Failed West Virginia candidate Don Blankenship attacks the rich asshole in post-defeat open letter
West Virginia Republican Don Blankenship/Screenshot
DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY!
In a Wednesday evening open-letter, failed West Virginia senate candidate and convicted coal CEO Don Blankenship went into full attack mode against President some rich asshole.
After a humiliating defeat in the GOP primary, Blankenship took to Facebook to compare himself to the rich asshole for being under attack for decades.
"You have rightfully complained about fake news and the corrupt Obama-era Department of Justice (DOJ),” Blankenship wrote. “However, you seem unaware of the fact that you are not the only one under attack.”
He claimed that he has been the victim of false charges all trumped up by his enemies and the fake news media. He then blamed the rich asshole for spreading fake news against him.
“You, yourself, also spread fake news against me. Your interference in the West Virginia election displayed a lack of understanding of the likely outcome of the upcoming general election,” he continued. “Patrick Morrisey will likely lose the general election. It’s too late to change that, but it’s not helpful to do to me what others are doing to you.”
Read the full post below:
Tensions rise in Middle East after the rich asshole withdraws U.S. from Iran deal
As if things needed to get any worse.
In a region that is already a powder keg of two civil wars (Syria and Yemen), another embroiled in fights with internal factions (Iraq), one dealing with local and foreign insurgency (Egypt), and another on the cusp of straight-up imploding (Libya), President some rich asshole’s unilateral decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal has increased tensions even more.
On Tuesday, after the president announced that the United States would be leaving the 2015 multilateral deal with Iran — also signed by France, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, and Germany — reports emerged about an Israeli strike in Syria.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the missile strikes struck and killed 15 people, including eight Iranians. Targeting Iran’s forces in Syria, there to aid troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, is becoming the norm for Israel, which has launched several of these strikes in recent weeks.
Israeli media is carrying reports of the country’s military “bracing” for a “barrage of missiles” fired by Shia forces in Syria. These troops, they say, will involve Iranian-backed Hezbollah groups doing Iran’s “dirty work” in Syria.
Israeli media is carrying reports of the country’s military “bracing” for a “barrage of missiles” fired by Shia forces in Syria. These troops, they say, will involve Iranian-backed Hezbollah groups doing Iran’s “dirty work” in Syria.
As Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the rich asshole’s move to pull out of the nuclear deal — much as he did the president’s other unilateral move (to relocate the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem), the country’s military signaled that it is on high alert.
According to the Associated Press, “the military said it is prepared for “various scenarios” and warned ‘any aggression against Israel will be met with a severe response.'”
Meanwhile Houthi rebels in Yemen launched missiles at the Saudi capital of Riyadh, a move that some see as the anti-government rebels signalling support for Iran.
It is worth noting that the Houthis have launched missiles at Saudi Arabia prior to the rich asshole’s decision on the Iran nuclear deal and that the Saudi airstrikes have killed over 10,000 people in Yemen, many of them civilians. The strikes have targeted everything from wedding halls to schools and markets, and have triggered a U.N. investigation into human rights violations committed by Saudi Arabia.
The strikes have also triggered a deadly outbreak of cholera and horrendous malnutrition among children in Yemen.
The United States, which supports the Saudi-led airstrikes pummeling Yemen, has repeatedly accused Iran of providing arms to the Houthis, although the United Nations has yet to come to that conclusion, despite having several missile shells to examine.
In Iran, the rich asshole’s announcement has caused some instability: It triggered protests and a drop the country’s currency, the Riyal, to its lowest level in years, plunging 15 percent in three days. And the parliament, which is against renegotiating the deal, is now positioned in direct opposition to President Hassan Rouhani, who said he’d be open to renegotiating the deal with the European signatories to the deal.
CNN panel goes completely off the rails when the rich asshole apologist tries to claim White House isn’t friendly to Cohen’s ‘swamp tactics’
CNN Panel, Kirsten Powers, Steve Cortes and Paul Begala (Photo: Screen capture)
DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY!
A CNN panel discussion about the recent findings that President some rich asshole’s lawyer Michael Cohen sold access to the president went completely off the rails Wednesday night.
But when the rich asshole ally Steve Cortes claimed that the Russians wasted their money hiring Cohen, the panel did everything from rolling their eyes, to laughing, to questioning how he could possibly draw that conclusion.
Cortes claimed that because the rich asshole recently instituted sanctions against Russia and expelled diplomats it proves he wasn’t under the thumb of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He did not have an excuse for why those sanctions and expulsions took more than a year to institute or why the rich asshole continues to refute Russia’s involvement in the election.
“They got no investigation into the hacking,” said panelist Kirsten Powers.
“It didn’t matter. He was selling a false bill of goods, because swamp tactics are done in this White House,” Cortes claimed. “We now have a citizen president, someone with no with no government experience before. A mogul who can’t be bought and wasn’t bought even though perhaps his personal attorney tried to sell him.”
“Well, he sure can be rented,” quipped Democratic strategist Paul Begala.
“Well, then why would Russia–” Cortes tried to respond before Begala cut in again.
“Just a minute. You gave your commercial, let me give some facts,” Begala said. “This Russian-connected company gave a $500,000, not really to Michael Cohen but a limited liability corporation he set up called Central Consultants. He told us it was set up to pay Stormy Daniels hush money. Now, if in fact, others are reimbursing Mr. Cohen that, like Russians reimbursing it, what they are getting is leverage on our president.”
Begala went on to say that the rich asshole, since the beginning, seemed compromised by Putin.
However, Cortes cut in to claim that Russians haven’t done anything to help the rich asshole. It devolved into chaos from there.
Watch the video below:
Michael Cohen tried to use his relationship with the rich asshole to score major cash from AT&T and other companies
Michael Cohen (CBS/screen grab)
DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY!
Not long after President some rich asshole entered the White House, his former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski started a lobbying firm and pitched himself as the man with personal access to the president. Ultimately, he was ousted at the firm when it was revealed he was selling his influence. Now it seems the rich asshole’s lawyer Michael Cohen has done the same.
Cohen scored hefty cash from Novartis, collecting $1.2 million for a lobbying contract. However, it was also revealed that they weren’t the only one. According to CNN, Cohen scored cash from AT&T, who was contacted by special counsel Robert Mueller’s team.
Other companies include Korea Aerospace and Columbus Nova.
“Telecommunications conglomerate AT&T publicly acknowledged this week that it hired Cohen for a simple reason: to gain ‘insights’ into the new President and his administration,” reported CNN. “AT&T paid Cohen at least $200,000 in 2017, according to a source familiar with the matter.”
Former Federal Prosecutor Renato Mariotti told CNN that it could result in some complicated “drama” around AT&T and their requested merger with Time Warner Cable.
DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY!
Not long after President some rich asshole entered the White House, his former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski started a lobbying firm and pitched himself as the man with personal access to the president. Ultimately, he was ousted at the firm when it was revealed he was selling his influence. Now it seems the rich asshole’s lawyer Michael Cohen has done the same.
Cohen scored hefty cash from Novartis, collecting $1.2 million for a lobbying contract. However, it was also revealed that they weren’t the only one. According to CNN, Cohen scored cash from AT&T, who was contacted by special counsel Robert Mueller’s team.
Other companies include Korea Aerospace and Columbus Nova.
“Telecommunications conglomerate AT&T publicly acknowledged this week that it hired Cohen for a simple reason: to gain ‘insights’ into the new President and his administration,” reported CNN. “AT&T paid Cohen at least $200,000 in 2017, according to a source familiar with the matter.”
Former Federal Prosecutor Renato Mariotti told CNN that it could result in some complicated “drama” around AT&T and their requested merger with Time Warner Cable.
By
-
May 9, 2018
Senior FBI and intelligence officials are warning that Devin Nunes' demand for documents related to the Russia probe endangers the lives of confidential sources.
Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) is putting lives in danger with his latest attempt to undermine special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, senior FBI and intelligence officials say.
The warning comes as Nunes continues to demand more access to confidential records related to Mueller’s investigation. Such records are usually kept tightly sealed because exposing them could tip off the targets of investigation or accidentally implicate innocent people who have gotten swept up in the probe.
In some cases, disclosing sensitive information from an investigation puts the identities — and lives — of confidential sources at risk. That’s exactly why senior intelligence officials are warning that Nunes’ latest demand for the Justice Department to hand over documents from the Mueller probe is so dangerous.
According to the Washington Post, top officials from the U.S. intelligence community warned the White House last week that the documents Nunes is seeking could risk lives by exposing the source of the information, who is described as “a U.S. citizen who has provided intelligence to the CIA and FBI.”
