns out she is on Twitter. I dropped by to ask her if she really said those things, others could too twitter.com/michaelnorth/s…
I don't even like McCain and this pisses me off. This is how far off the rails these people are now. They're eating their own. There's not going to be any of them left soon. twitter.com/thehill/status…
A WH official confirms WH aide Kelly Sadler mocked John McCain’s cancer diagnosis saying “he’s dying anyway” in response to his opposition to Haspel nomination. The “joke... fell flat” the official said.
Our Country deserves better. So much unkindness and hatred has been unleashed with this administration. That was NOT A JOKE those are words directly from aides that have no empathy or historical understanding of who Senator McCain is.
#BREAKING: White House official mocked McCain in meeting: "It doesn’t matter, he’s dying anyway" hill.cm/DBXEsPV pic.twitter.com/DL8yRK8mma
This is a Trump White House reality, and this type of ignorance is expected. SMDH! So disrespectful to Senator McCain
So in leiu of actual proof you’re gonna demean a veteran on his death bed? I wasn’t a fan of McCain’s politics but, cmon, there’s a basic level of decency folks in our country used to adhere to. Be best, lady.
@kellysadler45 You're a disgrace. Apologize to the entire McCain family, then resign.
Yeah, I'm not a fan of McCain in general, and disagree with him on a great number of things, but I still have respect for him. twitter.com/MollyMcKew/sta…
There is not one person in the GOP that can measure up to John McCain's shoe heels. Kelly Sadler and all who did not walk out after that - may you get your just comeuppance . Karma will get you. twitter.com/TDPattillo/sta…
Michael Cohen scandal takes bizarre turn involving massively multiplayer online role-playing games
Questions about money laundering and connections to Viktor Vekselberg are swamping Daybreak Games.
Amidst the new burst of information about hush money, shell companies, and white supremacist websites suddenly swirling around some rich asshole lawyer Michael Cohen and New York-based company Columbus Nova — as well as Columbus Nova’s relationship with sanctioned Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg — one detail has provided a bizarre offshoot.
Daybreak Games, a California online game company specializing in massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), is scrambling to distance itself from Columbus Nova — a company that was listed as a subsidiary of Vekselberg’s Renova company.
Michael Avenatti, the lawyer for adult film actress Stormy Daniels, revealed that Columbus Nova had sent a half-million dollars to Cohen.
However, shuffling money to Cohen wasn’t the only business Columbus Nova undertook in the past few years. According to press releases, interviews, and policy statements on Daybreak’s website, Columbus Nova purchased Daybreak in 2015. (It’s unclear how much money the sale entailed.)
Now, however, Daybreak is claiming that the past three years have been a big misunderstanding, and that Daybreak was never owned by Columbus Nova — and that the company, in turn, never had any connection to Vekselberg.
“There has been some confusion concerning Daybreak’s ownership and rumors about the state of the company that have circulated from a few online game websites, and we want to set the record straight,” a recent statement on the company’s online forum read. “We assure you that these rumors are entirely false and that there’s no impact on our business or games in any way whatsoever.”
Daybreak says it is actually owned by Jason Epstein, an executive who recently left Columbus Nova — and who is directly connected to Renova. According to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, Columbus Nova listed Epstein through at least 2016 as a “Managing Partner of Renova US Management, the US investment vehicle for the Renova Group.”
Daybreak has spent the past few days scrubbing its site of references to Columbus Nova, with one Wikipedia user even attempting to write that “Jason Epstein is and has always been the primary owner and executive of Daybreak Game Company.” (The change was not accepted, and the Wikipedia page now highlights the ownership controversy.)
A spokesperson for Daybreak told ThinkProgress that previous confusion about Daybreak’s ownership stemmed from Epstein’s role at Columbus Nova, and that previous statements about Columbus Nova owning Daybreak came from people “just sort of assum[ing]” that Columbus Nova had purchased Daybreak. As Massively Overpowered, a site dedicated to MMORPGs, wrote, Daybreak told them it was all a “miscommunication.”
