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babylonsister
babylonsister's Journal
babylonsister's Journal
June 14, 2019
YOU COME AT THE QUEEN, YOU BEST NOT MISS
House Dems Fear Retaliation as They Ready Investigation of Elaine Chao
A probe into the transportation secretary now seems inevitable. But some lawmakers are scared about what that means for infrastructure projects in their districts.
Erin Banco
National Security Reporter
Sam Brodey
Congressional Reporter
Updated 06.14.19 3:13AM ET / Published 06.13.19 10:15AM ET
House Democrats are poised to launch an investigation into the Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao over allegations that she used her position to advance the interests of her family and her husband’s political career.
But even as some members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee say such a probe is inevitable, other Democratic lawmakers have expressed doubts about whether the current evidence is sufficient to warrant it, according to three lawmakers with direct knowledge of the conversations that have taken place over the last several days. And some lawmakers who spoke to The Daily Beast expressed unease—at this time—at calling out the secretary for fear that doing so would affect their ability to advance infrastructure projects in their home districts.
Such hesitation reflects both the unique status Chao enjoys within the Trump administration—where she has heavy sway over federal funds that politicians of all stripes covet—and the wider conundrum that Democrats lawmakers face in going after the president’s team. With aggressive oversight efforts already launched into several other Trump Cabinet officials, senior Democratic aides say a sense of fatigue has set in among members, one that’s been exacerbated by the difficulty the party has had in making progress on already-launched investigative efforts.
snip//
Rep. Peter DeFazio, the chairman of the House transportation committee, noted that his committee has a full oversight plate—dominated at the moment by probes into the Boeing 737-Max passenger plane. But the Oregon Democrat also told The Daily Beast on Wednesday that his panel is having conversations about an inquiry into Chao.
Conversations about opening such an investigation have been ongoing on Capitol Hill over the last four days. And on Wednesday night, Rep. Sean Maloney (D-NY), who sits on DeFazio’s committee, said members would investigate Chao.
more...
https://www.thedailybeast.com/elaine-chao-investigation-house-dems-seems-poised-to-launch-one-even-as-they-fear-retribution
House Dems Fear Retaliation as They Ready Investigation of Elaine Chao
YOU COME AT THE QUEEN, YOU BEST NOT MISS
House Dems Fear Retaliation as They Ready Investigation of Elaine Chao
A probe into the transportation secretary now seems inevitable. But some lawmakers are scared about what that means for infrastructure projects in their districts.
Erin Banco
National Security Reporter
Sam Brodey
Congressional Reporter
Updated 06.14.19 3:13AM ET / Published 06.13.19 10:15AM ET
House Democrats are poised to launch an investigation into the Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao over allegations that she used her position to advance the interests of her family and her husband’s political career.
But even as some members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee say such a probe is inevitable, other Democratic lawmakers have expressed doubts about whether the current evidence is sufficient to warrant it, according to three lawmakers with direct knowledge of the conversations that have taken place over the last several days. And some lawmakers who spoke to The Daily Beast expressed unease—at this time—at calling out the secretary for fear that doing so would affect their ability to advance infrastructure projects in their home districts.
Such hesitation reflects both the unique status Chao enjoys within the Trump administration—where she has heavy sway over federal funds that politicians of all stripes covet—and the wider conundrum that Democrats lawmakers face in going after the president’s team. With aggressive oversight efforts already launched into several other Trump Cabinet officials, senior Democratic aides say a sense of fatigue has set in among members, one that’s been exacerbated by the difficulty the party has had in making progress on already-launched investigative efforts.
snip//
Rep. Peter DeFazio, the chairman of the House transportation committee, noted that his committee has a full oversight plate—dominated at the moment by probes into the Boeing 737-Max passenger plane. But the Oregon Democrat also told The Daily Beast on Wednesday that his panel is having conversations about an inquiry into Chao.
“We were generally going to review how they do grants because they’ve been slow-walking transit grants around the country,” he said. “I think now we will expand the scope to look at other grants that are at secretarial discretion, and what documentation they may have for such grants.”
