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riversedge's JournalBarr's removal of career national security official, weeks before election, raises concerns
Source: abc
A little-known office in the Justice Department has lost its long-time chief.
August 31, 2020, 1:07 PM
Current and former national security officials are raising concerns over Attorney General William Barr's recent decision to remove the head of a Justice Department office that helps ensure federal counterterrorism and counterintelligence activities are legal – and replace him with a political appointee with relatively limited experience.
"It's very alarming," said Katrina Mulligan, who worked for the Obama administration in several national security roles and then, after President Donald Trump's inauguration, joined the Office of Law and Policy in the Justice Department's National Security Division.
For much of the past decade, that little-known office has been led by Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brad Wiegmann, a 23-year career public servant, not a political appointee. But two weeks ago, Wiegmann, 54, was told he is being reassigned and replaced with a political appointee, according to a Justice Department spokesman and sources familiar with the matter.
Mulligan and other sources told ABC News that the new head of the office is 36-year-old Kellen Dwyer, a cyber-crimes prosecutor who joined the federal government six years ago and made international headlines in November 2018 when he accidentally revealed that federal charges had been secretly filed against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Mulligan said that given Dwyer's limited time and experience handling national security matters, he is "a very odd" choice to replace Wiegmann, whom she described as "exceptional" at managing government bureaucracy and resolving "highly contentious matters across the government."
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Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/barrs-removal-career-national-security-official-weeks-election/story?id=72726426&cid=social_twitter_abcn
https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1300517374550999043?s=20
Trump Called Kimberly Guilfoyle After Her Roaring RNC Speech, Compared Her to Eva Pern
Trump Called Kimberly Guilfoyle After Her Roaring RNC Speech, Compared Her to Eva Perón
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-called-kimberly-guilfoyle-after-her-roaring-rnc-speech-compared-her-to-eva-peron
THE BEST IS YET TO COME!
After Kimberly Guilfoyle's RNC speech became a target of memes and talk-show mockery, sources confirm President Trump called her and said, “That was fantastic…so amazing.”
Published Aug. 30, 2020 4:15PM ET
CNN personalities were flabbergasted by it, with correspondent Dana Bash remarking, “Oh, my goodness. I just feel like that was so intense, and so dark.” Late Show host Stephen Colbert mocked the pretaped address as a series of “very nuanced screams.”
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Minutes after her speech aired on Monday evening, President Donald Trump called Guilfoyle, to effusively praise her for the address he’d just watch on TV, comparing her to Eva “Evita” Perón, according to two people familiar with the phone conversation.
Perón, a former first lady of Argentina, is also the subject of the famous Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Evita, of which Trump has long been a huge fan and has seen multiple times on stage.
“That was fantastic…so amazing,” Trump said on the Monday night call. “So much energy…so much passion.” According to these sources, the president added that “nobody could have done that but you,” calling her “my Kimberly.” He told her that hers was one of the “greatest” speeches he’d ever seen.
Guilfoyle’s Monday night speech stuck with the president throughout the week. He continued to privately rave about it days after its initial airing, going around telling various people in the West Wing how “terrific” it was and that it was one of his favorites from the convention........................................
Biden Camp Fact-Checks Lara Trump's Claim On Ex-VP Response To Violence At Protests
A whole lot of lying coming from the Trump family.
Biden Camp Fact-Checks Lara Trump’s Claim On Ex-VP Response To Violence At Protests
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/biden-campaign-bedingfield-lara-trump-violence-protests
WILMINGTON, DELAWARE - AUGUST 20: Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden speaks on the fourth night of the Democratic National Convention from the Chase Center on August 20, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. The conve... MORE
By Summer Concepcion August 30, 2020 3:26 p.m.
........................Right after Trump’s interview aired, Bedingfield was interviewed on “Fox News Sunday” as well where she initially bypassed anchor Chris Wallace’s question on Biden’s upcoming campaign trip and proceeded to fact-check Trump’s claim instead.
“First of all, she said that Vice President Biden did not quickly condemn the violence around these protests — that’s absolutely not true,” Bedingfield said. “He came out right after George Floyd was killed back in May and said there’s no place for violence. He said it forcefully again this week. So that’s simply not true.”