Playing games
It is technically possible that the past three years of statements about Columbus Nova’s purchase of Daybreak were all mistakes and typos. But the litany of slip-ups, as Ars Technica found, were myriad. As a quick sampling:
- In an official statement in 2015, Daybreak, which was then known as Sony Online Entertainment, wrote that they “have been acquired by Columbus Nova.” The company issued a further statement on their official forum, noting that they were “pleased to announce that we have been acquired by Columbus Nova.” Ars Technica also reported the same at the time, writing that “Columbus Nova announced it has purchased” Daybreak.
- In 2015, Daybreak identified Columbus Nova as one of its “parent companies” on its privacy policy.
- In 2015, a statement from the Fenwick & West legal firm said that it had represented Daybreak “in its recently announced acquisition by Columbus Nova.”
- In 2015, Polygon reported in a lengthy feature on Daybreak that Columbus Nova purchased the company. “After kissing a lot of frogs, we finally found a happy home with Columbus Nova. It was really a match made in heaven,” John Smedley, Daybreak president at the time, said.
- In 2015, Smedley told an online forum dedicated to one of Daybreak’s games that the “opportunity to go out and get investors like Columbus Nova that think about things for the long haul was a big deal to us.”
Information about Daybreak’s reported sale to Columbus Nova also made the rounds on Twitter:
SOE acquired, becomes Daybreak Game Company “The company been acquired by Columbus Nova and is now an indie studio” gamesindustry.biz/articles/2015-…
For good measure, Daybreak even received criticism for the purchase in 2015. In a harbinger of critiques to come, a 2015 piece in Paste Magazine pointed directly to Columbus Nova’s connection to Vekselberg as reason for concern.
“While it’s obviously at a great remove, Vekselberg is the owner, in the end, of Daybreak,” Paste Magazine’s Ian Williams wrote. “He almost certainly will never deal with it personally. He may not even really know that he owns it beyond seeing it mentioned in a report now and then. But he does own it. And the stuff he’s involved in, the oil and the steel and the shady land deals and the militias, are involved with Daybreak, too.”
Laundered gains
The natural question now hanging over Daybreak is: why? Why go through the hassle of trying to walk back three years of claims, especially when any attempt to do so would be so obvious?
One explanation is that, given Vekselberg’s recent placement on the U.S.’s sanctions list, any entity connected to his portfolio is suddenly at risk, both of reputational damage and potential legal implications. Columbus Nova, unsurprisingly, presents a prime example of the type of fallout Daybreak may have seen coming if it didn’t try to distance itself from Vekselberg.
But there’s another possibility. For the past few years, there’s been increasing scrutiny on online games providing platforms not necessarily for gamers, but for those looking to share information — and move massive amounts of money.
As a result, video games have become the next frontier in money laundering.
While there haven’t been any large-scale studies yet on the topic, early research has found that the games Daybreak specializes in — massive, sprawling settings, involving large numbers of players and transactions — provides premium avenues for the types of money laundering that authorities would never detect.
MMORPGs “provide an easy way for criminals to launder money,” security researcher Jean-Loup Richet wrote. “Using the virtual currency systems in these games criminals in one country can send virtual money to associates in another country. Then, the virtual money can be transferred into real money, with the criminals leaving no trace of evidence authorities could follow back to them.”
One anti-corruption expert with whom ThinkProgress spoke backed up Richet’s findings, adding that money laundering via video games is significantly cheaper than more traditional means of cleaning dirty money.
To be sure, there’s no indication any money laundering has taken place within Daybreak’s games, or that concerns about money laundering caused the recent scramble for Daybreak to disavow prior statements about Columbus Nova’s ownership.
However, Daybreak customers haven’t shied from suggesting that a company like Daybreak — one that spent the past few years saying that it was ultimately owned by a Russian oligarch now sanctioned by the U.S. — could be a handy tool for laundering funds, especially for someone trying to get money out of Russia proper.
