‘I’m still learning all of the facts’: Watch Rudy Giuliani try to backtrack on Judge Jeanine Pirro’s Fox News show
Judge Jeanine Pirro and Rudy Giuliani on Fox News/Screenshot
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President the rich asshole’s new lawyer Rudy Giuliani has only been on the payroll for a few days, and is already upending things with stunning statements such as the disposability of son-in-law Jared Kushner and finally admitting that that president knew his lawyer was paying hush-money to Stormy Daniels.
Meanwhile, Fox News Judge Jeanine Pirro’s Saturday night show is appointment viewing for the president. She uses that platform to pander to his staunchest supporters and lash his enemies while often addressing herself directly to the rich asshole.
Giuliani appeared on Pirro’s show and railed against “that phony” Jim Comey and predicted that the case would be dismissed.
“Every election campaign law expert will tell you,” he said, that the rich asshole and Cohen did not violate election law by paying off a porn star just before the election to avoid the disclosure of embarrassing information. “Even if it was for campaign donation… The president repaid it… The President of the United States did not in any way violate the campaign finance law.”
His argument was that the rich asshole would have paid the hush-money regardless of whether he was running for president, seemingly implying that it was to spare Melania embarrassment.
Giuliani leaned heavily on his creditability as a former prosecutor in the Southern District of New York—especially when it came to bashing Comey.
“I hired that clown,” Giuliani said of Comey.
“Through government misconduct they have tainted the case,” he said. “The only crimes committed here were committed by the government… I wouldn’t be surprised if [Ellis] dismissed this case.”
He made a confusing argument about the difference between the Manafort indictment and the possible upcoming Cohen indictment, and seemed to predict that the president’s Russia-connected former campaign head would flip nearly a year after he was first indicted following a raid of his home.
“Maybe they think Manafort’s somebody they can flip faster,” he said.
Watch the full interview below.
‘There is no question that he will throw Jared under the bus’: Watch author explain why Giuliani statement sent ‘shockwaves’
Emily Jane Fox gives an interview on MSNBC/Screenshot
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Presidential advisers Jared Kushner and Ivanka the rich asshole have been in hiding of late, keeping a profile so low you have to wonder if they may have quietly quit and moved back to New York.
But Rudy Giuliani’s statement about how Ivanka is off-limits but Jared is disposable have put them back in the spotlight.
Reporter Emily Jane Fox of Vanity Fair, who has a book called Born the rich asshole out in June, says Giuliani’s Hannity interview “sent shockwaves through the White House.”
While the “sycophantic comment about Ivanka was kind of typical,” she said, the comment about Jared was “the most revealing thing.”
“In all my reporting for the book and for Vanity Fair, one thing that has come up over and over again is that if it comes to a point where the president may have to chose between himself and his son-in-law there is no question that he would throw Jared under the bus faster than you could really said Jared.”
“Ohhhh, the plot thickens,” said host Joy Reid.
‘He likes that he’s a lightning rod’: Watch Pulitzer-winning analyst explain how the rich asshole is ‘trolling’ America with scandal-ridden EPA boss
EPA boss Scott Pruitt and MSNBC analyst Charlie Savage/Screenshot
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Why hasn’t President the rich asshole fired Scott Pruitt even after his many absurd scandals?
To hear MSNBC analyst Charlie Savage tell it, the rich asshole is enjoying the rage against the corrupt EPA boss.
Savage is a Pulitzer-winning reporter and not given to hyperbole, but his best explanation for what the rich asshole is doing was “trolling.”
“Why is Scott Pruitt still there when in any normal administration of either party he would have been canned five or six scandals ago?” he asked. “So why do they keep this guy there when he’s such a lightening rod? I think the reason is that they like lightning rods. They like someone that the left hates. It’s a trolling gesture.”
the rich asshole operates in a “culture-war environment,” Savage says, and so Pruitt’s unpalatability just reinforces his power.
Watch his full explanation below.
some rich asshole’s best friend has been grilled by Mueller probe: report
some rich asshole and his best friend Tom Barrack/Screenshot
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Tom Barrack is one name you haven’t heard pop up in the Mueller probe—until now.
The New York real estate developer is some rich asshole’s best friend—the two men have partied together, and according to Michael Wolff’s tell-all book Fire and Fury, the rich asshole begged Barrack to join him as Chief of Staff only to be turned down because Barrack didn’t want to untangle his business dealings. “I’m just too rich,” Barrack reportedly said.
Barrack is a close confidant of the president, talking with him frequently on the phone. Barrack is also a believer in the rich asshole’s better angels, having said that we would see “a softer, kinder” the rich asshole after the election.
“He’s one of the kindest, and actually most humble, friends that I’ve had,” Barrack once said. “I have so much respect for him because at this point in his career, wandering into the milieu was not easy, and he’s changed the dialogue of the debate.”
Now, the Associated Press is reporting that the Mueller probe has interviewed Barrack.
“Barrack has rare access and insight into the rich asshole going back decades,” the report says. “Barrack played an integral role in the 2016 campaign as a top fundraiser at a time when many other Republicans were shunning the upstart candidate. Barrack later directed the rich asshole’s inauguration.”
It wasn’t clear what Barrack was asked about.
WATCH: MSNBC segment explodes after Dershowitz calls lawyer Richard Painter ‘un-American and a liar’
Alan Dershowitz and Richard Painter on MSNBC, composite image.
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Harvard Law School professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz was shut down on MSNBC Saturday after launching a bizarre tirade against former chief White House ethics lawyer Richard Painter.
Dershowitz is a prominent defender of President some rich asshole, the original topic of the segment with host David Gura, before it descended into chaos.
While answering a question about Robert Mueller interviewing longtime the rich asshole confidante Tom Barrack, Dershowitz said the special counsel, “has a mixed reputation, when I was in Boston with regard to four innocent people who spent their life and two of them died in jail.”
Painter immediately interrupted Dershowitz.
“That is not true, that’s not true, you can’t say that about him, do not — that is not true professor,” Painter blasted. “That’s a lie, do not assault his reputation, that’s just not true. He’s a good man.”
In response to Painter defending the special counsel, Dershowitz began his tirade of personal attacks.
“Let me talk about your reputation,” Dershowitz began. “He has lied repeatedly about me and other people, the rich asshole supporters.”
“You have no right to go on national television and say things that are false about Robert Mueller,” Painter continued. “It’s not about you.”
“You say I know nothing about Israel,” Dershowitz replied. “You condemned me for that.”
“This has nothing to do with Israel,” Painter shot back. “You lied about Robert Mueller. This has nothing to do with Israel. This has to do with you’re assaulting the reputation of Robert Mueller, a good American.”
Dershowitz then escalated the rhetoric by declaring that the former White House official was un-American.
“He may be, but you’re not, sir!” Dershowitz charged. “You’re a liar and you’ve lied repeatedly about my background and expertise.”
“I didn’t say anything about your background, I said you lied about Robert Mueller’s reputation in Boston,” Painter reminded Dershowitz.
Watch:
Did the dystopian ‘Matrix’ movies predict the rise of the rich asshole?
President some rich asshole (L), actor Laurence Fishburne as 'Morpheus' in The Matrix -- screenshots
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“Welcome to the desert of the real,” Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) ostentatiously tells Neo (Keanu Reeves) in an important scene not quite halfway through “The Matrix,” the groundbreaking 1999 science fiction film written and directed by Lana and Lilly Wachowski. (Who were then known, let us note, as Andy and Larry, the “Wachowski Brothers.”) Neo has of course taken the “red pill” and discovered that what he took to be reality is actually a computer simulation, used by a malignant machine intelligence to enslave the human race.
As most fans of the “Matrix” movies surely know, Morpheus’ expression has both a prehistory and a long-tail legacy. My point here, however, is that “The Matrix” and the currents of postmodern theory and dystopian sci-fi that informed it didn’t just predict the future but also seemingly shaped it.
This story originally appeared at Salon.
We’re all lost in the desert of the real now. We all believe we took the red pill — but how can we be sure it wasn’t a placebo? Many of us, like the treacherous rebel played by Joe Pantoliano in the movie, long to climb back inside the Matrix, where we can live within the comforting illusions of yesteryear. But there’s no door that leads there, and no there on the other side of the nonexistent door.
That phrase comes from an extended metaphor in Jean Baudrillard’s “Simulacra and Simulation,” an influential (if borderline unreadable) work of critical theory that was partly an inspiration for “The Matrix” and partly just a prop. Neo has a copy on his bookshelf early in the film, or at least he appears to: In a joke Baudrillard may or may not have appreciated, the book has actually been hollowed out and used to conceal a disk of illicit data. For that matter, it only exists inside the Matrix — it’s a fake book in a fake universe.
Drawing on a fable by Jorge Luis Borges, Baudrillard suggests that the map of reality (or elaborate simulation) which has been laid on top of reality in the postmodern era is starting to wear thin, and bits of actual reality, barren and desolate, are sticking through it: the desert of the real
That might be a good way to describe the surreal and contradictory era of some rich asshole, the reality-show “billionaire” president who may be broke and whose presidency is a performance with no evident relationship to reality. To use Baudrillard’s terminology, the rich asshole is a “simulacrum,” a symbolic representation of something that never existed in the first place.
In this case that could be literal, like the tyrannical but hilarious boardroom mastermind the rich asshole played on “The Apprentice,” or the Ayn Rand ideal of a benevolent, godlike titan of capitalism. It could also be more of a psychological construct: the rich asshole is like a human container for many varieties of incoherent American rage, fear, lust and longing.
But I continue to believe (or hope) that the rich asshole himself isn’t all that important. Our era conjured him up and thrust him forward, like a particularly gruesome figurehead on the bow of a ship, rather than the other way around. As Salon’s Chauncey DeVega observed this week, the bizarre bromance between the rich asshole and rapper Kanye West is not that difficult to understand once you grasp their essential kinship.