Bedingfield added that “a President’s words matter” before criticizing the President for getting the country into a “state of chaos” due to his failure on responding to the COVID-19 pandemic........................................
...............In late May during protests in the wake of Floyd’s death, Biden issued a statement saying that although protesting police brutality is “right and necessary,” the unrest that ensued such as “burning down communities and needless destruction is not.”
“Violence that endangers lives is not. Violence that guts and shutters businesses that serve the community is not,” Biden wrote. “The act of protesting should never be allowed to overshadow the reason we protest. It should not drive people away from the just cause that protest is meant to advance.”
At the time Biden’s statement was issued, Trump had not directly addressed Floyd’s death, but slammed Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey instead in a tweet.
Watch Lara Trump’s and Bedingfield’s remarks below:
@TheDemCoalition · Aug 30 Your LOL of the day, folks.
Hate to say this, but after 2016--anything is possible.
Democratic Coalition
@TheDemCoalition
·
Aug 30
Your LOL of the day, folks.
Down pointing backhand index
https://twitter.com/TheDemCoalition/status/1300021534740942848?s=20
Gov. Tony Evers asks President Trump not to visit Kenosha
Source: wisn.com
Evers said he was concerned a presidential visit would redirect resources needed to keep the community safe.
WISN Updated: 5:40 PM CDT Aug 30, 2020
KENOSHA, Wis. —
Gov. Tony Evers sent a letter to President Donald Trump asking him not to visit Kenosha.
The letter was sent Sunday to the White House.
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In it, Evers asked the president to reconsider his decision to visit.
"These past few months, from managing a pandemic to facing entrenched racial disparities and inequities, our state -- like so many others -- has faced unimaginable challenges," Evers wrote. "But this past week has been particularly difficult. Kenosha and communities across Wisconsin are enduring extraordinary grief, grappling with a Black man being shot seven times and the loss of two additional lives on Tuesday night at the hands of an out-of-state armed militant."
Pool reports Saturday night indicated Trump planned to visit Tuesday.
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Read more: https://www.wisn.com/article/gov-tony-evers-asks-president-trump-not-to-visit-kenosha/33843429
Trumps Ego wants to go to Kenosha
https://twitter.com/PoliticusSarah/status/1300199373880659968?s=20
htmtps://twitter.com/jennfranconews/status/1300199034229985280?s=20
BREAKING: Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler says what America needs is for Trump "to be stopped." Says Tru
Fact: Trump has and Is inciting hatred, division and violence.
BREAKING: Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler says what America needs is for Trump “to be stopped.” Says Trump helped create the violence. “Support us or stay the hell out of the way.”
https://twitter.com/funder/status/1300168593376792576?s=20
https://www.politicususa.com/2020/08/30/mayor-of-portland-trump.html
https://twitter.com/PeterAtlantic/status/1300178257615220737?s=20
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1300010374855524352?s=20
Disabled Ady Barkan is manipulated by @GOP @SteveSCalise-& gets a "manipulated media from Twitter...
Damn!! Twitter should take this down.
**Edit to add the first tweet"
What a loser @SteveScalise
is. Faking the voice of @AdyBarkan
in order to push racist violence that the current occupant of the White House is pushing. America, the manufacturing of this violence is intentional and the reason that people like Trump and Scalise should be fired.
https://twitter.com/fred_guttenberg/status/1300166288426373120?s=20
Steve Scalise gets a ‘manipulated media’ tag from Twitter after doctoring the words of activist Ady Barkan, who has ALS and uses a computer to speak.
https://twitter.com/AlexThomas/status/1300117502299643912?s=20
@AdamSchiff
·
2h
US House candidate, CA-28
My friend @AdyBarkan
lost his voice to ALS.
But not his courage and conviction to speak louder than ever.
Ady doesn’t need you to put fake words in his mouth for a political smear, @SteveScalise
.
