The Trump Administration
Day 680
Friday 30 November 2018
He has been upfront about the lack of time and attention he can give to reading, and he has gone back and forth between publicly declaring his love of reading but also telling the world he does not read much.
His death, which was announced by his office, came less than eight months after that of his wife of 73 years, Barbara Bush.
QAnon is a pro-President Donald Trump deep-state conspiracy theory that incorporates everything from "Pizzagate" to "false flag" mass shootings to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
The Trump administration has authorized five companies to "incidentally, but not intentionally, harass marine mammals" by using seismic air guns to search for oil and gas in the Atlantic Ocean.
The booming quake hit about 8:30 a.m. local time some 10 miles northeast of Anchorage, at a depth of 21 miles
Trump Jr. told the Senate Judiciary Committee in September 2017 that although there had been negotiations surrounding a prospective Trump Tower in Moscow, they concluded without result "at the end" of 2014.
Democrats will take up voting rights, campaign finance reform, and a lobbying crackdown — all in their first bill of the year.
...using the backdrop of the G-20 Summit to resolve a trade dispute between America and its closest neighbors.
For the first time, the special counsel's narrative has suddenly come alive with pre-presidential actions and entanglements by Trump himself.
“Is the provocation started by Kiev in this area (Azov Sea) a real reason for the cancellation? We heard that as an official version and we accepted that. Is it a real one? I believe we should look for answers in the U.S. domestic political situation”
Day 679
Thursday 29 November 2018
One of the chief questions in the Trump-Russia scandal has been whether Vladimir Putin has leverage over the president of the United States, and, if so, what that leverage looks like.
“Buddy,” Mr. Sater wrote, “our boy can become President of the USA and we can engineer it.”
Trump apparently did not know or did not care that the special counsel had released email evidence bolstering Mr. Cohen’s current position.
“Everybody knew about it, it was written about in newspapers, it was a well-known project,” Trump claimed, falsely, about his company’s covert effort,
Flake [...] is holding firm to his vow to vote against judicial nominees on the floor and in committee unless Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) schedules a vote on the bipartisan special counsel legislation.
Senate Republicans are grumbling over Jeff Flake’s vow to oppose judicial nominees until he gets a vote to protect the Mueller probe.
The revelation that representatives of the Trump Organization planned to forge direct financial links with the leader of a hostile nation at the height of the campaign raises fresh questions about President Trump's relationship with the Kremlin.
Like the real-life and movie mobsters he’d studied so closely, Trump concluded that the way to insulate himself from the betrayals and backstabbing of the business world was to place a premium on loyalty
Importantly, though, the regulations do not require the attorney general to approve such steps.
Corsi claims God, not Assange, provided him with foreknowledge of WikiLeaks’ plans. Seriously.
"Trump's long and winding history with Deutsche Bank could now be at the center of Robert Mueller's investigation."
The investigation stems from information contained in the so-called Panama Papers and Offshore Leaks, a trove of confidential documents that helped to expose the workings of global money laundering and tax evasion
No details are available about the reason for the raids. The timing is coincident with Special Counsel Robert Mueller obtaining an additional guilty plea from Trump’s former lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen.
Trump once again signaled that he is determined to preserve for himself the ability to flagrantly abuse his powers to protect himself from accountability
"Based on the fact that the ships and sailors have not been returned to Ukraine from Russia, I have decided it would be best for all parties concerned to cancel my previously scheduled meeting"
As speaker, Ryan oversaw the passage of legislation that will add trillions to the deficit.
According to court documents, Cohen admitted that he made the misstatements about the “Moscow Project” – the Trump Organization’s efforts to “pursue a branded property in Moscow” in an August 2017 letter to the House and Senate intelligence committees
Day 678
Wednesday 28 November 2018
...prompted by lawmakers’ growing frustration with Trump for defending Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman’s denials of culpability in Khashoggi’s death
Pelosi overwhelmingly won the Democratic nomination on Wednesday to be speaker when the new Congress convenes in January, but the defection of 32 Democrats signaled that she could still face a divisive fight to lead the House
Flake’s blockade is annoying senior Republicans by slowing down confirmation of conservative judges in the narrowly divided Senate.
Although Gorsuch led the charge, no justice seemed to think that the Constitution permits states to impose excessive fines.
The porn star also says her lawyer refused to give her information about how her crowdfunding money was being spent, and launched a second crowdfund without her knowledge.
As of this writing, no other news outlet has confirmed the Guardian’s story about Manafort meeting Assange.
“It was never discussed, but I wouldn’t take it off the table. Why would I take it off the table?”
McConnell said the bill was "a solution in search of a problem."
Lawyers for Manafort and Trump engaged in a brazen violation of criminal defense norms. The move could pay off, or it could blow up spectacularly.
