turbinetree
turbinetree's JournalVox: Manafort Allegedly Guided White House On How To Discredit Russia Probe
By Allegra Kirkland
December 14, 2018 1:08 pm
In the days after President Trump took office, Paul Manafort allegedly guided the administration on how to undermine and thwart the FBI probe into Russia’s election interference in the 2016 campaign, Vox reported Friday.
Citing government records and “interviews with individuals familiar with the matter,” Vox reported that the former Trump campaign chairman was providing this advice while both he and the White House knew Manafort was personally under FBI investigation. Contact between the two parties continued through this year, according to court filings from special counsel Robert Mueller.
Mueller has alleged that Manafort violated his cooperation agreement by lying in their interviews about an array of subjects, including his ongoing contacts with the Trump administration.
Per Vox, the advice that Manafort offered closely aligned with the attack lines that Trump and his backers ended up adopting.
A “person familiar with the advice” told Vox that Manafort instructed the President to aggressively attack the legitimacy of the FBI, the Justice Department and the Steele dossier.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/report-manafort-guided-white-house-how-discredit-russia-probe
This fucker should really be tried for treason........................in the Ukraine and here............seriously............
Papadopoulos 2020: Coffee Boy Wants To Run For Congress
By Nicole Lafond
December 14, 2018 2:01 pm
George Papadopoulos has big dreams now that he’s done his time (14 days).
Fresh-off signing a new contract with a Los Angeles production company that plans to create a docu-series on his life post-prison, Papadopoulos has his sights set on Washington. The former adviser to President Trump’s campaign who agreed to cooperate with the government after he was found guilty of lying to the FBI as part of the Russia probe, told The Daily Telegraph that he wants to run for Congress in 2020.
“My whole intention of joining the Trump campaign and the transition team was to advise the President, but to obviously use that as a platform to get and run for office myself,” he said. “Things just took a different direction but my end game remains the same. That I do want to run for Congress.”
Papadopoulos told the Telegraph that now that he’s living in Los Angeles, he just has to find a Republican “enclave” and “run there.”
Shouldn’t be too difficult for the convicted felon.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/papadopoulos-running-congress
I guess he didn't see what happened in 2018 in California...................
Mall Santa Claus kneels before World War II veteran, says Christmas is about 'sharing gratitude'
Thursday, December 13, 2018 02:41PM
WILMINGTON, Del. -- One mall Santa had a show of gratitude that was so in touch with the meaning of Christmas that people are comparing him to the big guy himself.
The sweet moment happened earlier this month at Concord Mall in Wilmington, Delaware, when he kneeled to thank Robert Smiley, a 93-year-old World War II veteran.
The Santa, who wanted to be referred to only as the "Concord Mall Santa," said he was just sharing the Christmas spirit, which is about "sharing gratitude."
"I am especially thankful for veterans like Robert Smiley, who are our true heroes," the Concord Mall Santa told Good Morning America.
As for Smiley, who is a father of 10 and who has many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, he said he was touched to find out that the Concord Mall Santa's late father was also a veteran.
https://6abc.com/society/mall-santa-kneels-to-thank-world-war-ii-veteran/4891216/
Judge Greenlights Lawsuit Over Trump Admin Not Honoring Travel Ban Waivers
Source: Talking Points Memo
By Sudhin Thanawala
December 14, 2018 10:11 am
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A lawsuit accusing the Trump administration of denying nearly all visa applicants from countries under President Donald Trump’s travel ban will move forward, a U.S. judge said Thursday.
Judge James Donato heard arguments on the administration’s request that he dismiss the lawsuit. The case was “not going away at this stage,” he said at the close of the hearing.
The plaintiffs say the administration is not honoring a waiver provision in the president’s ban on travelers from five mostly Muslim countries — Iran, Lybia, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the ban in a 5-4 ruling in June.
The waiver provision allows a case-by-case exemption for people who can show entry to the U.S. is in the national interest, is needed to prevent undue hardship and would not pose a security risk.
Read more: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/lawsuit-trump-admin-not-honor-travel-ban-waivers-proceeds
................unfucking believable.................
-snip-
"Justice Department attorney August Flentje said consular officials are working “tirelessly” on visa applications using guidelines from the State Department. He said decisions on visas are beyond judicial review, and he accused plaintiffs’ attorneys of a “kind of micromanagement” of those decisions.
NC House Candidate Directed Hiring Of Aide Facing Corruption Allegations
Source: Talking Points Memo
By Cameron Joseph
December 14, 2018 10:07 am
North Carolina House candidate Mark Harris personally directed the hiring of a campaign aide who is now at the center of an investigation of election fraud, according to the Washington Post.
