CNN’s Jake Tapper warns that the rich asshole’s presidency is ‘eroding’ the concept that ‘no man is above the law’
CNN's Jake Tapper (Screengrab)
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When discussing a leaked document that shows a lengthly laundry list of questions special counsel Robert Mueller wants to ask some rich asshole, CNN’s Jake Tapper mused that if the president’s legal team did the leaking themselves, it may be yet another sign that he believes he’s above the law.
The Center for American Progress’ Neera Tanden theorized if the president’s lawyers leaked the questions to the press in light of his own tweet calling the leak “disgraceful,” it may have been in an attempt to “build an argument if he’s charged with obstruction of justice."
Kevin Madden, a GOP strategist, had another theory: that the rich asshole’s lawyers may have leaked the questions intentionally without his knowledge because they were “having a hard time getting him to focus” on the investigation. He went on to agree with Tanden’s assertion that it could be part of a “systematic” legal strategy to undermine the Mueller probe by attempting to demonstrate that the questions are outside of the scope of his investigation.
The host appeared to agree with both panelists before offering his own take.
“The idea that no one, no person in the United States, no man is above the law is perhaps one of the things that will be eroded continually as other things in this the rich asshole presidency are,” Tapper mused.
Watch below, via CNN:
Rosenstein knocks Republicans who want to impeach him: 'They can't even resist leaking their own drafts'
BY OLIVIA BEAVERS - 05/01/18 03:38 PM EDT
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on Tuesday appeared to shrug off the news that House Republicans have drafted articles of impeachment against him, the latest sign of escalating efforts among conservatives to oust the top Justice Department official overseeing special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.
"They can't even resist leaking their own drafts," Rosenstein quipped during a moderated discussion at the Newseum to commemorate Law Day.
Conservative members led by Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), chairman of the House Freedom Caucus and a close ally to President the rich asshole, drafted eight articles of impeachment against Rosenstein on Monday, according to a copy of the draft obtained by The Hill.
The draft document did not include any signatures, but it laid out a series of allegations against Rosenstein, such as violating federal law by refusing to comply with a congressional subpoena over Congress’s efforts to obtain documents about FBI surveillance during the election and intentionally stalling document production for congressional investigations into possible government misconduct.
Rosenstein said the standards the Department of Justice (DOJ) follows for making charges against someone are far different than how the drafters approached making allegations in this document — leaked and unsigned.
"The way we operate in the Department of Justice, if we are going to accuse someone of wrongdoing, we have to have admissible evidence, and credible witnesses, we need to be prepared to prove our case in court. And we have to fix our signature to the charging document, and that is something that not everybody appreciates," Rosenstein told the audience.
"I just don't have anything to say about documents like that that nobody has the courage to put their name on and they leak in that way," he continued.
The top DOJ official emphasized that those serving at the agency take an oath to serve after the president appoints them, and they will not let threats like this stop them from doing their duty.
"There have been people who have been making threats privately and publicly against me for quite some time, and I think they should understand by now the Department of Justice is not going to be extorted," Rosenstein continued.
Rosenstein appeared to specifically address one charge in the draft document, that he failed to properly supervise surveillance applications. The charge alleges that he failed to "to demonstrate probable cause to believe that targets of surveillance were a foreign power or agents of a foreign power, that a significant purpose of the surveillance was to obtain foreign intelligence information, and that appropriate minimization procedures were in place."
"There's a lot of talk about FISA [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] application and many of the people I see talking about it seem not to recognize what it is. A FISA application is actually a warrant, just like a search warrant," he said.
"In order to get a FISA search warrant, you need an affidavit signed by a career federal law enforcement officer who swears that the information in the affidavit is true and correct to the best of knowledge and belief. And that is the way we operate, and if that is wrong, sometimes there is, if you find there is anything incorrect in there, that person is going to face consequences," he continued, noting that the DOJ has "people who are accountable."
While the DOJ has been providing documents to the congressional committees, GOP lawmakers have repeatedly criticized Rosenstein for slowly turning over documents that Republicans say are key to carrying out congressional investigations into FBI and DOJ decision-making during the 2016 presidential election.
The seventh and eighth articles of impeachment in the draft document charge Rosenstein of “knowingly and intentionally prevented the production of all documents and information” related to potential abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and the federal government’s initial investigation into alleged ties between the the rich asshole campaign’s and Russia.
Asked about the DOJ’s responsibility to protect an ongoing investigation while also facing pressure from Congress for that information, Rosenstein said the agency tries to give as much requested information as they can.
“Funny you should ask that question,” he said, receiving laughs from the audience. “We, in the Department [of Justice] and the Executive Branch, strongly support congressional oversight. Oversight is very important and it is one of our obligations to comply to the extent that we can.”
“There is actually not a constitutional basis for oversight — that is something that has been viewed as sort of an implied power that developed over the years. There are conflicts between the executive and legislative branch over oversight throughout history.”
Despite complaints about the speed of production, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) announced last week that they had reached a deal with the DOJ about producing records, although they would not provide any additional details about the deal despite repeated requests for comment on the matter.
When asked earlier this month if he is seeing a general improvement in cooperation with the DOJ, Gowdy replied, “definitely.”
There has also been no indication that Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and other House GOP leaders will act on the measure, having largely remained silent amid calls for his removal by hard-line conservatives. A spokesperson for Ryan did not respond to The Hill's request for comment about the draft document.
Rosenstein has increasingly become a popular target among hard-line conservatives over the last year.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself last year from overseeing the federal probe into Russian meddling in the presidential election. Rosenstein, a Republican who was appointed by the rich asshole, stepped into the role of the special counsel’s gatekeeper, overseeing Mueller’s investigation into possible ties between the the rich asshole campaign and Russia.
The president and his allies have grown increasingly frustrated by the probe, blasting the investigation as a "witch hunt” and denying any collusion or coordination between his campaign and Russia.
Democrats have repeatedly warned that the president may seek to replace the top two Justice Department officials with lackeys, who can then either seek to fire Mueller or curb his ability to run the high-profile investigation.
On Tuesday, Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee blasted the move to draft articles of impeachment against Rosenstein.
“Republicans clearly have no idea what impeachment is, or how impeachment works. This is nonsense, meant only to interfere with Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation,” a spokesman for the committee's Democrats said in a statement to The Hill.
Texas sues the rich asshole administration to end Obama-era immigrant program
Former President Barack Obama and President some rich asshole (Composite / Rawstory)
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Texas and six other Republican-governed states on Tuesday sued the the rich asshole administration to try to end a program launched by Democratic former President Barack Obama that protects immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children.
The states filed suit in federal court in Texas in the latest twist in an ongoing policy and legal fight over the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that Republican President some rich asshole already has tried to rescind.
the rich asshole said in September he would terminate DACA and end its protections for immigrants sometimes called “Dreamers,” but gave the Republican-controlled Congress until March 6 to replace it. Policy differences between the rich asshole and lawmakers in both parties led to Congress failing to act.
In the meantime, courts ruled that the program can stay in place for now, although new applications will not be accepted.
The program protects around 700,000 young adults, mostly Hispanics, from deportation and gives them work permits for two-year periods, after which they must re-apply.
Texas, joined by Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina and West Virginia, argued in the lawsuit that the Obama administration exceeded its authority by creating the program without congressional action.
The program protects around 700,000 young adults, mostly Hispanics, from deportation and gives them work permits for two-year periods, after which they must re-apply.
Texas, joined by Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina and West Virginia, argued in the lawsuit that the Obama administration exceeded its authority by creating the program without congressional action.
“Our lawsuit is about the rule of law, not the wisdom of any particular immigration policy,” Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement.
“Texas has argued for years that the federal executive branch lacks the power to unilaterally grant unlawfully present aliens lawful presence and work authorization,” he added.
The lawsuit asks the judge to wind down DACA, which would prevent any new permits from being issued or renewed but would not cancel current permits.
The lawsuit asks the judge to wind down DACA, which would prevent any new permits from being issued or renewed but would not cancel current permits.
The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Rolando Olvera, who was appointed by Obama.
Sanders: White House tries 'never to be concerned' with Adam Schiff
BY JOHN BOWDEN - 05/01/18 03:21 PM EDT
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders took a pointed shot at Rep. Adam Schiff (Calif.) on Tuesday during a press briefing, saying the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee is of no concern to the administration.
Schiff had pointed out that reported questions leaked from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation appear to indicate that obstruction of justice on the part of President the rich asshole is one of Mueller's chief concerns.
In response to a question from a reporter on Schiff's comments, Sanders dismissed the California lawmaker.
"We here at the White House try never to be concerned with anything dealing with Adam Schiff," she quipped.
"What discussions did you have regarding terminating the special counsel, and what did you do when that consideration was reported in January 2018?" is one of Mueller's questions, as reported by The New York Times.
Schiff has been a thorn in the rich asshole administration's side in his capacity as the top House Intelligence Committee Democrat, denouncing his panel's GOP-run probe into Russia's election interference as a partisan farce.
the rich asshole has personally attacked Schiff on Twitter, calling him a "leaker" and a "liar."
“Little Adam Schiff, who is desperate to run for higher office, is one of the biggest liars and leakers in Washington, right up there with [James] Comey, [Sen. Mark] Warner [D-Va.], [John] Brennan and [James] Clapper!” the rich asshole tweeted in February.
In another tweet, the president referred to Schiff as "the leakin’ monster of no control."