Conversations about opening such an investigation have been ongoing on Capitol Hill over the last four days. And on Wednesday night, Rep. Sean Maloney (D-NY), who sits on DeFazio’s committee, said members would investigate Chao.
more...
https://www.thedailybeast.com/elaine-chao-investigation-house-dems-seems-poised-to-launch-one-even-as-they-fear-retribution
June 14, 2019
Posted on Thu, Jun 13th, 2019 by Reuters
Over 600 U.S. companies urge Trump to resolve trade dispute with China
By Nandita Bose
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Walmart Inc, Target Corp and more than 600 other companies urged U.S. President Donald Trump in a letter on Thursday to resolve the trade dispute with China, saying tariffs hurt American businesses and consumers.
This letter is the latest of many sent to the Trump administration by Tariffs Hurt the Heartland, the national campaign against tariffs supported by more than 150 trade groups representing agriculture, manufacturing, retail and tech industries.
But it is significant as U.S.-China trade tensions escalate and comes before a possible meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the June 28-29 G20 summit in Osaka, Japan. Trump has said he wants to meet Xi there and will decide on whether to extend tariffs to almost all Chinese imports after that.
With less than three weeks to go before talks between Chinese and U.S. leaders, expectations for progress toward ending the trade war are low. Sources have told Reuters there has been little preparation for a meeting even as the health of the world economy is at stake.
more...
https://www.politicususa.com/2019/06/13/over-600-u-s-companies-urge-trump-to-resolve-trade-dispute-with-china.html
Over 600 U.S. companies urge Trump to resolve trade dispute with China
Posted on Thu, Jun 13th, 2019 by Reuters
Over 600 U.S. companies urge Trump to resolve trade dispute with China
By Nandita Bose
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Walmart Inc, Target Corp and more than 600 other companies urged U.S. President Donald Trump in a letter on Thursday to resolve the trade dispute with China, saying tariffs hurt American businesses and consumers.
This letter is the latest of many sent to the Trump administration by Tariffs Hurt the Heartland, the national campaign against tariffs supported by more than 150 trade groups representing agriculture, manufacturing, retail and tech industries.
But it is significant as U.S.-China trade tensions escalate and comes before a possible meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the June 28-29 G20 summit in Osaka, Japan. Trump has said he wants to meet Xi there and will decide on whether to extend tariffs to almost all Chinese imports after that.
With less than three weeks to go before talks between Chinese and U.S. leaders, expectations for progress toward ending the trade war are low. Sources have told Reuters there has been little preparation for a meeting even as the health of the world economy is at stake.
“We remain concerned about the escalation of tit-for-tat tariffs,” the new letter sent on Thursday said. “Broadly applied tariffs are not an effective tool to change China’s unfair trade practices. Tariffs are taxes paid directly by U.S. companies … not China.”
more...
https://www.politicususa.com/2019/06/13/over-600-u-s-companies-urge-trump-to-resolve-trade-dispute-with-china.html
June 14, 2019
Seems to me
if the House would go after Mitch McConnell and his disgusting wife, with indisputable facts that she tried to curry favor to get deals for her family and broke some more rules to help her husband win in Kentucky, we'd be a whole lot better off. I would love to have that turncoat mcconnell out of the picture.
https://www.salon.com/2019/06/12/mitch-mcconnell-and-elaine-chaos-empire-of-corruption-is-this-what-normal-looks-like-joe-biden/
Mitch McConnell and Elaine Chao's empire of corruption...
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/chao-sells-off-stock-as-attention-on-corruption-allegations-grows-61900869673
Chao sells off stock as attention on corruption allegations grows
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/chao-streamlined-federal-grants-for-husband-mcconnell-politico-61676613876
Chao streamlined federal grants for husband McConnell:
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/10/mcconnell-elaine-chao-1358068
Chao created special path for McConnell’s favored projects
June 14, 2019
https://thinkprogress.org/lindsey-graham-fox-news-war-monger-venezuela-iran-north-korea-points-on-the-board-453778bc5e0d/
Lindsey Graham wants to invade Venezuela to put ‘points on the board’
"We need points on the board."