Furthermore, by exposing the identity of the source, Nunes’ reckless stunt threatens to harm relations between the U.S. and “other countries that serve as U.S. intelligence partners,” officials told the Post:
Last Wednesday, senior FBI and national intelligence officials relayed an urgent message to the White House: Information being sought by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes could endanger a top-secret intelligence source.
….For the intelligence agencies, Nunes’s request threatened to cross a red line of compromising sources and methods of U.S. intelligence-gathering, according to people familiar with their views. Intelligence officials fear that providing even a redacted version of the information Nunes seeks could expose that person and damage relationships with other countries that serve as U.S. intelligence partners.
Nunes and his Republican colleagues on the House Intelligence Committee have since claimed that the demand for documents did not pertain to a specific individual.
But according to CNN, which reviewed a non-classified appendix to the subpoena for information, Nunes is seeking “all documents referring or related to the individual” identified as a U.S. intelligence source.
Turning over such information would “contradict years of policy about protecting intelligence sources,” senior intelligence officials say.
Despite these dire warnings that releasing the documents could endanger a source and compromise an ongoing investigation, Republicans are still moving forward with their demand to access the confidential information.
“We are entitled to it,” Rep. Peter King of New York told CNN on Wednesday.
Other Republicans, like Rep. Tom Rooney, say the concerns are unfounded because no one on the House Intelligence Committee would leak such information — despite the fact that Nunes, who chairs the committee, has done exactly that.
In his effort to shield the rich asshole and obstruct the Russia investigation, Nunes has shown that he is willing to leak confidential information, distort classified intelligence before publicly releasing it, collaborate with the rich asshole White House, and then lie about it when caught.
At one point, Nunes even reportedly leaked text messages from the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee to Fox News.
Now, Nunes and his Republican colleagues are trying to force the DOJ to show them confidential documents revealing sensitive information about Mueller’s Russia investigation — and it appears they have succeeded.
CNN reported on Wednesday evening that Nunes and fellow Republican Trey Gowdy had been granted access to a secret briefing during which they will get to view the classified intelligence. This will conveniently allow Nunes to see insider information about the Russia probe, which he can then relay back to the rich asshole — as he has done before.
If that involves endangering the lives of U.S. intelligence sources, that is a risk Nunes is apparently willing to take. And he’s not alone: On Tuesday, Speaker Paul Ryan signed off on the whole scheme.
Europe licks wounds as Saudi Arabia and Israel hail the rich asshole on Iran
Saudi Arabia Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrives for the G20 Summit at the International Expo Center in Hangzhou on September 4, 2016 (AFP Photo/Rolex DELA PENA)
DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY!
When Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince visited France in April, he oozed confidence that President some rich asshole would pull the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal which Riyadh has long opposed.
Answering reporters’ questions in Paris, two weeks after talks with the rich asshole in Washington, Prince Mohammed bin Salman compared the deal to the 1938 Munich Agreement which was meant by European powers to appease Nazi Germany but ended in war.
Where French, German and British diplomatic efforts failed with the rich asshole, Saudi Arabia’s appear to have succeeded.
A source close to Saudi policymakers said Washington and Riyadh, Iran’s main regional rival, had been discussing the 2015 nuclear deal “for some time” before the rich asshole announced on Tuesday that the United States was pulling out of it.
The source said it was “obvious” from the Crown Prince’s talks with the rich asshole in the White House on March 20 and a visit to Riyadh a month later by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that there had been a “coordination” of positions.
“We were for it and we worked on it,” another Saudi source said of Riyadh’s diplomacy.
Also celebrating is Israel, another of Iran’s enemies. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unveiled what he said was evidence of a secret Iranian nuclear weapons program on April 30.
Most of the purported evidence Netanyahu presented dated to the period before the 2015 accord was signed, although he said Iran had also kept important files on nuclear technology since then, and continued adding to its “nuclear weapons knowledge”.
Tehran dismissed Netanyahu as “the boy who cried wolf”, and called his presentation propaganda.
Although Israeli officials said they did not know whether the rich asshole had been swayed by the information, the president referred to it in his announcement on Tuesday.
Netanyahu had talks with the rich asshole in the White House in March and Israeli diplomats worked hard behind the scenes to get their country’s views across on the deal, intended to prevent Tehran obtaining a nuclear bomb but seen by opponents as flawed.
Asked how much of the Israeli ambassador to Washington’s time had been spent arguing the case against the deal, Deputy Minister for Diplomacy Michael Oren told Reuters: “Ball-park guess? Something in the vicinity of 90-plus (percent) … This issue is, for Netanyahu, paramount.”
(Iran’s nuclear facilities: tmsnrt.rs/2K9tVRX)
MACRON VISIT WAS “LAST RESORT”
the rich asshole’s announcement was a blow to French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Both tried to change the rich asshole’s mind on Iran during visits to the White House in April, and both failed.
the rich asshole’s announcement was a blow to French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Both tried to change the rich asshole’s mind on Iran during visits to the White House in April, and both failed.
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson also made a last-minute dash to Washington but did not get to see the president.
He put Britain’s case at talks with Pompeo and in an interview with “Fox & Friends” on cable channel Fox News, which the rich asshole regularly watches.
Despite their efforts, European leaders knew by mid-April that the chances of persuading the rich asshole to stay in the nuclear deal were fading, European diplomats said.
“Macron’s visit was the last resort,” a European official told Reuters in Brussels, referring to the French leader’s talks with the rich asshole in the White House on April 24.
Describing the last month of diplomacy as “disastrous”, the official said: “For weeks all the indications from the White House and State Department were: ‘He’s out (of the deal)’.”
On Wednesday, the European allies were seeking to salvage the nuclear deal and preserve their business with Iran.
the rich asshole’s message to the Europeans in the run-up to his announcement was that they must come up with a way to toughen the nuclear deal if the United States was to remain in it, said sources familiar with the discussions.
He pressed for a separate deal to go alongside the nuclear agreement that would address other U.S. concerns about Iran such as its ballistic missile program, which was not covered in the 2015 accord, they said.
Progress was made in the negotiations, but not enough to sway the rich asshole.
The sources familiar with the debate said the rich asshole wanted a separate agreement with the other main signatories of the original deal — France, Britain, Germany, China and Russia. But Berlin said the agreement would have to be submitted to a European Union body for approval, and this appeared to stall the effort, they said.
Pompeo told the German and British foreign ministers and a senior French official by telephone last Friday that Washington would no longer pursue the process with Europe.
The European and U.S. positions were too far apart on the so-called sunset clauses allowing for some restriction on Iran’s nuclear enrichment program to be lifted. By midway through last week, European diplomats “felt like we were going through the motions,” a European official said.
RICH ASSHOLE APPOINTMENTS
Some European diplomats believed any chance of persuading the rich asshole to stay in the deal had gone even before Macron visited Washington.
Some European diplomats believed any chance of persuading the rich asshole to stay in the deal had gone even before Macron visited Washington.
They saw Pompeo’s appointment in March as a deadly blow, and it was quickly followed by the arrival in the White House of John Bolton, another Iran hawk, as national security adviser.
Rex Tillerson, the previous secretary of state, had seen value in staying in the deal, as did Defense Secretary James Mattis. The president reluctantly agreed to give the deal more time in April 2017 when an initial renewal deadline approached.
But by the next deadline, last July, the rich asshole was furious at aides for trying to persuade him to stay in the deal, a source familiar with the debate said.
“You mean you had three months, and you didn’t do anything?” he told them, the source said.
In October, the rich asshole announced he would not permit U.S. certification of Iranian compliance with the deal, setting the United States on the path that it reached on Tuesday.
A White House official said that in the days leading up to the president’s announcement, top aides had not been seeking aggressively to talk the rich asshole out of withdrawing because his mind had been made up.
By then, European officials were despondent, a European diplomat said.
By then, European officials were despondent, a European diplomat said.
“We realized we have to buy time. On the eve of the rich asshole decision, all we could do is to tell the Iranians: don’t do anything rash,” the diplomat said.
State Department couldn’t explain anything about the rich asshole’s withdrawal from Iran deal
This is an absolute mess.
After President some rich asshole announced on Tuesday that the United States would withdraw from the Iranian nuclear agreement, the State Department held a background briefing with reporters. During that briefing, they had a really tough time explaining the rich asshole’s decision.
The 2015 Iranian nuclear agreement, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was signed between Iran, the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, France, China, and Germany. The historic agreement limited Iran’s nuclear enrichment in exchange for some sanctions relief. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has certified Iran’s compliance with the deal 11 times.
the rich asshole announced that he would no longer extend waivers for Iran sanctions — a violation of U.S. obligations in the deal — and that the United States would withdraw from the agreement.