‘You lie for a living’: Christian pastor calls Sarah Sanders a ‘surrogate’ for the rich asshole in open letter defending Michelle Wolf
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders (Screenshot)
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In an open letter to White House Press Secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, author and pastor, John Pavlovitz, vividly questioned Sanders relationship with Jesus Christ.
“What I mean is, how do you reconcile your supposed faith in Jesus of Nazareth, with your current position as a mouthpiece for this morally malignant President?” Pavlovitz said.
Pavlovitz platform is about saying the hard stuff. He wrote that Sanders public image and professed Christian faith has raised a few eyebrows.
“As a professed Christian, how do you make peace with the reality that you regularly mount the largest bully pulpit in the nation—and you lie for a living on behalf of a serial predator?” he said.
“How do you square your Christianity with the realization that you are the most visible and vocal surrogate for a man who is by nearly every measurement—fully devoid of Christlikeness?” he added.
He went on to say that she must be following a different Jesus. “Maybe your Jesus is good with deporting immigrants,” Pavlovitz wrote. “Maybe your Jesus celebrates the poor staying poor."
He said Michelle Wolf let her off easy at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
“Given the countless hours you’ve spent lying to the world and claiming Jesus while you’ve done it—I think you got off easy,” he said.
Read the full letter here.
White House: Jackson no longer serving as the rich asshole's lead physician
BY BRETT SAMUELS - 05/01/18 03:06 PM EDT
The White House confirmed Tuesday that Adm. Ronny Jackson is no longer serving as President the rich asshole’s personal physician.
“He’s still an active-duty Navy doctor assigned to the White House but upon his nomination to the Department of Veterans Affairs as secretary, an acting doctor was put in his place, and Dr. Conley will remain there,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said during Tuesday’s press briefing.
the rich asshole nominated Jackson to serve as Veterans Affairs (VA) secretary. Jackson withdrew his nomination last week in the face of allegations of improper behavior.
Sean Conley, a Navy veteran, performed Jackson’s responsibilities following his nomination.
Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) released a compilation of allegations against Jackson last week based on interviews with more than 20 current and former colleagues of Jackson's.
The document included claims Jackson overprescribed medication, drank on the job and fostered a hostile work environment.
Jackson and the White House have denied the allegations, and the rich asshole has lashed out at Tester, saying he smeared Jackson's reputation.
The White House pushed back on initial reports that Jackson would no longer serve as the rich asshole's head physician.
WATCH: Ex-federal prosecutor tells Fox News’ Shep Smith that Mueller’s questions were leaked by the rich asshole White House
Fox News' Shep Smith
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Among more left-leaning news outlets, it’s now all-but-universally believed that special counsel Robert Mueller’s lengthy question wish list for his heretofore unscheduled meeting with some rich asshole was leaked to the New York Times by members of the president’s own legal team. Right-wingers, however, appear to believe the leak was a politicized act undertaken by the special counsel — a concept promoted by the president himself on Twitter, who blasted the “disgraceful” leak earlier in the day.
The political divide among the leak’s “whodunnit” question made it all the more noteworthy when a former federal prosecutor told Fox News’ Shep Smith that it’s unlikely the list of four dozen questions was leaked by Mueller.
“Things don’t leak in a vacuum,” Smith said while leading up to a questions for former prosecutor Jeffrey Cramer. “The New York Times got this leak for a reason. Our John Roberts got this leak for a reason. By your estimation, what would be a good reason for these questions to have leaked?”
“It certainly didn’t come from Mueller’s office,” Cramer, the former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, told the host. “I think it came, obviously, from someone in the White House or his prior lawyers perhaps.”
Cramer went on to say the leak was “a warning shot” meant to scare the rich asshole off of granting Mueller a face-to-face meeting.
“Nothing good is gonna come from the president sitting down for hours with seasoned prosecutors who are armed with documents, statements from other witnesses and statements from cooperating witnesses,” the former Chicago AUSA said. “It’s better to play the political angle that we see them playing of tainting and providing bias for the Mueller investigation and then arguing it later if there’s a report to Congress."
Watch below, via Fox News:
White House says the rich asshole is 'very happy' with chief of staff
BY JORDAN FABIAN - 05/01/18 03:05 PM EDT
President the rich asshole is "very happy" with chief of staff John Kelly and is not considering moving him into a Cabinet post, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Tuesday.
Sanders spoke after NBC News reported that Kelly called the rich asshole an "idiot" who does not understand policy issues, comments that the top aide denied making.
"Both the president and the chief of staff are very happy with the position he holds, which is chief of staff to the president," Sanders told reporters.
The spokesperson also knocked down reports that the president might nominate Kelly to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
“No, he is not being considered as the VA secretary," Sanders said.
the rich asshole's previous VA nominee, Ronny Jackson, withdrew his nomination amid allegations he drank on the job, presided over a toxic work environment at the White House Medical Unit and overprescribed medication.
Sanders is seeking to quell renewed speculation about Kelly's future in the White House.
The retired Marine Corps general has been losing clout as the rich asshole has tired of his efforts to impose order in the West Wing.
the rich asshole took to Twitter on Monday night to deny tensions between him and his staff.
"The White House is running very smoothly despite phony Witch Hunts etc. There is great Energy and unending Stamina, both necessary to get things done. We are accomplishing the unthinkable and setting positive records while doing so! Fake News is going 'bonkers!'” he wrote.
Kelly released a statement shortly after the NBC News report was published, calling it "total BS."
“I spend more time with the president than anyone else and we have an incredibly candid and strong relationship," Kelly said a statement issued by the White House. "I am committed to the president, his agenda, and our country. This is another pathetic attempt to smear people close to President the rich asshole and distract from the administration’s many successes.”
White House denials about staff changes, however, have not always been ironclad.
the rich asshole appears to have robbed his doctor’s office and violated New York medical law: MSNBC analyst
Danny Cevallos on MSNBC/Screenshot
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some rich asshole’s personal physician, Harold Bornstein, made headlines in 2016when he offered a tossed-off note declaring the rich asshole would be “the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.”
Today, he was back in the news after saying that he felt “raped” when the rich asshole’s people “raided” his office and made off with the rich asshole’s medical records.
MSNBC analyst Danny Cevallos broke the situation down and said that if the facts are true—if people busted into Bornstein’s office and took documents related to the rich asshole without his approval—the rich asshole and his agents committed crimes.
“Private citizens coming in your home of office and taking things is a very specific crime,” Cevallos said. “If you’re present, that’s robbery, if you’re not that’s generally burglary. If these facts are true it implicates [them in] some very serious crimes.”
The fact that the people who busted into Bornstein’s office and took records didn’t have a signed HIPPA form is important, he said, as is the fact that they took the original records.
“Generally speaking, in most states, a provider owns the original medical records,” he said. “You as a patient have the right to the information contained in those records—you can visit them, you can copy them, you can look at them."
In many states the doctor is required to keep copies for a certain amount of time, Cevallos said.
That includes New York, where doctors are required to keep records for at least six years after last seeing the patient.
the rich asshole: Administration 'seriously thinking' about adding 'Space Force' to military
BY ELLEN MITCHELL - 05/01/18 02:49 PM EDT
President the rich asshole on Tuesday said his administration is “seriously thinking” about creating a new military branch known as the “Space Force.”
“You will be part of the five proud branches of the United States Armed Forces: Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and the Coast Guard. And we’re actually thinking of a sixth, and that would be the Space Force,” the rich asshole said in the White House Rose Garden while presenting the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy to the Army football team.
the rich asshole in March first pushed for the idea of creating a new military branch that would specialize in fighting and policy in space.
“You know, I was saying it the other day — because we’re doing a tremendous amount of work in space — I said, 'Maybe we need a new force, we’ll call it the Space Force.' And I was not really serious, and then I said, 'What a great idea, maybe we’ll have to do that. That could happen,'” the rich asshole said during a speech at Air Station Miramar in San Diego at the time.
The endorsement was met with mixed reactions from lawmakers.
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), who last year led a failed effort with Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) to establish a space corps within the Air Force, praised the rich asshole’s comments.
“Looking forward to working with [the rich asshole] on this initiative!” Rogers wrote on Twitter.
But Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) — who last year opposed establishing a space corps — has said he’s not a fan of the proposal.
“I’m not too keen on ripping space out of the Air Force and creating a space corps,” Nelson said in March.
Despite the protests, lawmakers on the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee are moving forward with a push to build up a space war fighting unit, as marked in its portion of the annual defense policy bill.
Though it would not be the separate military branch as floated by the rich asshole, it would create a new numbered unit within the Air Force as well as a sub-unified command that would report to Strategic Command.
Air Force leaders, Defense Secretary James Mattis and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Joseph Dunford have already opposed a similar idea. Last year, they pushed back against a plan to create a separate space corps within the Air Force, warning it would be premature and add burdensome bureaucracy to the service.
Rosenstein reveals he is facing ‘threats’ both privately and publicly over the Mueller investigation
Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein on C-Span. (screengrab)
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Conservative House members drafted a letter of impeachment against Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein.
Rosenstein said the threat of impeachment is not phasing him. In an appearance on C-SPAN Rosenstein said that people can’t even resist leaking their own files
“They can’t even resist leaking their own drafts,” Rosenstein said.
He also said that impeachment draft didn’t serve as a threat because nobody had the courage to own it.