Josh Israel
Jun 14, 2019, 8:21 am
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) wants the United States to use military forces to intervene in Venezuela to depose the country’s contested president, Nicolás Maduro. His reason: it will scare other foreign countries like North Korea and Iran to see America put “points on the board.”
During a Fox News appearance on Friday morning, Graham was asked about the many foreign policy challenges President Donald Trump faces with Maduro still in power, North Korea continuing to ignore its supposed deal with Trump to move toward total denuclearization, and Iran allegedly attacking oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman.
“It’s a time of testing,” Graham responded, urging Trump to “put military force on the table” the way President Ronald Reagan did when he invaded Grenada in 1983. This, he argued, could help sever Venezuela’s support from Cuba.
After praising Trump for his foreign policy diplomacy, Graham said that the time has come for action.
This is not the first time the senator has argued for invading Venezuela — or at least threatening to do so — as a strategy to stop Cuban influence there. But it is the clearest he’s been that he wants to pursue a war-mongering approach for the optics it will create.
Trump cited Graham in February as an example of a person he listens to on foreign policy matters.
Lindsey Graham wants to invade Venezuela to put 'points on the board'
https://thinkprogress.org/lindsey-graham-fox-news-war-monger-venezuela-iran-north-korea-points-on-the-board-453778bc5e0d/
Lindsey Graham wants to invade Venezuela to put ‘points on the board’
"We need points on the board."
Josh Israel
Jun 14, 2019, 8:21 am
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) wants the United States to use military forces to intervene in Venezuela to depose the country’s contested president, Nicolás Maduro. His reason: it will scare other foreign countries like North Korea and Iran to see America put “points on the board.”
During a Fox News appearance on Friday morning, Graham was asked about the many foreign policy challenges President Donald Trump faces with Maduro still in power, North Korea continuing to ignore its supposed deal with Trump to move toward total denuclearization, and Iran allegedly attacking oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman.
“It’s a time of testing,” Graham responded, urging Trump to “put military force on the table” the way President Ronald Reagan did when he invaded Grenada in 1983. This, he argued, could help sever Venezuela’s support from Cuba.
After praising Trump for his foreign policy diplomacy, Graham said that the time has come for action.
“We need points on the board. Start with your own backyard. Tell Cuba if you are not out of Venezuela, in a week, and people are starving and dying in Venezuela because Maduro is such a thug, then we are making a mistake. Fix Venezuela and everybody else will know you are serious.”
This is not the first time the senator has argued for invading Venezuela — or at least threatening to do so — as a strategy to stop Cuban influence there. But it is the clearest he’s been that he wants to pursue a war-mongering approach for the optics it will create.
Trump cited Graham in February as an example of a person he listens to on foreign policy matters.
June 14, 2019
FEC chair responds to Trump saying he'd accept foreign intel on opponent: 'It is illegal'
By Rebecca Klar - 06/13/19 07:36 PM EDT
Federal Elections Commission chair Ellen Weintraub said Thursday it is illegal to accept foreign interference during elections after President Trump publicly suggested he would accept foreign intel on opponents.
https://twitter.com/EllenLWeintraub/status/1139309394968096768
In an interview with ABC News Wednesday, Trump suggested he would accept dirt on an opponent offered by a foreign country.
Doubling down on why that's unconstitutional, Weintraub said "this is not a novel concept," adding that "our Founding Fathers sounded the alarm about 'foreign Interference, Intrigue, and Influence."
"They knew that when foreign governments seek to influence American politics, it is always to advance their own interests, not America's," she said.
snip//
The FEC is independent regulatory agency whose purpose is to enforce campaign finance law. Weintraub was appointed by President George W. Bush and has served as commissioner since 2002.