...giving thanks “for every day Hillary Clinton is not president.”
Conservatives criticized the decision on where the story was housed.
'Now that Russia collusion is a proven lie, when do the trials for treason begin?' message shared by president reads
Earlier, the network had said that “this is not standard practice whatsoever and the matter is being addressed internally with those involved.”
Asked why he was sceptical of a global warming report published by his own government, the US president gave a rambling response, much of it not backed by evidence, in which he blamed forest management, “small” oceans and China over the issue.
Outgoing Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto praised Kushner as “a grand ally of Mexico”
Day 677
Tuesday 27 November 2018
“I have a gut, and my gut tells me more sometimes than anybody else’s brain can ever tell me.”
“One of the problems that a lot of people like myself, we have very high levels of intelligence but we’re not necessarily such believers,” Trump said. “You look at our air and our water, and it’s right now at a record clean.”
Trump ally met WikiLeaks founder months before emails hacked by Russia were published
Giuliani, one of the president’s personal lawyers, acknowledged the arrangement on Tuesday and defended it as a source of valuable insights into the special counsel’s inquiry
Breaking with the president, [...] McConnell said that the intelligence agency has "basically certified" Saudi involvement at the highest levels.
The number of bankruptcies filed by these farm operations is double the total from 2014 and even surpassed the mark hit in 2010 at the peak of the Great Recession. Current price levels and trends suggest the number will continue to rise, according to the report.
The handling of sensitive U.S. government information has long been a sticking point in the case.
In all, the NRA reported just under $312 million in total income, down from nearly $367 million the year before.
...lining an entire hallway with blood-red Christmas trees that immediately reminded gawkers on social media of fun holiday movies. Like Stanley Kubrick’s Christmas classic The Shining!
When listing reasons behind the job cuts on Monday, GM tiptoed around trade policy and blamed a host of other factors. But the company has been much more direct in its criticism of Trump's trade war in the past.
In past interviews with President Trump’s favorite cable-news show, the then-EPA chief’s team chose the topics for interviews, and knew the questions in advance.
Day 676
Monday 26 November 2018
While the data show a decades-long drop-off in violence by left-wing groups, violence by white supremacists and other far-right attackers has been on the rise since Barack Obama’s presidency — and has surged since President Trump took office.
"Is it OK to use tear gas on children?" a reporter asked.
The President responded, "We didn't. We don't use it on children."
...leaving the task of criticizing Moscow to the outgoing US ambassador to the UN.
The filing did not mention what Manafort is specifically alleged to have lied about.
It is not linked to vaccines and it is not caused by polio, the CDC says.
EU powers take lead on special payments channel to maintain trade with Islamic Republic
These changes are part of GM’s efforts to focus its resources on self-driving and electric vehicles, as well as more efficient trucks, crossovers and SUVs
...tear gas, commonly known as CS gas — an aerosol compound considered a chemical weapon that has been outlawed on the battlefield by nearly every nation on Earth, including the United States.
But as a riot control agent, 2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile is legal to use by both police and federal authorities in the United States and many other countries.
The border crisis is real. But it’s not the crisis Trump thinks it is.
Jerome Corsi, an associate of Trump confidant Roger Stone, says he’s been offered a plea deal on one perjury count—but won’t take it.
The port of entry at San Ysidro, north of Tijuana and south of San Diego, had been closed since about 11:30 a.m. Sunday but was reopened by 6 p.m. local time
Day 675
Sunday 25 November 2018
Democrat Mike Espy claims momentum in the final days of the Mississippi special Senate election, but Donald Trump heads to the state Monday to blunt it.
Trump separated more than 2,000 families at the southern U.S. border. Obama did not.
Mexico's interior ministry said all those who were identified as having tried to cross would be deported immediately.
As crowds amassed at San Ysidro, around 500 migrants overwhelmed federal and local Mexican police blockades and rushed toward the border
...follow-up questions are “where the questioner can refine, seek detail, challenge inconsistency and pursue further explanation of what has been said — or not said — in the initial response.”
Two gunboats and a tug were captured by Russian forces. Ukraine says they were fired on and six crew were injured.
...the president has flummoxed his own aides by repeatedly seeking new spending while ruling out measures needed to address the country’s unbalanced budget.
Late last week, his new lawyers asked Moss to allow him to delay the start of his prison term until a constitutional challenge to the appointment of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III advanced in a separate case in Washington is resolved.
Moss resoundingly rejected what he termed the “11th hour” request
The documents are said to detail Zuckerberg's direct knowledge of, and participation in, the privacy loophole that Cambridge Analytica exploited.