“I don’t have anything to say about documents like that, that nobody has the courage to put their name on,” he said.
He added that the impeachment draft will not obstruct the Department of Justice or hinder him from doing his job
“I can tell you that there have been people who have been making threats privately and publicly against me for quite some time and I think they should understand by now the Department of Justice is not going to be extorted,” he said.
Rosenstein added: “any threats that people make are not going to affect how we do our job.”
Watch his full response below.
Comey: the rich asshole attacking the FBI hurts Americans' safety
BY JACQUELINE THOMSEN - 05/01/18 02:23 PM EDT
Former FBI Director James Comey said Tuesday that President the rich asshole’s attacks on the FBI are making Americans less safe.
Comey said in an interview with The Associated Press that the rich asshole was undermining public confidence in institutions like the FBI and preventing the agency from being able to do its job.
“You’re not going to be able to see it, but logic tells me that it’s there, which is why it’s so important that we knock it off as a political culture,” he continued.
the rich asshole, who fired Comey last May, has repeatedly attacked the FBI in recent months.
He tweeted last year that the bureau’s reputation was “in tatters — worst in history” and has also lashed out at former FBI officials like Comey and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, whom Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired earlier this year.
Comey has been critical of the rich asshole both in his new book and during his book tour, calling the president "morally unfit" to lead the country.
the rich asshole foolishly draws world’s attention to Mueller’s collusion questions
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the rich asshole foolishly throws gasoline on the fire and makes sure the whole world is watching.
the rich asshole responded to the latest bombshell in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation by highlighting the very things he has most to fear: Mueller’s focus on collusion and the rich asshole’s potential obstruction of the investigation.
On Monday night, The New York Times published a list of questions that Mueller wants to ask the rich asshole.
the rich asshole reacted Tuesday morning as he often does, with some ill-advised tweets.
“So disgraceful that the questions concerning the Russian Witch Hunt were ‘leaked’ to the media,” he wrote. “No questions on Collusion. Oh, I see…you have a made up, phony crime, Collusion, that never existed, and an investigation begun with illegally leaked classified information. Nice!”
Mueller’s questions, however, include over a dozen queries about the campaign’s coordination with the Russians, including the infamous the rich asshole Tower meeting that the rich asshole and his White House tried to cover up.
Mueller also has questions about the rich asshole’s own contacts with Russians and his 2013 trip to Moscow. Examples of these questions include:
· When did you become aware of the rich asshole Tower meeting?
· What involvement did you have in the communication strategy, including the release of some rich asshole Jr.’s emails?
· During a 2013 trip to Russia, what communication and relationships did you have with the Agalarovs and Russian government officials?
The leaked questions also deal heavily with disgraced former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. For example:
· What did you know about phone calls that Mr. Flynn made with the Russian ambassador, Sergey I. Kislyak, in late December 2016?
· What was your reaction to news reports on Jan. 12, 2017, and Feb. 8-9, 2017?
· After the resignations, what efforts were made to reach out to Mr. Flynn about seeking immunity or possible pardon?
the rich asshole also tweeted a nonsensical non-denial about obstruction of justice Tuesday morning: “It would seem very hard to obstruct justice for a crime that never happened! Witch Hunt!”
Several of Mueller’s questions focus on this exact issue of apparent obstruction, including:
· What was the purpose of your calls to Mr. Comey on March 30 and April 11, 2017?
· What did you think and do about Mr. Comey’s May 3, 2017, testimony?
· What did you mean when you told Russian diplomats on May 10, 2017, that firing Mr. Comey had taken the pressure off?
the rich asshole’s reflexive need to lash out on Twitter might make him feel better in the moment. But he has managed to make himself look even guiltier, while promoting the story to a worldwide audience, and highlighting the very detailed web of questions that lay out the case for collusion.
The fact that he couldn’t even get through one tweet without lying — clearly, there are many questions about collusion — further proves that fears he will lie under oath if Mueller does question him are well-founded.
the rich asshole says plans to meet North Korean leader coming in next 'couple of days'
BY JORDAN FABIAN - 05/01/18 02:18 PM EDT
President the rich asshole said Tuesday the location and date of his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will be announced in the next "couple of days."
“We want to get peace,” the rich asshole told reporters in the Oval Office. “We're setting up meetings right now and I think it's probably going to be announced over the next couple of days — location and date.”
A number of locations are reportedly under consideration, but the rich asshole has said he would like the meeting to take place in the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea.
“There's something that I thought was intriguing. I think that some people maybe don't like the look of that and some people like it very much. I threw it out today as an idea,” the rich asshole said of the site on Monday.
Staging the talks at the demilitarized zone would hold symbolic value. Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in recently concluded historic talks there over denuclearization and formally ending the Korean War.
It would also make it easier for Kim to travel. North Korea’s planes reportedly would need to refuel in order to reach possible sites, such as Singapore.
the rich asshole has said the talks would occur in May or early June.
Updated at 2:27 p.m.
After urging guns in schools, the rich asshole OK with gun ban at NRA speech
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the rich asshole is fine with forcing people to lay down their guns when it's about his safety.
For people who insists guns make everyone safer, the rich asshole and the NRA don’t seem to have any problem that firearms are banned when the rich asshole speaks at the radical gun group’s annual convention on Friday.
The hypocrisy comes after the rich asshole teamed up with the NRA in the wake of the Parkland, Florida, gun massacre, and announced that flooding American schools with armed teachers is the best way to keep students safe.
The doomed policy plays off the NRA myth that we’re all safer the more people are armed in America.
But for some reason that’s not put into practice at the NRA convention when the rich asshole’s in town.
NRA members who want to attend the rich asshole’s speech, or Mike Pence’s NRA speech this week, will be forced to leave their guns outside of Houston’s Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.
That’s because the Secret Service will be in charge of the protection, and the Secret Service, obviously, doesn’t allow armed individuals to be around the president or other people it’s charged with protecting.
The Secret Service, in effect, categorically rejects the NRA rhetoric that more guns equals more safety.
The hypocrisy here is rather stunning — America needs to fill its schools with guns in order to protect students, but it makes total sense nobody with a gun is allowed to be in same room as President of the United States.
The NRA this week tries to hide behind the Secret Service in order to escape claims of duplicity. But if the NRA were true to its values, wouldn’t it be demanding that guns be allowed into the rich asshole and Pence speeches? And if not, why doesn’t the group withdraw its invitation?
Why is okay for the President of the United States to expect the safety of a gun-free environment when the NRA remains thoroughly committed to making sure Americans are confronted with gun-carrying citizens at grocery stores, gas stations, churches, and schools across the country?
NRA loud mouths like Dana Loesch preach to their choir that’s there’s a culture war on guns and the government is trying to strip them of their rights. Yet the NRA’s okay with members being forced to lay down their firearms for Pence and the rich asshole speeches.
So much for good guys with guns. (And the rich asshole still won’t honor James Shaw Jr., a good guy from a recent mass shooting.)
the rich asshole’s hypocrisy is blatant too. Why doesn’t he use his Twitter platform to publicly rail against protocols that ban guns at his events? Why doesn’t he categorically insists that when he address a crowd that it must be fill with firearms?
After all, if schools would allegedly be safer with lots of educators walking around with guns, that same logic should hold true for the rich asshole events.
Also, remember that the rich asshole has publicly bragged that if faced with a shooting, he’d be the first one to spring into action and run towards the gun fire.
But forget all that because the rich asshole’s cool with guns being banned at his NRA speech.
Gravest danger to the rich asshole lies in sleeper questions from Mueller
BY JONATHAN TURLEY, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR — 05/01/18 02:00 PM EDT
The leaking of the dozens of questions for President the rich asshole from special counsel Robert Mueller has launched a Beltway version of a whodunit mystery. It is not clear who would benefit from releasing the questions, either to pressure the rich asshole to sit down or to poison the well for such an interview. The fact is that either could be true. The questions are largely predictable but probative. It could be used to show that there is no ambush to pressure the rich asshole or that the questions are too broad to justify a refusal by the rich asshole. The most devious would be a leak from the rich asshole team that could be used to cut off an interview on the basis of the leak itself.
Then there are the questions themselves. While most coverage is focusing on the questions dealing with collusion and obstruction questions, those questions, with a couple exceptions, are fairly predictable. Those are not generally the biggest threats for a suspect or a target. The real danger oftens comes from the seemingly innocuous housekeeping questions. One such question is buried in the middle of the list: “When did you become aware of the rich asshole Tower meeting?” That question could force a dangerous contradiction for the rich asshole if he is the “blocked caller” left unidentified in the recent House Intelligence Committee report.
That remains a big “if,” given the rich asshole’s past self-inflicted wounds from off-the-cuff statements and tweets. Worse yet, the rich asshole does not appear to appreciate or at least recognize the criminal allegations raised against him. In yet another ill-advised tweet, the rich asshole said, “It would seem very hard to obstruct justice for a crime that never happened!” Perhaps, but the rich asshole seems intent on showing that it can be done. It is possible for the president to be accused of obstructing justice into an investigation of a crime that did not occur. Obstruction addresses your conduct with regard to the investigation, not the underlying crime.
the rich asshole’s refusal to heed universal legal advice not to discuss the investigation publicly, or to raise it with figures like James Comey, is the very basis for this allegation. In other words, the rich asshole is building a case against himself tweet by tweet. While I continue to question the basis for a criminal charge on this evidence, the rich asshole’s continued failure to recognize the danger of a self-inflicted wound is disconcerting for any lawyer.