FEC chair responds to Trump saying he'd accept foreign intel on opponent: 'It is illegal'
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/448507-fec-chair-responds-to-trump-saying-hed-accept-foreign-intel-on?fbclid=IwAR3dbdd025Rq0yNfHuYM3J3M9RWqc8iqHguOw8y0oGuWUcdBvT1pvTcAeEUFEC chair responds to Trump saying he'd accept foreign intel on opponent: 'It is illegal'
By Rebecca Klar - 06/13/19 07:36 PM EDT
Federal Elections Commission chair Ellen Weintraub said Thursday it is illegal to accept foreign interference during elections after President Trump publicly suggested he would accept foreign intel on opponents.
"I would not have thought that I needed to say this," Weintraub tweeted Thursday with her statement.
"Let me make something 100 percent clear to the American public and anyone running for public office: It is illegal for any person to solicit, accept, or receive anything of value from a foreign national in connection with a U.S. election," Weintraub said.
"Let me make something 100 percent clear to the American public and anyone running for public office: It is illegal for any person to solicit, accept, or receive anything of value from a foreign national in connection with a U.S. election," Weintraub said.
https://twitter.com/EllenLWeintraub/status/1139309394968096768
In an interview with ABC News Wednesday, Trump suggested he would accept dirt on an opponent offered by a foreign country.
Doubling down on why that's unconstitutional, Weintraub said "this is not a novel concept," adding that "our Founding Fathers sounded the alarm about 'foreign Interference, Intrigue, and Influence."
"They knew that when foreign governments seek to influence American politics, it is always to advance their own interests, not America's," she said.
snip//
The FEC is independent regulatory agency whose purpose is to enforce campaign finance law. Weintraub was appointed by President George W. Bush and has served as commissioner since 2002.
June 13, 2019
Levin Report
Lindsey Graham: Sure Trump Slanders My Dead Friend, but “When We Golf It’s Fun”
The senator from South Carolina isn’t going to hold Trump’s attacks against John McCain against him.
By Bess Levin
June 7, 2019
For almost a year now, Donald Trump has been carrying on a one-sided feud with Senator John McCain who, as a reminder, has been dead since August. No fan of the late lawmaker when he was alive, the president has continued his attacks despite McCain being six feet under, railing against him for refusing to help repeal the Affordable Care Act, mocking his academic performance, and, in a now infamous rant at an Ohio factory, complaining that he “didn’t get a ‘thank-you’” for giving McCain “the kind of funeral that he wanted.” Most recently, the White House tried to move an entire ship, the USS John S. McCain, out of Trump’s line of vision lest the mere sight of his name result in an overseas temper tantrum, a directive Trump says he didn’t know about but appreciated nevertheless.
Most people see all this as yet further evidence that the president should be committed. But what does Senator Lindsey Graham, McCain’s closest Senate pal, think? The answer, apparently, is that he doesn’t love it, but he’s willing to let it slide because he just has so much fun playing golf with the guy who repeatedly slanders the memory of his best friend. “I don’t like what he says about John McCain,” Graham told Bloomberg in a recent interview. “But when we play golf, it’s fun. And I think he’s seen my ability to help him, that I can actually help put deals together.”
Graham’s comments may be upsetting to the McCain family, along with anyone who remembers a time before the senator from South Carolina had his backbone surgically removed, but of course, his subservience to Trump has gone on for some time now. After declaring he wouldn’t support Trump for office,__ calling the Republican candidate a “jackass,” a “kook,” “a race-baiting bigot,” and “the most flawed nominee in the history of the Republican Party,” Graham has become one of the president’s biggest and most embarrassing fans. On Democratic hopes of impeachment, he’s said, “I think it would be disposed of very quickly,” sounding like he was discussing getting rid of a dead body—something that, we assume, he would do for Trump if asked. “If it’s based on the Mueller report, or anything like that, it would be quickly disposed of,” Graham told the Hill.