"I don't have access to everything the president sees ... the intelligence I've seen suggests this was ordered by the crown prince. ... I don't know why he [Trump] is siding with the Saudis."
With the race to 2020 beginning in earnest, Trump should take a page out of his vice president's Asia playbook: Do no harm.
Both Syria and its Russian allies say shells carrying toxic gas injured about 100 people late on Saturday.
The rebels deny carrying out a chemical strike and say the claims are a pretext for an attack on opposition-held areas.
‘I am totally convinced that this is the only deal possible’
May must still get approval for the deal [...] from an outspokenly unhappy British Parliament.
Day 674
Saturday 24 November 2018
Two of the president’s longest-serving advisers allege in a new book that scores of officials inside the White House, Congress, the Justice Department and intelligence agencies are “embedded enemies of President Trump” working to stymie his agenda and delegitimize his presidency.
...a drastic overhaul of current policy that President Trump suggested Saturday night was as good as a done deal.
"There is no agreement of any kind between the future federal government of Mexico and the United States of America"
"The future government does not consider in its plans that Mexico assumes the status of 'safe third country' for the attention of Central American migrants"
The goal is to open pathways for doctors and hospitals to work together to improve care and save money. The challenge will be to accomplish that without also increasing the risk of fraud.
...requiring asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their claims move through U.S. courts
Nearly every major newspaper led with an article about the report.
Solicitor General Noel Francisco filed petitions asking the justices to take up the issue in three separate cases that are still in lower courts so it could be decided definitively this term.
Day 673
Friday 23 November 2018
As they are often used, such laws are incentives for abusive governments, because the entity that seizes the property frequently is allowed to profit by keeping or selling it.
Although Mr. Corsi apparently had no direct connection to the Trump campaign, he was in touch with Mr. Stone, a former campaign adviser who communicated with senior campaign officials through the election.
Trump’s failure to exact accountability for the slaying of journalist Jamal Khashoggi will resonate far beyond the Middle East.
The spokesman, Mark Weber, said the additional requirements put in place by the Trump administration to "reduce risk and increase safety" for immigrant children contributed to the high number.
Scientists are more certain than ever that climate change is already affecting the United States — and that it is going to be very expensive.
...the Justice Department turned over documents suggesting that its officials have considered the possibility of census data being shared with law enforcement. That would be lawless. But even raising the possibility will fan fears that President Trump’s federal government cannot be trusted to keep individual responses confidential.
During the administration of Barack Obama, Trump repeatedly criticized his predecessor for the frequency of his golf outings.
...there are situations where collusion in the form of even legal acts could still result in a criminal charge. Specifically, it’s the statute of Conspiracy to Defraud the United States.
In her ruling, Justice Saliann Scarpulla of the New York state Supreme Court shot down an argument from the Trump family's attorneys that the case should be dismissed because the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution suggests "a sitting president may not be sued."
In addition to first-degree murder, punishable by 20 years to life in state prison, Fields is charged with eight counts of aggravated malicious wounding, meaning that at least eight of the 35 injured victims were grievously hurt.
“This is now the party of Donald Trump. [...] The bad part is they haven’t broadened [his coalition]. They haven’t gotten his job approval over 50 percent, like Reagan. We haven’t done that.”
As others have noted, his governing principle is borrowed from King Louis XIV of France: “L’état, c’est moi” — I am the state.
...where security measures held up long lines of Mexicans headed to Thanksgiving gatherings on the other side of the frontier.
Day 672
Thursday 22 November 2018
Pressed on who should be held to account for the murder, the president said that “maybe the world should be held accountable, because the world is a vicious place.”
“This country is so much stronger now than it was when I took office and you wouldn’t believe it and when you see it, we’ve gotten so much stronger people don’t even believe it,” Trump told the press at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida
Goodlatte, a Virginia Republican who is retiring, is requesting private depositions from Comey on December 3 and Lynch on December 4. The investigation will end when Democrats take over the committee in January.
A "speaking indictment" is a document that criminally charges one or more defendants in a given jurisdiction and includes much more detailed information about the crimes than is required by law.
Some of Trump’s GOP colleagues have warned that not punishing Saudi Arabia for its role in killing a U.S.-based columnist will have dangerous consequences
The president said that the first daughter [...] was “very innocent,” and that it happened over a “short period of time” and “very early on” in her service.
...the proposition also creates new limits on lawmakers’ ability to draw up their own districts, requiring them to minimize dividing counties, cities, and towns.
Denmark follows Germany, which had already indicated its intention to cut off weapons exports to Saudi in late October.
"They're both about recapturing past greatness - a time when men ruled the world, or when Islam ruled the world."