Hours later, the State Department spoke with reporters, but failed to provide any clarity for what U.S. policy towards Iran would look like in future, or what exactly the United States achieved by withdrawing from the agreement.
Here are 5 of the big takeaways from that briefing:
1. The State Department doesn’t know whether the United States will be in a better place without the agreement.
The two senior State Department officials couldn’t explain to reporters whether the United States will be in a better position without the nuclear agreement, especially since they don’t know if European allies will work with the United States moving forward.
QUESTION: You don’t know right now whether you’re going to be in a better place or in a worse place; is that what you’re saying?SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TWO: No, we think we’re going to be in a better place.SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: No, we know we’re —QUESTION: But you don’t know.
2. They don’t know what the future of U.S. sanctions on Iran will look like.
Nuclear-related sanctions on Iran were technically lifted in January 2016 under the Iran deal. So long as Iran continued to comply with the agreement — as verified by the IAEA — international sanctions were to remain lifted.
On Tuesday, the rich asshole refused to waive sanctions on Iran and instead announced that “powerful sanctions” would be reimposed. This appears to be the president’s primary strategy on Iran: sanction the country again until we get a “better” deal.
Iran has been sanctioned in some form since the Iranian Revolution in 1979, but what matters most here are what’s known as “secondary sanctions.” First imposed in 2010, these sanctions went beyond U.S. borders and targeted non-U.S. entities and non-Americans that did business with Iran. The secondary sanctions were later expanded in 2012 to target those who did business with Iran’s oil industry in particular.
Secondary sanctions only work if other companies (and countries) decide to abide by them. Usually they do, because of the power of the U.S. economy. In 2012, for example, the European Union banned Iranian oil imports a few months after the United States passed its sanctions.
But there’s no real clarity on what sanctions on Iran will look like this time around. All we know so far is that there will be a wind-down period of 90 days, and then another wind-down period of six months. That would allow U.S. and foreign companies enough time to stop doing business with Iran.
All the other signatories to the deal have condemned the rich asshole’s decision to withdraw from the agreement, so there’s no indication that they’ll reimpose sanctions.
A reporter during the briefing Tuesday asked whether there will be “any carveouts for individual companies or countries” during the wind-down period. One of the officials first said that any U.S. company or country is allowed to ask the United States for a license to continue doing business with Iran.
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: They can ask for whatever they want.QUESTION: So you’re open to having those conversations.SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: I didn’t say that. I said that we’re going engage – we’re going to engage our European allies and others, and I just don’t know.
It’s a bit strange that administration officials don’t know what the future of sanctions will look like — especially since sanctions seems to be the only real strategy moving forward. If you can’t describe what your sanctions will look like, they’re a pretty ineffective foreign policy tool.
3. “We did not talk about Plan B.”
Reporters asked administration officials during the briefing why the rich asshole chose to withdraw from the agreement when there’s no sign that European allies will work with or against the United States on this issue.
The administration officials said that they were in “constant conversations with the Europeans,” but were unable to say what will happen moving forward and admitted there is no Plan B in place.
QUESTION: But again, I just want to understand: You do not know at this point what the Europeans are going to do in terms of the entire ancillary agreement you’ve negotiated? You do not know at this point what the Europeans are going to do, whether they’re going to fight you and – and, like they do with Cuba, protect their companies against your secondary sanctions or what – you do not know what the Europeans, your closest allies, are going to do vis-a-vis any of the ancillary effects of getting out of this deal. Is that right?SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TWO: We’re in constant conversations with the Europeans on this.QUESTION: But you don’t know at this point? You don’t know? You didn’t get to that in your discussions, what’s going to happen?SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: We did not talk about a Plan B in our discussions because we were focused on negotiating a supplemental agreement, so we did not – we did not talk about Plan B.QUESTION: And what makes you think that Iran is going to go along with a whole new renegotiation?SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: We don’t know if they will. We don’t know if they will, and the President said that in his statement. He doesn’t know if the Iranians are willing to talk, but he said at the end of the statement that he’s willing, able, and ready to talk.
4. They actually pointed to a tweet to explain U.S. accomplishments.
After the rich asshole made his announcement, the E3 (France, Germany, and the United Kingdom) leaders released a statement that said the “world is a safer place as a result” of the agreement. Reporters kept pushing the administration officials on the fact that all the other partners to the Iran agreement want to stay in the agreement.
An administration official pointed out that French President Emmanuel Macron spoke about a four-pillar strategy on Iran when he visited Washington, D.C. last month. When a reporter pointed out that a key pillar included keeping the nuclear agreement, the administration official said that Macron tweeted “something that seemed to indicate to me a French willingness to work with us.”
“So you guys have a positive tweet out of it,” the reporter said. “That’s amazing.”
Macron tweeted that France “will work collectively on a broad framework,” but in a follow up tweet he also said that France regrets the U.S. decision to leave the agreement.
5. There is no timeline for what happens next.
So far during this briefing, State Department officials admitted that they don’t know if the United States will be in a better place without the agreement, they don’t know what sanctions will look like moving forward, and there is no plan B in place.
They concluded the briefing by admitting that there’s no timeline for U.S. strategy on Iran moving forward.
“I don’t want to put a timeframe on it,” one official said, when asked when we can judge whether the rich asshole’s strategy has been successful or not.
QUESTION: Okay, so just – so for our purposes, let’s say in a year, if you guys – or six months – if you guys do not have a supplemental agreement with all of your allies about addressing this global problem, it will – can we then say that this strategy has not been successful, if in a year you don’t have it? When can we say, okay, you guys promised us a more comprehensive, more global strategy to deal with Iranian malign behavior after you got rid of the last one? When do we get to judge whether you succeeded or failed?SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TWO: Well, I think you would have to make a cost/benefit decision, right, at six months, at 12 months.QUESTION: So if you have – if you don’t have an arrangement —SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TWO: Continually.QUESTION: — with your allies in six months, will this strategy have failed?SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: I don’t want to put a timeframe on it, because the wind down is six months for energy sanctions. So part of the strategy is showing Iran that there is economic isolation as a result of its destabilizing activity, so I think we have to be able to build this coalition, build up some economic pressure. So that is the strategy, though, and at the end of the day, if that strategy is – you will judge us based on that strategy.
By
-
May 9, 2018
'I’m not sure that the House was required to substantiate every conclusion with facts.'
Senate Intelligence Committee chair Richard Burr (R-NC) just threw some serious shade on the Republican-led House Intelligence Committee’s Russia probe, saying his colleagues didn’t “substantiate every conclusion with facts.”
Burr made the remarks Tuesday, in response to a reporter’s question about whether the Senate intel committee’s report on Russian interference would agree with the findings of the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA). That report concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence operation aimed at helping the rich asshole and hurting Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.
In the Majority report released by the House intel committee, Republicans disagreed with the ICA’s conclusion that Russia’s goal was to help elect the rich asshole. They also claimed they found no evidence of collusion, dismissing all contact and communications between the rich asshole campaign and Russia as the result of “some bad judgment.”
Asked if the Senate intel committee’s report, which is expected to be completed by August, would align with the ICA’s conclusions regarding Russian interference, Burr seemed to suggest that it would.
Explaining the discrepancy between the findings of the House and Senate intel committees, Burr said, “I’m not sure that the House was required to substantiate every conclusion with facts.”
This isn’t the first time the Republican-led House intel committee has come under fire by other Republicans.
In March, the committee announced that it was ending its investigation into Russian interference and potential coordination with the rich asshole campaign before even talking to a host of key witnesses, including the four the rich asshole associates who are under indictment by special counsel Robert Mueller.
Among other things, the GOP-led panel ignored evidence that the NRA may have served as a conduit between the rich asshole campaign and Russia, failed to investigate communications between the rich asshole campaign members and WikiLeaks, and never even mentioned that a key the rich asshole associate was in contact with an operative working for Russia’s military intelligence agency.
The panel’s conclusions were so premature and incomplete that even Republican committee members were forced to rebuke their own findings and admit that they had “lost all credibility.”
Led by the rich asshole stooge Devin Nunes, Republicans on the House intel committee used their access to sensitive intelligence to run interference for the rich asshole and try to undermine special counsel Mueller’s Russia probe. Instead, all they did was discredit their own committee.
Last year, Burr criticized Nunes for using his position as chair of the House intel committee to manufacture distractions, saying he “created” the entire debunked scandal surrounding the unmasking of the rich asshole associates.