Both are larger-than-life celebrity entertainers with limited talent but considerable cunning, examples of what Baudrillard called “hyperreality” who celebrate all the worst tendencies in American life. While West has remained within the conventional realm of pop culture, the rich asshole understood that politics had been entirely subsumed by pop culture (as Neal Postman and Joan Didion perceived decades ago) and cashed in to the fullest. Why wouldn’t West admire that accomplishment?
I am not suggesting, to be clear, that politics is entirely a meaningless charade or that the rich asshole presidency doesn’t have real (and potentially disastrous) consequences for real people. Government policies still exist, and affect the lives of human beings. Power is still important, and someone is sure to wield it (even if we can’t always tell who that is). Ideology still matters. Furthermore, it’s ludicrous to suggest that the post-structuralist or deconstructionist theorizing of continental philosophers like Baudrillard, Jacques Derrida or Michel Foucault is somehow responsible for the decay of meaning, the collapse of shared reality and the rise of fake news and the rich asshole. That’s almost exactly like blaming an oncologist for causing cancer.
It wasn’t French dudes with weird glasses who built American electoral politics — and presidential elections in particular — around the intentional disappearance of topics like power, policy and ideology, which are only discussed in passing or in fragments. As is well understood by literally everyone, presidential elections have been symbolic or semiotic contests for decades, arguably all the way back to the televised Nixon-Kennedy debates of 1960.
If the rich asshole has any particular political genius, it lies in his perception of how far and how fast that process had evolved by 2016, to the point where it was no longer necessary to attach his outsize persona or his ludicrous rhetoric to any shared set of facts or any shared understanding of reality. Indeed, for the rich asshole’s supporters his embrace of what Baudrillard called the regime of “pure simulacrum” — the fourth and final stage in the disappearance or obsolescence of reality — was profoundly liberating. Amid the 24/7, self-knowing artificiality of consumer capitalism, mass media and the internet, all claims on reality must come with an ironic wink and be delivered in artificial or “hyperreal” terms. Was the rich asshole really going to “build the wall” or “lock her up”? Maybe and maybe not — but that was never the important part.
Of course Hillary Clinton held strategy sessions with consultants where they talked about messaging and symbolism and dissected her wardrobe decisions and all that. For the first woman to become a major-party presidential nominee, such questions were inevitable and always present. (I thought then, and think now, that the night of her nomination in Philadelphia was brilliant theater, even if that convention as a whole possessed a certain fateful cluelessness.) But throughout her campaign, Clinton seemed trapped in what Baudrillard called “the sacramental order” of representation, in which signs and symbols are valuable because they point toward things that are real and profound and true.
I can feel another Salon colleague, Amanda Marcotte, telling me that this speaks to Clinton’s fundamental sincerity and her trust in the decency and intelligence of the American people. Furthermore, it worked, or at least it should have: the rich asshole became president thanks to an antediluvian, anti-democratic quirk in our electoral system, after all. Fair enough! But as Clinton herself discusses in her admirably frank campaign memoir, she realized too late that she was constantly on the defensive against an opponent who had concluded that it didn’t matter whether anything he said was true. She was a lady in a pantsuit, armed with bullet-point lists of policy reforms, fighting in the dark against a shape-shifter who was sometimes Mickey Mouse, sometimes Godzilla and sometimes a brain-eating zombie from “The Walking Dead.”
Clinton got trolled by a master of the craft, in other words, and then the rich asshole’s voters executed a massive troll on the rest of the country and for that matter the world. On that fateful night in November of 2016, I sent Amanda to the Javits Center on the West Side of Manhattan to cover what we both expected would be the victory celebration of our first female president. She told me later that she was grateful I had warned her that it could turn out to be quite a different experience.
I don’t actually remember saying that, but I suppose Amanda came away from that traumatic experience with the germ of her new book, “Troll Nation,” which in some ways aligns with the more highfalutin premise I’m laying out here. She argues that the American conservative movement — after losing on virtually every culture-war issue, and discovering that its economic ideas are massively unpopular — has abandoned any pretense of a positive social vision and descended into pointless negativity and hatred. True believers in supply-side economics or privatizing Social Security are thin on the ground in the rich asshole era, but conservatives of all stripes can unite around “an ideology of pure resentment,” nourished by the delicious nectar of “liberal tears” and fueled by paranoia, conspiracy theory, misogyny and racism.
I think that’s all true. I also think the degeneration of the American right from William F. Buckley Jr.’s “God and Man at Yale” to “Fuck your feelings” — a memorable the rich asshole T-shirt from the 2016 Republican convention — was itself made possible by the epistemological collapse described or predicted by “Simulacra and Simulation” (originally published way back in 1981, when its claims about the demise of reality seemed far-fetched). It’s not like a credible version of conservative politics suddenly became impossible after the social-movement victories of the last 40 years and the rise of diversity. I mean, wasn’t that the dominant current in the Democratic Party between 1992 and 2016? (Yes, I went there.)
Republicans’ descent into trollery, Trumpery and a bi-curious flirtation with fascism gets blamed on all kinds of nebulous factors, including “economic anxiety,” “status threat” and unacknowledged or “dog-whistle” racism. But aren’t those ill-defined disorders just symptoms of the way many Americans have moved beyond what Baudrillard calls the “theology of truth”?
What he means by that is the realm of shared facts that encompasses not just the material world but science, culture and ideology as well. In the age of simulacra, we no longer believe that signs or symbols stand for something real; instead, they become empty containers poised above the abyss, which “dissimulate that there is nothing”:
[T]here is no longer any God to recognize his own, nor any last judgment to separate truth from false, the real from its artificial resurrection, since everything is already dead and risen in advance.
If some rich asshole is the fullest possible expression of the howling emptiness at the heart of the age of simulacra, and could not have become president at any other time, he also points forward toward something else. That would be “the return of the Real” — the moment when the fraying “map,” or simulation, overlaid atop reality finally collapses — which Marxist philosopher Slavoj Žižek (both an ally and a critic of Baudrillard) has suggested everyone in postmodern society both longs for and fears. What we think that returned reality will look like, and whether we will be able to recognize it as reality, is not entirely clear.
That is of course the story of “The Matrix,” which has become a universal cultural touchstone over the last two decades. I’m endlessly fascinated by its immense popularity, at least as metaphor, among white supremacists, neo-Nazis, “men’s rights advocates” and other far-right fringe characters. Their online dens are full of chatter about how and when they were “red-pilled,” which of course means awakening to the true nature of our society and the array of dark forces — feminists, Jews, Muslims, Marxists, urban liberals, black people and, of course, women who won’t go out with them — who for unclear reasons are bent on “white genocide.”
One could respond that this red-pill revelation more closely resembles Hitler’s youthful epiphany about the “Hebrew corrupters” of Europe, as described (and probably concocted) in “Mein Kampf,” or that this is a spectacularly wrong-headed reading of a movie with a blatant radical agenda that was directed by two sisters who used to identify as brothers. One could also say that these dudes have gotten stuck in the second stage of Baudrillard’s “sign economy,” a paranoia-infused “order of maleficence” where social and cultural symbols are understood to conceal evil, hidden layers of deeper meaning.
But from the Alex Jones fan club’s point of view: Of course I would say stuff like that, right? I may think I’m not an agent of the feminazi Matrix, but they’re the ones who have seen the desert of the real.
After its use in “The Matrix,” Morpheus’ actual line was repurposed by Žižek as the title of a 2002 collection of essays written in response to the 9/11 attacks. His argument (greatly simplified) is that those events were simultaneously a shocking instance of the “return of the Real” and a further descent into illusion. Islamic fundamentalism was a false form of opposition to global capitalism, and the terrorist attacks would be viewed by most Westerners as an “effect” in an action movie, and used by Western politicians to clamp down on civil liberties, pursue a state of permanent warfare, and downgrade democracy toward fascism.
I know, right? If those ideas seemed inflammatory 16 years ago, they’re almost depressingly obvious today. Maybe that should remind us that we can never be too sure where the simulation ends and the reality-desert beneath it begins, and that we shouldn’t laugh too hard at white supremacy red-pillers, who may speak for all of us (in a delusional and disturbing key). We are all convinced that we’re awake and unplugged and can feel the hard-packed sand beneath our feet. But our neighbors still appear to be sleeping, and the landscape around us is crowded with goblins.
Doctor on MSNBC suggests the rich asshole physician let president dictate glowing health letter to hide ‘mental instability’
Dr. Corey Hébert on AM Joy -- MSNBC screengrab
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Appearing on MSNBC’s AM Joy, Dr. Corey Hébert — the Chief Executive Officer of Community Health TV — slammed some rich asshole’s personal physician for allowing the president to dictate a letter describing the rich asshole as the “healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency” – then suggested the two were conspiring to hide something.
Speaking with host Joy Reid, Hébert said he was not surprised that the controversial letter — previously attributed to gastroenterologist Harold Bornstein — was inaccurate at best.
“I hate to be this guy and say, ‘America, I told you so,’ but guess what? I told you so,” the doctor quipped. “I mean, let’s just start from the top. We now know what the rich asshole did and Bornstein did. It was unethical, it was morally reprehensible and it flies in the face of democracy. But let’s be very clear: This is not about Democrats and Republicans, it is really about two thing, deceit and hubris — and actually, possibly, mental instability.”
“What they basically did was allow someone to write their own medical record,” he elaborated. “Think about that, who does that? And then use superlative language like you’re the healthiest president that’s ever lived? We all knew that was some rich asshole. The fact that he put this, albeit, weird doctor, in that place constitutes fraud — it really does.”
Hébert later described the reason why the rich asshole has his medical records taken by his bodyguard, Keith Schiller, focusing on the hair-restoring medication Propecia.
“Propecia is to grow hair and also for benign prostatic hyperplasia, which is something that happened to old guys,” he explained. “So you want somebody to think that you are young. You don’t want them thinking you’re losing your hair or that you can’t urinate because your prostate is swollen. So he doesn’t want people to know because he want them to think he’s 45 — but he’s not, in more ways than one.”