It also is true that one question would seem to suggest Mueller has a particularized interest in the conduct of Paul Manafort. The question asks, “What knowledge did the rich asshole have of any outreach by his presidential campaign, including his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, to Russia about possible assistance to the campaign?” The question is framed as if an attempt by Manafort to get Russian assistance is an established fact. The question clearly contradicts the rich asshole’s tweet that there are “no questions on collusion.”
However, there still remains an absence of a crime raised in that question for the rich asshole and he could likely navigate that line of questions with the assistance of counsel. Moreover, while some questions do deal with the rich asshole business dealings before the election, they notably do not deal with Stormy Daniels and the serious allegations raised by payments made by the rich asshole’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen.
Now to the sleeper question. The recent House Intelligence Committee report was largely well-supported and even included pointed, if somewhat indirect, criticism of the rich asshole’s past statements. However, one element of the minority rebuttal also struck me as equally credible. The Democrats objected that a critical call was never pursued by the majority: some rich asshole Jr.’s phone records show that he received a call from a blocked number between two calls with Emin Agalarov, an Azerbaijani singer and businessman who features greatly in the infamous the rich asshole Tower meeting with Manafort, Jared Kushner and Russians.
Democrats argue that the rich asshole was known to use a blocked number to communicate with his son. The timing of the call strikes me as raising a legitimate question and, absent countervailing facts from the majority, would seem to constitute a glaring omission. It is not clear why the majority did not try to determine the identity of the “blocked caller” with a subpoena. The president and the White House, as well as the rich asshole Jr., have denied that the rich asshole was aware of the meeting.
Mueller likely did not have the same hesitation as the House Intelligence Committee in subpoenaing the identity of the blocked caller. If the rich asshole is the blocked caller, he would have to assume that Mueller already knows the answer to the sleeper question. He would have to admit to the call and either change his position or claim, implausibly, that he and the rich asshole Jr. discussed unrelated subjects.
This is why the greatest danger for the rich asshole lurks not in the sexy questions but in the sleeper questions. This could be a motivation for the leaking of the questions by someone who is unconvinced that the rich asshole could navigate all of these questions without tripping a wire. In the end, “Whodunit?” is less important than “What is to be done?” The president can sit down or bunker down. The problem, however, with a bunker approach is that Mueller does not need much of an opening to pursue the rich asshole. All the special counsel needs is enough to slip a subpoena through.
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. You can follow him on Twitter @JonathanTurley.
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May 1, 2018
Fox News and the rich asshole administration have teamed up to attack and demonize migrant families trying to escape murderous gangs and other life-threatening danger.
Fox News and the rich asshole administration continue to work hand-in-hand to demonize migrants who are escaping threats to their lives in Central America.
Outgoing Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) head Thomas Homan appeared on “Fox and Friends,” the rich asshole’s favorite morning news show and the one from which he has apparently taken many of his policy cues.
Homan declared that the human rights caravan that has made its way through Mexico and is now at the U.S.-Mexico border is “an attack on the sovereignty of this nation.” While admitting that “some” had a credible claim while asking the American government for asylum, Homan quickly asserted that “many are taking advantage of a system with loopholes in it.”
That argument reflects a common claim that the rich asshole, who has openly been racist toward Latinos, has repeatedly made.
Homan went on, along with the Fox hosts, to allege that asylum seekers in the caravan have been “coached” on what to say. Brian Kilmeade asserted that the claims were simply “made up.”
Fox has spent years demonizing immigrants, and the rich asshole has often echoed their baseless allegations. His major campaign plank — an unnecessary wall on the southern border of the U.S. — reflected the hate and xenophobia promoted by Fox News.
And since he has taken over the presidency, the rich asshole has taken his cues on immigration from Fox. He tweeted repeatedly about the caravan as if it were an invasion force.
In reality, the caravan is made up of human beings on their last legs, looking for a better life.
Among the eight people who are part of the caravan process who have begun the asylum process is Gabriela Hernandez, a pregnant mother of two from Honduras. She has two children, ages 6 and 2, who CNN reports “have battled hunger and exhaustion” in their journey to the border.
The woman left Honduras with her young family because her husband abused her. Then she was threatened by gang members looking for the husband, and they threatened to kill her 6-year-old if she didn’t give up her husband within 12 hours.
She told the network, “I don’t know what I’m going to do. I cannot go back to my country.”
These people have been demonized by Fox and the rich asshole administration, attempting to capitalize among racial fears among conservatives in a cynical ploy for ratings and political support.
Fox attacks the caravan, the rich asshole echoes Fox and regurgitates their hateful propaganda, while innocent families try to escape murder, intimidation, and their legitimate fears.
It is a cycle that the right has cynically and callously embraced.
the rich asshole to swear in Pompeo at State Department
BY JORDAN FABIAN - 05/01/18 01:58 PM EDT
President the rich asshole will make his first visit to the State Department on Wednesday to swear in his new top diplomat, Mike Pompeo.
The new secretary of State made the announcement on Tuesday during his first address to the diplomatic corps.
“I talked about getting back our swagger,” Pompeo said. “The United States diplomatic corps needs to be in every corner, every stretch of the world executing missions on behalf of this country, and it is my humble, noble undertaking to help you achieve that.”
the rich asshole’s visit to the State Department could give a morale boost to Foggy Bottom, which grew weary of Pompeo’s predecessor, Rex Tillerson.
The State Department had become an afterthought in the administration under Tillerson, who clashed frequently with the rich asshole.
Pompeo, the former CIA director, has forged a much closer bond with the president.
the rich asshole doctor: My office was raided for saying he uses hair growth drugs
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the rich asshole's personal doctor Harold Bornstein revealed his office was raided by a team of goons who were all working for the rich asshole. The incursion happened after the doctor revealed the rich asshole was on a regimen of hair loss pills.
the rich asshole’s personal physician Dr. Harold Bornstein told NBC News that the rich asshole’s goon squad, while on the U.S. government payroll, raided his offices after he revealed embarrassing information about the rich asshole and his hair.
The bizarre episode increases the similarities between the rich asshole and the failed presidency of Richard Nixon, who employed his own team of goons to break into offices to seize documents.
Bornstein said the “raid” occurred in February 2017. White House aide Keith Schiller, along with a the rich asshole Organization lawyer and a third “large man,” came to his offices.
“It created a lot of chaos,” Bornstein said.
He said the men took the rich asshole’s charts from his offices, along with lab reports with information on his health. They also told the doctor to take down a photo of him and the rich asshole that hung on his wall.
The incursion happened just after a New York Times report revealed that the rich asshole takes “a prostate-related drug to maintain growth of his scalp hair.” The paper indicated, based on interviews with Bornstein, that the rich asshole takes finasteride, marketed under the well-known brand name Propecia.
Notably, at the time of the raid, Schiller was a federal employee. His official title was “Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Oval Office Operations.” He earned an annual salary of $165,000 paid for by American taxpayers while he was engaged in this bizarre activity.
Before that, he was the rich asshole’s personal bodyguard during his years on “The Apprentice.” And on the campaign trail, he worked as the rich asshole’s “body man,” manhandling protesters who interrupted the rich asshole’s racist tirades at rallies.
CNN reported that Schiller was one of the rich asshole’s “most loyal and trusted aides.” Thus it seems unlikely that he mounted the bizarre operation at the offices of the rich asshole’s doctor of his own volition.
In fact, Schiller also accompanied the rich asshole on a 2013 visit to Moscow, and testified that a Russian offered to “send five women” to the rich asshole’s hotel room. Schiller claimed that he turned the offer down on the rich asshole’s behalf.
Schiller has testified to the House Intelligence Committee about the rich asshole campaign’s interactions with Russian operatives. He is also believed to have spoken about the topic with special counsel Robert Mueller. the rich asshole used campaign funds to pay $66,000 to the law firm that represents his loyal aide.
The use of close aides to engage in this type of skulduggery eerily echoes Richard Nixon’s use of the so-called “plumbers.” In one instance, the team broke into the offices of whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg to dig up dirt on his mental state. One of the men, E. Howard Hunt, called it a “covert operation.”
That same team was behind the infamous break-in at Democratic Party headquarters at the Watergate Hotel. The actions of Nixon’s “plumbers,” along with the subsequent cover-up, led to his resignation in shame from the presidency.
Bornstein himself endorsed the comparison. When a CBS News host contacted him, he refused an interview but signed off saying, “Sweetheart, this is Watergate, goodbye!”
the rich asshole surrounds himself with goons and fixers, all working overtime to intimidate the rich asshole critics, pay hush money to his reported mistresses like Stormy Daniels, and apparently to get revenge over blabbing about his hair loss pills.
His administration is emulating the worst of Richard Nixon in a futile attempt to spare the rich asshole embarrassment for his many shortcomings.
17 states sue the rich asshole administration over rolling back vehicle emission standards
BY LYDIA WHEELER - 05/01/18 01:19 PM EDT
California, 16 states and the District of Columbia are suing the rich asshole administration over its decision to roll back vehicle fuel efficiency standards.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) said the Environmental Protection Agency violated the Administrative Procedures Act, which bars against arbitrary and capricious decisions, and violated the Clean Air Act last month when it withdrew the greenhouse gas standard and the related Department of Transportation efficiency standards for model year 2022 through 2025 light-duty vehicles.
