Rick Wilson
✔
@TheRickWilson
Verily, he did RAISE his REAR unto the firmament of heaven and declare in a voice of THUNDER, "Spank me, Mistress Stormy. Spank my naughty backside." And LO, she spanked him thrice until he cried out, "HALT, harlot! Shark Week is on."
9:39 PM - Jan 18, 2018

Philip Bump
✔
@pbump
It’s hard to imagine a more angry Trump than a Trump who was planning to go to Mar-a-Lago for a big celebration of himself that would raise a ton of money but who instead is stuck at the White House dealing with political intricacies.

President Trump torched Republican leaders’ plans to avoid a government shutdown on Thursday morning with a new demand that funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program not be included in any government funding bill, increasing the chances of a government shutdown in less than 48 hours.

GOP leaders had planned to include a six-year extension of funding for the CHIP program as a way to pressure moderate Democrats to vote for a one-month extension of government funding as they scramble for enough votes to avoid a shutdown.
<snip>
“I’m not sure what the President means,” Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX) said on Fox News Thursday morning when asked about the President’s new stance — before making the case that CHIP funds should remain in the bill in spite of Trump’s new position.

“What this would do though is it would reauthorize the CHIP program for, I believe, five years. So it’s not just a 30-day extension. But Paul Ryan and Kevin McCarthy have to figure a way to cobble together the 218 votes. Apparently, they feel like adding this will help them get to that 218 votes,” he said.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/as-government-shutdown-looms-trump-sows-further-chaos-with-new-demands

More Ruth Marcus Retweeted Kyle Cheney
You can only trap someone into committing perjury...if he lies.Ruth Marcus added,

Kyle Cheney
Verified account

@kyledcheney
White House lawyer Ty Cobb tells @MajorCBS that he hopes a @realDonaldTrump interview with Mueller isn't a "perjury trap."

A lawyer for President Trump reportedly arranged a six-figure payment to a former adult-film star to keep her from discussing a sexual encounter with Trump, according to a new report Friday.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Michael Cohen, an attorney for the Trump Organization at the time and now Trump’s personal lawyer, arranged for Stephanie Clifford, known in the industry as Stormy Daniels, to receive $130,000 as part of a nondisclosure agreement one month before the 2016 election.

Clifford has privately alleged to sources interviewed by the Journal that she and Trump had a consensual sexual encounter in 2006, the year after he and Melania Trump were married. Clifford was 27 years old at the time of the alleged encounter in Lake Tahoe.

A White House official declined to comment to the Wall Street Journal about the payment, but said that the allegations of the interaction between Trump and Clifford were “old, recycled reports, which were published and strongly denied prior to the election.”

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/368779-trump-lawyer-arranged-130k-payment-to-adult-film-star-to-stay-quie

Dear Sir:

Assuming you do not have Native American heritage, which shithole country did your ancestors emigrate from?

The President of the United States has once again embarrassed our country with his derogatory statements and name calling.

Is there anyone in Washington who can convince Trump of the need to bring a little decorum and dignity back into the office of President of the United States?

It has become apparent to most reasonable persons that Trump is in over his head and, possibly, out of his mind. A sane, rational person does not talk or act in this manner, but we have come to expect this as normal behavior for the President of the United States.

How sad is that?

Since Donald Trump first stirred crowds on the 2016 campaign trail with calls to “lock up” Hillary Clinton, legal observers have been warning about the dangers of politicizing the U.S. justice system.

Those fears grew more urgent late last week with the news that the Justice Department has reopened its investigation into allegations of pay-for-play at the Clinton Foundation, and is also taking a fresh look at the private email server Clinton used as secretary of state. In addition, two influential Republican senators recommended charges against the author of a dossier alleging ties between Russia and the Trump campaign.

There’s no evidence that the White House had a direct hand in any of those actions. But the news comes after frequent calls by Trump for further scrutiny of all three issues, including demanding jail time both for Clinton and for Huma Abedin, a top Clinton aide ensnared in the email probe. Trump already has appeared to pressure Attorney General Jeff Sessions to act in the president’s political interest, frequently attacking the AG for failing to protect Trump from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into potential Russian collusion.

Taken together, the developments suggest a concerted effort by the Trump administration and its allies to push back against Mueller’s intensifying probe, by marshaling the full power of the federal government against the president’s political opponents. That poses a direct threat to the independence and impartiality of the justice system, former DOJ officials told TPM.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/former-justice-department-officials-concerned-reopening-clinton-foundation-probe