You can watch the video below via MSNBC:
Don Jr flayed for celebrating Cinco de Mayo by retweeting racist the rich asshole taco bowl picture
some rich asshole Jr. in an interview with Sean Hannity (Screen capture)
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President some rich asshole’s namesake child made a controversial decision on Saturday to celebrate Cinco de Mayo by reminding the world of one of his father’s most offensive tweets.
some rich asshole, Jr. on Saturday praised what he claimed was “perhaps the greatest tweet of all time,” to remind his Twitter followers of the two-year anniversary of the rich asshole’s taco bowl tribute to Hispanics.
Happy #CincoDeMayo! The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics! facebook.com/DonaldTrump/po…
the rich asshole’s 2016 taco bowl tweet was widely condemned at the time, a fact junior was reminded of after he dredged the issue up.
Here are some of the best responses:
Perhaps the greatest tweet of all time. He’s right though, it’s really good.twitter.com/realdonaldtrum…
You and your dad (.@realDonaldTrump “) are an insult to not only my race but all of them. Does he (or you) even know what Cinco de Mayo is and what it’s about? I’ll tell you one thing for sure, it’s not about no damm taco bowl.
That's strange. You and your Dad are LITERALLY the only ones who've said that. Various critics say your guac is soupy and flavorless, your salsa is the same, your lettuce is wilted - there are no components in this bowl that ANYBODY likes. twitter.com/DonaldJTrumpJr…
This is the dumbest tweet I've ever seen. So because he eats a taco once in a while, with ingredients probably shipped from China, cooked by a chef who's definitely not Hispanic, that taco is suppose to forgive his attacks on minorities everywhere?
Perhaps the greatest tweet of all time. He’s right though, it’s really good.
Junior. No matter how hard you try I’ll always like Ivanka more.
Longtime the rich asshole confidante Tom Barrack questioned by Mueller team over financial matters and Paul Manafort: report
Tom Barrack, a longtime friend and business partner of President some rich asshole, speaking to CNN. Image via screengrab.
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Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators have interviewed billionaire investor Tom Barrack, Jr., the Associated Press reported on Saturday.
Barrack, the CEO of Colony NorthStar, is a close friend of President some rich asshole.
The Associated Press report was based on three sources, who were granted anonymity.
One source said the questioning focused upon former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his deputy, Rick Gates.
A second source said the questioning also included financial matters concerning the campaign, transition and inauguration.
“Barrack has rare access and insight into the rich asshole going back decades, since their days developing real estate,” the A.P. explained. “Barrack played an integral role in the 2016 campaign as a top fundraiser at a time when many other Republicans were shunning the upstart candidate. Barrack later directed the rich asshole’s inauguration.”
The Associated Press added that “few witnesses have as much insight into the president’s lengthy business career and all facets of his campaign and administration as Barrack.”
WATCH: President some rich asshole delivers remarks at Cleveland tax forum
President some rich asshole is in Cleveland on Saturday to speak at a business round table on taxes.
the rich asshole’s address comes a day after he appeared in Dallas to speak to the NRA.
You can watch the video below via YouTube:
What Fresh Hell? the rich asshole’s madness just broke the space-time continuum
some rich asshole (AFP Photo/SAUL LOEB)
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Welcome to another edition of What Fresh Hell?, Raw Story’s roundup of news items that might have become controversies under another regime, but got buried – or were at least under-appreciated – due to the daily firehose of political pratfalls, unhinged tweet storms and other sundry embarrassments coming out of the current White House.
The sheer madness that’s defined the rich asshole era appears to have broken the space-time continuum. The week began with a heated debate about whether a comedian had crossed the line at the White House Correspondent’s dinner when she called White House spox Sarah Huckabee Sanders a liar (mainstream pundits pretended it was a comment about her appearance because they think she’s ugly as sin and were projecting), and that Sunday conversation took place like a decade ago.
Then, in the intervening years – was it Tuesday? – it was revealed that the President of the United States had had a couple of goons raid the offices of his fancy quack doctor, apparently as a punishment for going public with the fact that the rich asshole uses drugs to keep his hair long and silky. Then the quack retaliated by telling CNN that the rich asshole had dictated — that is to say, falsified — the medical report his campaign made public in 2016.
Then Kanye West said slavery was a choice and Ross Douthat pondered the idea of redistributing sex to the “incels,” a group of radical misogynistic weirdos who occasionally go on murder sprees because they hate some imaginary girl named Stacy. Then, later – days or months or perhaps years later – former America mayor Rudy Giuliani went on Fox News and told Sean Hannity about all the potential crimes the regime had committed in order to pay off a porn star who the rich asshole obviously never slept with because that’s fake news. Legal experts were flummoxed, but then we later learned that confessing had been the plan all along, or maybe not.
And all of that occurred before Friday. Time itself has been compressed in order to fit all this bedlam into five days.
So, it was truly a banner week for shiny objects. Let’s take a look at some developments that may not have gotten the attention they deserved as the whole country asked itself, “what the actual fuck?”
*****
This week, we may have also finally reached Peak Scott Pruitt. We talk a lot about the EPA chief here, because Jesus Christ what a grifter that dude is. But there were a couple of new reports that shouldn’t get lost in the shuffle.
We know Pruitt likes to travel first-class, surrounded by bodyguards, on tax-payers’ dime. And this week, The Washington Post reported that, “after taking office last year, Pruitt drew up a list of at least a dozen countries he hoped to visit and urged aides to help him find official reasons to travel.” Then he “enlisted well-connected friends and political allies to help make the trips happen.” Pretty blatant.
Then there was this:
looks like Pruitt got reimbursed from both his campaign and from Oklahoma taxpayers for the same expenses.
it appears he either violated campaign finance law by converting donations to personal use, or he violated ethics law by pocketing taxpayer money. twitter.com/andrewperezdc/…
But wait – there’s more!
Reuters reported that Pruitt’s EPA “granted a financial hardship waiver to an oil refinery owned by billionaire Carl Icahn, a former adviser to President some rich asshole, exempting the Oklahoma facility from requirements under a federal biofuels law.” If you’ll recall, Icahn took a vaguely delineated job as a rich asshole advisor last year, and then quit when it became clear that he had taken the gig with one goal in mind: eliminating biofuel requirements that were hurting his refineries’ bottom lines.
In order to grasp just how brazen this week’s move really is, keep in mind that Icahn is “currently under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department for his role in influencing biofuels policy while serving as the rich asshole’s adviser.”
Now, this kind of corruption is nothing new for Pruitt. Hiroko Tabuchi and Steve Eder reported this week for The New York Times that while Pruitt “has attracted the attention of federal investigators because of his unusual association with lobbyists, including his rental of a condominium last year owned by the wife of a lobbyist with business before the E.P.A.,” back when he was an Oklahoma state Senator he went a step further and “bought a home in the state capital with a registered lobbyist who was pushing for changes to the state’s workers’ compensation rules — changes that Mr. Pruitt championed in the legislature.”
And the cherry on the top may be a story by Elaina Plott at The Atlantic. She reported that a Pruitt press aide named Michael Abboud was so desperate to take the heat off of his sleazy boss that he shopped a damaging story about Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke around to multiple news outlets. Hilariously, he wanted reporters to tell a story about how staffers at Interior were leaking damaging info about the EPA. It’s like projection, but through media cut-outs.
Meanwhile, two of Pruitt’s top henchmen – both of whom have made appearances here at What Fresh hell? In the past – decided to hit the doors before the indictments start rolling in, according to The New York Times.
*****
A story that hasn’t flown under the radar is HUD Secretary Ben Carson’s plan to triple the rent for millions of low-income residents of subsidized housing. This, says Carson, will give “poor people a way out of poverty.” No, we don’t understand that either because we’re not wingnuts.
Less than 10% of the people in public housing are able-bodied adults who don't work. But Ben Carson is proposing letting agencies impose work requirements on them — while also hiking the rent.washingtonpost.com/opinions/carso…
But another report, by WaPo’s Juliet Eilperin, probably hasn’t gotten as much attention as it deserves. She reports that a “once obscure” office in HUD, the Office of Manufactured Housing, has been the target of “an unusually intense lobbying effort, seeking to scale back regulations that they say are hampering an industry that could provide a market-based solution to the affordable housing crisis.”
In the process, the groups are gaining influence with the rich asshole administration officials trying to purge their ranks of holdovers from the previous administration and put their stamp on every part of government, no matter how obscure.The growing clout of the industry came into sharp focus last summer, when a trade group demanded — and got — the ouster of an agency official who favored more regulation of the industry while serving in the Obama administration, and an underling who donated to the former president’s campaign.
Shortly after these lobbyists got government officials removed from their jobs – let that sink in for a moment – “the department kicked off a formal process to reconsider several new federal requirements [on the industry that] the office had advanced over the past two years.” Politicizing the bureaucracy is bad enough, but outsourcing the process to lobbyists for an industry you’re supposed to be regulating is really quite special. Way to drain that swamp.
*****
“Since the fall, the US Department of Justice has been overhauling its manual for federal prosecutors,” reports Zoe Tillman for The Daily Beast. “In: Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ tough-on-crime policies. Out: A section titled ‘Need for Free Press and Public Trial.’ References to the department’s work on racial gerrymandering are gone.”
Of course they are.
*****
Marshal Tweeto’s pick to serve on the Federal Elections Commission, Trey Trainor, “spent years fighting campaign finance disclosure,” according to Salon’s Amanda Marcotte. Because of course he did.
*****
the rich asshole continues to run foreign policy with his own interests in mind. This week, we learned that Ukraine hired a Republican lobbying firm and then stopped cooperating with Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election shortly before the regime approved a sale of missiles to the country.
*****
You may recall how the rich asshole reversed long-standing Middle East policy last year by calling Qatar, a key ally, a state sponsor of terror after Qatar’s adversaries in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates funneled tens of millions of dollars to the rich asshole associate and GOP fundraiser Elliott Broidy. (Brody was the guy who may have paid off a former Playboy model whom he got pregnant, and who then got an abortion, but maybe it was the rich asshole who knocked her up? Doesn’t matter – those the rich asshole-lovin’ Evangelicals wouldn’t care either way.)