Becerra’s office said the federal standard that states are suing to protect was estimated to reduce carbon pollution equivalent to 134 coal power plants burning for a year and to save drivers $1,650 per vehicle.
The states argue the EPA did not give evidence to support its decision to weaken the rule and they are now asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to review its decision.
“The evidence is irrefutable: today’s clean car standards are achievable, science-based and a boon for hardworking American families. But the EPA and Administrator Scott Pruitt refuse to do their job and enforce these standards,” Becerra said in a statement.
“Enough is enough," he continued. "We’re not looking to pick a fight with the rich asshole administration, but when the stakes are this high for our families’ health and our economic prosperity, we have a responsibility to do what is necessary to defend them.”
The EPA said in April that the standards are too restrictive and should be revised.
“Based on our review and analysis of the comments and information submitted, and EPA’s own analysis, the Administrator believes that the current GHG emission standards for MY 2022–2025 light-duty vehicles presents challenges for auto manufacturers due to feasibility and practicability, raises potential concerns related to automobile safety and results in significant additional costs on consumers, especially low-income consumers,” the EPA said in a notice in the Federal Register last month.
In addition to California and D.C., Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Minnesota joined the lawsuit.
In a statement Tuesday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, backed the states.
The rich asshole administration cannot ignore the science and the law," she said. "If the administration continues down this path to weaken the fuel economy standards set in conjunction with California, they’ll be inviting additional lawsuits.
She said a 1,200-page technical analysis found the current standards were working and at a much lower cost for the car manufacturers.
"There simply is no acceptable justification for throwing the analysis out in order to roll back the standards,” she said.
The multistate suit was filed Tuesday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
-Updated 2 p.m.
Sarah Sanders: White House ‘raid’ on the rich asshole’s former doctor is ‘standard operating procedure’
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White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday insisted that President some rich asshole’s former bodyguard was following “standard operating procedure” when he reportedly raided the office of the president’s former doctor.
During Tuesday’s White House briefing, Sanders was asked why former White House staffer Keith Schiller forcibly took President the rich asshole’s records from his former physician, Dr. Harold Bornstein
“As is standard operating procedure, the White House medical unit took possession of the president’s medical records,” Sanders explained, disputing reports that characterized the incident as a “raid.”
One reporter noted that some experts had compared the alleged raid to a “burglary.”
“Once again, it would be standard procedure for the president — a newly elected president’s medical records to be in possession of the White House’s medical unit,” Sanders insisted. “That’s what was taking place. Those records were being transferred over to the White House medical unit as requested by the president.”
Watch the video below from CNN.
the rich asshole’s ex-doctor says the rich asshole associates 'raided' his office
BY BRETT SAMUELS - 05/01/18 12:19 PM EDT
President the rich asshole’s longtime personal doctor in New York says a trio of the rich asshole associates showed up at his office without notice in early 2017 and seized the president’s medical records.
Dr. Harold Bornstein told NBC News that the rich asshole’s bodyguard, Keith Schiller, a lawyer with the rich asshole Organization and a third man came to his office the morning of Feb. 3, 2017. They took lab reports and the rich asshole’s medical charts, he said.
“They must have been here for 25 minutes or 30 minutes. It created a lot of chaos,” Bornstein said, adding that he felt “raped, frightened and sad.”
NBC reported that the rich asshole’s White House physician, Ronny Jackson, wrote a letter authorizing the release of the rich asshole’s records, but Bornstein told the news outlet he was not given a release form to sign.
Bornstein said the incident, which he described as a "raid," took place days after he told The New York Times that the rich asshole takes Propecia, a drug for men with enlarged prostates that helps with hair growth.
the rich asshole's longtime doctor said the president cut ties with him after he made the comments to the Times.
The White House on Tuesday afternoon disputed characterizations that Bornstein was the victim of a "raid" or a "burglary."
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called it “standard operating procedure” for the White House medical unit to obtain a newly elected president’s medical records.
“That was what was taking place, is those records were being transferred over to the White House medical unit, as requested,” Sanders said.
Bornstein told NBC he felt compelled to speak about the “raid” because of the allegations against Jackson, whom the rich asshole nominated to serve as Veterans Affairs (VA) secretary.
Jackson withdrew his nomination last week in the face of mounting allegations of improper behavior.
Jackson has been accused of overprescribing medication, drinking on the job and creating a hostile work environment. He has denied the allegations.
“This is like a celebration for me,” said Bornstein, who had previously expressed a desire to serve as White House physician.
Bornstein also made headlines during the 2016 presidential campaign when he declared the rich asshole would be "the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency."
--This report was updated at 3:38 p.m.
Sarah Sanders: Raiding the rich asshole’s doctor’s office is ‘standard procedure’
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White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is actually claiming that raiding a doctor's office to seize his patient records is 'standard' for a new president. It definitely is not.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders described the extraordinary incursion that the rich asshole’s personal doctor considered a “raid” on his office by the rich asshole’s operatives as simply “standard procedure.”
Dr. Harold Bornstein recently revealed that the rich asshole’s longtime personal bodyguard Keith Schiller and Alan Garten, chief legal officer for the rich asshole Organization, conducted a “raid” of his offices in February 2017. He said the rich asshole team even went so so far as to instruct him to take down a picture of himself with the rich asshole on the wall.
Bornstein noted that the bizarre episode occurred just days after a story was published revealing that he gave the rich asshole a prescription for the drug Propecia, which is used to prevent hair loss.
Despite Sanders’ description of a “standard procedure,” the doctor said he felt “raped, frightened and sad” after the men barged into his office.
During Tuesday’s daily press briefing, NBC’s Hallie Jackson asked Sanders about the raid.
“Why did Keith Schiller, who was a White House employee at the time, go and take medical records from the president’s personal doctor last year?”
“As is standard operating procedure for a new president,” Sanders said, “the White House medical unit took possession of the president’s medical records.”
Jackson followed up, noting that “it was characterized as a raid” and that “the doctor seemed to be pretty upset about it.”
When another reporter followed up on the question, noting that some are describing it as a “burglary,” Sanders insisted that only “one” not “some” are describing it that way and again defended the raid itself.
“Once again, it would be standard procedure for the president, a newly elected president’s medical records to be in possession by the White House medical unit,” Sanders said, “and that was what was taking place is those records were being transferred over to the White House medical unit as requested.”
Sanders has a habit of dismissing unusual or extraordinary behavior by the rich asshole and his underlings as simply standard behavior or in line with past presidents.
But there is nothing standard about this incident, in which the personal doctor to the president is claiming to feel “raped” by the president’s bodyguard and attorney.
And if it was supposedly conducted on behalf of the White House, as Sanders claims, why was the attorney for the rich asshole’s private business part of it at all?
That isn’t “standard operating procedure,” and Sarah Sanders knows it.
Pruitt's head of security resigns
BY MIRANDA GREEN - 05/01/18 11:14 AM EDT
The head of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt’s security team, who was long credited with validating Pruitt's first-class travel, has resigned.
Pasquale “Nino” Perrotta's last day is Tuesday, according to an EPA source.
Perrotta confirmed to ABC News that he was resigning.
“All of this press is taking a toll on my family. I decided to move on and it's been an honor to serve," he told the network on Tuesday.
The career political official and former Secret Service agent has been under the microscope lately for decisions he’s made as Pruitt’s security chief as well reports that he used his power to influence a number of EPA security contracts.
Pruitt has frequently cited Perrotta as the security official who signed off his first-class travel.
Speaking in front of two House of Representatives committees last week, Pruitt cited his security team for the recommendation that he travel in seats near the front of the plane when he flies for work-related trips. Pruitt said he has since decided to change that policy.
Perrotta has also been linked to concerns about a number of Pruitt’s security contracts, including an April 2017 security sweep in the administrator’s office. The sweep was completed by Edwin Steinmetz, a business partner of Perrotta’s at Sequoia Security Group.
Kevin Chmielewski, a former EPA political aide turned whistleblower, told lawmakers in early April that Perrotta personally chose the Italian security team, and he was friends with them, according to a letter the lawmakers sent to President the rich asshole and Pruitt. Chmielewski said $30,000 was spent on the contract with the Italians.
Chmielewski also told the lawmakers that he returned from a work trip to Japan in February to find his office locked and credentials revoked. Perrotta later called him and said he would personally go to Chmielewski’s home to forcibly retrieve his EPA parking pass. Chmielewski said that he alerted the local police and White House Office of Presidential Personnel.
On news of his departure, Pruitt described Perrotta as selfless and thanked him for his service.
“Nino Perrotta has selflessly served the American people for more than 23 years, beginning his career as a special agent with the United States Secret Service and then serving four EPA Administrators. His hard work and dedication will be missed by all those who worked with him. I want to thank him for his service and wish him the very best in retirement,” Pruitt said in a statement.
Perrotta will give a transcribed interview to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Wednesday, an event first requested by the committee on April 13, according to a committee aide.
The aide said that Perrotta’s resignation will not impact his appearance before the committee.
Last week, the committee, led by Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), received over 1,000 pages of documents in response to their two previous letters sent to Pruitt in April and February, the aide said.
Timothy Cama contributed to this report.
POLITICS
Texas Sues the rich asshole Administration To End DACA
Six other Republican-governed states joined Texas in the suit.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Texas and six other Republican-governed states on Tuesday sued the the rich asshole administration to try to end a program launched by Democratic former President Barack Obama that protects immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children.