The date for the meeting had been set for January 27, 2018
Trump has still not spoken to Mueller’s team regarding its investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Day 671
Wednesday 21 November 2018
Giuliani expressed breezy confidence about Trump's legal position: "I don't think they have any evidence of collusion of any kind. I think their obstruction case, as a legal matter, doesn't exist."
Tijuana officials prepared Wednesday for the caravan to double to more than 6,000 people
...his willingness to stretch the truth for his own gain is nothing new. But his willingness to stretch the truth in defense of blatant human rights abuses may be.
“email correspondence can be retrieved in perpetuity, so there’s no hiding from what you’ve written in haste or just hoping it goes away,” she wrote.
Nevertheless, much of the coverage of his statement simply takes at face value his assertions that his handling of this issue is driven by American interests — rather than by his own self-interest or the interests of his donors in the defense contracting industry.
"We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges. What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them."
On Tuesday, Trump declared he would stand by Saudi Arabia, even though the CIA has reportedly concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered Khashoggi's killing.
Both parties are refusing to bend, with a government funding deadline two weeks away.
Day 670
Tuesday 20 November 2018
The special counsel may have to subpoena the president to get answers about his time in office.
The lawyer, Donald F. McGahn II, rebuffed the president, saying that he had no authority to order a prosecution. Mr. McGahn said that while he could request an investigation, that too could prompt accusations of abuse of power.
The creation of a new social networking platform called “The Base” appears to be an effort to shift Naziism from a divided digital space to physical, violent insurgency.
The bird quickly put the members of the press at ease, though, by treating them as they’d come to expect in that room: eyeing them skeptically, answering no questions and leaving after only a few minutes.
...a nudge that comes after months of stalled talks on reconciling the House and Senate's approaches.
The new actions target Syrian national Mohammad Amer Alchwiki and his Russia-based company, Global Vision Group, along with seven other entities
...in accordance with agreements made with South Korea earlier this year.
Several Jeff Sessions loyalists have either quit or are eyeing the exit as they wait to see who will succeed their former boss.
This year, many of Trump’s old customers are holding their events at his longtime rival, a Palm Beach resort called the Breakers.
One ad showed Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith with black men in nooses.
“I have told countless mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, wives, husbands, sons and daughters that their loved one is dead,” he added. “It never, ever gets easier. But honestly, I don’t want it to get easier – I want to not have to do it any more.”
Earlier this month, the NRA wrote that physicians with a “collective hobby” of “opining on firearms” should “stay in their lane”
But in her defiant speech Friday, Abrams pointedly did not concede — saying that there had been "deliberate and intentional" voter suppression by Kemp
Amid outcry over writer's killing, dozens of princes and cousins want to see change in line of succession, report says.
Day 669
Monday 19 November 2018
Trump’s actions and behavior have led service members and veterans to question whether he really understands who a commander in chief is, or what he does.
GOP governors and legislators on their way out the door are trying to poison the water for incoming Democrats
“He’s never been interested in going,” the official said of Trump visiting troops in a combat zone, citing conversations with the president. “He’s afraid of those situations. He’s afraid people want to kill him.”
Trump has so far declined to visit those combat regions, saying he does not want to associate himself with wars he views as failures
Ms. Trump’s email use [...] included exchanges on her personal account with cabinet secretaries, as well as forwards of schedules to her assistant
The military is leaving the southern border, and the caravan hasn’t even arrived yet.
In a tweet this month, the NRA told "anti-gun" doctors to "stay in their lane" after a series of research papers about firearm injuries and deaths was published
Whitaker's appointment as the special counsel's boss 'neither alters the special counsel’s authority to represent the United States nor raises any jurisdictional issue.'
The 5,800 troops who were rushed to the southwest border amid President Donald Trump’s pre-election warnings about a refugee caravan will start coming home as early as this week — just as some of those migrants are beginning to arrive.
The letter also outlined new rules for reporters at presidential news conferences, including limiting each journalist to one question with follow-ups coming "at the discretion of the president or other White House officials taking questions."
...the defector offered a grim picture of life inside North Korea and the factors that motivated him to escape.
“Wouldn’t it have been nice if we got Osama bin Laden a lot sooner than that, wouldn’t it have been nice?”
Trump has a long history of trashing the sacrifices of members of the military and their families and boldly suggesting he would’ve done a better job if plopped down in their place
Time and time again, President Donald Trump seems to side with dictators over his own intelligence community.
The departing Sessions adopted a policy to limit the Justice Department’s ability to oversee abusive police
1. Attacking Bill McRaven
2. Questioning the intel on Jamal Khashoggi
3. ‘I won the Senate’
One of the hardest things to accept about the Trump-Russia saga is how transparent it is. So much of the evidence is hiding in plain sight, and somehow that has made it harder to accept.