As one user wrote on Massively Overpowered, laundering money via the types of games Daybreak provides “is not impossible, and in the grand scheme of money laundering is probably logistically much simpler [than] many of the other scheme[s], and it would all look legitimate and be mixed in with a fair amount of actual legitimate consumer transactions.”
CORRECTION: This article has been corrected to clarify the nature of the payment to Michael Cohen by Columbus Nova. The company says that Vekselberg had no role in the transaction.
POLITICS
Rudy Giuliani Quits Law Firm After Wild Week Of Interviews
Partners at the law firm reportedly were displeased at Giuliani’s suggestion that payoffs like Michael Cohen’s deal with Stormy Daniels were common practice.
Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor who has become one of President some rich asshole’s personal attorneys, abruptly resigned from his law firm following a string of unhinged media appearances.
Giuliani and the firm, Greenberg Traurig, released a joint statement on Thursday saying that the resignation was effective a day earlier. Giuliani took a leave of absence from the firm in April to represent the rich asshole, but, he said, “the pressing demands” of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation led him to decide to permanently resign.
“This way, my sole concentration can be on this critically important matter for our country,” Giuliani said in a statement.
He added: “I will always treasure the personal friendships I have made with everyone at Greenberg Traurig.”
Richard A. Rosenbaum, the firm’s chairman, said Giuliani had planned “to play a limited role, for a short period of time, to address specific matters for President the rich asshole.”
“After recognizing that this work is all consuming and is lasting longer than initially anticipated, Rudy has determined it is best for him to resign from the firm, effective May 9th,” Rosenbaum said in the statement.
Giuliani’s abrupt and immediate departure from the firm comes after a series of media appearances in which he discussed, among other things, Michael Cohen’s payment of $130,000 to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Cohen, another personal lawyer to the president, admitted in February to making the payment, but denied the rich asshole knew about it. Giuliani, however, told Fox News that the rich asshole not only knew about the payment, but reimbursed Cohen. Giuliani later backpedaled after the rich asshole said Giuliani didn’t have “his facts straight.”
Giuliani also suggested that payments like Cohen’s to Daniels ― aimed at ensuring her silence about an alleged the rich asshole affair ― are common practice at his firm.
“That was money that was paid by his lawyer, the way I would do, out of his law firm funds,” he said. “Michael would take care of things like this like I take care of this with my clients.”
Partners at Greenberg Traurig were reportedly displeased with the implications of Giuliani’s comments, according to The New York Times.
“We cannot speak for Mr. Giuliani with respect to what was intended by his remarks,” a Greenberg Traurig spokeswoman told the Times on Thursday. “Speaking for ourselves, we would not condone payments of the nature alleged to have been made or otherwise without the knowledge and direction of a client.”
Giuliani: Media should 'calm down' about Cohen payments
BY NIALL STANAGE - 05/10/18 05:05 PM EDT
Rudy Giuliani told The Hill on Thursday that the media ought to “calm down” in their coverage of money paid to Michael Cohen, President the rich asshole's longtime personal attorney.
The former New York City mayor and recent addition to the rich asshole's legal team said of the allegations swirling around Cohen, “It doesn’t involve us at all. There is no suggestion that it does.”
Asked directly if the rich asshole had any awareness of Cohen allegedly selling access to him or his administration, Giuliani replied, “No, of course not.”
Cohen has been in the middle of a firestorm since Tuesday, when Michael Avenatti — the attorney for adult-film actress Stormy Daniels, who alleges she had an affair with the rich asshole in 2006 — published a document purportedly outlining payments to Cohen.
Those payments came from an investment firm connected with a Russian oligarch, as well as from major corporations, including drug company Novartis and AT&T.
The broad thrust of Avenatti’s claims was verified by several news organizations and in statements from some of the companies.