The states filed suit in federal court in Texas in the latest twist in an ongoing policy and legal fight over the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that Republican President some rich asshole already has tried to rescind.
the rich asshole said in September he would terminate DACA and end its protections for immigrants sometimes called “Dreamers,” but gave the Republican-controlled Congress until March 6 to replace it. Policy differences between the rich asshole and lawmakers in both parties led to Congress failing to act.
In the meantime, courts ruled that the program can stay in place for now, although new applications will not be accepted.
The program protects around 700,000 young adults, mostly Hispanics, from deportation and gives them work permits for two-year periods, after which they must re-apply.
Texas, joined by Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina and West Virginia, argued in the lawsuit that the Obama administration exceeded its authority by creating the program without congressional action.
“Our lawsuit is about the rule of law, not the wisdom of any particular immigration policy,” Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement.
“Texas has argued for years that the federal executive branch lacks the power to unilaterally grant unlawfully present aliens lawful presence and work authorization,” he added.
The lawsuit asks the judge to wind down DACA, which would prevent any new permits from being issued or renewed but would not cancel current permits.
The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Rolando Olvera, who was appointed by Obama.
The real story on the 40 questions for some rich asshole from special counsel Robert Mueller
Robert Mueller in the Oval Office on July 20, 2012. (Photo by Pete Souza.)
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While President some rich asshole has made it clear that he is not happy about the American people knowing the contents of the questions sent to him by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, commentators are trying to figure out the meaning of both the questions themselves and the fact that they were leaked in the first place.
This article was originally published at Salon
There were nearly 50 questions presented by the special counsel to the rich asshole’s lawyers for the president to answer, according to The New York Times. They included questions about the events leading up to and following the firing of former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn — with a focus on why the rich asshole waited so long to fire Flynn after learning that he had lied to Vice President Mike Pence and why he thought about pardoning him — questions about why the rich asshole had repeatedly met with former FBI Director James Comey, later fired him and even later told certain sources (such as Russian officials and news anchors) that he had done so because of the ongoing Russia investigation — and questions about the rich asshole’s rift with his own attorney general, Jeff Sessions, over the latter’s decision to recuse himself from the Russia probe.
Each of these three lines of inquiry involves crucial matters pertaining to potential obstruction.
Flynn had been harshly scrutinized even before the election for his close connections to Russia and later had to resign after he was revealed to have lied about his conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. the rich asshole’s firing of Comey was controversial because, despite his subsequent claims to the contrary, he had on a number of occasions insisted that Comey was fired because of his actions pertaining to the Russia investigation. This included an interview he gave to journalist Lester Holt and comments he made to Russian officials in which he said he fired Comey to relieve the pressure from the investigation. Finally, the rich asshole and Sessions saw their close friendship disintegrate after the rich asshole blamed the former Alabama senator for recusing himself from the Russia investigation.
Perhaps the most wide-ranging section of questions were those that entailed allegations of collusion between the rich asshole campaign and the Russian government. While the bulk of the previous questions involve possible obstruction by the president, these questions strike at the heart of the rich asshole-Russia scandal — namely, whether the president’s campaign worked with the Russian government in order to defeat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.
Those questions cover the meeting in June 2016 between some rich asshole Jr., Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner with a Kremlin-connected lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya; the nature of the rich asshole’s business relationships with various Russian oligarchs; why the rich asshole took pro-Russia, anti-Ukraine positions during his campaign; whether the rich asshole knew about or was involved in hacking efforts and alleged coordination between Roger Stone and Julian Assange of WikiLeaks fame; and efforts to arrange meetings between the rich asshole and Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as back-channel communications between the rich asshole team and Russia.
The most unexpected question, as Margaret Hartmann of New York Magazine reported, was “What knowledge did you have of any outreach by your campaign, including by Paul Manafort, to Russia about potential assistance to the campaign?” As of yet, there have been no stories alleging that Manafort, who worked as the rich asshole’s campaign manager, directly appealed to the Russian government for help.
Hartmann also noted that there were three prevailing theories as to why the questions were leaked (and most likely by someone either currently or formerly associated with the rich asshole’s team): to convince the rich asshole not to speak with Mueller, to turn the public against the Mueller investigation or to persuade the Republican-controlled Congress that Mueller is getting too close to the president and needs to be stopped. Hartmann concluded by noting:
Of course, it’s possible Mueller’s questions were leaked to accomplish multiple goals. Maybe the plan was to make Hannity even angrier than usual, and let him convince the rich asshole, his House allies, and other Fox News viewers that Mueller can’t be allowed to ask the president to explain himself.
Norm Eisen, the board chair of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and White House special counsel for ethics and government reform under President Barack Obama, took to Twitter to explain the practical legal implications of the leaking of Mueller’s questions.
I helped witnesses decide whether to talk to prosecutors for decades. Now that we know Mueller's questions, I believe that Trump is unlikely ever to answer them unless subpoenaed--and then his answer will be "I take the Fifth." No wonder Dowd quit. nytimes.com/2018/04/30/us/…
Seems like a good night to recirculate our @BrookingsGov paper explaining why a president can be liable for obstruction, & finding that the evidence that Trump committed it was substantial (tho not yet conclusive--that's why Mueller wants an interview). brookings.edu/wp-content/upl…
and our @nytopinion piece summarizing the obstruction case against Trump--we explain the theory that underlies the questions nytimes.com/2018/01/05/opi… twitter.com/NormEisen/stat…
In The New York Times editorial cited by Eisen — which he co-authored with Barry Berke and Noah Bookbinder in January — Eisen reviewed the facts which strongly suggest that the rich asshole had acted with a deliberate intent to impede the investigation into his campaign’s alleged collusion with the Russian government:
Courts have recognized repeatedly that a government official’s clear legal authority to take some action does not immunize that official from prosecution for crimes relating to the exercise of that authority. Judges, sheriffs, police officers, lawyers, elected officials and many others have been prosecuted for obstruction of justice for taking actions that would have been entirely proper and within their lawful authority but for the fact that they were motivated by a corrupt intent to obstruct justice. There is no principled basis for exempting a president from this rule; in our system, no person is above the law, no matter how high the office.
It is unclear whether the rich asshole will agree to answer these questions or meet with Mueller. Although previous reports have indicated that the rich asshole would like to meet with Mueller, many of his advisers have been strongly opposed to the idea. One concern is that the rich asshole’s penchant for embellishment and baseless denials will cause him to commit perjury, whether intentionally or inadvertently. Another concern is that, if the rich asshole did, in fact, engage in improper conduct by either obstructing justice or colluding with Russia (or both), he may accidentally admit to having committed a crime.
“There is no question that these leaks did not come from Mueller’s team, but did come from the rich asshole’s team,” Dan Abrams told George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America. “How do we know that? Because in ‘The New York Times’ article they make it very clear that this came from a list of questions that Mueller’s team read to them. And so the rich asshole’s team created this list that was then leaked by someone outside of the rich asshole’s defense team, but no question it came from the rich asshole’s side.”
Abrams added that there is “no way” the rich asshole’s legal team would want him to sit down and answer those questions, if for no other reason than the president is bound to contradict himself.
Harvard Law Professor Laurence Tribe seemed to share the view that the questions had been leaked by the rich asshole’s own team.
CNN legal analyst Michael Zeldin, who used to work as an assistant to Robert Mueller, also pointed to the wording of the questions as possible proof that they were based on notes taken by the rich asshole’s legal team rather than by Mueller himself.
“Because of the way the questions are written. Lawyers wouldn’t write questions this way, in my estimation. Some of the grammar is not even proper,” Zeldin told CNN. “So, I don’t see this as a list of written questions that Mueller’s office gave to the president. I think these are more notes that the White House has taken and then they have expanded upon the conversation to write out these as questions.”
“The very fact that the questions are out there, my first reaction is that it could be an act of obstruction just to have released these questions,” John Dean, the former White House counsel to President Richard Nixon, told Anderson Cooper. He elaborated that they may have been released “to try to somehow disrupt the flow of information, the tipping off of a witness in advance as to what the questions are going to be.” He also noted, as did Abrams, that these seem to be questions someone wrote down after listening to someone else.
Regardless of the rich asshole administration’s maneuvering, however, most Americans support the Mueller investigation. Recent polls have found that 54 percent of Americans believe Mueller is conducting a fair investigation and 74 percent don’t think the rich asshole should fire the special counsel (according to a Quinnipiac University poll). Another poll taken this month by ABC News/Washington Post found that 69 percent of Americans support Mueller investigating possible collusion between the rich asshole campaign and Russia, 64 percent support Mueller investigating the rich asshole’s business activities and 58 percent support Mueller investigating possible hush money paid by the rich asshole to silence women with whom he allegedly had affairs.
POLITICS
Rosenstein To Republicans: DOJ ‘Will Not Be Extorted’
GOP House members drafted articles of impeachment against him the day before.
WASHINGTON ― Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who has come under withering criticism from President some rich asshole, said Tuesday he doesn’t believe there’s “any threat to the rule of law in America today” and praised the rich asshole for issuing a proclamation commemorating Law Day and the separation of powers.
Rosenstein, at an event at the Newseum in Washington on Tuesday, said the Department of Justice is independent of “inappropriate political considerations” but not independent of the executive branch. He said decisions about individual prosecutions “have to be made without regard to politics.”