Day 668
Sunday 18 November 2018
White House officials sent Acosta a letter stating that his pass is set to be suspended again once the restraining order expires.
The group from El Salvador was at least the fourth caravan to set off since a first, large-scale mobilization in neighboring Honduras
...“in five years, everyone will know the Earth is flat” and the knowledge will bring about a kind of “societal collapse” because everything stems from a spherical understanding of the Earth.
Day 667
Saturday 17 November 2018
...promising to help the state recover but repeating his disputed view that forest management was to blame for the fire
“If I was ever going to do a shutdown over border security — when you look at the caravan, when you look at the mess, when you look at the people coming in,” the president said. “. . . This would be a very good time to do a shutdown.”
Day 666
Friday 16 November 2018
...contradicting the Saudi government’s claims that he was not involved in the killing
Trump has repeated the question so many times that he has alarmed some of his advisers.
But top Defense Department officials say that Mr. Trump has not fully grasped the role of the troops he commands, nor the responsibility that he has to lead them and protect them from politics.
Trump spontaneously spilled the news while introducing Wheeler [...] during a Medal of Freedom ceremony at the White House.
The president told reporters on Friday that he wrote the answers, not his lawyers, and that he did so "very easily."
Over the past year, U.S. prosecutors have discussed several types of charges they could potentially bring against the WikiLeaks founder
The White House said it would follow the court order and "temporarily reinstate the reporter's hard pass."
This week, as Vice President Mike Pence crosses Asia assuming duties traditionally carried out by the President, his boss Donald Trump remains back in Washington
And the people who scream at Tucker Carlson or Kirstjen Nielsen or Ted Cruz have good reason to be angry. The president of the United States is a bigot.
Senate Republicans hope replacing Matthew Whitaker will calm the firestorm over Trump’s attacks on the special counsel.
The gun lobby reportedly cut out free coffee at its headquarters as money runs tight.
Day 665
Thursday 15 November 2018
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wore clothing to work on Thursday, and it became a thing.
State media did not identify the weapon, and the test did not appear to violate the voluntary moratorium North Korea imposed on nuclear and long-range ballistic missile tests this year.
The Republican midterm loss and the firing of Jeff Sessions blew up the narrative of the QAnon conspiracy theory
Trump’s response to natural disasters has typically varied depending on the partisan makeup of the state or region affected, and his initial reaction to the wildfires in California — a largely Democratic state — was no exception.
"And, um, you know, look, as far as I’m concerned this is an investigation that should have never been brought. It should have never been had."
...saying that a team of Saudi agents dispatched to Istanbul with orders to bring him home alive had instead killed the journalist and dismembered his body.
And perhaps more important, the new revelations suggest Whitaker’s previous denials were misleading, at best.
“It was the year of the woman,” McCarthy said, referring to the crush of women who ran for office in 2018, though in the Republican Party, he conceded, “it wasn't that much.”
Mr. Pence didn't appear to smile during the conversation. Messrs. Bolton and Putin did a fair amount of the talking, as Mr. Pence stood and listened.
...a development that could significantly advance the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election and have major implications for those who publish government secrets.
Walker pointed to the state's history of tight votes [...] and noted that Palm Beach County wasn't proactive in preparing for another such recount.
McVey and Raab's resignations followed a gruelling five-hour Cabinet meeting on Wednesday in which the prime minister tried to persuade sceptical ministers to support the deal she has negotiated the European Union.
Trump did not detail his complaints, even as he described Mueller's team as "a disgrace to our Nation."
May is a single-issue prime minister, and the harsh verdict on her deal seriously imperils her leadership.
Day 664
Wednesday 14 November 2018
Flake’s warning will likely force Republicans [...] to rely on Vice President Pence to confirm any of the 32 judicial nominees pending before the full Senate
Matthew Whitaker’s past allegedly involves a number of shady business ventures.
It’s just happening in slow motion.
The White House asserts that it can pick and choose which journalists are given a permanent pass to cover it
The effort by Flake and Coons comes a week after Trump set off alarm bells among Democrats and some Republicans by forcing the resignation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions
Then, in an abrupt tack, he argued that Democrats, having regained control of the House, should refrain from investigating President Trump
Day 663
Tuesday 13 November 2018
The United States has accused the military of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya, who are widely reviled in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.
A drumbeat of exits is mixing with Trump’s anger after the midterms and a much-criticized trip to Europe.
A black security guard subdued an active shooter in an Illinois bar. When the police arrived, they shot him
“It is the position of the Office of the First Lady that she no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House”
Less than a week ago, it was primarily about him supposedly placing his hands on and getting too rough with an intern.