Novartis, for example, acknowledged paying $1.2 million to Cohen’s company, Essential Consultants LLC. In an email to employees on Thursday, Novartis CEO Vasant Narasimhan wrote, “We made a mistake entering into this engagement.”
Adding to the intrigue, the payments were made to the same shell company, Essential Consulting LLC, that Cohen used to make a $130,000 payment to Daniels.
Cohen denies any wrongdoing.
Since the allegations came to light, the rich asshole critics including Avenatti have insisted that the cloud of suspicion hovers over the president, too.
Avenatti told The Hill in a phone interview on Wednesday that the allegations “appear to reflect a pattern and practice by Michael Cohen of accepting money in return for access to the president.”
Avenatti added: “It’s beyond that it doesn’t look good. This is the right-hand attorney of the president. If that attorney is selling access to the president without the requisite disclosures, that is a serious problem.”
A CNN report on Thursday morning quoted an unnamed GOP strategist describing Cohen’s pitch to potential clients after the rich asshole’s election in November 2016.
"I don't know who's been representing you, but you should fire them all. I'm the guy you should hire. I'm closest to the President. I'm his personal lawyer,” CNN quoted the strategist, apparently paraphrasing Cohen.
Giuliani pushed back against the coverage, saying Cohen’s consulting work did not touch the president at all.
“There is a sort of media frenzy about it. They ought to calm down. It doesn’t have any connection” to the rich asshole, Giuliani said. “The main thing is, we are not involved.”
Asked if he had spoken to the rich asshole about the latest twists and turns in the Cohen saga, Giuliani said, “I haven’t in a few days. He’s been very busy.”
the rich asshole, on Tuesday, withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, and then on Wednesday announced the release of three American hostages by North Korea as the details were finalized for a summit next month with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Referring to the specifics of the Cohen case, Giuliani also said: “No one has told us what the details of that are, and on the face of it, it is hard to tell. Nobody is suggesting they were illegal. They might have been bad judgment, but even that is not clear.”
Giuliani himself was also in the news on Thursday, as he officially left his law firm Greenberg Traurig, from which he had previously taken a leave of absence to work for the president.
The former New York City mayor, in a statement from the law firm, explained his departure as coming “in light of the pressing demands of the Mueller investigation” and so that his “sole concentration can be on this critically important matter for our country.”
But the firm itself indicated that its executives have been discomfited by some of Giuliani’s public statements.
In a headlining-making interview with Sean Hannity of Fox News Channel last week, Giuliani had suggested that payments of the kind Cohen apparently made to Daniels were commonplace.
“Michael would take care of things like this like I take care of this with my clients,” he told Hannity.
On Thursday, a Greenberg Traurig spokeswoman told The New York Times, “Speaking for ourselves, we would not condone payments of the nature alleged to have been made or otherwise without the knowledge and direction of a client.”
Allies of Giuliani sought to cast his departure from the firm in much more positive terms.
One such ally told The Hill that his resignation showed he was “all-in as far as the Team the rich asshole aspect of this is concerned.”
That source also speculated that, once the Russia probe led by special counsel Robert Mueller is over, “Rudy’s longer-term plan is to do something within the government — something Cabinet-level or even in the West Wing.”
Giuliani was added to the rich asshole legal team last month, ostensibly to help negotiate whether or not the president would agree to a voluntary interview with Mueller.
Asked for the latest thinking on that potential interview, Giuliani told The Hill: “We’re internally discussing it — but nothing we’re ready to talk about.”
Former CIA director Brennan perfectly explains how ‘masterful’ Kim Jong-un ‘duped’ the rich asshole on nukes
Former CIA director John Brennan on MSNBC/Screenshot
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Why has no former American president been able to schedule a summit with Kim Jong-un?
Maybe it’s not that they couldn’t, it’s that they didn’t want to because they saw him as a bloody and murderous despot?
That’s how former CIA director John Brennan explains it. Brennan went on MSNBC Tuesday afternoon and slammed the rich asshole’s approach to negotiations, which Republicans are already bragging about by nominating him for a Nobel Peace Prize.