Anyway, it’s safe to assume that Qatar will no longer be a wretched shithole country that supports terror because “the government of Qatar bought a $6.5m apartment in one of some rich asshole’s New York towers soon after the dismissal of a lawsuit that tried to stop the president benefiting from such deals.” More details at The Guardian.
*****
Here’s the story that probably should have been splashed across the front pages this week: “Temperatures reported to have cracked 50.2 degrees Celsius (122.3 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday in Nawabshah, located about 127 miles northeast of Karachi,” reported Brian Kahn for Earther. “If confirmed, that could make the measurement not just the hottest ever recorded for April in Pakistan, but the hottest ever reliably recorded for April anywhere on Earth.”
But Nawabshah is hardly the only sweltering locale. A vast area from Eastern Europe to South Asia is under a massive heat dome that’s been building since last week. Heat domes occur when an area of high pressure camps over a region, causing dry air to sink. As it sinks, that air gets compressed and releases heat, leading to sizzling temperatures. Burt also noted that Poltavka, Russia, located on the Kazakhstan border, recorded the warmest April temperature for the Asian portion of Russia when it topped out at 34.8 degrees Celsius (94.6 degrees Celsius) on April 29.The heat dome may also have helped trigger wild weather in the Middle East last week, locking in low pressure that unleashed towering haboobs, huge hail, and deadly flash flooding in the region.The recent eye-popping temperatures in Pakistan fall in line with a growing body of research showing how climate change is making heat waves more common and intense nearly everywhere. This is particularly dire news for what’s already one of the hottest parts of the world. Research published last year, for instance, shows that climate change is adding to the death toll in India by making heat waves worse and “will lead to substantial increases in heat-related mortality” in the coming century.
And on that happy note, have a great week!
MEDIA
Fox News Host Neil Cavuto Taunts Trolls Who Came For Him After the rich asshole Takedown
“No, you shut up!”
Fox News host Neil Cavuto has fired back at the some rich asshole supporters who sent him insulting messages following his Thursday takedown of the president.
Cavuto ended Friday’s episode of “Your World” by reading out a sample of the tweets, Facebook posts and emails he’d received from viewers — some of whom were “clearly ticked off” with him for calling out the rich asshole over his lies the previous evening.
Some posts praised Cavuto’s stance, but most included abusive statements against him. Cavuto, who is one of the few hosts on the conservative network who regularly criticizes the rich asshole, took the meaner messages in his stride, however.
“Do not,” Cavuto replied to someone who told him he “sucked.” “How dare you call me fat, Karen. Didn’t you know the camera adds 20 pounds?” he mockingly replied to an email criticizing his physical appearance.
To end the show, Cavuto explained that just because he didn’t always praise the rich asshole, it didn’t mean he was a “Never the rich asshole.” “I’m not here to provide lessons, just facts,” he added. “Words matter, yes tweets matter.”
McCain family lets White House know the rich asshole not welcome at eventual memorial for ailing senator: report
some rich asshole speaking at CPAC 2011 in Washington, D.C. (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)
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The abrasive personality of President some rich asshole has resulted in the leader of the free world being denied yet another invitation to a major unifying event.
The traditional political rule that politics is left at the door of funerals and weddings no longer applies in the rich asshole era.
On Saturday, The New York Times reported that the White House had been informed that President the rich asshole would not be welcome at the anticipated funeral for Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who has been battling brain cancer.
“His intimates have informed the White House that their current plan for his funeral is for Vice President Mike Pence to attend the service to be held in Washington’s National Cathedral but not President the rich asshole, with whom Mr. McCain has had a rocky relationship,” The Times explained.
This has been a pattern for the embattled White House.
In April, President the rich asshole was not welcome at the funeral of former First Lady Barbara Bush, who was “repelled” by the 45th president. the rich asshole instead spent the day of the service golfing and tweeting.
In December, it was reported that UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s government was worried about negative reactions when the rich asshole would not be invited to the upcoming nuptials between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
the rich asshole Conspired With Foreign Spies To Kill Iran Deal WHILE Serving As President
the rich asshole says he didn’t collude with Russia to interfere in the 2016 election, but how about a foreign spy agency to kill U.S. policy?
The Guardian reports that the rich asshole hired an Israeli private intelligence agency to get dirty on Obama administration officials who helped make the 2015 Iran nuclear deal happen. One of the primary focuses of the “dirty ops” was one of Barack Obama’s top national security advisers, Ben Rhodes, and Colin Kahl, deputy assistant to Obama — the theory being that the deal would be easier to destroy if they could destroy the men and women behind it.
the rich asshole’s aides reportedly contacted the Israeli spies just after The rich asshole’s 2017 visit to Israel where he promised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (an extreme opponent of the deal) that Iran would never possess nuclear weapons.
the rich asshole’s goons also asked the spies to do some digging into journalists covering the Iran deal and to learn why may or may not have been leaking information from the Obama administration about the deal.
At this point, it is unclear how much work the Israeli spies did on the rich asshole’s behalf, but it seems odd that the rich asshole’s people would hire a foreign intelligence agency to do shady work for the sitting President…doesn’t it? Is it too early to talk treason?
You can read the full report here.
Evangelist Franklin Graham defends the rich asshole’s adultery with Stormy Daniels: Extramarital affairs are ‘nobody’s business’
Rev. William Franklin Graham III, the president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA).
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Franklin Graham, the heir to the Rev. Billy Graham empire and legacy, is nothing like his father. Billy Graham preached to millions, and advised eleven presidents, Democrats and Republicans, including President Barack Obama. Graham, by comparison, preaches on Facebook, and has politicized his ministry to the point where it no longer bears any relationship to the Christian Bible.
Graham is one of President some rich asshole’s top defenders – especially on matters of sin: President the rich asshole’s sins.
In January, as the news that President the rich asshole paid porn star Stormy Danielshush money was shaping, Graham urged the American people to believe the rich asshole’s denials that there was no affair – and to do so for the good of the nation.
“He said he didn’t do it. So okay, let’s say he didn’t do it. But we just have to think of our country,” Graham told MSNBC.
“I found the president to be truthful with me,” Graham said, adding, “we just have to give the man the benefit of the doubt.”
“Now did he have an affair with this woman? I have no clue. But I believe at 70 years of age, the president is a much different person today than he was four years ago, five years ago, ten years ago or whatever.”
So, the rich asshole, a proven serial liar, a man who has bragged on tape about sexual assault and about having affairs, deserves “the benefit of the doubt,” because Franklin Graham found him to be “truthful.”
This week, Graham continued his defense of the rich asshole’s sex life.
“I think this thing with Stormy Daniels and so forth is nobody’s business. And we’ve got other business at hand that we need to deal with,” Graham told The Associated Press, as the American Family Association published (via Joe.My.God., video below.)
Graham actually said the rich asshole’s sex life is “nobody’s business.” His paying off a porn star is “nobody’s business.” His affair just months after his youngest son was born is “nobody’s business.”
“I don’t have concern, in a sense, because these things happened many years ago – and there’s such bigger problems in front of us as a nation that we need to be dealing with than other things in his life a long time ago. I think some of these things – that’s for him and his wife to deal with,” Graham insisted.
“I don’t defend those kinds of relationships he had. But the country knew the kind of person he was back then, and they still made the decision to make him the president of the United States,” Graham said, forgetting that 3 million more chose not to make his President.
“I think when the country went after President Clinton, the Republicans, that was a great mistake that should never have happened.”
Really?
Because the Franklin Graham of 2018 sounds very different from the Franklin Graham of 1998.
“Private conduct does have public consequences,” Graham wrote in a 1998 Wall Street Journal op-ed titled, “Clinton’s Sins Aren’t Private.”
“Just look at how many have already been pulled under by the wake of the president’s sin: Mr. Clinton’s wife and daughter, Ms. Lewinsky, her parents, White House staff members, friends and supporters, public officials and an unwitting American public,” Graham wrote.
Does this seem familiar?
He continued, saying, “the God of the Bible says that what one does in private does matter. Mr. Clinton’s months-long extramarital sexual behavior in the Oval Office now concerns him and the rest of the world, not just his immediate family. If he will lie to or mislead his wife and daughter, those with whom he is most intimate, what will prevent him from doing the same to the American public?”
What will prevent him from doing the same to the American public? We already know the answer: nothing.
“A repentant spirit that says, ‘I’m sorry. I was wrong. I won’t do it again. I ask for your forgiveness,’ would go a long way toward personal and national healing,” Graham advises.
Americans should not hold their breath.
Graham even looks to the story of King David of the Bible, ironically saying that Nathan in that story “perhaps” was “God’s special prosecutor.”
It’s doubtful Graham would look upon Robert Mueller in that same light.
Giuliani returned to Fox News for 8 minutes. It was a disaster again.
"The facts I’m still learning... I’m not an expert on the facts yet."
Newly minted the rich asshole attorney Rudy Giuliani went on Hannity last Wednesday and created major problems for his client.
He returned to Fox News and on Thursday morning and made things even worse.
On Friday, he was forced to issue a statement effectively recanting everything he said the previous two days.
By Saturday night he was back on Fox News. Things did not get any better.
Giuliani appeared on one of the rich asshole’s favorite programs, Justice With Judge Jeanine, which airs at 9 p.m.
He admitted that he was returning to national TV even though he is still not fully versed with the facts of the Stormy Daniels case or any other of the rich asshole’s legal issues. “The facts I’m still learning… I’ve been on the case two weeks… I’m not an expert on the facts yet. I’m getting there,” Giuliani said.
It showed. In an interview that lasted less than 8 minutes, he made several significant errors.
Giuliani again addressed the Stormy Daniels case and the $130,000 hush money payment made by the rich asshole’s longtime attorney Michael Cohen to the adult film actress. If the money was intended to influence the campaign, it could violate federal law.