But that didn’t stop Nunes from continuing his sideshow, which also included producing a memo falsely claiming that the FBI tried to conceal information from a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court, and, most recently, calling to hold the Attorney General in contempt of Congress for failing to sufficiently protect the rich asshole.
With each passing day, we’re learning new information that reveals just how much of a joke the Republican-led House intel committee’s investigation really was — and even fellow Republicans can’t deny it.
White House 'committed to a free press,' says Sanders
BY JORDAN FABIAN - 05/09/18 04:07 PM EDT
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday the rich asshole administration is “committed to a free press” after the president threatened to strip reporters of their credentials.
Sanders said during her daily press briefing that “this is one of the most accessible White Houses,” a sentiment she insisted other reporters share.
“We are very committed to a free press and I think that we demonstrate that every single day,” she said.
President the rich asshole in an early morning tweet suggested reporters should lose their ability to cover the White House if they write stories he does not like.
The Fake News is working overtime. Just reported that, despite the tremendous success we are having with the economy & all things else, 91% of the Network News about me is negative (Fake). Why do we work so hard in working with the media when it is corrupt? Take away credentials?
Asked if revoking credentials is a line she would be willing to cross, Sanders refused to specifically rule it out but indicated the administration was not moving in that direction.
“We are here, we are taking questions, we are doing everything we can to provide regular and constant information to the American people,” she told reporters. “We are going to continue to try to work with you.”
But Sanders also chastised news organizations for what she said were false reports, saying, "The press has the responsibility to put out accurate information."
She cited a New York Times report that said new Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was “AWOL” during the rich asshole’s decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal, when he was in fact traveling to North Korea to negotiate the release of three American detainees.
Sanders also pointed to a Washington Post report that mentioned a rumor that first lady Melania the rich asshole does not live in the White House, something her staff has strenuously denied.
The White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) blasted the rich asshole’s comments in a statement earlier Wednesday.
"Some may excuse the president's inflammatory rhetoric about the media, but just because the president does not like news coverage does not make it fake," said WHCA President Margaret Talev, who reports on the White House for Bloomberg.
"A free press must be able to report on the good, the bad, the momentous and the mundane, without fear or favor," she continued. "And a president preventing a free and independent press from covering the workings of our republic would be an unconscionable assault on the First Amendment."
Michael Avenatti explains why the rich asshole is dodging influence-peddling questions: ‘Thing are so bad now they’re not even going on Fox’
Michael Avenatti on Jake Tapper's CNN show explaining influence peddling/Screenshot
DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY!
Did Michael Cohen take bribes from Russians and other people who wanted things from President the rich asshole and then use that money to benefit the rich asshole?
That’s what Michael Avenatti suggested on Jake Tapper’s CNN show Wednesday afternoon.
Avenatti explained how influence-peddling works, and also hinted that he thinks the rich asshole and his personal attorney might get caught red-handed on it.
“I think that ultimately what’s going to be disclosed is that Michael Cohen was selling access to the highest office in the land, some rich asshole knew about it,” Avenatti said. “”When you trace the money, about what money went into the LLC and what money came out of the LLC, the president and Michael Cohen better hope that none of that money gets traced back to the president or the rich asshole organization or another entity that the president controlled at the time because, if so, that could have serious, serious consequences.”
The White House has said its not concerned—which Avenatti mocked by pointing out that no one from the rich asshole’s inner-circle will answer questions now.
“Where’s Rudy Giuliani? Why aren’t they going on shows and answering questions?” he asked. “Thing are so bad now, Jake, they’re not even going on Fox.”
Avenatti said he finds it “hard to believe” that the rich asshole didn’t know what Cohen was up to.
“The idea that some rich asshole knew none of what Michael Cohen was doing starting in January 2017—I just don’t believe it,” he said. “I think that’s a bunch of nonsense.”
Watch below.
POLITICS
Michael Cohen Was Selling Access To the rich asshole, Says Group That Paid Into His Shell Company
Corporations were looking to get closer to the new administration, and the rich asshole’s lawyer offered to help.
some rich asshole’s longtime personal lawyer convinced major corporations to pay into his shell company by promising access to the president, according to one firm that doled out the cash.
Shortly before the rich asshole became president, Michael Cohen set up Essential Consultants LLC, a shell firm that eventually paid porn star Stormy Daniels to stay quiet in the run-up to the 2016 election about her alleged affair with the president.
But this week, it was revealed that the financiers for Cohen’s company included major corporations, including Korea Aerospace Industries, the pharmaceutical company Novartis and AT&T. Significantly, it also received money from Columbus Nova, a New York investment firm with close ties to billionaire Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, who has been questioned by special counsel Robert Mueller.
The payments were significant. Novartis paid $1.2 million for “healthcare policy matters.” KAI said it needed help on U.S. accounting standards, and Columbus Nova said it paid a “consulting fee” that had nothing to do with Vekselberg.
AT&T, in a memo to staff Wednesday, explained that it needed to “understand” how the rich asshole administration would approach issues like tax reform and antitrust regulations. It portrayed paying into the shell company of a president’s personal lawyer as routine: “Companies often hire consultants for these purposes, especially at the beginning of a new Presidential Administration, and we have done so in previous Administrations, as well.”
But an official with one of those companies, who requested anonymity to speak openly, was more blunt. The official said Cohen “was promising access to the rich asshole and members of the administration, positioning himself as a lobbyist.”
One big question surrounding this controversy is how the companies came to know about Cohen and his shell company.
A Novartis employee told STAT, a news outlet that covers health and medicine, that Cohen reached out to them. His promise of access was enticing because the company was “trying to find an inroad into the administration” ― which tended to have fewer people known in Washington political circles.
But apparently, Cohen proved to be a disappointment. In a statement, Novartis said it entered into its one-year agreement with Cohen in February 2017. In March, it had its first meeting with him.
“Following this initial meeting,” the statement read, “Novartis determined that Michael Cohen and Essential Consultants would be unable to provide the services that Novartis had anticipated related to US healthcare policy matters and the decision was taken not to engage further.”
KAI paid Cohen’s firm $150,000, Columbus Nova paid $500,000 and AT&T gave roughly $200,000.
Rudy Giuliani, the rich asshole’s new personal lawyer, told HuffPost on Wednesday that the Cohen news has absolutely nothing to do with the president.
“There’s not involvement of the president in any of that,” he said. “We can’t be responsible for what Michael Cohen is doing.”
S.V. Date contributed reporting.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of the story misstated the name of Cohen’s shell company Essential Consultants LLC.
They're more worried about who did the exposing as opposed to the exposed info.
Treasury watchdog probing how Stormy Daniels lawyer got Cohen's bank records
BY LUIS SANCHEZ AND SYLVAN LANE - 05/09/18 01:26 PM EDT
The Treasury Department’s inspector general is investigating how Stormy Daniels’s lawyer, Michael Avenatti, obtained confidential banking records concerning a company controlled by President the rich asshole’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen.
The inspector general’s counsel, Rich Delmar, told The Hill that the office is looking into allegations that federally mandated reports filed about Cohen’s banking transactions were “improperly disseminated.”
News of the Treasury investigation, which is focused on the release of Suspicious Activity Reports filed by banks that hosted accounts for Cohen, was first reported Wednesday by The Washington Post.
Delmar told The Hill that the Treasury probe is based on a New York Times report from Tuesday that revealed that a shell company set up by Cohen received more than $1 million from an American company linked to a Russian oligarch and several corporations with business before the rich asshole administration.
Cohen's shell company, Essential Consultants LLC, struck a $130,000 nondisclosure agreement with Daniels, an adult-film star who claims she had an affair with the rich asshole years ago.
Avenatti on Tuesday went public with detailed claims about Cohen’s banking history, including allegations that he received a $500,000 payment from a company controlled by a Russian oligarch in the months following the 2016 presidential election.
The payment was, according to Avenatti, deposited in an account for Essential Consultants LLC that was also used to pay Daniels $130,000 as part of her nondisclosure agreement days before the 2016 presidential election.
Avenatti also revealed that AT&T, the Swiss drug company Novartis, and aircraft manufacturer Korea Aerospace Industries — all of which had business considerations with the federal government — paid Cohen. The companies later confirmed the payments, which are under investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller.
Avenatti refused to reveal his source for this information and said investigators should reveal the Suspicious Activity Reports filed on Cohen’s account.
Banks are required under federal law to flag unusual transactions of over $10,000. Those reports are meant to point the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network toward potentially illegal activity, such as money laundering or bank fraud.
Experts told the Post that Avenatti’s information could have come from a report filed by Cohen’s bank.
Cohen’s bank, First Republic, declined the Post’s request for comment.
Updated at 2:27 p.m.