In January 2017, Graham said tariffs on Mexico would an unacceptable, “big-time bad idea.” And yet Graham was the first (and only) Republican to publicly support Trump’s insane plan to hit our neighbors to the south with levies “until they up their game to help us with our border disaster.” Jamie Harrison, the associate chair of the Democratic National Committee, who’s running against Graham in South Carolina, has basically centered his campaign around the senator’s mortifying Trump sycophancy.
So, really, it‘s not entirely surprising that Graham would be happy to overlook attacks on his dead pal by the president, who’s seemingly two bad days away from tagging McCain’s grave with the word “LOSER.” But it’s cringeworthy nevertheless.
Lindsey Graham: Sure Trump Slanders My Dead Friend, but "When We Golf It's Fun"
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/06/lindsey-graham-john-mcccain-trump-golf?verso=true&fbclid=IwAR08SOBPgVEtO-2UWG43kCyfW1LmLK1b9Im4Il-2sZqmMH2ROpWya2i7ogELevin Report
Lindsey Graham: Sure Trump Slanders My Dead Friend, but “When We Golf It’s Fun”
The senator from South Carolina isn’t going to hold Trump’s attacks against John McCain against him.
By Bess Levin
June 7, 2019
For almost a year now, Donald Trump has been carrying on a one-sided feud with Senator John McCain who, as a reminder, has been dead since August. No fan of the late lawmaker when he was alive, the president has continued his attacks despite McCain being six feet under, railing against him for refusing to help repeal the Affordable Care Act, mocking his academic performance, and, in a now infamous rant at an Ohio factory, complaining that he “didn’t get a ‘thank-you’” for giving McCain “the kind of funeral that he wanted.” Most recently, the White House tried to move an entire ship, the USS John S. McCain, out of Trump’s line of vision lest the mere sight of his name result in an overseas temper tantrum, a directive Trump says he didn’t know about but appreciated nevertheless.
Most people see all this as yet further evidence that the president should be committed. But what does Senator Lindsey Graham, McCain’s closest Senate pal, think? The answer, apparently, is that he doesn’t love it, but he’s willing to let it slide because he just has so much fun playing golf with the guy who repeatedly slanders the memory of his best friend. “I don’t like what he says about John McCain,” Graham told Bloomberg in a recent interview. “But when we play golf, it’s fun. And I think he’s seen my ability to help him, that I can actually help put deals together.”
Graham’s comments may be upsetting to the McCain family, along with anyone who remembers a time before the senator from South Carolina had his backbone surgically removed, but of course, his subservience to Trump has gone on for some time now. After declaring he wouldn’t support Trump for office,__ calling the Republican candidate a “jackass,” a “kook,” “a race-baiting bigot,” and “the most flawed nominee in the history of the Republican Party,” Graham has become one of the president’s biggest and most embarrassing fans. On Democratic hopes of impeachment, he’s said, “I think it would be disposed of very quickly,” sounding like he was discussing getting rid of a dead body—something that, we assume, he would do for Trump if asked. “If it’s based on the Mueller report, or anything like that, it would be quickly disposed of,” Graham told the Hill.
In January 2017, Graham said tariffs on Mexico would an unacceptable, “big-time bad idea.” And yet Graham was the first (and only) Republican to publicly support Trump’s insane plan to hit our neighbors to the south with levies “until they up their game to help us with our border disaster.” Jamie Harrison, the associate chair of the Democratic National Committee, who’s running against Graham in South Carolina, has basically centered his campaign around the senator’s mortifying Trump sycophancy.
So, really, it‘s not entirely surprising that Graham would be happy to overlook attacks on his dead pal by the president, who’s seemingly two bad days away from tagging McCain’s grave with the word “LOSER.” But it’s cringeworthy nevertheless.
June 13, 2019
Trump’s Astonishing Confession
The president said he would accept information from foreign countries if it were to help his presidential campaign.
Jun 12, 2019
David Frum
snip//
This confession carries heavy implications, starting with the question of whether Donald Trump Jr. lied to Congress when he denied telling his father in advance about the famous June 2016 Trump Tower meeting, in which he believed that a representative of the Russian government would be offering dirt on the Hillary Clinton campaign.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report found that the Donald Trump campaign desperately wished to collude with Russian intelligence—but concluded that there was insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that anyone in the campaign had actually done so. But after three years and the special counsel’s investigation? Trump acknowledges that he would do it all again, if given the chance.