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But Giuliani told Pirro that the donation would be legal “even if it was a campaign donation.” According to Giuliani, it was legal as a campaign donation because “the president reimbursed it fully.”
This, however, is false. While candidates can donate unlimited money to their own campaigns, all campaign donations, and loans, must be reported to the Federal Election Commission (FEC). The failure to report the donation is a violation of federal law. The Stormy Daniels payment has never been reported to the FEC by the rich asshole. If it was a campaign expense the rich asshole broke the law.
At another point, Giuliani says the payment to Stormy Daniels was not a loan but an “expenditure,” which is the word the FEC uses to describe expenses related to a campaign.
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It is also puzzling why Giuliani keeps bringing up the possibility that the donation was intended to influence the campaign. “Imagine if that came out of October 15, 2016, in the middle of the last debate with Hillary Clinton…Cohen made it go away. He did his job,” Giuliani said on Fox & Friends on Thursday morning.
At another point, Giuliani mimicked petting Hillary Clinton as if she was a cat.
Giuliani did not address the critical issue of what the rich asshole knew when, nor was he asked about it.
He will be back on TV, this time on ABC, on Sunday morning.
WATCH: CNN host drops the hammer on the rich asshole apologist Kingston after he accuses Stormy Daniels of blackmail
CNN anchor Victor Blackwell and former Congressman Jack Kingston (R-GA)
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CNN anchor Victor Blackwell shut down former Congressman Jack Kingston (R-GA) for claiming that is is “clear” that adult movie star Stormy Daniels was blackmailing President some rich asshole.
The segment began with Blackwell showing six giant jars of gum balls, to illustrate the 3,001 lies recorded since the rich asshole took office
“He’s averaging more than six lies a day,” Blackwell noted. “Think about it, that’s more than some people wash their hands in a day.”
“One every four hours, on average,” he continued. “That’s two before most folks get to work in the morning.”
“3,001 false statements, misleading claims and downright lies in this administration so far,” Blackwell noted. “Are you proud of that?”
“I’m not proud of it,” admitted Kingston, who was a senior advisor to the rich asshole during the campaign. “[Bill] Clinton probably still holds the lifetime record and I think the American people understand that they’re not going to find a lot of — they’re not going to look at of truth whether it’s from Congress or the White House, unfortunately.”
CNN contributor Maria Cardona did not agree with Kingston ignoring the rich asshole’s credibility deficit.
“This is the pants on fire president that is presiding over a dumpster fire administration,” she charged. “It is bad for democracy, it is bad for the country, it is bad for America’s image overseas.”
Kingston, however, sought to rationalize the rich asshole’s lies by claiming Stormy Daniels was blackmailing the rich asshole. Kingston offered no evidence for his allegation.
“I know that public figures, office holders and celebrities as some rich asshole was before he became a politician, often get this soft blackmail from people,” Kingston claimed. “Clearly that’s what Stormy Daniels was doing.”
“How is that clear?” Blackwell cut in. “Jack, hold on. Wait a minute Jack.”
“Awww, poor Jack,” Cardona said as she put her hand on her heart.
Watch:
the rich asshole callously plays games with families of hostages: ‘Stay tuned!’
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Like a deranged showman, the rich asshole is turning hostage negotiations with North Korea into a high-stakes reality show.
As the White House works to secure the release of three Americans held hostage by North Korea, the rich asshole is using the negotiations to draw attention to himself in what has come to resemble a high-stakes reality show.
For weeks, the rich asshole has gleefully floated the possibility of a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, dropping hints about where and when the “big event” might take place and hyping it like a salesman.
At one point, he got so caught up in his own hype that he mixed up the two Koreas.
This week, in the latest installment of the reality show presidency, the rich asshole casually brought up the three American prisoners who are being held in a North Korean labor camp, using their fate as a teaser.
In a tweet posted Thursday, the rich asshole first criticized “previous administrations” for not securing the release of the prisoners, apparently hoping that no one would notice that only one of the three men was detained during the Obama administration. The other two were detained on the rich asshole’s watch.
Then, the rich asshole floated the idea that the situation could soon change, writing, “Stay tuned!”
On Friday, he repeated his prediction as he spoke to reporters outside of the White House.
In what sounded like a teaser for a TV show, the rich asshole said the administration had set a time and place for the summit with North Korea, but refused to provide the information to reporters.
“We’ll be announcing it soon,” he said. (Earlier this week, the rich asshole said he hoped to hold the “big event” in the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea, saying it would offer the right backdrop for a “great celebration.”)
Turning his attention to three Americans detained in North Korea, the rich asshole told reporters on the South Lawn that “a lot of things have already happened with respect to the hostages.”
“I think you’re going to see very good things. As I said yesterday, stay tuned,” he added, referring to his tweet.
Throughout all of this, the rich asshole has not once signaled that he has any concept of the gravity of the situation. The lives of the hostages, and of their families, are all part of the show.
But according to former State Department official Christopher Hill, who led the U.S. delegation during talks with North Korea under the George W. Bush administration, the rich asshole’s approach is not just insensitive — it’s dangerous.
“I understand they take pride in doing things differently,” Hill told the Washington Post, speaking about the rich asshole’s team. “But this is serious business — people’s lives are at stake. It just takes a little bit of discipline.”
But that’s the problem. the rich asshole doesn’t know how to show discipline — he only knows how to be a showman.
How the FBI raid of Michael Cohen’s office changed everything
After April 9, nothing was the same.
For months, Michael Cohen — President some rich asshole’s personal attorney and soi disant “fixer” — has stuck with a consistent, if implausible, story about why he paid $130,000 in hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Cohen says that he paid Daniels $130,000 out of his own pocket, without consulting the rich asshole. He further insists that he did not make this payoff because the Daniels’ claims were true, but rather to protect the rich asshole’s family. Finally, according to his story, the timing of the payment, just days before the election, was entirely coincidental — Cohen would have paid it at any time, he says.
This was the statement Cohen released in February:
In a private transaction in 2016, I used my own personal funds to facilitate a payment of $130,000 to Ms. Stephanie Clifford. I do not plan to provide any further comment on the FEC matter or regarding Ms. Clifford. Just because something isn’t true doesn’t mean that it can’t cause you harm or damage. I will always protect some rich asshole.
On March 29, in an appearance on Megyn Kelly, Michael Cohen’s lawyer David Schwartz added an important detail to this narrative. Schwartz adamantly maintained that the rich asshole never reimbursed Cohen for the payment.
On April 5, whilst traveling aboard Air Force One, the rich asshole was asked if he knew anything about the payment. He said no, he did not.
Four days later, on April 9, Michael Cohen’s home, hotel room, and office were raided by the FBI. Among the information sought were records related to the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels. (The records are currently being examined by a special master appointed by a federal judge to screen for documents protected by attorney-client privilege.)
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Significantly, in order to obtain the records in this fashion, the FBI would have had to establish that there was probable cause to believe that they contained evidence of a crime. But one way or another, the authorities would know the real story about the Stormy Daniels payment, it’s purpose, and the rich asshole’s involvement.
That changed everything.
the rich asshole immediately began distancing himself from Cohen, describing him as “a businessman for his own account” and suggesting that if he testified against the rich asshole, he would be just making things up.
....non-existent “sources” and a drunk/drugged up loser who hates Michael, a fine person with a wonderful family. Michael is a businessman for his own account/lawyer who I have always liked & respected. Most people will flip if the Government lets them out of trouble, even if....
....it means lying or making up stories. Sorry, I don’t see Michael doing that despite the horrible Witch Hunt and the dishonest media!
the rich asshole also shook up his legal team — yet again — installing Rudy Giuliani as his lead attorney. Giuliani was ostensibly brought on board to help the president manage the Russia investigation, but on May 2, in his first major media appearance on Sean Hannity’s eponymous Fox News show, he immediately started talking about Stormy Daniels.
It was during that appearance that Giuliani revealed, for the first time, that the rich asshole had reimbursed Cohen for the payment in installments over the course of 2017. This directly contradicted what Cohen’s lawyer said in March.
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The next morning, Giuliani appeared on Fox & Friends and said that Cohen had done “his job.” “Imagine if that came out of October 15, 2016, in the middle of the last debate with Hillary Clinton,” said Giuliani, “Cohen made it go away.”
Giuliani’s story also suggested, of course, that the rich asshole had long known about the payment and its purpose. But Giuliani concocted another story, to try to explain the discrepancy. He said he informed the rich asshole about the payments just a few days ago:
Giuliani said he made @realDonaldTrump aware of paperwork that showed payments were actually reimbursements for Stormy. Trump replied: ‘Oh my goodness, I guess that's what it was for,’” Giuliani said.
That statement remained operative for only a few hours. the rich asshole appeared in front of reporters on the morning of May 4 and announced that Giuliani didn’t know what he was talking about and would issue a statement soon.
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A few hours later Giuliani issued a statement in which he said his comments “were not describing my understanding of the president’s knowledge.”
JUST IN: Rudy Giuliani issues statement "intended to clarify the views I expressed over the past few days." abcn.ws/2rlTDuv
Of course, that’s exactly what Giuliani was doing. But he is essentially trying to withdraw all his comments from the previous 48 hours.
What neither Giuliani nor the rich asshole has clarified is what the rich asshole knew and when he knew it. The old lies have replaced by nothing.
the rich asshole finds himself in a bind. Since the raid, lies are no longer an option. And the truth appears to be far too damaging to admit.
Here’s is why the report that Michael Cohen received a $774,000 slush-fund windfall will interest investigators
President some rich asshole has reacted furiously to an FBI raid on the home and office of his longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File / MARK WILSON, NICHOLAS KAMM
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Late Friday evening, the Wall Street Journal reported that President some rich asshole’s attorney Michael Cohen secured $774,000 worth of cash as the 2016 campaign progressed — funding that is likely tied to the hush money payment made to Stephanie Clifford. Cohen has said he paid Clifford, a porn star better known as Stormy Daniels, $130,000 just days before the election, which some argue raises serious questions about campaign finance laws.
