Ben Sasse – Nine Points on the Trump Family Separation Policy

Ken AshfordImmigration and Xenophobia, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

From his Facebook page: Many Nebraskans this weekend asked me about the kids at the border. Here’s a short version of what I told them. This is a bit over-simplified, but these are broad brushstrokes of how I understand the situation at present: 1) Family separation is wicked. It is harmful to kids and absolutely should NOT be the default … Read More

Separation of Families At The Border Overshadows Everything

Ken AshfordImmigration and Xenophobia, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Control of the narrative shifted away from the sitting president’s control over the weekend as the Trump administration, unaccustomed to concerted resistance, found itself outgunned and outflanked. The Administration took fire for its policy of separating families at border stations. Teams from Congress and thousands of citizens converged on Texas immigrant processing stations along the Texas border and elsewhere to … Read More

Breaking: Paul Manafort Order To Jail

Ken AshfordBreaking News, L'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

CNN: Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort will await his trial for foreign lobbying crimes from jail. Two weeks after Robert Mueller’s prosecutors dropped new accusations of witness tampering on him, a federal judge Friday revoked Manafort’s current bail, which allowed him out on house arrest. Judge Amy Berman Jackson’s order marks an end to months of attempts from Manafort … Read More

Takeaways From The IG Report

Ken AshfordClinton Email Faux Scandal, L'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

In a light most favorable to Trump, one key takeaway from the IG Report was that Comey, while well-meaning, was not only “insubordinate” (to quote the report) but also incompetent. Trump allies will use this to justify Comey’s firing, but we all know why Comey was fired — because of what Trump said: he fired Comey because of the Russia investigation. … Read More

Breaking: New York Attorney Files Suit Against Trump & His Kids

Ken AshfordBreaking News, General corruption, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

The New York attorney general just filed suit against Trump and his three eldest children alleging “persistently illegal conduct” at the president’s personal charity, saying Trump repeatedly misused the nonprofit — to pay off his businesses’ creditors, to decorate one of his golf clubs and to stage a multimillion dollar giveaway at his 2016 campaign events. In the suit, attorney general … Read More

The Inspector General’s Report Is Due Today

Ken AshfordBreaking News, Election 2016, L'Affaire Russe, Obama & Administration, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Right wing media and Trump have a lot riding on the IG Report today. They are hoping that it will expose the Deep State and the bias in the Mueller investigation. Fat chance. The IG Report basically says that Comey screwed up by having press conferences about the Clinton emails so close to the election. Ya THINK?!? That said, Trump … Read More

They Called Obama An Inexperienced, Self-Serving Celebrity. Then Their Party Chose Trump.

Ken AshfordRepublicans, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Boy I wish I wrote this: Remember when Republicans feared the bungling diplomacy of a vain, inexperienced president and vowed to stop him before he destroyed our security? In 2014, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) warned that President Barack Obama was “inflexibly clinging to campaign promises.” If the novice president expected Congress to “stand idly by and do nothing … Read More

Cohen Will Probably Flip

Ken AshfordL'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

The man who once boasted that he would never turn on Trump seems likely to turn on Trump. Lawyers representing Michael Cohen in a federal criminal investigation into his financial dealings may soon jump ship, ABC News reported Wednesday. “A source representing this matter” told ABC that Stephen Ryan and Todd Harrison of McDermott, Will & Emery LLP are expected to end … Read More

Cart Before The Horse

Ken AshfordNorth Korea, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Wow.  Trump seems to think North Korea is no longer a threat and that it is a done deal. In reality, Trump returned to America from the Singapore meeting having secured only a vague promise, not unlike others the North Koreans have broken in the past, about working toward the goal of denuclearization. Yet North Korea has just as many … Read More

Yeah, We Got Hoodwinked In Singapore

Ken AshfordNorth Korea, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Kristof: It sure looks as if President Trump was hoodwinked in Singapore. Trump made a huge concession — the suspension of military exercises with South Korea. That’s on top of the broader concession of the summit meeting itself, security guarantees he gave North Korea and the legitimacy that the summit provides his counterpart, Kim Jong-un. Within North Korea, the “very … Read More

Russia And The NRA

Ken AshfordCampaign Finance Reform, Crime, Gun Control, L'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

McClatchy: Several prominent Russians, some in President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle or high in the Russian Orthodox Church, now have been identified as having contact with National Rifle Association officials during the 2016 U.S. election campaign, according to photographs and an NRA source. The contacts have emerged amid a deepening Justice Department investigation into whether Russian banker and lifetime NRA member … Read More

Trump In Singapore

Ken AshfordNorth Korea, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Fox & Friends accidentally said this about the Singapore summit: “regardless of what happens in that meeting between the two dictators.” This gaffe is probably the most honest thing ever said in the program’s history. pic.twitter.com/eooBanu9b2 — Adam Best (@adamcbest) June 10, 2018 In the simplest form of nuclear weapon, two portions of uranium are hurled together to reach “critical … Read More

Breaking: Mueller Hands Down More Indictments And Adds Charges To Manafort

Ken AshfordBreaking News, L'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

In the so-called witch hunt, this press release from Special Counsel Bob Mueller: Mueller is seeking forfeiture of Manafort’s real estate and bank accounts too pic.twitter.com/w7AXRdlTNy — ryan teague beckwith (@ryanbeckwith) June 8, 2018 You really have to wonder about a guy who engages in witness tampering while in home confinement. Stupid and arrogant. He’s so guilty and so compromised … Read More

Trump To Head To Hostile G7 Summit

Ken AshfordEconomy & Jobs & Deficit, Foreign Affairs, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

I am heading for Canada and the G-7 for talks that will mostly center on the long time unfair trade practiced against the United States. From there I go to Singapore and talks with North Korea on Denuclearization. Won’t be talking about the Russian Witch Hunt Hoax for a while! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 8, 2018 Looking forward … Read More

Going After The Leakers: DOJ Gets Its First Scalp

Ken AshfordConstitution, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Federal prosecutors announced they were indicting James Wolfe, the former security director for the Senate Intelligence Committee, of lying to FBI agents in December 2017 about his contacts with three reporters, including through his use of encrypted messaging applications. According to the indictment, Wolfe made false statements to the FBI about providing two reporters with non-public information related to the … Read More