He said there is “no doubt” that the Justice Department is both complying with the rule of law and following the administration’s priorities. He declined to discuss his private interactions with the rich asshole, who has regularly criticized Rosenstein publicly.
“I do not talk publicly about my communications with the president,” Rosenstein said, noting that there are DOJ rules about what is inappropriate to discuss with the White House. “I can assure you that we are faithful for those rules.”
Because Attorney General Jeff Sessions has recused himself from inquiries concerning Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, Rosenstein oversees Robert Mueller’s special counsel investigation into the matter and any involvement of the the rich asshole campaign.
At the event, Rosenstein spoke generally about how a special counsel operates, saying that a special counsel is “accountable” to the attorney general.
Asked whether the Justice Department was reconsidering its position that the president of the United States may not be charged, replied only that the department had taken that position.
“I just don’t have anything more to say about it,” Rosenstein said.
On Monday, The Washington Post and other news organizations reported that a group of Republican members of the House drafted articles of impeachment against him. A member of the executive branch other than the president has not been impeached since 1876.
Rosenstein commented on the draft, joking that the Hill “can’t even resist leaking their own drafts.” But he said the DOJ’s work would not be affected by threats.
“I can tell you that there have been people who have been making threats privately and publicly against me for quite some time,” he said. “I think they should understand by now that the Department of Justice is not going to get extorted. We’re going to do what’s required by the rule of law, and any kind of threats that anybody makes are not going to affect the way we do our job.”
the rich asshole has described Rosenstein ― a longtime Republican he nominated ― as a Democrat and said Rosenstein is out to get him. Rosenstein wrote a memo that the White House pointed to as justification for firing FBI Director James Comey, in which Rosenstein critiqued Comey’s handling of the investigation into then–Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
Ryan Reilly is HuffPost’s senior justice reporter, covering the Justice Department, federal law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs. Have a tip? Reach him at ryan.reilly@huffpost.com or on Signal at 202-527-9261.
Mueller's former assistant says grammatical errors prove leaked questions came from the rich asshole
BY BROOKE SEIPEL - 05/01/18 07:55 AM EDT
Michael Zeldin, a CNN legal analyst and former assistant to Robert Mueller, said Tuesday he believes President the rich asshole leaked the list of nearly 50 questions the special counsel allegedly wants to ask the rich asshole.
“I think these are notes taken by the recipients of a conversation with Mueller’s office where he outlined broad topics and these guys wrote down questions that they thought these topics may raise,” Zeldin said on CNN's "New Day."
“Because of the way these questions are written ... lawyers wouldn’t write questions this way, in my estimation. Some of the grammar is not even proper," he continued. "So, I don’t see this as a list of written questions that Mueller’s office gave to the president. I think these are more notes that the White House has taken and then they have expanded upon the conversation to write out these as questions.”
Zeldin worked as special counsel to Mueller in the early 1990s, when he served as the assistant attorney general of the Justice Department's Criminal Division.
His comments come after The New York Times on Monday reported that it had obtained a list of questions Mueller plans to ask the rich asshole as part of the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Some questions focus on the rich asshole's communication with his campaign staffers and Russia, while others discuss Russian hacking during the election and the rich asshole's past business dealings.
the rich asshole early Tuesday morning called the release of the list "disgraceful" and asserted, as he has in the past, that the investigation is a "witch hunt."
“So disgraceful that the questions concerning the Russian Witch Hunt were ‘leaked’ to the media,” the rich asshole said. “No questions on Collusion."
“Oh, I see...you have a made up, phony crime, Collusion, that never existed, and an investigation begun with illegally leaked classified information. Nice!”
A Running List Of Cowards, Courtiers, Strivers And Suck-Ups
Democracy dies in the Washington Hilton.
We will update this list as necessary in perpetuum.
Mike Allen, Axios
Peter Baker, The New York Times
Maria Bartiromo, Fox Business
I've been to the #whcd dinner several times & there was a time when comedy was wholesome & not mean. Unfortunately that has not been the case in the @realDonaldTrump era bc the resist movement decided its cool to go against the leader of the free world. Inappropriate,mean stupid
Mika Brzezinski, MSNBC
Amanda Carpenter, CNN
Yep. Let's get back to "singe but don't burn." Last night was a bonfire. twitter.com/_drew_mccoy_/s…
Kyle Cheney, Politico
Chris Cillizza, CNN
Joe Concha, The Hill
Josh Dawsey, The Washington Post
Lot of critics but she has always been decent and professional to me -- if not entirely forthcoming (and I don't expect any press secretary to be!) twitter.com/maggienyt/stat…
Maggie Haberman, The New York Times
That @PressSec sat and absorbed intense criticism of her physical appearance, her job performance, and so forth, instead of walking out, on national television, was impressive.
Ed Henry, Fox News
Hugh Hewitt, MSNBC
I think @PressSec unflinching gaze at Michelle Wolf was the most interesting thing about the event, which is intended to honor the First Amendment but in fact mocked the values of civil society so thoroughly as to stun even the cynical reporters. The honest ones will admit it.
Abby Huntsman, Fox News
Jonathan Karl, ABC News
Meg Kinnard, The Associated Press
If the #WHCD dinner did anything tonight, it made the chasm between journalists and those who don't trust us, even wider. And those of us based in the red states who work hard every day to prove our objectivity will have to deal with it.
Andrea Mitchell, NBC News
Apology is owed to @PressSec and others grossly insulted ny Michelle Wolf at White House Correspondents Assoc dinner which started with uplifting heartfelt speech by @margarettalev - comedian was worst since Imus insulted Clinton’s
Kelly O’Donnell, NBC News
The spirit of the event had always been jokes that singe but don’t burn. Reporters who work with her daily appreciate that @presssec was there. twitter.com/maggienyt/stat…
Stephanie Ruhle, MSNBC
Calling for a little humanity is a long walk from kissing up
- every LIE delivered from the podium of OUR @WhiteHouse press room should be CALLED OUT & demanded better from
-that doesn’t mean we should double down on the dirty &match middle school jabs w/threats to our democracy
Jake Sherman, Politico
Margaret Talev, Bloomberg
Jon Ward, Yahoo News
I sat there, not laughing and aghast at many of the jokes that took mean spirited personal shots, and knew the routine was a political gift to the Trump admin. twitter.com/mschlapp/statu…
Jeff Zeleny, CNN
Couldn’t agree more. So much important and amazing journalism this year — that should be the focus, when truth matters and is needed more than ever. It was an embarrassment in the room and surely to the audience at home. twitter.com/peterbakernyt/…
the rich asshole team might have obstructed justice even more with latest leak
By
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The botched move only makes things worse for the White House.
Is this what happens when the White House is reduced to hiring the C-team for legal defense?
Rocked by the resignation of his lead criminal defense attorney, the rich asshole recently spent weeks being rejected by would-be legal hires who wanted nothing to do with having the rich asshole as a client.
the rich asshole finally got Rudy Giuliani to come aboard, even though he’s never been a defense attorney and hasn’t practiced courtroom law in decades.
In what some are suggesting may be one of Giuliani’s first acts on the rich asshole’s behalf, dozens of questions that special counsel Robert Mueller allegedly wants to ask the rich asshole in person were leaked to the New York Times.
The questions, which focus on the Russia investigation and potential obstructions of justice, paint a devastating portrait in terms of the legal jeopardy the rich asshole faces on so many fronts.
“This is obviously a very extensive obstruction of justice investigation,” noted CNN analyst Jeffrey Toobin about the leaked questions on Tuesday.
But making them public may have only added to the White House’s woes.
John Dean, Richard Nixon’s former White House counsel, told CNN he thought the move represented an obstruction of justice as an attempt to “try to disrupt the flow of information” or tip off a witness.
“The very fact that the questions are out there, my first reaction, suggesting it could be an act of obstruction to just have released these questions,” Dean said.
There’s a growing consensus that it was the rich asshole’s side the leaked the questions. They may have done it to try to create an image of an investigation that was out of control, allowing the rich asshole to rail against it — which of course he did.
Or it may have been leaked to send a public signal to the rich asshole that the investigation is deadly serious and that he faces enormous legal peril if he agrees to sit down with Mueller.
Publicly, the rich asshole has bragged he has nothing to hide. But most legal analysts think the rich asshole agreeing to answer Mueller’s questions for hours on end would be madness, since the rich asshole has a well-earned reputation as a unstable liar.
the rich asshole’s former defense attorney, John Down, reportedly opposed any effort by the rich asshole to meet with Mueller. Dowd abruptly resigned in March, upset that the rich asshole would not listen to his legal advice.
The Times reports that Dowd quit one week after seeing Mueller’s now-leaked laundry list of questions.
Smart move.
POLITICS
Former the rich asshole Doctor Accuses President’s Lawyer, Bodyguard Of Raiding His Office
Harold Bornstein said “the raid” made him feel “raped, frightened and sad.”
A New York doctor who served as President some rich asshole’s personal physician is alleging that the rich asshole’s lawyer, bodyguard and an unidentified “large man” raided his office for medical records.
Dr. Harold Bornstein tells NBC News that the alleged raid took place in February 2017, just two days after Bornstein told The New York Times he had been prescribing the hair growth medicine Propecia for the rich asshole for years.