“Kim Jong-un expertly sabre-rattled so he can switch and appear much more accommodating and present a more peaceful face. Now we’ve gone from some rich asshole calling him ‘Little Rocketman’ and ‘Sick puppy’ to honorable and nice…. He manipulated perceptions and duped some rich asshole.”
Could the rich asshole’s approach lead the denuclearization of North Korea? Brennan gave it a “.01” percent chance.
“He has worked over the last six years, and his father worked, to have this nuclear capability as a way to deter foreign military aggression led by the United States and South Korea,” he said. “I don’t see any scenario he is going to give that up quickly, willingly, and so I think what he’s trying to do is to, again, present an appearance of accommodation. He is going to put on pause a program that already has developed a nuclear stockpile.”
Brennan called Kim Jong-un’s con of the rich asshole “masterful.”
“I think it’s deliberate. He’s been very strategic. He escalated in order to de-escalate and reach a plateau that allows him to retain that nuclear and ballistic missile capability, draw out negotiations over time and in the meantime get the economic benefits he has been looking for,” he said.
Watch below.
By
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May 10, 2018
some rich asshole Jr. is determined, even though he's already failed miserably this year as a campaign surrogate.
Despite his already established record as a crummy campaign surrogate, some rich asshole Jr. thinks he should play a major role for the GOP in the 2018 election cycle. The news comes as the Republican Party faces the daunting task of maintaining control of the House and the Senate while the rich asshole in the White House remains deeply unpopular.
Once certain that the party’s tax giveaway to billionaires and corporations would drive the GOP’s campaign message this year, Republicans have had to search for other options in the wake of the bill’s widespread unpopularity.
And now it looks like the GOP may have to rely on the likes of the rich asshole Jr.
This week, he and his handlers are making it clear, via the press, that he wants to play a larger role in the midterm cycle.
“A source close to Don Jr. said he believes his brand of “MAGA conservatism” — pro-gun, anti-media, anti-establishment — could make a difference in turning out the base in these states,” Axios reported.
And it turns out that the rich asshole Jr. was the one who reached outto the winner of the West Virginia Republican primary Tuesday night, while his father consoled the loser.
Keep in mind that the rich asshole Jr. has already hit the road this year as a campaign surrogate to a “MAGA region” — and the results were disastrous.
During the closing days of the special election in Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District in March, the rich asshole Jr. appeared with Republican candidate Rick Saccone, who went on to lose a district that had voted Republican by 20 points in 2016.
During that Western Pennsylvania swing, the rich asshole Jr. also toured a chocolate factory and reminisced about his boarding schooldays in the Keystone State.
Neither effort seemed to connect with voters.
Indeed, there’s no evidence to date that whatever “connection” the rich asshole has with current voters has transferred to his son.
Meanwhile, the rich asshole Jr. oversees the management of the rich asshole Organization business, along with his brother, Eric.
The rich asshole Organization is supposed to operate separately from politics. But that seems especially unlikely if the rich asshole Jr. is both running the company and openly campaigning on his father’s behalf this year.
It seems like the GOP has cause for concern if the rich asshole Jr. succeeds in forcing himself onstage.
Homeland Security head Kirstjen Nielsen close to resigning after the rich asshole berated her in front of cabinet members: report
some rich asshole and DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen (Photos: Screen captures)
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Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen reportedly almost quit after President some rich asshole castigated her in front of his cabinet Wednesday.
According to The New York Times, several current and former officials familiar with the incident said the rich asshole was furious about her “failure to adequately secure the nation’s borders.”
The Times described Nielsen as chief of staff John Kelly’s protégée. She has drafted a resignation letter but has yet to submit it.
One person familiar with the meeting told The Times that the rich asshole’s explosion was part of a rant about the lack of progress he feels the U.S. has made erecting his border wall and stopping undocumented immigrants from entering the country.
