Finally. This is the news I was waiting for. Special Counsel Robert Mueller has asked the White House for records pertaining to some of Donald Trump’s “most scrutinized actions” as president, including his firing of former FBI director James Comey and his Oval Office confab with Russian operatives in which he bragged that axing Comey had “taken off” the pressure … Read More
Mueller Investigation Focuses on Manafort
There are so many prongs to Mueller’s investigation of the Trump Administration, that it is hard to keep up sometimes. There are many branches and many players., Fortunately, a new website, investigaterussia.org, is a good one-stop place for the latest news, timelines, and “players” bios. So bookmark that. With all the natural disasters going on, there has been some Trump investigation … Read More
Trump’s UN Speech
Let’s be clear about Trump’s speech to the United Nations yesterday — it was an example of what he was elected for. Bombastic and in-your-face. That’s what people who voted for Trump wanted, and that’s what he displayed. It was “bad” in the sense that it was Trumpian. It was also “bad” in the sense that it projected a horrible … Read More
So…. What’s Mueller Doing And Where Are We On Russia Collusion
Renato Mariotti, a former prosecutor, puts it together at Politico: What is Robert Mueller up to? Although the scope of the special counsel’s investigation is vast, public reporting of his activities indicate the direction his investigation is taking and gives us a good sense of the types of charges that could result. But most of the breathless speculation about what … Read More
Hell Hath No Firy Like A Base Scorned
I’m not even sure what Trump did. Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer announced after a dinner with the president Wednesday that they had reached a deal securing the protection of DACA. A “big, beautiful wall” that Trump campaigned on was reportedly not part of the agreement. It’s not a done deal. Trump tweeted so, as did Chuck and … Read More
Although He’s Been Quiet On Twitter, Trump Still Rants About Mueller
Axios: Behind the scenes in the West Wing, President Trump continues to rant and brood about former FBI Director Jim Comey and the Russia investigation that got him fired. Trump tells aides and visitors that the probe now being run by special counsel Bob Mueller is a witch hunt, and that Comey was a leaker. So White House Press Secretary … Read More
Teflon Don? Not So Much
Politico, this morning: Teflon Don confounds Democrats Democrats tried attacking Donald Trump as unfit for the presidency. They’ve made the case that he’s ineffective, pointing to his failure to sign a single major piece of legislation into law after eight months in the job. They’ve argued that Trump is using the presidency to enrich himself, and that his campaign was … Read More
Bogus Voting Commission Meets For Second Time
A few days before President Donald Trump’s “election integrity” commission meets in New Hampshire on Tuesday, its vice chair, Kris Kobach, published a column in Breitbart claiming “proof” that voter fraud in the state had tipped the election against Donald Trump and Republican Senate candidate Kelly Ayotte. Kobach cited numbers released by the state’s Republican House speaker showing that 6,540 people voted in New Hampshire on Election … Read More
Trump’s Lawyers Wanted Kushner Out
Some of Trump’s legal team are looking at his senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner and coming to the conclusion that nepotism may work in business, but not so much in politics. According to a Wall Street Journal report, earlier in the summer several of Trump’s legal team suggested that Kushner’s involvement with the ongoing probe into Russian interference in the 2016 … Read More
9/11 Plus 16 — What If Trump Was President?
Each year as 9/11 comes and goes, there is less added to the perspective. An entire generation is now politically aware, who cannot remember that horrible day. Bizarre, to me. We forget that Bush, like Trump, was in the infancy of his presidency. I remember thinking that he was over his head — partly because it was unprecedented, and partly … Read More
New Lead on Trump’s Obstruction Of Justice
The New York Times has a story that might prove pivotal in any obstruction-of-justice case that Mueller may pursue against Trump: The special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, has obtained a letter that President Trump and a top political aide drafted in the days before Mr. Trump fired the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, which explains the president’s rationale for why he … Read More
Meanwhile, At Fox….
Hurricane Harvey fallout is still with us, as the death toll climbs to 37. Mueller seems to be bearing down on Trump, and is coordinating with New York Attorney General Schneiderman’s office. Mueller is running a tight ship, but we learn about subpoenae and testimony already given. A lot of focus on Manafort. So what was going on at Fox News … Read More
Ivanka Is Either A Fake Or Stupid On Equal Pay
A few months ago: #EqualPayDay is a reminder that women deserve equal pay for equal work. We must work to close the gender pay gap! https://t.co/CcwsoBXWdF — Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) April 4, 2017 From TPM: First daughter Ivanka Trump, who made wage equality and workplace protections for women one of her signature issues on the campaign trail and in her … Read More
Maybe We’re Better Off With A Weak Trump?
Trump is a bad president, but he’s bad in two ways. He’s bad because his policies are evil, but he is also proving to be bad in the sense of being hopelessly ineffective. The latter trait is a good thing if you are concerned about the former trait. The former trait was obvious to anyone paying attention during the campaign, … Read More
Trump’s Ego Fires Social Director
Donald Trump is the kind of emotionally unstable individual that would see a crowd of 4,000 to 10,000 and consider it rejection, so he lashed out, and a longtime aide paid the price. From Bloomberg: As his surrogates warmed up the audience, the expanse of shiny concrete eventually filled in with cheering Trump fans. But it was too late for a … Read More