Will he be given the chance, whether by Russia or China or Saudi Arabia or Abu Dhabi or Israel or Pakistan—or, for that matter, any number of foreign non-state actors, legitimate or criminal, with intelligence-gathering capabilities?
Yoni Appelbaum argued in an important cover story for The Atlantic in favor of opening an impeachment inquiry into the president. I worried some weeks later on this site about the political and institutional risks of proceeding down that path. But Trump himself gets a vote; Trump himself forces the hands even of those who might wish to restrain the hands. He is such an institution-wrecker—his instincts are so lawless—that he may simply refuse to allow Congress not to impeach him.
Confessing a willingness to collaborate with foreign spies against his domestic political opponents is a hand-forcing move. The risks of proceeding are still there. But the risks of not proceeding? Trump just forced us all to confront them in the most aggressively public possible way.
David Frum: Trump's Astonishing Confession
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/06/trump-says-hed-accept-foreign-electoral-aid/591577/Trump’s Astonishing Confession
The president said he would accept information from foreign countries if it were to help his presidential campaign.
Jun 12, 2019
David Frum
snip//
“There’s nothing wrong with listening,” he told George Stephanopoulos. “If somebody called from a country, Norway, ‘We have information on your opponent,’ I think I’d want to hear it.”
This confession carries heavy implications, starting with the question of whether Donald Trump Jr. lied to Congress when he denied telling his father in advance about the famous June 2016 Trump Tower meeting, in which he believed that a representative of the Russian government would be offering dirt on the Hillary Clinton campaign.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report found that the Donald Trump campaign desperately wished to collude with Russian intelligence—but concluded that there was insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that anyone in the campaign had actually done so. But after three years and the special counsel’s investigation? Trump acknowledges that he would do it all again, if given the chance.
Will he be given the chance, whether by Russia or China or Saudi Arabia or Abu Dhabi or Israel or Pakistan—or, for that matter, any number of foreign non-state actors, legitimate or criminal, with intelligence-gathering capabilities?
Yoni Appelbaum argued in an important cover story for The Atlantic in favor of opening an impeachment inquiry into the president. I worried some weeks later on this site about the political and institutional risks of proceeding down that path. But Trump himself gets a vote; Trump himself forces the hands even of those who might wish to restrain the hands. He is such an institution-wrecker—his instincts are so lawless—that he may simply refuse to allow Congress not to impeach him.
Confessing a willingness to collaborate with foreign spies against his domestic political opponents is a hand-forcing move. The risks of proceeding are still there. But the risks of not proceeding? Trump just forced us all to confront them in the most aggressively public possible way.
June 13, 2019
McConnell And Trump: Democracy’s Enemies Within
Joe Conason
June 12, 2019
snip//
Although there was plenty of evidence by September 2016 that the Russians were seeking to interfere in our election on behalf of their preferred candidate Trump, McConnell seized on lingering doubts to conceal from voters what intelligence officials knew. He has no such excuses now, after the Mueller report and many previous reports have dispelled any doubt about Putin’s active measures.
Indeed, we now know that their intelligence services penetrated deeply into state election networks. While there is no evidence that those hacks changed any votes, it is entirely possible that the Russians will attempt to do so next time — and may well possess the capability.
And yet, the Republican leader still refuses to take action to protect our elections from the next assault by the Russians, in 2020. He has repeatedly blocked bipartisan bills that seek to enhance election security from reaching the Senate floor. In fact, McConnell has killed at least three such bills within the past few months.
snip//
McConnell worked in tandem with the Trump White House to stall this vital legislation before the 2020 election, presumably to save the president any embarrassment over vetoing it. Neither McConnell nor Trump has stated their exact objections to protecting our election systems. (Someone should ask Putin directly.)