With the certainty that the incoming Democratic House majority will go after his tax returns and investigate his actions, and the likelihood of additional indictments by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, Trump has retreated into a cocoon of bitterness and resentment
The lawsuit is a response to the White House's suspension of Acosta's press pass, known as a Secret Service "hard pass," last week.
...the third consecutive year that such crimes increased
"It was installed earlier this year to help him focus on issues. A Kelly creation. It sometimes goes better than others."
Most Labour MPs are set to vote against it, as well as Conservative MPs from the pro-Brexit and pro-EU wings of the party, and possibly the 10 MPs from the Democratic Unionist Party which props up her government.
The White House chief of staff has had an array of disputes with officials from the NSC and the East Wing in recent months.
With all votes counted, it’s a larger landslide than 1994 or 2010.
Day 662
Monday 12 November 2018
North Korea is moving ahead with its ballistic missile program at 16 hidden bases
“He’s obviously not going to recuse himself. He should recuse himself because he’s prejudged the issue”
From “200,000” to … 85. In total, 0.0007 percent of Florida voters were found to be improperly registered. There’s no evidence that any of those voters cast any ballots — especially in 2018, six years after they were removed from the voter rolls.
The Justice Department would immediately appeal any such ruling, and the case could be on a fast track to the Supreme Court.
"But I think it's bigger than just a misstep. I think it's a failure of an obligation -- of a basic obligation of a commander in chief."
Among other sources, many of the ballots that arrive after Election Day are cast by military service members, contractors and dependents deployed overseas.
Sinema has picked up an insurmountable lead over Republican opponent Rep. Martha McSally, handing Democrats a seat Republicans have held since 1994
While the text of the tweet is cryptic, Trump appeared to be warning that Germany may invade France again without NATO and U.S. protection.
Day 661
Sunday 11 November 2018
With subpoena power and public hearings, the incoming House Democratic majority can demand emails and testimony to see if Trump used “the instruments of state power to punish the press”
Trump’s interim pick for AG was part of an investigation that was covered in partisan fingerprints.
"Patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism: nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism"
Day 660
Saturday 10 November 2018
Trump’s original tweet, his first public remarks on the California wildfires that have killed 25 people and destroyed thousands of homes, contained no words of sympathy for the victims.
Sinema stretched her lead to 28,688 votes on Saturday evenin
Florida began the first full, statewide vote recount in its history on Saturday
An audio recording tracking the dying moments of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul has been shared with Saudi Arabia, Britain, France and Germany in addition to the United States
Turkey has not said how it obtained a recording from inside the consulate.
What Macron said has been largely echoed by European Union leaders for months now, and in fact mimics the same demand Trump has long made: Europe needs to stop relying on the United States for its own defense.
...it displayed “real low energy,” for Trump "to not bother to honor the sacrifice of American soldiers in WWI due to some rain. Somehow everyone else was able to do so today.”
Day 659
Friday 9 November 2018
Kemp (who was running for governor at the same time as he was overseeing the integrity of the election and also putting in place a bunch of attempts at voter suppression) has doxxed hundreds of thousands (291,164 to be exact) of absentee voters by posting an Excel file on the state's website listing out the names, addresses and reasons why they voted absentee.
...it’s clear that an anti-President Trump force hit the country with considerable, if uneven, strength.
We seem to see the same pattern over and over again: A race is extremely close, Democrats demand that every vote be counted, and Republicans [...] try to shut down the counting before all the votes can be counted.
"I don't know Matt Whitaker," Trump told reporters on Friday as he left the White House for a trip to Paris.
"Matt Whitaker is a great guy. I mean, I know Matt Whitaker," Trump told Fox News last month.
Experts say that key EPA proposals would meddle with the research process and endanger decades of protective health rules.
Sayoc Allegedly Mailed 16 IEDs to 13 Victims Across the United States and Now Faces Charges Including Use of Weapons of Mass Destruction, Interstate Mailing of Explosives, and Use of Destructive Devices During Crimes of Violence
Trump's unprecedented threat poses a serious challenge to the White House press corps and the association that represents them.
Trump first noticed Matthew G. Whitaker on CNN in the summer of 2017 and liked what he saw — a partisan defender who insisted there was no collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign.
Despite his claims, the president has presented no evidence that officials are attempting to rig the election in favor of Democratic candidates.
...they have until Nov. 19 to turn in briefs that sift through Wednesday’s firing of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the legal reaction it may have created.
The move — which will almost certainly face legal opposition — aims to funnel asylum seekers toward ports of entry.
By setting a higher bar for the deals, Mr. Sessions limited a tool that the Justice Department has used to help change policing practices nationwide.
Day 658
Thursday 8 November 2018
The administration issued an interim final rule that will bar certain migrants caught crossing the border between ports of entry.