1998 Giuliani debunked 2018 Giuliani on presidents evading subpoenas
Back then, President the rich asshole's lawyer said a president called to testify has "no choice" but to comply.
Rudy Giuliani claimed over the weekend that the president of the United States need not comply with a subpoena to testify if he is called by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. But this dubious legal argument was clearly rebutted, back in 1998, by then-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
As President some rich asshole’s new legal counsel, Giuliani has undermined much of the president’s legal defense and admitted to a limited understanding of the facts. In a recent ABC This Week interview, he argued that presidents are exempt from subpoenas.
“We don’t have to. He’s the president of the United States,” Giuliani told host George Stephanopoulos. “We can assert the same privileges other presidents have.”
But 20 years ago, when Bill Clinton was in the White House, Giuliani took the exact opposite view. In a July 21, 1998 interview with Charlie Rose, he was asked about whether the president would have to testify before Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr’s grand jury if subpoenaed.
“You gotta do it. I’m mean you don’t have a choice,” Giuliani, a former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York opined.
He added that if Clinton wanted to challenge it, he’d have to convince a judge of some sort of recognizable exemption privilege. “And if a judge decides he doesn’t, then you have to testify. You don’t have a choice about that,” Giuliani said. Clinton voluntarily testified a month later.
“Under the criminal law, everyone should be treated the same,” 1998 Giuliani said. “And I know there are some people that say the president should be treated stricter. We used to have an era where the president was treated much more leniently. But I think the right answer is the president should be treated — as far as the criminal law is concerned, the president is a citizen.”
White House Correspondents' Association rebukes the rich asshole over tweet on press credentials
BY MAX GREENWOOD - 05/09/18 12:46 PM EDT
The White House Correspondents' Association fired back at President the rich asshole on Wednesday after he suggested revoking press credentials for journalists who cover his administration critically.
"Some may excuse the president's inflammatory rhetoric about the media, but just because the president does not like news coverage does not make it fake," Margaret Talev, the group's president and a White House correspondent for Bloomberg, said in a statement.
"A free press must be able to report on the good, the bad, the momentous and the mundane, without fear or favor," she continued. "And a president preventing a free and independent press from covering the workings of our republic would be an unconscionable assault on the First Amendment."
The rebuke from Talev came hours after the rich asshole complained on Twitter about unflattering coverage of his administration, accusing the media of being "corrupt" and suggesting the White House could revoke credentials as punishment.
"The Fake News is working overtime," he tweeted. "Just reported that, despite the tremendous success we are having with the economy & all things else, 91% of the Network News about me is negative (Fake). Why do we work so hard in working with the media when it is corrupt? Take away credentials?"
The Fake News is working overtime. Just reported that, despite the tremendous success we are having with the economy & all things else, 91% of the Network News about me is negative (Fake). Why do we work so hard in working with the media when it is corrupt? Take away credentials?
the rich asshole has long directed his ire at the news media, and has floated ideas such as canceling the daily press briefings at the White House and opening up libel laws to make it easier to sue news outlets and reporters.
Taking away press credentials, however, would be unprecedented and would drastically restrict correspondents' access to the White House grounds and press briefings, among other things.
The White House Correspondents' Association itself came under fire late last month after Talev issued a statement denouncing comedian Michelle Wolf's performance at the annual White House correspondents' dinner. Critics, including many journalists, accused the organization of hypocrisy for criticizing the comedian while claiming to defend free speech.
‘Exactly what the Christopher Steele dossier said’: Ex-Watergate prosecutor follows the Michael Cohen money
the rich asshole lawyer Michael Cohen (IowaPolitics.com/Flickr) and President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin (Kremlin photo), composite image.
DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY!
Former Watergate assistant special prosecutor Nick Ackerman explained how the latest news reports on Michael Cohen show the exact behavior former MI6 spy Christopher Steele warned of in his infamous dossier, during a Wednesday interview with MSNBC’s Ali Velshi.
The MSNBC host began the segment by documenting all of the reported links between some rich asshole’s campaign and Russians.
"It’s absolutely dynamite,” Ackerman observed. “What you have here — when you put it in context of all the evidence — is evidence of a conspiracy between the rich asshole campaign and the Russians.”
“I mean, all you have to do is look at the Christopher Steele investigative reports,” the former assistant U.S. Attorney suggested. “All you have to do is substitute Stormy Daniels in there for Russia.”
Ackerman also explained the fallout from these revelations on Capitol Hill.
“What these allegations and what this evidence is going to do is totally undercut Congressman Nunes’ (R-CA) whole attack on Christopher Steele and the dossier he put together,” he continued. “It’s going to provide evidence of conspiracy between the rich asshole campaign and the Russians and the break-in to the Democratic National Committee headquarters and the hacking of all of those emails and the use of those emails to get the rich asshole elected.”
“I mean, all of this starts to fit together,” Ackerman concluded.
Watch:
Pharmaceutical giant kept paying Cohen after discovering he wasn’t doing any work
Novartis kept paying Cohen regardless.
The drug giant Novartis paid Michael Cohen, President some rich asshole’s personal attorney and longtime “fixer,” more than $1 million for health care policy consulting work — and then continued to pay him even after the company quickly realized Cohen couldn’t help them.
Cohen signed a one-year contract with Novartis in February 2017, at the cost of $100,000 a month, allegedly to advise the company on “how the rich asshole administration might approach certain U.S. health-care policy matters, including the Affordable Care Act.”
The payments made by Novartis were to Cohen’s shell company, Essential Consultants LLC — the same shell company that received Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg’s cash payment of $500,000 in the months after the 2016 presidential election.
According to CNBC, Novartis executives had their first meeting with Cohen just a month after the initial signing and quickly deemed that he “would be unable to provide the services that Novartis had anticipated.” But the company continued to pay him up to February 2018 because “the contract could unfortunately only be terminated for cause.”
That means Novartis paid Cohen $1.2 million for work he never did.
In a statement, Novartis added that it was questioned by Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office about the payments.
“Novartis was contacted in November 2017 regarding the company’s agreement with Essential Consultants,” the company said. “Novartis cooperated fully with the Special Counsel’s officer and provided all the information requested. Novartis considers this matter closed as to itself and is not aware of any outstanding questions regarding the agreement.”
BRK: Novartis admits is paid Cohen $1.2 Million, not $400K, as per Avenatti report. Full Statement >>cnbc.com/2018/05/09/nov…
This latest revelation comes after it was reported Tuesday that Cohen’s shell company had been paid $500,000 by Vekselberg (through his company Columbus Nova LLC). A dossier released by Stormy Daniels’ lawyer, Michael Avenatti showed that Vekselberg — who is close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin — routed eight payments to Essential Consulting from Columbus Nova between January 2017 until at least August 2017.
Meanwhile, telecom giant AT&T was also revealed to have paid Cohen’s shell company $200,000, again with no visible action.
“Essential Consulting was one of several firms we engaged in early 2017 to provide insights into understanding the new administration,” AT&T said in a statement. “They did no legal or lobbying work for us, and the contract ended in December 2017.”
All of these payments were made to a company that has no website or known employees, that was previously described as a “real-estate consulting company,” and that was only set up in October 2016. Crucially, it was the same shell company Cohen used to make a $130,000 payment to Daniels, an adult film actress, and which, according to the rich asshole’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani, might have been used to pay off other women for the rich asshole “if necessary.”
Sarah Sanders angrily deflects Michael Cohen pay-for-play scandal: ‘It has nothing to do with the White House’
Sarah Sanders (Screenshot)
DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY!
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders on Wednesday declared that a pay-for-play scandal facing President some rich asshole’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, “has nothing to do with the White House.”
At Wednesday’s White House briefing, Sanders faced a grilling from reporters regarding millions of dollars that were paid into the same account that was used to silence adult film star Stormy Daniels about an alleged affair with the president.
Sanders demurred when she was asked if the president was “embarrassed or ashamed” that Cohen offered access to companies like AT&T and Novartis.
“I think that would be up to those individuals who make the decision to hire someone,” Sanders said, sounding frustrated. “That’s the decision of an independent company and it has nothing to do with the White House.”
“The president promised to drain the swamp,” NBC’s Kristen Welker pointed out. “So, does he feel it’s appropriate that Michael Cohen, his personal attorney, was selling access to him?”
“I’m not going to weigh into this,” Sanders replied. “That’s a determination that individual companies had to make [when they paid Cohen].”
“You’re the press secretary,” Welker pressed. “Based on what you know and what’s been revealed, does the president think it’s appropriate that his personal attorney was selling access to him, given that he promised to drain the swamp?”