When Robert Mueller spoke publicly about the findings of his investigation as he resigned from the Justice Department, he warned that all Americans should concern themselves with the Russians’ 2016 attack — obviously because it will happen again. Security and intelligence officials across the country have uttered that same warning, more than once. And both the Republican Senate majority and the White House have stymied any action to protect the integrity of our democracy.
Perhaps we should turn our attention now to the enemies within.
Joe Conason: McConnell And Trump: Democracy's Enemies Within
https://www.nationalmemo.com/mcconnell-and-trump-democracys-enemies-within/?fbclid=IwAR3leGuBLj_K5H7b71pQpp0Yn-tkceLAH6kCQLAFsSmaBpJcqwAkZ0IGKs0McConnell And Trump: Democracy’s Enemies Within
Joe Conason
June 12, 2019
snip//
Although there was plenty of evidence by September 2016 that the Russians were seeking to interfere in our election on behalf of their preferred candidate Trump, McConnell seized on lingering doubts to conceal from voters what intelligence officials knew. He has no such excuses now, after the Mueller report and many previous reports have dispelled any doubt about Putin’s active measures.
Indeed, we now know that their intelligence services penetrated deeply into state election networks. While there is no evidence that those hacks changed any votes, it is entirely possible that the Russians will attempt to do so next time — and may well possess the capability.
And yet, the Republican leader still refuses to take action to protect our elections from the next assault by the Russians, in 2020. He has repeatedly blocked bipartisan bills that seek to enhance election security from reaching the Senate floor. In fact, McConnell has killed at least three such bills within the past few months.
snip//
McConnell worked in tandem with the Trump White House to stall this vital legislation before the 2020 election, presumably to save the president any embarrassment over vetoing it. Neither McConnell nor Trump has stated their exact objections to protecting our election systems. (Someone should ask Putin directly.)
When Robert Mueller spoke publicly about the findings of his investigation as he resigned from the Justice Department, he warned that all Americans should concern themselves with the Russians’ 2016 attack — obviously because it will happen again. Security and intelligence officials across the country have uttered that same warning, more than once. And both the Republican Senate majority and the White House have stymied any action to protect the integrity of our democracy.
Perhaps we should turn our attention now to the enemies within.
June 13, 2019
FEMA admits it’s ‘short a few thousand employees’ as hurricane season begins
The agency under Trump doesn't have enough people to properly respond to climate-fueled disasters, experts say.
E.A. Crunden
Jun 12, 2019, 12:40 pm
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said Wednesday that the disaster aid and recovery agency is still significantly understaffed, nearly two years after recovery efforts during the devastating 2017 hurricane season were hindered by a lack of staffing.
In a hearing June 12, acting FEMA Administrator Peter Gaynor told the House Committee on Homeland Security that the agency is prepared and ready to tackle any potential disasters in coming months. But Gaynor’s exchange grew heated as Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) pressed the FEMA head about staffing levels.
“Are you fully staffed?” Thompson asked repeatedly. Ultimately, Gaynor asserted that the agency’s full-time staffing quota has been met, but that the agency is significantly understaffed with regards to the part-time employees who are critical to addressing disasters and wide-scale crises.
“It has been a struggle for FEMA to make sure that we have enough disaster responders,” Gaynor said, acknowledging that “we’re probably short a few thousand employees.”
That acknowledgement comes with Atlantic hurricane season underway as of this month, while wildfires are once again surging in the western United States. Meanwhile, extreme flooding across the Midwest and parts of the South is imperiling local communities and economies.
more...
https://thinkprogress.org/fema-short-staffed-hurricane-season-2019-74093f98acb4/
FEMA admits it's 'short a few thousand employees' as hurricane season begins
FEMA admits it’s ‘short a few thousand employees’ as hurricane season begins
The agency under Trump doesn't have enough people to properly respond to climate-fueled disasters, experts say.
E.A. Crunden
Jun 12, 2019, 12:40 pm
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said Wednesday that the disaster aid and recovery agency is still significantly understaffed, nearly two years after recovery efforts during the devastating 2017 hurricane season were hindered by a lack of staffing.