The Journal reports that Cohen obtained this credit “as he sought to fix problems for his boss,” first in December 2015 and then again in February 2016 — a point at which it was becoming clear that the rich asshole was a serious contender for the presidency. If, as seems possible, Cohen planned to use this money to help the rich asshole’s electoral chances through payments to people like Clifford, it could potentially be seen as an effort to skirt campaign spending and reporting regulations.
Gloria Borger, a chief political analyst for CNN, explained to Anderson Cooper that what she found most interesting about the reporting is “the money, that Cohen started receiving, was around February 2016… was when his fortunes and his poll numbers started to rise as a presidential candidate. We know that he won the New Hampshire primary on Feb. 9, for example. He became, suddenly, a serious candidate out of all these 17 candidates, and nobody was dismissing him anymore.”
She continued: “I think you have to ask the question about why anybody would need access to the cash, and I think they’re going to be looking into, according to the Wall Street Journal, you know, bank fraud, about whether Cohen was misstating the reasons he needed it.”
Watch the clip below:
the rich asshole touts border efforts, poll numbers in freewheeling tax cuts talk
BY JORDAN FABIAN - 05/05/18 02:14 PM EDT
CLEVELAND — President the rich asshole railed against the nation's immigration laws and sought to boost a Republican Senate candidate on Saturday during a freewheeling speech in a state he carried in the 2016 election.
the rich asshole traveled to Cleveland for an event that was intended to boost the GOP tax law, but he quickly veered into other topics — including upcoming nuclear talks with North Korea and his own poll numbers — in remarks that seemed targeted at his base in the industrial Midwest.
During a particularly pointed part of his remarks, the president slammed what he called "catch and release" immigration laws, blaming them on Democrats, and suggested that "we may have to close up our country to get this straight."
"It’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen," he told an audience of several hundred supporters inside a dimly lit downtown theater.
"You’ve seen catch and release ... It's a Democrat rule — Sherrod Brown," the rich asshole said, referring to Ohio's incumbent Democratic senator.
Rep. Jim Renacci (Ohio) — the GOP Senate candidate hoping to unseat Brown later this year — sat on stage next to the rich asshole, who called him "really terrific."
Even though Saturday's appearance was billed as an official event, rather than a political one, the president made the case that Renacci could help him pass tougher immigration laws.
"You're going to be a fantastic senator," the rich asshole said. "We need your vote."
In addition to tough talk on immigration, the rich asshole also hammered home his message on trade, saying he will rework international trade deals if they cannot be renegotiated.
He also touted the GOP tax law, with one of the participants at the event — a blind woman who is married to a steel worker who lost his job — speaking about how they were helped by the tax bill.
During the event, the president took multiple shots at Brown, saying he "does not think the way we think" on immigration, health care and other issues.
The president argued the GOP will defy predictions and "do very well in the midterms," in part because he believes his poll numbers are higher than most mainstream surveys show.
“The poll numbers are pretty good," the rich asshole said. "They actually say that I'm popular. Can you believe it? Of course, the fake news. Fake news. You saw the poll come out that I am above [former President] Obama.”
Before the tax event, the rich asshole attended a fundraiser that raised $3 million for the Republican National Committee. He spoke to 250 people in an event that was closed to the press.
Qatar paid $6.5 million for a condo in the rich asshole World Tower
Qataris splashed the cash just weeks after a judge dismissed a separate the rich asshole-related emoluments case.
Call it impeccable timing: A federal judge in January tossed a lawsuit claiming some rich asshole was in violation of a constitutional ban against using the presidency for financial gain from foreign governments. Less than a month later, Qatar shelled out a cool $6.5 million for new digs in the the rich asshole World Tower in Manhattan.
The January 17 real estate transaction focuses new attention on what the aforementioned lawsuit sought to prevent: violations of the constitution’s emoluments clause.
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According to the Guardian’s Jon Swaine and Julian Borger, who first reported the story, Qatari officials purchased the pricey condominium for the purpose of housing their diplomatic staff. In an email to the Guardian, the Qatari mission to the United Nations insisted that the property was “purchased due to its location, nothing more.” the rich asshole World Tower is mere steps away from the United Nations’ Manhattan headquarters.
The purchase was made mere weeks after U.S. District Court Judge George Daniels dismissed two lawsuits which sought to make the case that the rich asshole was in breach of his obligations under the emoluments clause. As one might imagine, the condo purchase, coming so soon on the heels of that ruling, has rankled ethics watchdogs anew. Per the Guardian:
Qatar’s new acquisition at the rich asshole World Tower, which is in Manhattan’s Midtown East section, coincided with an intense lobbying campaign in Washington by the Qatari government amid a regional crisis that has pitted the Gulf monarchy against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Jordan Libowitz, a spokesman for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), which brought the lawsuit against the rich asshole, said: “This plays to the central concern with the president’s refusal to divest from his holdings – that he would be susceptible to influence from foreign countries invested in his businesses.”
the rich asshole’s business empire — itself a sprawling collection of real estate and business holdings — has long been of concern to the cops on the government ethics beat.
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While the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) recommended that the president fully divest from his assets and place those proceeds into a blind trust, the OGE has no enforcement power to impose this financial arrangement on the rich asshole. The president has insisted that leaving his business concerns in the hands of his sons, and then promising to not discuss matters pertaining to his businesses with them while in office, provides sufficient protection against the possibility that he may be influenced by foreign governments.
Those who are more well-versed in the law regard this as a fig leaf at best, and they say a president doesn’t have to do something as outsize as selling a $6.5 million condominium to violate the emoluments clause.
In December of 2016, former Obama ethics adviser Norm Eisen, his Bush-era counterpart Richard Painter, and Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe published a paper on the matter for the Brookings Institution, titled, “The Emoluments Clause: Its Text, Meaning, and Application to some rich asshole.” In that paper, they lay out a fairly succinct assessment of the matter:
Wholly apart from any quid pro quo arrangements of demonstrable bribes or payoffs, the Emoluments Clause will be violated whenever a foreign diplomat stays in a the rich asshole hotel or hosts a reception in one; whenever foreign-owned banks offer loans to some rich asshole’s businesses or pay rent for office space in his buildings; whenever projects are jump-started or expedited or licensed or otherwise advantaged because some rich asshole is associated with them; whenever foreign prosecutors and regulators treat a the rich asshole entity favorably; and whenever the the rich asshole Organization makes a profit on a business transaction with any foreign state or foreign-owned entity.
As Politico reported in December 2017, when Judge Daniels made his decision to dismiss the pair of emoluments-related cases before him, he reasoned that the plaintiffs in those cases had “failed to show injury directly related to the use of the rich asshole’s properties by foreign officials and governments.” He went on to opine that the United States Congress had the principal duty to oversee emoluments cases, not the courts.” As Daniels wrote in his ruling:
“As the only political branch with the power to consent to violations of the Foreign Emoluments Clause, Congress is the appropriate body to determine whether, and to what extent, Defendant’s conduct unlawfully infringes on that power,” the judge wrote. “If Congress determines that an infringement has occurred, it is up to Congress to decide whether to challenge or acquiesce to Defendant’s conduct. As such, this case presents a non-justiciable political question.”
Nevertheless, another emoluments case brought by the District of Columbia and the state of Maryland is currently working its way through the courts. On March 28, U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messite ruled that the plaintiffs had the standing to sue the president, and that the suit may proceed.
MSNBC guest: White evangelical woman may ‘sit out’ midterms over disgust with the rich asshole
President some rich asshole and Jerry Falwell, Jr. at Liberty University. White House photo.
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President some rich asshole’s base of support among evangelical Christians may finally be weakening as political news continues to be dominated by the latest revelations about hush payments, lying, and extra-marital affairs.
During a Saturday interview with MSNBC’s Alex Witt, Washington Post identity politics reporter Eugene Scott explained how a small erosion in Republicans’ support from evangelicals could play a major role in the 2018 midterm elections.
“Eugene, I want to get to something you’ve written about, the white evangelicals, their unwavering support for the president despite the sex scandals, despite the ethics issues, but you’ve written about a shift in tune there,” Witt said. “What’s behind it?”
“We often look at some groups that are on the rich asshole train like white evangelicals and white working class voters and Republicans and say, ‘they’re really on board and are never getting off.’ But, incrementally we’re seeing some polling numbers drop,” Scott reported.
“Specifically when it comes to white evangelicals, support among white evangelical women for the rich asshole is going down,” he continued.
“And this really does matter — even if not so much for the rich asshole — but for the GOP as a whole, because as we head into midterms this fall, voters are going to ask themselves, do they want to put people in office and send them to Washington who are going to reinforce everything about the the rich asshole agenda that they find troublesome or are they going to want to sit out?” Scott noted.
“Not necessarily vote for a Democrat, but are they just going to want to sit out?” he wondered. “We have to remember that when it comes to these tribes, small percentage points really do matter.”
In his Washington Post analysis, Scott went in-depth on the rich asshole’s increasingly precarious relationship with evangelicals.
“As the term of the man Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. called evangelicals’ ‘dream president’ marches on, so do the sex scandals and other ethics issues,” Scott noted. “And evangelicals concerned about their cultural significance beyond the the rich asshole administration are rethinking their affiliation with the president.”
“Republicans do not risk losing white evangelicals as a whole to Democrats,” he explained. “But every percentage point counts, and considering how close recent congressional races have been, the rich asshole cannot really afford for any of his supporters to stay home.”
Watch:
After 48 hour timeout, the rich asshole sends Giuliani out for another train wreck
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Rudy Giuliani created a mess for some rich asshole in multiple media appearances. After 48 hours off the air, Giuliani will return to Fox to further endanger the rich asshole's presidency.
Rudy Giuliani has been an absolute disaster for the rich asshole since he was hired as his attorney and began arguing for him on television.
Now, after a 48-hour time out, Giuliani is set to once again make the rounds on the rich asshole’s behalf.
