ANOTHER Corrupt Quid Pro Quo?

Ken AshfordL'Affaire Russe, Political Scandals, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Of course it happened: Donald Trump offered Julian Assange a pardon if he would say Russia was not involved in leaking Democratic party emails, a court in London has been told. The extraordinary claim was made at Westminster magistrates court before the opening next week of Assange’s legal battle to block attempts to extradite him to the US. Rohrabacher told the Wall Street … Read More

Barr Complains That Trump’s Tweets Make It “Impossible” To Carry Out His Corruption…. Er, I Mean, Job

Ken AshfordCourts/Law, Political Scandals, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Welp, this is an interesting development: “I’m not going to be bullied or influenced by anybody….whether it’s Congress, newspaper editorial boards, or the president," Bill Barr tells @ABC News. "I cannot do my job here at the department with a constant background commentary that undercuts me.” https://t.co/yOoXO2wbmA pic.twitter.com/ihzrmAcWDx — ABC News (@ABC) February 13, 2020 He complains about Trump’s tweets, … Read More

Trump Goes After Federal Judge

Ken AshfordCourts/Law, L'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Is this the Judge that put Paul Manafort in SOLITARY CONFINEMENT, something that not even mobster Al Capone had to endure? How did she treat Crooked Hillary Clinton? Just asking! https://t.co/Fe7XkepJNN — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 12, 2020 Actually, Trump is not only attacking the judge but the integrity of the system, calling into question whether the jury was … Read More

The Alarm Is Sounded As Trump Uses DOJ As His Own Vendettas Law Firm

Ken AshfordPolitical Scandals, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Reporters ask Trump what he learned from impeachment. "That the Democrats are crooked. They got a lot of crooked things going. That they're vicious. That they shouldn't have brought impeachment…" — Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) February 12, 2020 With the Justice Department in turmoil over the decision by higher-ups to downscale a sentencing recommendation for longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone, Trump … Read More

Political Meddling In Stone Sentencing: A Story In Three Tweets & DOJ Implosion

Ken AshfordCourts/Law, Crime, L'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

< BREAKING: Justice Department just requested up to 9 years in prison for Roger Stone, convicted on all seven criminal counts in Nov and set to be sentenced Feb 20. @CourthouseNews pic.twitter.com/WjJeue0YVY — Megan Mineiro (@MMineiro_CNS) February 10, 2020 This is a horrible and very unfair situation. The real crimes were on the other side, as nothing happens to them. ... Read More

Retaliation In Full Swing

Ken AshfordTrump & Administration, Trump ImpeachmentLeave a Comment

Taking swift and harsh action against those who crossed him, Trump on Friday ousted two government officials who had delivered damaging testimony during his impeachment hearings. Trump made the moves just two days after his acquittal by the Senate. First came news that Trump had ousted Lt. Col Alexander Vindman, the decorated soldier and national security aide who played a … Read More

Trump’s Victory Lap Speeches Show He Is Unstable

Ken AshfordTrump & Administration, Trump ImpeachmentLeave a Comment

At the National Prayer Breakfast this morning: President Trump, a day after being acquitted in a Senate impeachment trial, used a National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday to lash out at his political opponents, accusing them of being “very dishonest and corrupt people” who are trying to destroy him and the country. Explicitly rejecting the message of tolerance offered at the … Read More

Trump’s Latest Viral Attack On Romney Exposes Trumpism’s Ugly Core

Ken AshfordL'Affaire Ukraine, Trump & Administration, Trump ImpeachmentLeave a Comment

Greg Sargant: The retribution has been swift and severe. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who heretically placed his oath of office before his higher duty to defend President Trump, is now taking brutal incoming from all corners, including GOP elected officials and leading figures in Trump’s propaganda network. This enforcement of loyalty will also have an important purpose going forward, in ways that might not … Read More

What If He Does It Again?

Ken AshfordRepublicans, Trump & Administration, Trump ImpeachmentLeave a Comment

If Trump wakes up tomorrow and decides to condition military aid to Saudi Arabia or Egypt in exchange for those foreign regimes agreeing to damage his political rivals, what will happen? The answer is now clear: absolutely nothing. As they prepare to acquit Trump without even so much as a single witness, Senate Republicans have legitimized presidential abuse of power. … Read More

Impeachment Of Trump: It’s Over But For The Actual Acquittal

Ken AshfordL'Affaire Ukraine, Republicans, Trump & Administration, Trump ImpeachmentLeave a Comment

No witnesses. That is the incredible decision of the Senate on mostly partisan lines. Only Mitt Romney and Susan Collins had the backbone to vote to hear John Bolton, whose manuscript indicates much more about Trump’s attempt to coerce Ukraine into investigating Biden. It’s a pathetic commentary on the state of American civics that the biggest issue of the Senate … Read More

No Witnesses And Yes, The Next Trump Crisis Is Already Here

Ken AshfordL'Affaire Ukraine, Trump & Administration, Trump ImpeachmentLeave a Comment

Republicans voted down a measure to call witnesses in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial and are moving to acquittal in a hell-for-leather dash to put the crisis behind them. It’s a doomed errand. With Trump, the next crisis is always just ahead. Actually, the first “next crisis” has already arrived. The New York Times reported Friday that, in his forthcoming book, former … Read More

Impeachment Q&A

Ken AshfordL'Affaire Ukraine, Trump & Administration, Trump ImpeachmentLeave a Comment

The questioning phase will take place on today and tomorrow, for up to 16 hours total. A vote on whether to hear witnesses in the trial is expected on Friday. With the critical vote looming, Senate Republicans are coalescing around the idea that it is better to risk looking like they ignored relevant evidence than to plunge the Senate into … Read More

Impeachment, Kobe, Middle East Non-Peace, And We’re All Gonna Die From A Virus

Ken AshfordBlogging, Ebola/Zika/COVID-19 Viruses, In Passing, L'Affaire Ukraine, Middle East, Personal & Other, Trump & Administration, Trump ImpeachmentLeave a Comment

I was hospitalized for a few days with colon issues. Nothing major and nothing I care to discuss. But boy did I miss a lot. It kind of seems pointless to talk about most of it. Just some small reflections. I’m not much of a basketball fan, but this Kobe Bryant death even shook me. He seemed like one of … Read More

Impeachment Day Two Recap

Ken AshfordL'Affaire Ukraine, Trump & Administration, Trump ImpeachmentLeave a Comment

The impeachment trial is hard for me to sit through because the evidence is so overwhelming and the corruption of Republicans so complete, that it’s just agonizing. Suffice it to say, Democrats unleashed the flood. One by one, the seven House impeachment prosecutors seeking President Donald Trump’s removal from office reconstructed a case against the president so dense — at … Read More