In a hearing June 12, acting FEMA Administrator Peter Gaynor told the House Committee on Homeland Security that the agency is prepared and ready to tackle any potential disasters in coming months. But Gaynor’s exchange grew heated as Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) pressed the FEMA head about staffing levels.
“Are you fully staffed?” Thompson asked repeatedly. Ultimately, Gaynor asserted that the agency’s full-time staffing quota has been met, but that the agency is significantly understaffed with regards to the part-time employees who are critical to addressing disasters and wide-scale crises.
“It has been a struggle for FEMA to make sure that we have enough disaster responders,” Gaynor said, acknowledging that “we’re probably short a few thousand employees.”
That acknowledgement comes with Atlantic hurricane season underway as of this month, while wildfires are once again surging in the western United States. Meanwhile, extreme flooding across the Midwest and parts of the South is imperiling local communities and economies.
more...
https://thinkprogress.org/fema-short-staffed-hurricane-season-2019-74093f98acb4/
June 13, 2019
Posted on Wed, Jun 12th, 2019 by Jason Easley
Top Democrat Says Trump Taking Help From Foreign Governments Is Treason
Rep. Hakeem Jefferies (D-NY), the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said that Trump’s willingness to take help from foreign governments is treasonous, and his campaign should be locked up.
Jefferies said on MSNBC’s All In, “It’s a shocking statement accepting assistance from a hostile foreign power like Russia. It’s treasonous behavior. The President Of The United States should condemn it, but instead, he is enabling it. That should tell the country all it needs to know about the current occupant in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. It makes clear that in Congress we need to legislate such behavior out of existence in terms of making it clear that it’s criminal and any individual campaign moving forward that engaging in that behavior should be locked up.”
https://twitter.com/politicususa/status/1138970025744896002
Trump claimed treason is oppo research
The president endorsed committing treason to win an election. Trump’s comments weren’t a warning. They were a statement of fact about the 2020 election. If Trump is committing treason, he needs to be impeached. He is going to do what he did in 2016. Trump is trying to replay the previous presidential election down to the foreign attack that helped him win.
Even if Trump isn’t removed from office, treason is a crime against America, and it must be punished.
Top Democrat Says Trump Taking Help From Foreign Governments Is Treason
https://www.politicususa.com/2019/06/12/trump-treason-jeffries.htmlPosted on Wed, Jun 12th, 2019 by Jason Easley
Top Democrat Says Trump Taking Help From Foreign Governments Is Treason
Rep. Hakeem Jefferies (D-NY), the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said that Trump’s willingness to take help from foreign governments is treasonous, and his campaign should be locked up.
Jefferies said on MSNBC’s All In, “It’s a shocking statement accepting assistance from a hostile foreign power like Russia. It’s treasonous behavior. The President Of The United States should condemn it, but instead, he is enabling it. That should tell the country all it needs to know about the current occupant in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. It makes clear that in Congress we need to legislate such behavior out of existence in terms of making it clear that it’s criminal and any individual campaign moving forward that engaging in that behavior should be locked up.”
https://twitter.com/politicususa/status/1138970025744896002
Trump claimed treason is oppo research
Trump said, “It’s not an interference, they have information — I think I’d take it. If I thought there was something wrong, I’d go maybe to the FBI — if I thought there was something wrong. But when somebody comes up with oppo research, right, they come up with oppo research, ‘oh let’s call the FBI.’ The FBI doesn’t have enough agents to take care of it. When you go and talk, honestly, to congressman, they all do it, they always have, and that’s the way it is. It’s called oppo research.”
The president endorsed committing treason to win an election. Trump’s comments weren’t a warning. They were a statement of fact about the 2020 election. If Trump is committing treason, he needs to be impeached. He is going to do what he did in 2016. Trump is trying to replay the previous presidential election down to the foreign attack that helped him win.
Even if Trump isn’t removed from office, treason is a crime against America, and it must be punished.
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