He is scheduled to appear on Fox News Saturday night with Judge Jeanine Pirro, who is infamous for her loud pro-the rich asshole rants. He’s also slated to appear the next morning on ABC’s “This Week.”
It is unclear what sort of mess Giuliani intends to create with his latest appearances. But he will have to try hard to top himself.
In what was reportedly a strategy cooked up between the rich asshole and Giuliani without consulting lawyers or other White House figures, Giuliani appeared on multiple Fox News programs.
Speaking to Sean Hannity, he admitted that the rich asshole arranged for the payment of $130,000 to secure the silence of porn star Stormy Daniels about her affair with the rich asshole.
The admission launched the possibility of multiple crimes committed on the rich asshole’s behalf.
His loose tongue also showed that the rich asshole has once again been lying, when he claimed that he knew nothing of the transaction.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders worriedly shut down questions after Giuliani blurted out the details, then held a cringe-inducing press briefing where she had to repeatedly deny knowing about the lies.
the rich asshole himself had to try to clean up what Giuliani had done, asserting that his newness to the job was what caused him to confirm so many of the rich asshole’s secrets.
After that, Giuliani issued a nonsensical statement that tried to put the genie back in the bottle and absolve the rich asshole of his role in the hush-money scheme.
But no one is buying it.
So far, Giuliani has outlasted the 10-day tenure of fired communications director Anthony Scaramucci. But if he has another week like his most recent one, he probably shouldn’t bother putting any pens in his desk drawer.
‘I have no choice but to go on InfoWars’: Ex-the rich asshole advisor says he is forced to ‘beg’ for money to cover $1 million legal tab
Info Wars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
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A longtime political advisor to some rich asshole says he is facing $1 million in legal fees.
Roger Stone complained about the investigations into his conduct during a Friday interview with Fox News personality Tucker Carlson.
In the wide-ranging interview, Stone also lashed out at congressional investigators, slamming “surfer boy” Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) and claiming that CNBC got “bull-schiffed” by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA).
Both Swalwell and Schiff are former prosecutors who serve on the House Intelligence Committee.
“What does this all cost you?” Carlson asked. “What does this investigation cost you?”
Stone began listing all of the investigations he is facing, including complaints about a “lawsuit in Miami from a Chinaman” that caused even the Fox News host to wince.
“I could be looking at legal fees of up to $1 million dollars,” he predicted.
“I have no choice to go on Infowars, where I do a daily show, to come here, and to beg for money,” Stone claimed.
“You better be a Russian agent, I mean it,” Carlson replied. “I hope you’re a Russian agent, otherwise this really is a miscarriage and an assault on the civil liberties of all of us.”
Watch:
White House blasts China over Taiwan directive to airlines: 'This is Orwellian nonsense'
BY MAX GREENWOOD - 05/05/18 01:30 PM EDT
The White House lashed out at China on Saturday after the country's aviation authority sent letters to several major airlines scolding them for referring to Taiwan as a country.
"This is Orwellian nonsense and part of a growing trend by the Chinese Communist Party to impose its political views on American citizens and private companies," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement.
Sanders also vowed that "China’s efforts to export its censorship and political correctness to Americans and the rest of the free world will be resisted."
"The United States strongly objects to China’s attempts to compel private firms to use specific language of a political nature in their publicly available content," she said.
The reprimand from the White House came after the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) sent warnings to three dozen foreign airlines admonishing them for how Taiwan, Macau and Hong Kong are referred to on their websites.
Taiwan, which sees itself as a sovereign state with its own government, is considered by China as a rogue province and an inseparable part of its territory.
Hong Kong and Macau are special administrative regions of China, and have a certain level of autonomy from Beijing.
Among the airlines targeted by China's warnings were American and United, whose websites listed Taiwan on its own, without any reference to China, according to a report by Foreign Policy.
The Australian airline Qantas also received a letter, because its website lists Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau as countries, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Earlier this year, the CAAC publicly rebuked Delta because it had listed Taiwan and Tibet as separate countries. Tibet is also considered by Beijing to be an autonomous region of China, though international tensions remain over its political status.
WATCH: Parkland survivor Kasky decimates ‘professional liar’ the rich asshole’s ‘dog and pony show’ speech to the NRA
Cameron Kasky on CNN -- screenshot
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Appearing on CNN’s New Day with host Christi Paul, Parkland survivor Cameron Kasky dropped the hammer on President some rich asshole’s speech to the NRA in Dallas on Friday, calling the president a “professional liar” preaching only to true believers.
Asked about the rich asshole’s speech — where the president threw out red meat about immigrants and Democrats to the conservative faithful — Kasky was brutal in his comments.
“He’s a professional liar that will say anything to appease whatever crowd he’s at,” the senior attending Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida explained. “If he’s in front of families he might say something in support of common sense gun reform. But then when he’s at the NRA, he’ll say something to get a big cheer.”
“The NRA convention is like Comic-Con, you only really get the die-hard fans,” he continued. “The average American NRA members, who perhaps only got a membership to the NRA free with the purchase of a handgun, they’re not showing up and they’re not holding the rich asshole accountable for what he needs to talk about. They aren’t going to this dog and pony show that the rich asshole and Pence are going to.”
“It’s a celebration really and I hope they’re having fun this year,” he added. “But the average members of the NRA, they don’t agree with the rich asshole’s stance on guns. They don’t agree with NRA board member Ted Nugent saying that Democrats and liberals need to be shot in the street like dogs. This is all a spectacle; the rich asshole trying to appeal to a crowd of people who really, really like weapons that shoot bullets fast.”
You can watch the video below via CNN:
Mothers of murder victims condemn the rich asshole for exploiting their dead children
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At the NRA's annual convention, the rich asshole used murdered children as an example to push for more guns. The mothers of those children slammed him for his 'offensive' remarks.
the rich asshole’s decision to use murder victims to push the NRA’s agenda drew immediate backlash. Mothers of those victims in the United Kingdom quickly and vehemently rebuked his callous remarks.
While speaking at the NRA’s annual convention, the rich asshole attacked stringent anti-gun laws in the United Kingdom.
“They don’t have guns,” he said. “They have knives and instead there’s blood all over the floors of this hospital.”
He claimed it was “as bad as a military war zone hospital … knives, knives, knives.” And he said that while “London hasn’t been used to that,” the city is “getting used to that. It’s pretty tough.”
The remarks referenced a BBC story about Royal London Hospital, aggregated by the right-wing Daily Mail, in which one surgeon’s comments likening the facility to a war zone in Afghanistan were amplified.
But the surgeon, Dr. Martin Griffiths, noted on Twitter that the rich asshole had missed the point of his remarks.
“Happy to invite Mr the rich asshole to my (prestigious) hospital to meet with our mayor and police commissioner to discuss our successes in violence reduction in London.”
The families of crime victims in the United Kingdom were even more outraged and appalled by the rich asshole’s unhinged rant.
Bhupinder Iffat Rizvi’s 20-year-old daughter was shot dead in Kent in 2003. She told the London Telegraph she was “horrified and offended” by what the rich asshole said.
“I found his speech very, very offensive,” she said. Since he spoke, she’s “had calls from other mother and fathers affected by knife and gun crime,” she added.
“Mr the rich asshole may be a businessman, and the US does see guns as big business and money is important to them, but we are mothers and have lost our children to violence.”
And she pushed back against the rich asshole’s claim, that the response to crime is to further flood the streets with guns. “Is he really suggesting we should legalize guns? I couldn’t believe it. Is he really saying people should pick up a gun and go and shoot someone they are in dispute with, and they can try to shoot you back?”
Caroline Shearer, mother of a murdered 17-year-old boy, agreed. “We don’t need a new problem with gun crime. That’s the last thing we need,” she told the paper. “We have got enough nutcases running around with knives. Can you imagine what it would be like if they had guns?”
Lynne Booker’s son Terry died from a stabbing at age 19. She ridiculed the rich asshole and the NRA for their pro-gun advocacy. “We are trying to get dangerous weapons off the streets, not put more on with guns.”
British politicians slammed the rich asshole, as well. Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott wrote that she could “hardly see how violent crime in London justifies the licensing of guns in the US.”
Furthermore, a spokesman for the Liberal Democratic Party, Sir Ed Davey, said the rich asshole’s remarks were “ridiculous” and revealed “his ignorance of Britain.”
the rich asshole is scheduled to visit the U.K. in what has been downgraded to simply a “working visit,” rather than the full state visits that Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush made.
British residents already widely dislike the rich asshole. And his crass use of crime victims is unlikely to win over many fans when he makes his curtailed visit.
the rich asshole says China ‘very spoiled’ by trade wins over US
President of the United States some rich asshole speaking at the 2018 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland. (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)
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China is “very spoiled” by trade wins over America, US President some rich asshole said late Friday, as a top business delegation headed back to America after high-stakes talks with Beijing.
The two days of talks were aimed at forestalling momentum towards a looming conflict between the world’s two largest economies, with both sides prepared to pull the trigger on tariffs that could affect trade in billions of dollars of goods.
“Our high level delegation is on the way back from China where they had long meetings with Chinese leaders and business representatives,” the rich asshole wrote in a tweet.
“We will be meeting tomorrow to determine the results, but it is hard for China in that they have become very spoiled with US trade wins,” he added.
The American president has accused China of unfair trade practices that have driven up the US goods deficit with the Asian giant. Washington has also alleged “theft” of American intellectual property by China.
The discussions promised a potential off-ramp for the trade conflict. the rich asshole has threatened to levy new tariffs on $150 billion of Chinese imports while Beijing shot back with a list of $50 billion in targeted US goods.
“Both sides recognise there are still big differences on some issues and that they need to continue to step up their work to make progress,” China said in a statement released by the official Xinhua state news agency.
“The two sides exchanged views on expanding US exports to China, trade in services, bilateral investment, protection of intellectual property rights, resolution of tariffs and non-tariff measures.”
It added that they had reached “a consensus in some areas”, without elaborating. The agency said both sides had agreed to establish a “working mechanism” to continue talks.