The move is another example of the Trump administration's willingness to at times be tougher on Russia than the president's rhetoric suggests.
Hundreds of functional voting machines sat unused, locked away in warehouses, across metropolitan Atlanta as thousands of black voters weathered hours-long lines at the polls on Election Day.
...who added they do not believe he would approve any subpoena of President Trump as part of that investigation.
Trump supporters accused me of smearing his campaign manager. Today they’re smearing Jim Acosta.
Sanders tweeted out the doctored video, writing, “We will not tolerate the inappropriate behavior clearly documented in this video.”
"So with deference and respect to what the president's trying to do - he has every right to have whoever he wants run the Justice Department - he has chosen someone who does not qualify under the law to be the acting attorney general,"
It is not the first time that Ginsburg has fractured her ribs while on the court. In June 2012, Ginsburg fractured two ribs in a fall and did not disclose the injury to the public until months later.
The Democratic senator’s victory shows that he still understands Montanans better than the president does.
One reason for the surge is companies are eager to avoid even higher duties in a few months' time: The US tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods that kicked in on September 24 are set to rise from 10% to 25% at the end of the year. thanks
The gunman [...] was also found dead on Wednesday night in the office of the Borderline Bar and Grill [...] apparently having shot himself.
Day 657
Wednesday 7 November 2018
The GOP faced a moment of reckoning on an issue that helped them ascend to power in 2010 and which some now believe has been part of their downfall.
...explaining the decision was a result of both Acosta's behavior and him yanking back when a White House intern tried to take his microphone.
The pictures from Casey’s White House visit were tweeted on the same day that President Donald Trump held a press conference in which he bristled when a reporter questioned whether his embrace of “nationalism” encouraged white nationalists.
On Tuesday, they joined four other states whose “trigger bans” take effect if Roe v. Wade falls.
...ordering political leaders to draw new electoral lines for contests in 2020.
The investigation was being managed by Rosenstein because Sessions had recused himself.
Sessions noted in his resignation letter to the president that he was stepping down "at your request."
Pompeo’s meeting was scheduled for Thursday. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said it would now take place “at a later date.”
...stripping a traditionally partisan exercise from politicians while aiming to create a more level playing field based instead on geography and demographics.
The two-term incumbent held on, even though Trump won his state big in 2016.
With more than 2.6 million votes cast and 99 percent of precincts reporting, Mr. Evers led by about 30,000 votes.
Obamacare supporters said the victories marked a strong reprimand of Republican efforts to roll back the Affordable Care Act.
Democrats took control of the House. Republicans held on to the Senate.
He mocked Republican candidates who distanced themselves from him, chided a reporter for asking a "racist question" and walked away from the lectern at one point, as an aide tried to wrest a microphone out of a reporter's hands.
But if Trump Jr. did lie under oath, the obvious question is why. He had a lawyer, who presumably informed him of the dangers of perjury.
Democrats are primed to help the special counsel shed light on any illicit behavior by the president and his allies.
Under Kemp, Georgia purged more than 1.5 million voters from the rolls, eliminating 10.6 percent of voters from the state’s registered electorate from 2016 to 2018 alone. The state shut down 214 polling places, the bulk of them in minority and poor neighborhoods.
Day 656
Tuesday 6 November 2018
Democrats to win back House, Republicans will hold the Senate: Here are the results of pivotal races in the battle for Congress
In its modern incarnation, Fox News effectively serves as an arm of the Trump campaign — echoing his talking points, suppressing unflattering stories, smearing Democrats, and even spreading conspiracy theories that serve the president’s interests. Still, it usually tries to maintain the appearance of being in the business of independent journalism.
"So you're saying that even if the method imposes gruesome, brutal pain, you can still go forward?" Kavanaugh asked. "Is there any limit on that?"
"We were all told that Hannity was going to interview the president, but no one that I spoke with expected what happened last night"
The president did not explain where he had heard the rumor, though “Fox & Friends,” one of the president’s favorite shows, claimed that Hawley did not stick around for the rally’s entirety.
“I would like to have a much softer tone. I feel, to a certain extent, I have no choice. But maybe I do,” Mr. Trump told the affiliate when asked about his regrets from his first two years in office.
Day 655
Monday 5 November 2018
In the run-up to the election, Rudy Giuliani was made to shut up. But now, with Trump making excuses for possibly losing the House, officials are bracing for a legal assault.
The 30-second prime-time ad stirred fear of a migrant caravan making its way through Mexico that is still hundreds of miles from the United States border.
But photos taken Monday of U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents training weeks before a potential arrival of a caravan of Central Americans reveal a southern border already militarized — even before the arrival of thousands of active-duty soldiers.
North Dakota’s soybean crops are flourishing. But China has stopped buying.
