Syria Update

Ken AshfordSyria, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

It is very difficult to keep up with developments on the situation in Syria, despite the fact that there has been no response to the terrible civilian gassing. First, there’s the matter of President Trump contradicting himself by his tweetstorm telling Russia and everybody else that  “smart” missile was “coming”. It makes the US looks weak, or confused, when the … Read More

Does The First Amendment Protect The Right Of The Press Or People To “Kill” A Story?

Ken AshfordL'Affaire Russe, Stormy Daniels & Karen McDougal Affairs, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Associated Press: Eight months before the company that owns the National Enquirer paid $150,000 to a former Playboy Playmate who claimed she’d had an affair with Donald Trump, the tabloid’s parent made a $30,000 payment to a less famous individual: a former doorman at one of the real estate mogul’s New York City buildings. As it did with the ex-Playmate, … Read More

Guy Fired For Leaking Intel Placed In DOJ At Request Of President Trump

Ken AshfordTrump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

President Donald Trump personally ordered the Department of Justice to hire a former White House official who was fired after he was caught up in a controversy over the release of intelligence material to a member of Congress, according to people familiar with the matter. Ezra Cohen-Watnick, who left the National Security Council last year, will advise Attorney General Jeff … Read More

Bipartisan Bill In The Works To Protect Mueller Investigation

Ken AshfordCongress, L'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

A combined version of two bipartisan Senate bills designed to protect special counsel Robert Mueller’s job is set to be released Wednesday, marking lawmakers’ latest political warning shot to President Donald Trump as he entertains firing the man investigating him. The new Senate legislation is the product of months-long talks among Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Cory Booker … Read More

Trump’s Tweets Today Seem To Admit Obstruction

Ken AshfordL'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Trump fired off a tweetstorm today about the FBI “raid” of his lawyer’s office (it was a duly executed search warrant) but insisted he was focused on dealing with Syria for the gas attack on innocent men, women and children.  Somewhere in the thread, Trump tweeted… Apparently, I missed the day in law school where they taught the “fight back” … Read More

The Seychelles Angle

Ken AshfordL'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Don’t let this get lost in the weeds. Via the Daily Beast, this is being reported by NJ. com as an exclusive. If it’s true, it’s pretty amazing: Special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating previously unreported meetings in the Seychelles that included several foreign power players, according to an investigation by NJ.com. The January 2017 meetings were attended by “foreign influencers” from … Read More

Breaking: FBI Raids Trump Lawyer’s Office

Ken AshfordBreaking News, Courts/Law, Crime, Stormy Daniels & Karen McDougal Affairs, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

New York Times: The F.B.I. on Monday raided the office of President Trump’s longtime personal lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, seizing records related to several topics including payments to a pornographic-film actress. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan obtained the search warrant after receiving a referral from the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, according to Mr. Cohen’s lawyer, who called the search … Read More

Who Bailed Out Kushner (And Why?)?

Ken AshfordTrump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

The 41-story skyscraper at 666 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan was supposed to be Jared Kushner’s signature investment. A 27-year-old Kushner bought the property in 2007 for a record $1.8 billion — the most ever paid for an office tower. The move was supposed to catapult the family real estate firm, previously known for mid-priced apartments in New Jersey, into the … Read More

One Person Dead In Trump-Related Symbolic Tragedy

Ken AshfordTrump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

This isn’t the first time this has happened in the past few months. Back in January, 2 people suffered minor injuries when a minor fire broke out in the cooling tower on the roof of Trump Tower. Earlier Saturday evening, the New York City Fire Department responded to a 3-alarm fire on the 50th floor of Trump Tower. Fire officials initially reported … Read More

2016 Parody From Boston Globe Seems Right On The Money

Ken AshfordTrump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Huffington Post: The headline screams: “Deportations to Begin; President Calls for Tripling of ICE.” A center photo of Trump features a quote from the president: “DEPORT ILLEGALS ‘SO FAST YOUR HEAD WILL SPIN.’” The eerie mirror of reality doesn’t stop there. The story in the right-hand column of the newspaper is headlined: “Markets sink as trade war looms.” The story … Read More

Trump Sees Pictures Of Syrian Chemical Attacks; Calls Out Putin By Name For The First Time

Ken AshfordSyria, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

A lot of talk. We’ll see what Trump does.  When Obama was President, he tweeted that Obama should not do anything to get us involved in fighting Syria. Now (in a tweet not shown here), Trump blames Obama for not doing enough. Syria has been a dystopian hellscape the entire time Trump has been in office. He believes that war … Read More

Trump Talks Stormy And Throws “His Lawyer” Michael Cohen Under A Bus

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

President Donald Trump may have complicated his own legal situation with his recent comments about the $130,000 payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels, who claims she had an affair with him. Speaking with reporters about whether he knew that his lawyer, Michael Cohen, had made a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels (real name: Stephanie Clifford), Trump answered resoundingly in the negative, according to The … Read More

Trump Sanctions Russian Oligarchs

Ken AshfordElection 2016, L'Affaire Russe, Russia, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Is say “Trump”, but I have a feeling Trump is not gung-ho about this: The United States imposed new economic sanctions on senior Russian politicians, companies and business leaders Friday, citing a list of complaints including Moscow’s attempts to undermine Western democracies, support of separatists in Ukraine and its backing for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The sanctions — the Trump … Read More

Stone Might Be The Trump-Wikileaks Link, Just As He Once Bragged

Ken AshfordL'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

In the last couple days, we learned that Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone talked of meeting with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in an email, which has been uncovered. “I dined with my new pal Julian Assange last nite,” Stone wrote in the August 2016 email to former Trump campaign aide Sam Nunberg. Stone has said that his comment was a joke and that … Read More