“We’re not engaging in this process at all and I would refer you to the outside counsel,” Sanders said.
Watch the video below from The White House.
Here’s how the rest of the world is responding to the rich asshole’s decision to withdraw from the Iran deal
the rich asshole's attempt to unilaterally undo the 2015 nuclear deal is met with disappointment in most quarters.
President some rich asshole on Tuesday pulled the United States out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — a multilateral deal signed with the United Kingdom, France, Russia, China, and Germany, all of whom wish to stay in the JCPOA.
As he gave his personal reasons for leaving the deal (the rich asshole referred to himself 19 times in the announcement), the president offered virtually nothing in the way of an alternative to the deal, which saw Iran limiting its enrichment activity in exchange for sanctions relief. When asked, he also could not say why or how pulling out of the deal will make America safer.
His decision has triggered a large wave of dismay and disagreement from U.S. allies and trading partners around the world.
As Iran and the other partners in the JCPOA scramble to see if the deal is salvageable — Iran has sent mixed signals on whether it is willing to remain in the deal if the banking sanctions are re-imposed and it’s unclear if the rich asshole will sanction U.S. trading partners for doing business in Iran — the partners in the deal registered their concerns:
European Union: Top European diplomat Federica Mogherini said that she is especially worried about the rich asshole’s mention of new sanctions and hopes the U.S. will reconsider its position on the JCPOA. She also pointed out that the deal is not the rich asshole’s alone to blow up:
“As we have always said, the nuclear deal is not a bilateral agreement and it is not in the hands of any single country to terminate it unilaterally. It has been unanimously endorsed by UN Security Council Resolution 2231….The nuclear deal with Iran is crucial for the security of the region, of Europe and of the entire world.”
France: President Emmanuel Macron, who was in Washington in late April hoping to convince the rich asshole to stay in the deal, tweeted:
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian slammed the rich asshole’s decision as “isolationist, protectionist and unilateral logic,” and said that France would try to keep the deal alive.
“We will bring businesses together in the coming days to try and preserve them as much as possible from the US measures.”
Germany: Calling the JCPOA “an important pillar we don’t want to do without,” Chancellor Angela Merkel reaffirmed Germany’s commitment to stay in the deal.
“I think yesterday showed us that we in Europe will have to take more responsibility,” she said, adding, “Germany, France and the UK have decided that we will abide by the agreement, and we will do everything we can to see that Iran also abides by its responsibilities in the future.”
The United Kingdom: Noting that the JCPOA eliminated 95 percent of Iran’s uranium stockpile, Middle East Minister Alistair Burt said the U.K. was “disappointed” in the rich asshole’s decision to pull out of the deal. He also said he does not believe “the deal is dead in the water.”
Foreign Affairs Secretary Boris Johnson tweeted:
China: Despite being the party to the JCPOA that might stand to gain the most, economically, from the deal’s destruction (by virtue of having Iran rely on it morethan the United State’s European partners for trade and investment), China has spoken up for the preservation of the deal.
Emphasizing the importance of the deal, China’s special envoy to the Middle East Gong Xiaosheng said, “Having a deal is better than no deal. Dialogue is better than confrontation.”
The country’s foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang expressed “regret” over the rich asshole’s decision and affirmed China’s commitment to “carry on the normal and transparent pragmatic cooperation with Iran on the basis of not violating [the] international obligation.”
Russia: The country’s foreign ministry added its voice to those expressing deep disappointment in the rich asshole’s unilateral decision to pull out of the JCPOA, accusing him of “trampling on the norms of international law.”
Iran: The response to the rich asshole’s announcement on Tuesday has been loud and fierce in Iran, which does not have a nuclear weapons program and under the deal has submitted to the most rigorous inspections ever carried out by the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused the rich asshole of uttering 10 lies in his announcement (he did not provide any details, but the Washington Post gave it a shot), while lawmakers burned paper American flags on the parliament’s floor and stated that they were not in favor of renegotiating the deal.
Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, meanwhile, tweeted his marching orders from President Hassan Rouhani, who called the decision “psychological warfare”:
Non-signatory countries
Countries all around the world issued statement on President the rich asshole’s decision. Below are some of the notable ones:
Israel: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quick to enthusiastically support the rich asshole on his decision, which is no surprise, given that he also congratulated him on decertifying the deal (the president is required to certify the deal every three months under U.S. law) in October.
Israel fully supports @realDonaldTrump’s bold decision today to reject the disastrous nuclear deal with the terrorist regime in Tehran. The deal didn’t push war further away; it actually brought it closer. The deal didn’t reduce Iran’s aggression; it dramatically increased it.
But according to Bloomberg, the security community in Israel is split on the whether the decision actually makes Israel any safer, saying that the deal, even if flawed, was “working.” They also directly contradict Netanyahu’s claims that Iran has violated the deal.
Turkey: Calling the decision an “unfortunate step,” Turkey’s foreign ministry issued a statement urging all parties to resolve issues through diplomatic means:
“Turkey has always defended the stance that issues regarding Iran’s nuclear program should be resolved through diplomacy and negotiations and has made intensive efforts in this direction. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) accepted in 2015 was an important step taken to prevent proliferation. The plan in question has shown that even the most difficult of subjects could be resolved through negotiations.”
Australia: Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull urged all parties to “show restraint” in how they proceed and to work to stick with the deal.
“We do regret the US pulling out of the Iran deal, we believe it was the best option to maintain the ability to verify Iran’s compliance with its commitments on nuclear development,” said Turnbull.
Saudi Arabia and Gulf allies: Iran’s chief rival in the region, Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry released a statement saying, “The kingdom supports and welcomes the steps announced by the US president towards withdrawing from the nuclear deal… and reinstating economic sanctions against Iran.”
The United Arab Emirates also welcomed the rich asshole’s decision, calling on the international community to “respond positively to President the rich asshole’s position to rid the Middle East of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.”
Bahrain (which like some of the other Sunni-ruled countries in the region has accused Iran of instigating a Shia insurgency) also issued a statement of support, thanking the rich asshole for helping challenge Iran’s “continuous attempts to spread terrorism in the region.”
Watch Rudy Giuliani contradict himself: The president has to testify before a grand jury — ‘You’ve gotta do it!’
Rudy Giuliani appears on the Charlie Rose show to explain that the president has to testify before a grand jury in 1998/Screenshot
DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY!
President the rich asshole’s new attorney Rudy Giuliani says the president “has to” testify before a grand jury and “has no choice” but to do so.
Or at least the president did when he was named Clinton and not the rich asshole.
In an July 21, 1998 interview segment with now-disgraced PBS talk show host Charlie Rose, Giuliani was asked whether Clinton would have to testify in the legal proceedings he was facing at the time.
His answer was unequivocal.
“You’ve got to do it,” he said. “I mean, you don’t have a choice.”
Now that he’s representing a new client, Giuliani maintains that the president does not have to testify and that he will advise him against it.
Among the other thoughts offered by Giuliani, which he may not feel age well, is his opinion that the New York Yankees should move to a Manhattan stadium because downtown “needs growth.”
Giuliani is not alone in his apparent hypocrisy on this issue.
Ultra-conservative talk show Mark Levin dedicated the entirety of his Sunday night Fox Show talk show to half-baked legal arguments about why the rich asshole cannot be legally forced to appear before a grand jury. However, in 1998, Levin’s conservative activist legal team helped find a lawyer for Paula Jones to sue Clinton, worked to aid special investigator Ken Star and even filed a complaint against another party who he said had “interfered” in the investigation.
By
-
May 9, 2018
The press secretary's defense of the rich asshole's threat to ban reporters from the White House is downright embarrassing.
the rich asshole threatened to bar reporters from the White House if they don’t give him more flattering coverage, but Sarah Huckabee Sanders says his photo ops prove he’s a champion of the free press.
At Wednesday afternoon’s White House press briefing, ABC News correspondent Cecilia Vega asked Sanders about the rich asshole’s threat to revoke credentials.
“Is that a line that, as press secretary, you would be willing to cross?” Vega asked.
“I’m standing up in front of you right now, taking your questions,” Sanders said.
“We’re very committed to a free press,” she continued, “and I think that we demonstrate that every day, not only by me being up here and taking your questions, as I’m doing right now, the president did it just a couple of hours ago, and has made multiple sets of remarks, and will be in front of the press later tonight as well.”
the rich asshole did field a few questions at a Cabinet photo op earlier Wednesday. But when he was asked whether he will ban press from the White House, as he had threatened earlier in the day, he refused to answer, instead signaling for the press to leave with a “Thank you!”
the rich asshole’s other events Wednesday included a photo op with military mothers and spouses at which he took no questions, and a dinner with members of Congress that is closed to the press.