Another person familiar with the incident said the rich asshole was triggered by Mexico not doing more to prevent immigrant crossings. Another person, however, said that the president was focused more on homeland security because he feels Nielson is responsible for undocumented immigrants crossing into the U.S.
In a statement, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said “the president is committed to fixing our broken immigration system and our porous borders. We are a country of laws and the president and his administration will enforce them.”
Giuliani’s law firm throws him under the bus, says his Stormy Daniels story makes no sense
“We cannot speak for Mr. Giuliani with respect to what was intended by his remarks."
During his first interview as President the rich asshole’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani suggested that making hush payments for a client without their knowledge is just something lawyers like himself do.
“Michael would take care of things like this, like I take care of things like this for my clients,” Giuliani told Sean Hannity last Wednesday, referring to the $130,000 hush payment Cohen made to Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 election on the rich asshole’s behalf. “I don’t burden them with every single thing that comes along. These are busy people.”
Despite what Giuliani would have you believe, lawyers do not in fact regularly make hush payments on behalf of their clients without their knowledge. And in a statement released Thursday, Giuliani’s law firm sought to make that clear.
“We cannot speak for Mr. Giuliani with respect to what was intended by his remarks,” Jill Perry, a spokesperson for Greenberg Traurig, said in a statement published by the New York Times. “Speaking for ourselves, we would not condone payments of the nature alleged to have been made or otherwise without the knowledge and direction of a client.”
Greenberg Traurig’s public rebuke of Giuliani came shortly after the firm abruptly announced his permanent resignation. The firm claims Giuliani decided to resign because his work for the rich asshole “is all consuming and is lasting longer than initially anticipated.” But Giuliani’s hiring as the rich asshole’s lawyer was announced on April 19 — a mere three weeks ago — and Perry’s statement suggests Greenberg Traurig higher-ups aren’t happy with how Giuliani’s comments reflect on how they practice law.
Giuliani’s Hannity interview also created problems for the rich asshole. Though the president said in April that he knew nothing about the Daniels payment, Giuliani claimed the rich asshole actually reimbursed Cohen for it in increments throughout 2017. Asked to clarify the discrepancy last Friday morning, the rich asshole instead threw Giuliani under the bus, pointing out that he “started yesterday” and “will get his facts straight.”
“Virtually everything that’s been said has been said incorrectly,” the president added.
Fast forward a week, and team the rich asshole still hasn’t clarified the timeline about what the rich asshole knew and when. The president says his lawyer’s story about the Daniels payment was incorrect, but he hasn’t bothered to offer an alternative explanation.
On Wednesday, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders referred reporters’ questions about the Daniels payment back to Giuliani, who in his most recent interview said he’ll need at least three weeks to figure out what he’s talking about.
Republican Steve Schmidt blasts the rich asshole for boast about TV ratings for hostage release: ‘This is not The Apprentice’
Republican Steve Schmidt on MSNBC/Screenshot
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While some Republicans are already declaring “Mission Accomplished” in some rich asshole’s coming negotiations with North Korea, people who’ve been around such situations are urging caution and patience.
One of them is Republican Steve Schmidt, a former spokesman for the Republican National Commitee who was also a senior aide to George W. Bush, Arnold Schwarzenegger. and John McCain. Schmidt joined fellow ex-Bushie Nicolle Wallace’s show on Thursday afternoon, and blasted the rich asshole for
“He has a complete incapacity for human empathy,” Schmidt said. “You have three prisoners of the North Korean slave state, one who had been kept underground or in a cell absent any sunlight who asked to step off the plane in Alaska so he can see the sun—and it’s about some rich asshole, it’s about the ratings.”
Schmidt said the rich asshole is simply unable to appreciate the stakes—which coould include millions of lives.
“It’s not a game,” Schmidt said. “When he took his oath of office, he swore to preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the United States. He works for the American people. Ao, it’s a great day because three of our country men are back home in this country where they belong, not in the North Korean slave state. But it’s not about some rich asshole. It’s about those men. It’s about their families…. He just doesn’t seem capable intellectually or emotionally of understanding any of that.”