Harris sought out the local strategist, Leslie McCrae Dowless, after narrowly losing his 2016 primary to Rep. Robert Pittenger (R-NC), per the Post. Harris was gearing up for a rematch, and Dowless had helped a third candidate in that race achieve lopsided results in early voting — numbers that Dowless replicated for Harris’s campaign in both the primary and general election in 2018. How he got those numbers is now under investigation, with multiple people saying Dowless illegally took unsealed ballots from voters and alleging that he didn’t send in ballots from Democratic voters.
The accusations are serious enough that local officials are investigating the election and have refused to certify Harris’s narrow election-night win, and Democrats and even the North Carolina Republican Party are suggesting there be a new election.
Harris declared after the scandal broke that he was “absolutely unaware of any wrongdoing” by Dowless. But according to the Post, aides told Harris on election night 2016 that something fishy was up with Dowless’s absentee votes — and that seemingly spurred Harris to later hire him, with Harris personally ordering that Dowless be brought onboard.
Read more: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/nc-house-candidate-directed-hiring-of-aide-facing-corruption-allegations
And this guy has been in Congress........................LOCK HIS ASS UP.......................
Maybe its time to send some money to Dan McCready.................
Walker Intends To Take Action On GOP's Power Grab Bills Friday Afternoon
Source: Talking Points Memo
By TODD RICHMOND and SCOTT BAUER,
December 14, 2018 11:17 am
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was prepared Friday to sign a sweeping package of Republican-written legislation that restricts early voting and weakens the incoming Democratic governor and attorney general, brushing aside complaints that he is enabling a brazen power grab and ignoring the will of voters.
Walker announced that he intended to take action on the bills at noon on Friday, just 24 days before he leaves office. The Republican governor and one-time GOP presidential candidate has repeatedly signaled he supports the measures while downplaying bipartisan criticism that they amount to a power grab that will stain his legacy.
Walker has been urged by Democrats and Republicans, including Democratic Gov.-elect Tony Evers and former Republican Gov. Scott McCallum, to reject the legislation. Walker, who was defeated by Evers for a third term, has said he’s considering some partial vetoes , but he hasn’t given specifics.
Democrats and liberal advocacy groups are expected to sue within days if Walker signs the bills, which was pushed through the Republican-controlled Legislature during a lame-duck session last week.
Read more: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/walker-prepares-sign-lame-duck-bills
Hey Walker you really are a fucking libertarian Koch backed fascist........................FUCK YOU..............
November 3, 2020 cannot get here fast enough......................
Women for Trump chair flops when CNN's Chris Cuomo tells her it's really Trump's voice caught on tap
SARAH K. BURRIS
13 DEC 2018 AT 22:29 ET
Women for Trump founder Amy Kremer flopped bigtime during a discussion with CNN’s Chris Cuomo.
After an overwhelming 30-minute interview with senior counselor Kellyanne Conway, Kremer seemed to parrot the same talking points that President Donald Trump never ordered hush payments to silence former lovers.
“Amy, let me ask you something,” Cuomo began. “Maybe I’m not making this clear. I’m not making a case against the president of the United States. Robert Ray, you know, Neal Katyal, they’re so much smarter than I’ll ever be. For me it’s not about the criminality. It’s about telling the truth to the American people. And I don’t know why that — just because this may not be a crime, let’s say, these payments to these women, let’s assume it’s not a crime, why is lying about it OK?”
Kremer responded by saying that Trump claimed he had nothing to do with it.
“How do you know he’s lying?” she asked.
“Because I have his voice on tape,” Cuomo shot back.
“You don’t know that,” she tried to claim.
“I have his voice on tape saying that he knows about it and directing the action,” Cuomo said.
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/12/women-trump-chair-flops-cnns-chris-cuomo-tells-really-trumps-voice-caught-tape/
And people send her money.........................
And please do not give her anymore platforms to speak from........................I mean really................
November 3, 2020 cannot get here fast enough..................
This perfectly illustrates how low our craven, so-called public servants are willing to stoop for a
COMMON DREAMS - COMMENTARY
14 DEC 2018 AT 10:59 ET
There was a time when, once they left the job, a former cabinet head or member of Congress would find employment back home casting their seeds of knowledge and experience in the local groves of academe. Or return to naps on the cracked leather sofa at his or her old law firm in South Bend or Twin Falls or Toledo.
But God bless America. Today, unless you’re someone with the current White House on his or her resume or you’re an official discovered to have committed a sin so heinous you not only make the evening news but Access Hollywood and the PBS Newshour, there’s almost always a posh and profitable job waiting in Washington.
The infamous revolving door, through which vauntingly ambitious men and women spin from business to government and back to business at an increasingly lucrative rate still merrily twirls, despite the bogus promises by Donald Trump to drain the Potomac swamp.