You owe him an apology.
https://twitter.com/AdamSchiff/status/1300140925629333506?s=20
There's a clip here of @AdyBarkan, who has ALS and speaks via voice assistance, asking Biden about "re-directing" public safety funding. The clip alters the quote. It splices "for police" into it, using Barkan's artificial voice.
https://twitter.com/samstein/status/1300175212047196160?s=20
https://twitter.com/i/events/1300111971027542016?s=20
Video of Ady Barkan is manipulated to add words in a Joe Biden interview
New ABC News/IPSOS Poll: GOP Convention Backfires As Trump Approval Drops With Republicans
Posted on Sun, Aug 30th, 2020 by Jason Easley
GOP Convention Backfires As Trump Approval Drops With Republicans
https://www.politicususa.com/2020/08/30/trump-approval-drops-with-republicans.html
A new poll reveals that Donald Trump’s GOP convention hurt his approval rating among Republican voters.
ABC News reported on the new ABC News/IPSOS Poll:
Less than one-third (31%) of the country has a favorable view of the president in the days after he accepted the Republican nomination for the second time — a stagnant reality for Trump. His favorability rating stood at 32% in the last poll, taken a week earlier, right after the Democratic National Convention.
…..
Among Democrats, too, Biden’s favorability climbed seven points after his convention — showing signs that he’s solidified support among his base
. But Trump’s favorability dipped slightly — by four points among Republicans in the newest survey.
Trump’s overall favorability is at 31% with 59% holding an unfavorable view of the president. Joe Biden has a net positive approval rating of 46%-40%.
It takes a lot for a candidate to hold a political convention and lose support with members of his own party, Biden gained support during his convention and his number have stayed up. Trump is the rare candidate whose numbers tend to go down the more he is in the media.
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Being nice hasn't worked...........
I am getting a little fearful these last several days. A knot in my stomach.
https://twitter.com/donwinslow/status/1299239002042560513?s=20
https://twitter.com/88SEATTLE61/status/1299241091552612352?s=20
https://twitter.com/88SEATTLE61/status/1299241238525145088?s=20
White House installed OAN reporter as FDA spokesperson. She lasted 11 days
White House installed OAN reporter as FDA spokesperson. She lasted 11 days
The political appointment of a right-wing activist at the FDA alarmed agency staff
https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/08/white-house-installed-oan-reporter-as-fda-spokesperson-she-lasted-11-days/
.
Beth Mole - 8/28/2020, 5:13 PM
The Food and Drug Administration has ousted its controversial chief spokesperson, Emily Miller, following botched communications about using blood plasma as a potential COVID-19 treatment, according to multiple media reports.
Miller, who held the position for just 11 days, aggressively defended FDA commissioner Stephen Hahn this week after he grossly misstated benefits of the treatment during a press briefing last Sunday. In the briefing, President Trump announced that the FDA had authorized emergency use of the treatment, despite reports that experts at the National Institutes of Health objected, saying the evidence was too weak to justify use. Though Hahn apologized for his misstatements, controversy over the authorization continued, raising questions about the credibility of the FDA and the independence of Hahn.
But even without that fiasco, Miller’s presence at the agency was controversial, drawing further concern that the traditionally apolitical agency has been politicized by the Trump Administration.
The White House installed Miller, a right-wing activist, to the FDA August 17. Though she has no background in science or medicine, she was appointed to the position of assistant commissioner and chief spokesperson for the regulatory agency, a position that is typically filled by non-political civil servants.
Further Reading
FDA’s promotion of post-COVID plasma treatment was as bad as it appeared
Miller’s previous work included directing communications for Senator Ted Cruz’s re-election campaign and reporting for One America News, a right-wing cable channel that often dabbles in conspiracy theories and prominently supports Trump. As Stat news points out, Miller also worked as columnist for the Washington Times, where she published pieces with titles such as: “New Obamacare ads make young women look like sluts.” In 2013, she published a book on gun rights titled, Emily Gets Her Gun: But Obama Wants to Take Yours.........................
Enlarge / Emily Miller from her "reporting" days at OAN in 2016. Miller recently became the assistant commissioner and chief spokesperson for the FDA, and more recently became the former assistant commissioner and chief spokesperson for the FDA.
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