Bornstein, a Manhattan-based doctor, told NBC that White House aide Keith Schiller, the rich asshole’s longtime personal bodyguard; Alan Garten, the rich asshole Organization chief legal officer and a third unidentified man raided his home. The trio showed up at Bornstein’s office without notice and took all the president’s medical records.
Bornstein said the incident left him feeling “raped, frightened and sad,” according to NBC News.
“They must have been here for 25 or 30 minutes. It created a lot of chaos,” Bornstein added.
Bornstein said he was never given a HIPAA release form signed by the rich asshole. The confiscation of medical documents without a signed form is a violation of patient privacy law.
A source familiar with the incident told NBC News that then-White House doctor Ronny Jackson wrote a letter to Bornstein requesting the records, but it was unclear if there was a release form attached.
Bornstein said they took the original and only copy of the rich asshole’s charts, including lab reports under the president’s name, as well as those under the pseudonyms the office used for the rich asshole.
Adding insult to injury, the men told Bornstein to take a framed photo of him and the rich asshole off the waiting room wall. It now lies under a stack of papers on Bornstein’s bookshelf.
At least one legal expert thinks the raid was “sort of a burglary” because medical records were taken without proper authorization.
Michael Zeldin, a former special assistant to Robert Mueller, told CNN on Tuesday that the rich asshole should have informed Bornstein that he was changing doctors and needed copies of the medical records sent to the new doctor.
“He may have, under HIPAA or other things, an obligation to retain those files himself,” Zeldin said. “So, in a sense, it’s sort of a burglary. They just sort of took out this stuff without any sort of legal process that authorized them to do that. And it’s a little bit frightening.”
HuffPost reached out to the White House, which did not immediately respond.
But press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said removal of the medical records was “standard procedure” for a newly elected president, according to a tweet from Boston Globe reporter Matt Viser.
Meanwhile, Bornstein still doesn’t understand why the rich asshole was so angry about the Propecia revelations. He added that he told the Times that the rich asshole was also taking drugs for rosacea and cholesterol as well.
“I couldn’t believe anybody was making a big deal out of a drug to grow his hair that seemed to be so important,” Bornstein told NBC News. “And it certainly was not a breach of medical trust to tell somebody they take Propecia to grow their hair. What’s the matter with that?”
Bornstein made the news in 2015 after he issued a four-paragraph letter describing the rich asshole’s health as “astonishingly excellent,” claiming he would be “the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.”
the rich asshole: ‘Disgraceful’ that questions from Russia investigation were ‘leaked’
BY KYLE BALLUCK - 05/01/18 07:14 AM EDT
President the rich asshole in an early morning tweet said it is “disgraceful” that questions Robert Mueller reportedly wants to ask him as part of the special counsel’s Russia investigation were “leaked” to the media.
“So disgraceful that the questions concerning the Russian Witch Hunt were ‘leaked’ to the media,” the rich asshole said.
“No questions on Collusion,” he added.
“Oh, I see...you have a made up, phony crime, Collusion, that never existed, and an investigation begun with illegally leaked classified information. Nice!”
So disgraceful that the questions concerning the Russian Witch Hunt were “leaked” to the media. No questions on Collusion. Oh, I see...you have a made up, phony crime, Collusion, that never existed, and an investigation begun with illegally leaked classified information. Nice!
"It would seem very hard to obstruct justice for a crime that never happened! Witch Hunt!" he said in a later tweet.
It would seem very hard to obstruct justice for a crime that never happened! Witch Hunt!
The questions reportedly include inquiries related to the rich asshole’s business dealings, his relationship with Russia and his communications with ex-staffers who have since been caught up in the probe.
According to the Times, a handful of the questions focus on communications between the rich asshole or his campaign staffers and Russia.
They reportedly touch on the well-known meeting at the rich asshole Tower that involved the rich asshole’s son and a Russian lawyer, as well as whether the president himself discussed sanctions on Russia or meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the campaign.
Mueller, according to the newspaper, also wants to question the rich asshole about his knowledge of “any outreach by your campaign, including by Paul Manafort, to Russia” about “potential assistance.”
Manafort is set to go on trial in the Mueller probe in the coming months, but has not yet been linked publicly to any campaign outreach to Russia.
Another question deals with any knowledge the rich asshole might have had about Russian hacking during the presidential election, the Times reported
During the 2016 campaign, the rich asshole praised WikiLeaks for disseminating hacked emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign, and called on Russia to find her deleted emails from her time as secretary of State.
the rich asshole's decisions to fire former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former FBI Director James Comey are also referenced in the questions obtained by the Times.
--Updated at 7:38 a.m.
POLITICS
Nation’s Top Teachers Confront Betsy DeVos In Private Meeting
Teachers say they left the meeting disappointed and frustrated.
This story has been updated with video from Monday’s meeting and new information about what took place there.
At a roundtable with the nation’s top educators on Monday afternoon, at least one teacher told Education Secretary Betsy DeVos that her favored policies are having a negative effect on public schools, HuffPost has learned. HuffPost has also obtained video of DeVos expressing disapproval of the teachers strikes currently roiling Arizona.
DeVos met privately with more than 50 teachers who had been named 2018 teachers of the year in their states. As part of the discussion, teachers were asked to describe some of the obstacles they face at their jobs and were given the opportunity to ask the education secretary questions.
Jon Hazell, Oklahoma’s teacher of the year, told DeVos that school choice policies are draining traditional public schools of resources in his state. He specifically referenced charter schools and private schools in voucher programs, Hazell told HuffPost. His comment received support from other teachers in the room.
But Hazell, a Republican who voted for President some rich asshole, said he found DeVos’ responses to his concerns unsatisfactory.
DeVos told Hazell that students might be choosing these schools to get out of low-performing public schools, he said.
“I said, ‘You’re the one creating the ‘bad’ schools by taking all the kids that can afford to get out and leaving the kids who can’t behind,’” Hazell said he told DeVos in response. (Hazell said he was not referring to DeVos specifically as creating the “bad” schools but to school choice policies generally.)
The centerpiece of DeVos’ education agenda involves expanding school choice policies. Before entering the White House, she spent years advocating for these programs and pouring money into the cause.
Brian McDaniel, California’s teacher of the year, confirmed Hazell’s version of events. He described the two as nearly engaging in a “verbal sparring session” and said DeVos’ staffers looked eager to take Hazell’s mic away, although they never did. Tara Bordeaux, Texas’ teacher of the year, said Hazell’s line of questioning hit on the concerns of “a lot of educators right now.”
At one point during the event, DeVos talked about how traditional public schools and charter schools should be thought of as parts of the same public school system, a comment that irked educators in the room because the two types of school are managed differently and subject to different rules and regulations. Charter schools are publicly funded but often privately operated. Melissa Romano, Montana’s teacher of the year, and McDaniel said they believed DeVos was including voucher programs in that statement. Voucher programs provide children with publicly funded scholarships to private schools.
“That was a shocker to all the teachers in the room,” Hazell, a science teacher of 35 years, told HuffPost.
For her to say at the ‘expense of children’ was a very profound moment and one I’ll remember forever, because that is so far from what is happening.Melissa Romano, Montana’s teacher of the year
Overall, both Hazell and McDaniel said, DeVos was a friendly, attentive listener who was respectful of the teachers’ opinions. They said teachers also remained respectful in their critiques. However, both said they left the meeting immensely disappointed.
McDaniel, a music teacher, initially had high hopes for the meeting. After he pressed DeVos for more support for music education, she expressed support for the subject and said she would look into providing more backing for the arts.
“If I would have left the room right then and there, that would have been probably the greatest moment of my life as an educator,” McDaniel said. “Things slowly started to erode, though.”
DeVos also expressed opposition to teachers going on strike for more education funding, per video of the meeting obtained by HuffPost. DeVos made her comments after Josh Meibos, Arizona’s teacher of the year, asked her about when striking teachers will be listened to. In response, DeVos told Meibos that she “cannot comment specifically to the Arizona situation,” but that she hopes “adults would take their disagreements and solve them not at the expense of kids and their opportunity to go to school and learn.”
“I’m very hopeful there will be a prompt resolution there,” DeVos can be heard saying in the video. “I hope that we can collectively stay focused on doing what’s right for individual students and supporting parents in that decision-making process as well. And there are many parents that want to have a say in how and where their kids pursue their education, too.”
She continued, “I just hope we’re going to be able to take a step back and look at what’s ultimately right for the kids in the long term.”
DeVos has an intensely fraught relationship with teachers unions, and her family has a long history of working against organized labor.
Meibos had protested last Friday with other Arizona teachers, many of whom are on strike over issues related to education funding and teacher salaries. The idea of his fellow teachers protesting while he was meeting with the U.S. secretary of education weighed on him.
“It was disappointing not to hear language about supporting teachers,” Meibos said. “It didn’t go in that direction.”
Other teachers in the room found DeVos’ response similarly disappointing.
“She basically said that teachers should be teaching and we should be able to solve our problems not at the expense of children,” Romano said. “For her to say at the ‘expense of children’ was a very profound moment and one I’ll remember forever, because that is so far from what is happening.”
DeVos took questions for about 30 minutes. Not all teachers had the opportunity to have questions answered.
Representatives from the Department of Education did not respond to requests for comment. The White House is slated to hold a formal reception for the states’ teachers of the year on Wednesday.
“I think a lot of us were grateful about having the opportunity to speak with the secretary and be in the presence of the Department of Education,” McDaniel said. “However, I left with more questions than answers.”
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