Reporters will also be present at 2 a.m., when the hostages released from North Korea will arrive. It is unknown whether he will take any questions at that time.
But the rich asshole has not given a solo press conference in 447 days, and while he does occasionally take a few questions during photo ops, he just as often ignores questions he does not like. At one such photo op, the rich asshole even ejected a reporter, CNN’s Jim Acosta, for having the gall to ask a question at all.
Meanwhile, the rich asshole and his communications team have carried out an unprecedented campaign of hostility against the press that has earned international condemnation.
In January, the rich asshole was named a top media oppressor by the Committee to Protect Journalists, and Reporters Without Borders cited the rich asshole for the United States’ drop in their ranking of press freedom.
Sanders’ cynical boasts are an embarrassment, but much more disturbing is the fact that neither she nor the rich asshole ruled out making good on his threat. Given the rich asshole’s avoidance of the press, we’re already halfway there.
‘Therapy Goats’: Here Are The Things Fox News Aired Instead Of The Bombshell Report On the rich asshole’s Attorney
Michael Avenatti, Stormy Daniels’ attorney, revealed on Tuesday that some rich asshole’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen received $500,000 in the months after the 2016 election from a company run by a Russian oligarch with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Cohen also gained access to as much as $774,000 through two financial transactions during the 2016 campaign as he sought to fix problems for his boss, according to the Wall Street Journal. Also, Cohen received money from a Swiss drug company, Novartis, AT&T, and Korea Aerospace Industries. But, because special counsel is ten steps ahead of team the rich asshole, it was revealed on Wednesday that Robert Mueller contacted Novartis last year about payments it made to Michael Cohen.
Fox News’ flagship morning show, Fox & Friends, the rich asshole’s favorite source for news, was somewhat quiet about the rich asshole’s fixer, Michael Cohen, who has found himself plagued with scandals. According to transcripts cited by Think Progress, the name “Michael Cohen” was not mentioned once by Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity or Laura Ingraham.
Media Matters reports that Fox News only spent a total of about five minutes on the bombshell story since the news broke, but they did report on highly important news such as therapy goats, Melania the rich asshole’s soaring ratings, and a controversial high-school cheer policy.
Novartis paid $1.2 million to Cohen for work the company said the rich asshole’s attorney was “unable to do.” All of the aforementioned companies paid the rich asshole’s attorney through his Essential Consultants LLC, a Delaware-registered shell company. The payments to Cohen went to the same shell company he set up to pay $130,000 to adult film star Stormy Daniels just before the election to keep her quiet about the alleged sexual encounter she had with the rich asshole just after Melania gave birth to their son.
So, of course, Fox reported on therapy goats, Melania the rich asshole’s soaring ratings, and a controversial high-school cheer policy.
POLITICS
New U.S. Ambassador To Germany Offends Hosts Just Hours Into His First Day
Richard Grenell, a the rich asshole ally and former Fox News commentator, has a history of stirring controversy on social media.
The new U.S. ambassador to Germany upset his host country’s business and political leaders his first day on the job.
Within hours of assuming his post on Tuesday, Richard Grenell set an aggressive tone for diplomacy in the U.S.-allied country by tweeting a threatening message to German businesses following President some rich asshole’s decision to leave the Iran nuclear deal.
“German companies doing business in Iran should wind down operations immediately,” Grenell wrote.
As @realDonaldTrump said, US sanctions will target critical sectors of Iran’s economy. German companies doing business in Iran should wind down operations immediately.
Some German businesses and politicians were displeased.
“It’s not up to me to teach the U.S. ambassador how to be diplomatic, but he does seem to need a bit of tutoring,” said Andrea Nahles, the leader of Germany’s Social Democratic Party, according to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.
Wolfgang Ischinger, chairman of the Munich Security Conference and a former German ambassador to the U.S., tweeted: “Ric, my advice, after a long ambassadorial career: explain your own country’s policies and lobby the host country — but never tell the host country what to do, if you want to stay out of trouble. Germans are eager to listen, but they will resent instructions.”
Grenell defended his comments, tweeting that he used “the exact language sent out from the White House talking points & fact sheet.”
But Grenell will find little support for that view in Germany. His confirmation came just a day ahead of a visit to the White House by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who ― like French President Emmanuel Macron days earlier ― urged the rich asshole not to abandon the Iran deal.
The Senate confirmed Grenell’s nomination in April, filling a position that had been empty for over a year. Grenell, a Republican and close political ally of the rich asshole, is a former Fox News commentator and worked with incoming national security adviser John Bolton at the United Nations under President George W. Bush.
With his confirmation, Grenell became one of the most prominent openly gay the rich asshole appointees. Among his supporters is Stuart Milk, co-founder of the Harvey Milk Foundation and nephew of the late gay civil rights leader.
Elements of Grenell’s past, including derogatory comments about women, made him a controversial pick. Grenell has a history of stirring controversy on social media, and the Senate vote was initially delayed after several Democrats voiced concerns about Grenell’s reputation for launching sexist attacks through his Twitter account and disparaging women in media and politics.
Giuliani insists his terrible TV appearances aren’t because he’s drunk
By
-
Rudy Giuliani was forced to deny that public drunkenness was the reason behind his consistently disastrous media performances.
Rudy Giuliani has made quite a mess in his mere three weeks as the rich asshole’s lawyer. And as his media appearances get worse and worse, he is publicly denying that drunkenness is the reason.
Politico reports that other the rich asshole lawyers and advisers “have been asking one another about the lawyer’s drinking and other erratic behavior” after watching him stumble and fumble through a series of TV interviews.
Giuliani rejected the theory, insisting he only drinks in the evening.
“I’m not drinking for lunch,” he told Politico. “I may have a drink for dinner. I like to drink with cigars.”
Even having to make such a denial is an embarrassment. And it’s just the latest way Giuliani has made a spectacle of himself since joining the rich asshole’s legal team.
He admitted that the rich asshole funneled money to his lawyer and hush money man Michael Cohen to pay off porn star Stormy Daniels. Then he explicitly linked the payoff to the 2016 election.
He followed that up by noting that there are likely other illicit payoffs in the rich asshole’s past.
Yet how did Giuliani assess his performance after those mistakes? He said he was doing “pretty good.” And he issued a strange and rambling statement that tried to absolve the rich asshole of his involvement in the payoff.
Giuliani was taken off the media circuit for 48 hours after that. But he was soon back on camera, making a fool of himself and somehow making the rich asshole look sillier than usual.
Even if he isn’t day-drinking, he has even worse problems.
When he joined the rich asshole team, Giuliani said his role was to “negotiate an end” to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
But all he has done, from a practical standpoint, is highlight the mediocrity of the people the rich asshole surrounds himself with.
Even those tasked with being attack dogs on the rich asshole’s behalf turn out to be woefully inept jokes who can’t make a simple point without shooting themselves in the foot.
Rudy Giuliani professes to be sober while making a fool of himself on television to defend the rich asshole. But if so, that makes him and the rich asshole look worse, not better. He isn’t helping — and after just three weeks, the rich asshole is already getting sick of it.
the rich asshole is expected to veto farm bill unless it imposes tough work requirements
Forty-three million Americans depend on SNAP for food assistance. Now, the president wants to make things more difficult for them.
President some rich asshole is expected to tell lawmakers Wednesday that he intends to veto the farm bill unless it includes tighter work requirements for individuals receiving food stamps, two people familiar with the deliberations told the Wall Street Journal.
Work requirements for food stamps, known officially as the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), are the most controversial portion of the farm bill, which provides funding for SNAP and must be re-authorized by the fall.
President the rich asshole has embraced the arguments of his party, saying on the campaign trail, “The person who is not working at all and has no intention of working at all is making more money and doing better than the person that’s working his and her ass off.”
Last October, the rich asshole also claimed that “people are taking advantage of the system and other people aren’t receiving what they need to live.”
While it’s not yet known what kind of work requirements the rich asshole will seek to impose, the ones suggested by the House are already exhaustive.
A draft of the House bill was crafted earlier in April behind closed doors and without buy-in from the House Agriculture Committee’s Democrats, a departure from the farm bill’s bipartisan history. As a result, Republicans were able to set in motion legislation that would reaffirm one of the GOP and House Speaker Paul Ryan’s longest held beliefs: that families and individuals who utilize SNAP and other government assistant programs are supposedly lazy and unemployed.