On the issues, health care is rivaled only by immigration in the 2018 midterms — and, in a remarkable reversal from 2010, Democrats have been on the offensive.
...but their progress on an issue that has sharply divided the United States and its closest allies has been halting, at best.
The ad tries to motivate GOP turnout by playing on fears of the migrants traveling through Mexico.
The president continued his campaign blitz amid late polls pointing to Democratic momentum in key battlegrounds.
The interior secretary continued to work on issues regarding his Montana land holdings in 2017 despite a one-year recusal.
A US Navy reconnaissance aircraft flying in international airspace over the Black Sea was intercepted by a Russian fighter jet Monday
For years, Republicans in this state have attempted to undermine the foundation of democratic government: the vote.
The kingdom sent an expert team to clean up evidence of the crime under the guise of helping with the investigation
Today’s Congress is dominated by party leaders and functions as a junior partner to the executive
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused a request by the Trump administration and the telecommunications industry to wipe away a lower court decision that had upheld Obama-era net neutrality rules aimed at ensuring a free and open internet
It’s unclear how many times the errors have happened [...]. But the latest episodes come after at least a decade and a half of warnings from election security groups about the dangers of relying on voting machines that don’t produce a paper trail — saying they’re insecure and produce results that are impossible to audit.
In a preview of the war of words that is likely to escalate, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said his country would continue selling oil in defiance of the sanctions.
Day 654
Sunday 4 November 2018
The lawmakers’ idea was simple. A mix of shame and self-preservation would make candidates less inclined to put out ads that were false or just plain ugly.
Despite forecasts of a Democratic House takeover, liberals grappling with 'PTSD' are braced for another surprise election disaster.
Day 653
Saturday 3 November 2018
Donald Trump plays dirty, like the pro wrestling heel he is. But his ugly new ad isn’t desperate; it’s shrewd
He slammed Trump for “constant fear-mongering” at a fiery campaign rally in Florida Friday.
For two decades, domestic counterterrorism strategy has ignored the rising danger of far-right extremism. In the atmosphere of willful indifference, a virulent movement has grown and metastasized.
The tweet [...] referenced a video of Trump where he suggested that U.S. soldiers on the country’s southwestern border may open fire if migrants throw rocks at them. Trump insisted Friday that he meant that rock-throwers would be arrested.
The military is barred by law from taking on domestic law enforcement responsibilities.
Day 652
Friday 2 November 2018
The move is "aimed at depriving the regime of the revenues that it uses to spread death and destruction around the world," Pompeo said.
The judge [...] said the Justice Department had failed to show a compelling reason to hold up the case while its lawyers appeal his earlier rulings.
It's the second time he has canceled plans to visit the South American country.
Soldiers fired this Monday on a march of about 1,000 Islamic Shiite activists who had blocked traffic on the outskirts of the capital, Abuja.
...a decision that paves the way for plaintiffs to seek information about customers at his hotel in the District.
The White House is planning to tout Trump as the savior of Republicans in the Senate, even if the Democrats retake the House.
The plot to get Mueller.
Day 651
Thursday 1 November 2018
This week, a handful of right-wing conspiracy theorists were exposed trying to smear special counsel Robert Mueller in a plan that’s almost too outlandish and poorly executed to be believed.
Republicans are now squarely the party of McCarthy
As the world’s largest importer of soybeans, China is posed to make an impact on the American market.
"It's time we forget about 'restraint', 'measured responses', 'procedural justice', 'de-escalation', 'stigma-reduction', and other feel-good BS that is getting our officers killed"
In an email to Stephen K. Bannon on Oct. 4 — days before WikiLeaks began releasing emails hacked from the account of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta — Stone said that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange feared for his personal safety but would nevertheless be releasing “a load every week going forward.”
A section of the booklet [...] described the Saudi population as “mainly composed of descendants of indigenous tribes that have inhabited the peninsula since prehistoric times with some later mixture of Negro blood from slaves imported from Africa.”
On Thursday, the police were investigating if Mr. Banks broke the law while promoting Britain’s departure, known as Brexit.
In a sharply worded speech Thursday, the president announced two new immigration policies that are expected to be met with lawsuits in federal court.
"And he’s saying, if you don’t want to be called the enemy, then get the story right, be accurate and report the story the way that I want it reported."
The US will now go after a so-called “Troika of Tyranny”: Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.
“The support that we provide to the secretary for homeland security is practical support based on the request from the commissioner of customs and border police, so we don’t do stunts in this department”
Donald Trump’s racist ad is a shocking provocation. It’s also rooted in a strategy elevated by one of his most controversial senior advisers.
The Trump campaign ad is the latest example of the President's willingness to lie and fear-monger in order to tear at racial and societal divides