Beijing has promised reform on several fronts in recent months — including lifting foreign ownership restrictions for automakers and allowing foreign investors to take controlling stakes in financial firms.
But a list of US demands presented at the talks in Beijing showed these steps fall far short of expectations in Washington.
The demands included cutting China’s trade surplus with the US by at least $200 billion by the end of 2020, lowering all tariffs to match US levels, eliminating technology transfer practices, and cutting off state support for some Chinese industries, according to Bloomberg News.
The White House called the discussions “frank” while making no mention of continuing the negotiations.
“There is consensus within the Administration that immediate attention is needed to bring changes to United States–China trade and investment relationship,” a White House statement said.
Mueller team interviewed longtime the rich asshole friend: report
BY AVERY ANAPOL - 05/05/18 01:22 PM EDT
Federal investigators on special counsel Robert Mueller's team have reportedly interviewed President the rich asshole's longtime friend and former inauguration committee chairman, Tom Barrack.
Sources familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press that Barrack has met with investigators working on the probe into Russian meddling in the election.
Barrack, who has been close with the rich asshole for at least 30 years, has been one of the president's top confidants and worked on fundraising for his presidential inauguration.
The interview reportedly included questions regarding two close friends of Barrack's — former the rich asshole campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his business associate Richard Gates, both of whom were previously indicted as part of Mueller's probe.
While the former the rich asshole associates have both been charged with money laundering and conspiracy against the U.S., only Gates has pleaded guilty and has agreed to cooperate with Mueller's investigation.
Mueller is seeking a sit-down with the president himself, a proposal currently being discussed between Mueller's team and the rich asshole's attorneys.
the rich asshole said Friday that he would "love to speak" with Mueller to clear his name in the probe he has repeatedly called a "witch hunt," but cited his legal team's reluctance for an in-person interview. The team is reportedly in a "final push" to decide whether to allow the interview.
Possible questions for such an interview that were leaked earlier this month suggest a focus by Mueller on possible obstruction of justice in the investigation.
— Updated at 2 p.m.
the rich asshole once again seeking advice from ousted Steve Bannon as Chief of Staff Kelly is pushed to the side: report
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President some rich asshole talks to chief strategist Steve Bannon during a swearing in ceremony for senior staff at the White House in Washington, U.S. January 22, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
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According to the Wall Street Journal, President some rich asshole is giving up on asking White House insiders — including his own chief of staff — for advice and is reaching out to former staffers as his administration continues to be embroiled in daily chaos.
Among those he is in contact with? Former strategist Steve Bannon.
According to the report, the rich asshole has become disenchanted with Chief of Staff John Kelly and has ignored his advice while lashing out at the media and his other perceived enemies, using former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani as his surrogate — not always to good effect.
The report states the rich asshole has “demoralized several members of his team,” including White House Spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders who was reportedly furious about Giuliani’s appearance on Fox News. the rich asshole’s freelancing has also undercut Kelly’s attempts to control the White House chaos.
“The president’s conduct disempowers Kelly and those in the White House who would be helpful in protecting him,” explained a White House official, adding that Kelly “has the ability to actually help the president and prevent chaos and ineffective messaging.”
According to the Journal, the rich asshole’s latest turn to increased ranting and attacking could be the result of reaching out to bomb-throwing ex-aide Corey Lewandowski — bypassing Kelly by talking privately to the former campaign manager on the phone — and Fox News host Jeanine Pirro.
The report also states that a White House source has confirmed that the rich asshole is again on speaking terms with Bannon, who was ousted in the wake of comments attributed to far-right conservative in Michael Wolff’s the rich asshole book, “Fire and Fury.”
According to another White House insider, the rich asshole is enjoying “his reality-show strategy.”
“He’s vying for public opinion instead of worrying about the details,” the aide admitted.
the rich asshole used hateful NRA speech to attack three war heroes
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the rich asshole used his NRA speech to attack three military veterans, highlighting once again his hostility to those who have served.
the rich asshole targeted three veterans during his venomous speech to the NRA Friday, repeating his pattern of contempt for those who have served in the U.S. military.
He attacked former Secretary of State John Kerry for his approach to diplomacy, and for some reason brought up his participation in a bicycle race “where he fell and broke his leg.”
Kerry was awarded three Purple Hearts for his service in Vietnam, along with a Silver Star Medal and a Bronze Star Medal. He commanded a Swift Boat that repeatedly came under enemy fire.
the rich asshole also lashed out at Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), though he wasn’t brave enough to do so by name. He complained about McCain’s vote last year that blocked congressional Republicans’ attempt to undo Obamacare.
“We got a bad vote the evening that we were going to terminated Obamacare, we got a bad vote, you know about that, right? That was not a nice thing,” the rich asshole said.
McCain was held as a prisoner of war at the Hanoi Hilton in Vietnam from 1967 to 1973. During that time, he was subjected to torture.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, the rich asshole denigrated this service, insisting that McCain was not a war hero.
“I like people who weren’t captured,” he said at the time.
During his NRA speech, the rich asshole directed his greatest vitriol at special counsel Robert Mueller, who is leading the investigation of the rich asshole campaign’s ties to Russia.
Mueller served in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. In that time he earned a Bronze Star Medal with a Combat “V” for heroism, along with a Purple Heart.
the rich asshole again moaned about “this phony Russian witch hunt,” and read at length from a news article reporting on a judge who had a disagreement with how Mueller has been prosecuting former the rich asshole campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
the rich asshole described Manafort, who is indicted on several counts, as “a good person.”
the rich asshole has repeatedly targeted the military for attack: trying to cut services to veterans and pushing the privatization of their health care. He has often neglected to recognize fallen service members. Last June, for example, when two American soldiers were killed in Afghanistan, he spent the day at his golf course.
During a visit to the Air National Guard base in Pennsylvania, he refused to stop for a moment to honor fallen soldiers, laughing and joking his way through the solemn “Retreat” bugle call.
The man who repeatedly dodged the draft in Vietnam, infamously claiming “bone spurs” prevented him from serving, loves to wrap himself in the flag when it suits him.
But his treatment and disdain for service members and veterans was on full display at the NRA speech Friday. For the rich asshole, it wasn’t a deviation. It is what he does.
WATCH: HBO’s Bill Maher rips Sarah Sanders and calls for an end to her ‘bullsh*t’ press briefings
HBO host Bill Maher -- screen capture
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On HBO’s Real Time, host Bill Maher called out White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders for her constant lying and said it is time to end her daily White House press briefings since she does nothing but spew “bullshit.”
Maher began by praising comedian Michelle Wolf for her devastating take-down of both Sanders and the White House media, before noting that her press interactions are a waste of time.
“I think they should get rid of the press briefing,” Maher began. “I heard from people in the press this week that they’re just fed up at Sarah Huckabee Sanders at this point. We know that this is the lying-est administration ever.”
After pointing out that the Washington Post has reported that President some rich asshole has been busted for over 3,000 lies since taking office, Maher turned on the president’s current spokesperson for defending the untruths.
“What is the point of going into this room every day,” Maher asked, “and having this Baghdad Bob person just tell you this bullshit that you know is bullshit and she knows is bullshit? They should walk out en masse and make a statement.”
You can watch the video below via HBO:
POLITICS
Giuliani Tells Post: Despite Stormy Daniels Misfires the rich asshole Still ‘Loves Me’
Now says that while president reimbursed Michael Cohen for hush money, he didn’t know what it was for.
Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani was still pedaling as fast as he could to bring his version of the Stormy Daniels payment saga in line with some rich asshole’s — but he also insisted that the president was not angry with him. “He said he loves me,” Giuliani told The Washington Post.
Giuliani told the Post in an interview Friday evening that he and the president had a long conversation about Giuliani’s surprise Stormy Daniels reveal on Fox News, adding: “We wanted to get everyone on the same page.”
Giuliani told Sean Hannity Wednesday that the rich asshole reimbursed the $130,000 in hush money that the rich asshole’s attorney Michael Cohen paid to the adult film star, who has said she had an affair with the rich asshole. the rich asshole has insisted in the past he knew nothing about the payment.
The president initially appeared to support Giuliani’s version of events in tweets Thursday, but then on Friday said Giuliani needed to get his facts straight.
Giuliani repeated to the Post an earlier statement he made Friday, emphasizing again that he was discussing on Fox News “my understanding of these matters,” and not what the president knew at the time. To acknowledge that he had discussed the issue with the president, and revealed details of that conversation on national TV could jeopardize attorney client privilege with the president, the Post pointed out.
JUST IN: Rudy Giuliani issues statement "intended to clarify the views I expressed over the past few days." abcn.ws/2rlTDuv
He insisted to the Post he gleaned his information about the hush-money payment from “co-counsel, from reading documents, from conversations I had; it wasn’t all from talking to the president.”
Giuliani also appeared to be saying that while the rich asshole reimbursed Cohen for the payment to Daniels — whose real name is Stephanie Clifford — he may have been unaware that he did so.
“I don’t think the president realized he paid him back for that specific thing until we made him aware of the paperwork” recently, he told NBC Friday. Giuliani said the president responded, “Oh my goodness, I guess that’s what it was for.”
Rudy Giuliani says President Trump seemed surprised to hear about Stormy Daniels reimbursement.
Giuliani said the president responded, "‘Oh my goodness, I guess that's what it was for.’” nbcnews.to/2KC8AS3
He told the Post that the president reimbursed Cohen by paying him $35,000 a month in 2017 for legal work for the previous year. Giuliani called it a “straight-out bill,” explaining that if the rich asshole didn’t pay it “every month, he paid it many months.”
“The monthly bill was paying down the expenditures. . . . It was not a loan,” Giuliani added. “Some of it was for taxes, some of it was for incidental expenses. It covered things that might come up.”
Giuliani has emphasized that the Clifford payment was not a campaign expenditure to make certain she didn’t talk — even though she was paid shortly before the presidential election and the alleged affair occurred in 2006. Giuliani said the money was paid to protect the rich asshole’s family.
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