In twenty years, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, lobbying spending has more than doubled from $1.45 billion in 1998 to $3.37 billion in 2017. So far in 2018, the biggest lobby firm, Akin Gump, has pulled in $28 million worth of business from clients that include Amazon, Pfizer, AARP and the Seneca Nation of Indians.
Especially valued is someone who knows how to maneuver the tortuous maze of legislation and regulation, so if you’re an experienced member of the House of Representatives with seniority, solid contacts and knowhow, you’re as valuable a commodity as a bottle of that Johnny Walker Blue they serve in the finest Washington watering holes. This remains true even though the market is about to be flooded by dozens of Republican House members who either chose or were forced into retirement.
House ethics rules state that the departed cannot lobby fellow representatives for a year but there are plenty of dodges that allow former members and staff to advise or consult until they’re free and clear of the ban.
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/12/perfectly-illustrates-low-craven-called-public-servants-willing-stoop-buck/
John "fucking" Boehner.......................
Jared Kushner Replaced Michael Cohen as Trump's National Enquirer Connection
The president’s son-in-law grew tight with David Pecker during the early months of the administration.
Asawin Suebsaeng,
Maxwell Tani,
Lloyd Grove
12.14.18 5:04 AM ET
Shortly after the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner was handed a task considered critical to the president’s operations. In addition to serving as a senior adviser in the White House, he would also be playing the role of the main conduit between Trump and his friend David Pecker, the National Enquirer publisher and chief executive of AMI, which prosecutors said on Wednesday admitted to making a $150,000 hush-money payment “in concert with” the Trump campaign.
During the early months of the Trump era, Kushner performed the task admirably, discussing with Pecker various issues over the phone, including everything from international relations to media gossip, according to four sources familiar with the situation. Pecker, for his part, bragged to people that he was speaking to the president’s son-in-law and, more generally, about the level of access he had to the upper echelons of the West Wing, two sources with knowledge of the relationship recounted.
The relationship underscored both the wide breadth of responsibilities that Kushner was given in the White House—a portfolio that saw him serve as a point person on some of the most critical government functions and as a chief protector of the Trump family image—as well as the degree to which Trump continued to value the relationships he’d built up with key media figures during his time in New York real estate and reality TV.
Pecker, after all, was no bit player. He has been a valuable asset within Trump’s orbit, at least until federal investigators came knocking. His ties to Trump began well before the president was elected into office. But before Kushner was his main conduit, that role was played by Michael Cohen, the president’s former attorney and fixer.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-jared-kushner-replaced-michael-cohen-as-trumps-national-enquirer-connection?ref=home
-snip-
This week came another fissure in the relationship. AMI formally acknowledged that its involvement with the pre-election hush-money scheme was explicitly done in relation to the Trump campaign, directly contradicting the president’s position that the payments were not related to the election.
A relationship built up over many years, and cared for by two of the president’s closest advisers, appears to be close to coming apart. Some National Enquirer alums say they would be overjoyed to see the fissure actually happen.
“This is beyond the scope of David Pecker's collusion or cooperation in snuffing out bad stories,” said Jerry George, a former Enquirer Los Angeles bureau chief and assistant managing editor of all the AMI titles. “It goes to the core of Trumpworld."
November 3, 2020 cannot get here fast enough.......................
Ron DeSantis is slow-walking restoration of Florida voting rights
More than a million people in the state just regained the right to vote. Republicans are already busy trying to claw it back.
ADDY BAIRD
DEC 13, 2018, 5:29 PM
Florida’s Gov.-elect Ron DeSantis (R) is trying to undermine one of the most momentous progressive wins of the midterm election, after an estimated 1.4 million people had the right to vote restored when Amendment 4 passed last month. Nearly 65 percent of voters in the state approved the measure.
The amendment itself was simple: People convicted of a felony would have their voting rights restored after completing the terms of their sentence. The only exception would be for people convicted of murder or felony sexual assault.
But DeSantis told the Palm Beach Post late Wednesday that the measure shouldn’t go into effect as envisioned by the 5.2 million Floridians who voted for it. First, he said, the state’s lawmakers should pass “implementing language” in a separate bill that would require his signature before going into effect.
Florida’s legislature doesn’t meet for two months after Amendment 4’s scheduled implementation date, January 8 of next year.
“They’re going to be able to do that in March,” DeSantis said of passing implementation language. “There’s no way you can go through this session without implementing it.”
https://thinkprogress.org/ron-desantis-is-slow-walking-restoration-of-voting-rights-in-florida-f67a45fc8643/
These right wing fuckers just don't like it when people pass a referendum from a democratic society............
So for next four years under this racist POS and his lackeys are going to do whatever it takes to just poke the voters of Florida in the eye.......................
November 3, 2020 cannot get here fast enough.......................
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