The House GOP farm bill would require able-bodied adults between the ages of 18 and 59, without dependents, to work at least 20 hours a week. Those who aren’t working would be required to take a minimum of 20 hours a week of new job-training classes, requirements that would increase to 25 hours in 2026. Individuals who are unable to find work or part-time work would not only face the time limit of three months in three years, but would also be subject to a “lockout” period that cuts off benefits for a full year. If they are unable to meet the requirements under the policy for a second time, they could face a lockout period of three full years.
The House farm bill also applies time limits to adults without disabilities who are caring for children older than 6. Many adults caring for children that age already have a difficult time finding steady work while still providing their children with quality care, subjecting their children to greater risk of hunger.
The current SNAP program already has time-limits on able-bodied working age adults without dependents ages 18 to 49, although governors in states with high unemployment can waive those work requirements under current the current SNAP program. These SNAP recipients are only eligible to receive benefits for three months out of every three years, unless they are consistently employed or in training for at least 20 hours per week. Additionally, a majority of individuals benefiting from SNAP live in a household where at least one adult is working full-time, but their low wages aren’t enough to survive on. Others turn to SNAP in transitional phases of their life, after losing a job or if an employer isn’t giving them the hours they need.
The House Farm Bill would also severely curtail a feature of SNAP called “categorical eligibility,” something specifically designed to encourage work. Categorical eligibility allows states to provide nutritional assistance to working families that receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), who are struggling to afford their groceries. The program is particularly popular with low-income working families with an income close to SNAP’s cutoff of 130 percent of the federal poverty level, which amounts to roughly $1,702 a month for a family of three. These families are earning an income, yet still face significant costs like child care, transportation, or medical expenses, which make it difficult to afford food. At least 40 states currently use categorical eligibility.
When categorical elibility was last threatened by Republicans, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that SNAP benefits for 2 million Americans would be terminated and 280,000 schoolchildren would lose access to the free school meals funded through categorical eligibility in certain districts.
As the discussion around work requirements continues to steal the spotlight, following the rich asshole’s April 10 executive order directing federal agencies to impose tougher work requirements and introduce new ones for low-income Americans, it’s is important to remember that they are mostly ineffective.
In June 2016, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities conducted a review of work requirement experiments and policies for cash assistance recipients which found that work requirements only increased employment among recipients by a small percentage. That trend notably tended to fade over time.
The review also found that voluntary employment programs were the best alternative to those work requirements, significantly boosting employment without ending basic assistance for individuals and families who are unable to meet the mandatory work requirements.
By
-
May 9, 2018
Fox News spent more time this morning on therapy goats than on the allegation that the rich asshole's personal lawyer received money from a Russian oligarch.
Fox News is trying very hard to downplay the revelation that Russian funds were allegedly directed to the rich asshole fixer Michael Cohen to pay off his hush money deal with porn star Stormy Daniels.
So, on the network’s lead morning news program, “Fox & Friends,” they decided to devote more time to covering therapy goats than to the bombshell report uncovered the night before.
Out of three hours of airtime, “Fox & Friends” only mentioned the payoff story once, and for all of 41 seconds.
Instead the network repeatedly discussed a story about therapy goats being used on a college campus. They also tackled Melania the rich asshole’s approval rating, a local councilwoman who doesn’t want to say the pledge of allegiance and how a “new cheer policy” at a high school in New Jersey “sparks controversy.”
The story the pro-the rich asshole propaganda network didn’t want its viewers to see was the allegation made by Daniels’ lawyer Michael Avenatti.
According to Avenatti, after Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about her affair with the rich asshole before the 2016 election, the rich asshole lawyer received $500,000 from Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg.
Vekselberg has recently been questioned as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of the relationship between the rich asshole and Russian operatives.
In his report, Avenatti indicates that those funds may have been used to reimburse Cohen for shutting up Daniels:
Mr. Cohen has previously claimed that the source of funds from the $130,000 payment was a home equity line of credit advance conducted on October 26, 2016. This has yet to be confirmed. However, as detailed below, within approximately 75 days of the payment to Ms. Clifford, Mr. Viktor Vekselberg, a Russian Oligarch with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, caused substantial funds to be deposited into the bank account from which Mr. Cohen made the payment. It appears that these funds may have replenished the account following the payment to Ms. Clifford.
The money pipeline could end up showing a “conspiracy” with Russia, according to one Watergate prosecutor. So it isn’t surprising that Fox News used their airtime to explore the therapy goat issue.
It is hard to tell where the rich asshole ends and Fox News begins. He used the network to transform himself from a TV host into a political figure. And now, in his current position of power, he regularly promotes the network that shills so shamelessly for him.
Effectively ignoring the Russian kickback story is how Fox and the rich asshole play the game, and the rich asshole fulfills his role by threatening to rescind press credentials for the news organizations who aren’t in his camp like Fox is.
It isn’t a real news network, and that is why the rich asshole is so enamored with it. He backs their fake news, and they in turn try to hide the real news.
the rich asshole Outright Says It: All Negative News Is ‘Fake’ And Must Be Shut Down
In case you haven’t been paying attention or have been in a coma since October 2016 or so and have missed the wacky, zany, terrifying things that have been happening in the United States lately, some rich asshole (that’s the guy who somehow was elected President because Hillary Clinton had a few IT issues and the media obsessed about it) isn’t a huge fan of the free press.
While some among us dismissed statements such as “just like Hitler” outright during the campaign, those of us who pointed out that some rich asshole is a fascist who wants to eliminate all media that speaks the truth about him as he consolidates power are proving to be correct.
He has now, like Hitler, classified all negative press coverage however accurate as “Fake” allegations from a “corrupt” media who wants to destroy him.
While it’s true that the rich asshole hasn’t yet acted to shut down 91% of the media, his allies in Sinclair have been buying up local media (and forcing a pro-the rich asshole message) for some time now. In addition, The rich asshole can generally expect a positive spin from Fox News, whose hosts are willing to lie shamelessly to protect and advance their President’s agenda.
But the important thing is that he wants to and is likely to try to shut down media he views as adversarial.
Our nation is in a crisis. It’s time we admit that. He’s told us what he wants to do. It’s up to us to stop it.
POLITICS
Michael Cohen Was Selling Access To the rich asshole, Says Group That Paid Into His Shell Company
Corporations were looking to get closer to the new administration, and the rich asshole’s lawyer offered to help.
some rich asshole’s longtime personal lawyer convinced major corporations to pay into his shell company by promising access to the president, according to one firm that doled out the cash.
Shortly before the rich asshole became president, Michael Cohen set up Essential Services LLC, a shell firm that eventually paid porn star Stormy Daniels to stay quiet in the run-up to the 2016 election about her alleged affair with the president.
But this week, it was revealed that the financiers for Cohen’s company included major corporations, including Korea Aerospace Industries, the pharmaceutical company Novartis and AT&T. Significantly, it also received money from Columbus Nova, a New York investment firm with close ties to billionaire Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, who has been questioned by special counsel Robert Mueller.
The payments were significant. Novartis paid $1.2 million for “healthcare policy matters.” KAI said it needed help on U.S. accounting standards, and Columbus Nova said it paid a “consulting fee” that had nothing to do with Vekselberg.
AT&T, in a memo to staff Wednesday, explained that it needed to “understand” how the the rich asshole administration would approach issues like tax reform and antitrust regulations. It portrayed paying into the shell company of a president’s personal lawyer as routine: “Companies often hire consultants for these purposes, especially at the beginning of a new Presidential Administration, and we have done so in previous Administrations, as well.”
But an official with one of those companies, who requested anonymity to speak openly, was more blunt. The official said Cohen “was promising access to the rich asshole and members of the administration, positioning himself as a lobbyist.”
One big question surrounding this controversy is how the companies came to know about Cohen and his shell company.
A Novartis employee told STAT, a news outlet that covers health and medicine, that Cohen reached out to them. His promise of access was enticing because the company was “trying to find an inroad into the administration” ― which tended to have fewer people known in Washington political circles.
But apparently, Cohen proved to be a disappointment. In a statement, Novartis said it entered into its one-year agreement with Cohen in February 2017. In March, it had its first meeting with him.
“Following this initial meeting,” the statement read, “Novartis determined that Michael Cohen and Essential Consultants would be unable to provide the services that Novartis had anticipated related to US healthcare policy matters and the decision was taken not to engage further.”
KAI paid Cohen’s firm $150,000, Columbus Nova paid $500,000 and AT&T gave roughly $200,000.
Rudy Giuliani, the rich asshole’s new personal lawyer, told HuffPost on Wednesday that the Cohen news has absolutely nothing to do with the president.
“There’s not involvement of the president in any of that,” he said. “We can’t be responsible for what Michael Cohen is doing.”
S.V. Date contributed reporting.
No comments:
Post a Comment