Axios: President Trump pressured Attorney General Jeff Sessions to reclaim control of the Russia investigation on at least four separate occasions, three times in person and once over the phone, according to sources familiar with the conversations. Why it matters: The fact that there were multiple conversations shows that Trump’s pressure on Sessions to stop recusing himself was heavier than previously … Read More
Trump Starts Trade War With Allies
Even the Koch brothers hate this. The Trump administration announced today that it would impose hefty metal tariffs on the European Union, Canada and Mexico starting Friday, immediately provoking fears of an international trade war that sent stocks tumbling. The measure has already been met with vows of retaliation against American businesses and now threatens the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The action, which was … Read More
Trump Pardons Dinesh D’Souza
Dinesh D’Souza is a conservative “scholar” and terrible filmmaker who has said of Obama “you can take the boy out of the ghetto” ridiculed Michelle Obama as “affirmative action” Princeton student said slavery wasn’t racist, slaves were treated “pretty well” mocked Rosa Parks suggested the Charlottesville rally was staged shared a meme calling Obama a “gay Muslim” suggested Michelle Obama … Read More
As Expected, Trump Weighs In On Roseanne Cancellation, But Makes It About Him
It’s a typical tone deaf tweet. When ABC and/or Igor says that ABC does not tolerate comments “like those”, it is clearly referring to racist comments, like the ones Roseanne made. Is Trump saying he was the victim of racist comments by ABC? Or does he not understand that this is about racism? Last night, after facing the consequences of … Read More
Roseanne Barr Tweets Racist Comment; ABC Says Nothing [UPDATE: ABC Cancels Roseanne]
Barr is currently starring in a wildly successful reboot of her old comedy series “Roseanne” on ABC, but has faced rising backlash from some online over her combative Twitter presence. Despit that, her show was renewed for another season two months ago. Trump called Barr to personally congratulate her after her show debuted to a massive 18.2 million viewers in March It’s not the … Read More
Hurricane Maria: Death Toll For Puerto Rico Much Higher Than Official Count
The official count is 64 dead in PR due to Hurricane Maria last September. A new Harvard study places that amount higher. Much higher. MUCH higher: As hurricane season begins this week, experts are still trying to count the number of deaths caused by last year’s devastating Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. The latest estimate: roughly 4,600, many of them … Read More
Where’s Melania?
It is May 29. The first lady was last seen on May 10 standing alongside her husband at Joint Base Andrews as the couple greeted three Americans who had been released from prison in North Korea. On May 14, the White House announced that she had undergone a successful embolization procedure at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to treat a benign … Read More
Weekly List 80
This week, despite the White House providing no evidence to back Trump’s claim that the Obama administration spied on his 2016 campaign for political reasons, and despite Trump ostensibly branding “spy” and “Spygate” to rile his base and hurt the credibility of the FBI, Justice Department, and Mueller probe, the media was nonetheless consumed the entire week with covering this … Read More
David Frum Has Questions
Good ones, too: I’ve compiled a short—and by no means exhaustive—list of the open questions about matters potentially involving criminal law swirling around the president, his campaign, his company, and his family. Trump campaign aides and associates met with Russian agents in advance of the Russian hacks and releases of Democratic internal communications. Did these meetings lead to any form … Read More
The Charges So Far
In an attachment to a court filing (in a case in D.C. federal court where the press wants access to certain government records), the DOJ filed a brief which conveniently had, as an attachment, a summary of all the criminal charges filed to date in the Mueller investigation. 56% of Americans, according to recent poll, think Mueller has not found … Read More
Breaking: Trump Cancels North Korea Summit
I had it a feeling it wouldn’t happen. These summits take months of pre-preparations by lower level ACTUAL negotiators. None of this was done. There wasn’t even an agenda. Although, I don’t think that is why Trump is cancelling. Perhaps the stated reason is the actual reasoning — a bit of posturing. On some level though, he must know he … Read More
NFL Blows It
New NFL policy advanced today: The NFL Players Association responds: I suspect the NFL brass thought their policy was a good compromise in that it allows players to remain off the field. But this of course only means that players cannot protest. My view? The players should stand and raise a “black power” salute. It will confuse everyone.
Judge Rules That Trump Cannot Block his Twitter Feed
This case requires us to consider whether a public official may, consistent with the First Amendment, “block” a person from his Twitter account in response to the political views that person has expressed, and whether the analysis differs because that public official is the President of the United States. The answer to both questions is no. It is sort of … Read More
Spygate: The New Faux Counterscandal
SPYGATE! This Trump tweet this morning (he had at least nine, following what was being said on Fox & Friends) started it: This tweet sums it up: A year of faux Russia investigation scandals: -“Wiretapp” -Unmasking -Mueller “conflicted” -Mueller attorneys are Dems -Strzok’s “secret society” -FISA application & Steele -“Spygate” — Justin Miller (@justinjm1) May 23, 2018 There is no … Read More
The Horrible Things The Trump Administration Is Doing That Are Unrelated To Scandals
Sometimes, you forget that these people are just plain evil: The Trump administration is moving to reverse Obama-era rules barring hunters on some public lands in Alaska from baiting brown bears with bacon and doughnuts and using spotlights to shoot mother black bears and cubs hibernating in their dens. The National Park Service issued a notice Monday of its intent … Read More