Schmidt also mocked those who have already suggested the rich asshole could win a Nobel Peace Prize—because this whole thing could still go very badly.
“Nothing has been achieved. It may be geo politically and strategically a mistake to elevate Kim Jong-Un to the world stage as a peer of the President of the United States ending the international isolation… This is deadly serious business, this is not an episode of The Apprentice.”
Watch below.
Health Department secretary open to national Medicaid work requirements
"We would work with Congress."
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told a Senate panel Thursday that he’s willing to work with Congress on legislation that would require people to work a designated amount of hours or lose Medicaid.
States that want to implement Medicaid work requirements have so far sought federal permission to do so, by waiver, but now, Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-LA) is aiming to go further by proposing that the federal government impose work requirements across the board in every state, with Azar signalling his willingness to cooperate.
To date, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has approved four state waivers that mandate Medicaid beneficiaries — many of whom are ill, poor, or have disabilities — obtain work or lose coverage. New Hampshire is the latest state to get federal approval, requiring some enrollees to work 100 hours per month or else get booted off coverage.
Azar’s comment came during an exchange with Kennedy, who’s unsatisfied with his state’s Medicaid work requirement legislation because it doesn’t require people to work per se, but connects enrollees with job training and education.
“Let’s put together an aggressive program that’s not optional for the states. My governor doesn’t want to do it. I believe in more freedom. My governor believes in more free stuff,” said Kennedy. “But put together a program not to throw people out in the cold, but just to say, ‘look, let us help you get a job. You can keep your benefits, but let us help you get a job.'”
Here’s part of the exchange:
Kennedy: I appreciate that CMS is willing to grant waivers, but why don’t we take the next step. Why don’t you take the lead on that?Azar: Well, I believe the president has led boldly here with the welfare reform executive order, with what we’re doing in Medicaid…Kennedy: How about we pass a bill?Azar: Well, we would work with Congress. SNAP — the SNAP program, the president has wanted work requirements in there.Kennedy: — But they’re optional. It doesn’t need to be — sorry for interrupting, I’m not trying to be rude, I’m really not ... We don’t need to make it optional and we need you to take the lead and the president. I mean, the president is kind of busy right now, he’s working on a lot of stuff. I’d like you to take the lead and CMS to take the lead and say this is a win/win and we’re not throwing people out in the cold. We will let them know the dignity of work. Taxpayers will be better off. They will be better off. And it’s not going to be optional for governors.
“Taking Medicaid coverage away from people who aren’t able to meet work requirements is not going to help them get a job,” said Hannah Katch, senior policy analyst with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. She saw the exchange between Kennedy and Azar, and is concerned that Azar is open to the idea of expanding Medicaid work requirements, given that similar policies with respect to cash welfare hurled people into further poverty.
Moreover, CBPP research shows that a majority of the roughly 25 million people nationally subject to Medicaid work requirements are already working. Even those who are already working run the risk of losing coverage because they aren’t working a set amount of hours each month — meaning, these people have low-wage jobs in which they don’t work continuously and for a consistent number of hours each month. And for those who don’t work, it’s due to illness, disability, or care-giving responsibilities. While some of these individuals might be exempt from the rule, the paperwork associated with the requirements could still trip them up.
“It’s deeply concerning to me,” Katch said of Azar’s remarks. “Because I think what is likely we’ll see in the demonstration projects that have already been approved is that many people will lose access to their health coverage who desperately need it.”
A study by the Government Accountability Office found that federal and state governments don’t rigorously evaluate the effects of Medicaid waivers, so it’s unclear whether work requirements will be properly analyzed by CMS.
In April, the asshole administration signed an executive order, promoting work requirements in public assistance programs. So far, the administration is encouraging states to implement work requirements, but it doesn’t force states to impose them.
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