Author: Randy Slovacek

Posted on

Trump Turns On Giuliani, Instructs Aides Not To Pay Legal Fees

Trump turns on Giuliani ordering aides not to pay his legal fees
Rudy Giuliani at Trump press conference (screen capture)
Donald Trump’s personal circle continues to grow smaller and smaller. After attacking his own Vice President for not trying to illegally overturn the 2020 election, Trump now is reportedly disgruntled with his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani. From the Washington Post:

Though Trump has been exceptionally furious with Vice President Pence, his relationship with lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani, one of his most steadfast defenders, is also fracturing, according to people with knowledge of the dynamics between the men.

Trump has instructed aides not to pay Giuliani’s legal fees, two officials said, and has demanded that he personally approve any reimbursements for the expenses Giuliani incurred while traveling on the president’s behalf to challenge election results in key states.

They said Trump has privately expressed concern with some of Giuliani’s moves and did not appreciate a demand from Giuliani for $20,000 a day in fees for his work attempting to overturn the election.

Many outlets have reported that Giuliani may have been wrangling for a preemptive presidential pardon just to cover his own backside. But it appears that may not be in the cards now. Although, Maggie Haberman of the New York Times has tweeted that White House folks are now walking back some of the ‘angry at Rudy’ reports.

Posted on

News Round-Up: January 13, 2021

Kiko Riaze reconnects with nature down in Rio

Kiko Riaze reconnects with nature down in Rio
Kiko Riaze (image via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Woofy Kiko Riaze (above) is reconnecting with nature down in Rio de Janeiro. Follow him on Instagram here. • Pink News: A gay man has shared a list of the top 10 bizarre, offensive things people have said to him and his husband since they became dads. “Which of you is the real dad?” • Hulu: Grammy Award nominee Andra Day looks like she’s on the verge of next-level stardom as bisexual jazz legend Billie Holiday in The United States vs. Billie Holiday, directed by Oscar winner Lee Daniels. Premieres February 26 on Hulu.

• Washington Blade: President-elect Joe Biden will have his hands full upon his inauguration next week with coronavirus cases surging and impeachment proceedings in Congress, which may complicate his efforts to act on campaign promises to the LGBTQ community, especially signing the Equality Act into law with 100 days. • The Gaily Grind: An ultra-Orthodox rabbi in Israel has reportedly urged his followers not to get the potentially lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines because it might “turn them” gay. • Variety: Actor Brendan Fraser will star in the film adaptation of the critically acclaimed Samuel D. Hunter Broadway play The Whale about a 600-pound middle-aged man who turns to compulsive eating out of grief from losing his lover. • Equality NC: The Town Council of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, has approved an ordinance broadly protecting members of the LGBTQ community from discrimination. The victory comes in the same week that Hillsborough, NC and Carrboro, NC passed similar ordinances. Municipalities regained the freedom to pass such measures on December 1, 2020, following the expiration of a key prong of HB142.

Posted on

Trump Lies: ‘No True Supporter Of Mine Could Endorse Violence’

Donald Trump

Donald Trump pretends he could never endorse violence Donald Trump released a video message today admonishing “violence and vandalism” in regard to the invasion of the U.S. Capitol building last week. “No true supporter of mine could ever endorse political violence,” says Trump in the clip. “No true supporter of mine could ever disrespect law enforcement or our great American flag.” Oh, my sides… The video came shortly after the House approved an article of impeachment against Trump by a vote of 232-197 making him the first president ever to be impeached twice. Plus, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell began hinting he may vote to convict Trump. This comes across as a preemptive legal defense against impeachment to me. Trust and believe, he did not write a word of this. From the New York Times:

“I want to be very clear,” he continued. “I unequivocally condemn the violence that we saw last week. Violence and vandalism have absolutely no place in our country and no place in our movement. Making America great again has always been about defending the rule of law” and supporting law enforcement officials.

As a candidate in 2016, Mr. Trump once encouraged rally attendees to physically attack protesters. But in the video on Wednesday, he said that “mob violence goes against everything I believe in and everything our movement stands for. No true supporter of mine could ever endorse political violence.”

“If you do any of these things, you are not supporting our movement, you are attacking it, and you are attacking our country,” he said. “We cannot tolerate it.”

There was no mention of the people who died in the melee last week including one Capitol Police officer who was reportedly bludgeoned with a fire extinguisher. Looking ahead to the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, Trump added, “There must be no violence, no lawbreaking and no vandalism of any kind.”

Posted on

Trump Is 1st President To Be Impeached Twice

House of Representatives votes 232-197 to impeach Donald Trump a second time

House of Representatives votes 232-197 to impeach Donald Trump a second time Donald Trump has become the first president in the history of the U.S. to face impeachment charges twice. In a bipartisan vote of 232 to 197, the House of Representatives approved a single article of impeachment against Trump charging him with “inciting violence against the government of the United States” in regard to last week’s insurrection at the Capitol. So. Much. Winning. From the New York Times:

The House on Wednesday impeached President Trump for inciting a violent insurrection against the United States government, as 10 members of the president’s party joined Democrats to charge him with high crimes and misdemeanors for an unprecedented second time.

Reconvening under the threat of continued violence and the protection of thousands of National Guard troops, the House was determined to hold Mr. Trump to account just one week before he was to leave office.

At issue was his role in encouraging a mob that attacked the Capitol one week ago while Congress met to affirm President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory, forcing lawmakers to flee for their lives in a deadly rampage.

Ten House Republicans joined with Democrats in passing the measure. The Senate will now face holding impeachment proceedings once the House transmits the article of impeachment. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has reportedly been ‘pleased’ by the impeachment development but says he won’t bring the Senate back into session before its scheduled session on January 19.

Posted on

GOPer Blames Madonna, Kathy Griffin For Capitol Attack

Madonna was blamed by a member of Congress for the attack on the U.S. Capitol last week
Madonna was blamed by a member of Congress for the attack on the U.S. Capitol last week
Madonna (image via Depositphotos)

Republican Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado raised eyebrows today when he attempted to blame international pop-star Madonna and comedian Kathy Griffin for the attack on the U.S. Capitol last week.

The statement came during hours of debate today on whether to approve an article of impeachment against Donald Trump for inciting a violent mob that invaded the U.S. Capitol building as Congress was certifying the Electoral College votes.

Buck told his colleagues that Americans were ‘frustrated’ by a laundry list of things including the Special Counsel investigation into the Trump campaign’s links to Russia, efforts by Congress to impeach Trump (the first time), and more.

“They were frustrated when members of this House spoke over and over about impeaching the President days into his administration,” Buck said. “And then the socialists in Hollywood joined their allies in Congress.” 

The socialists in Hollywood…here we go…

“Robert De Niro said that he wanted to punch the president in the face,” continued the Colorado lawmaker. “Madonna thought about blowing up the White House. Kathy Lee Griffin held up a likeness of the President’s beheaded head, and nothing was heard and nothing was said by my colleagues at that point in time.”

That’s not accurate, of course.

Griffin received considerable pushback from members of both political parties at the time of her ‘severed head’ stunt. 

According to Newsweek she was investigated by the Secret Service and the FBI, placed on the no-fly list for months and lost her New Year’s Eve CNN gig with Anderson Cooper. She also found it difficult to book stand-up comedy appearances for a long period of time.

And while it’s true that Madonna did allude to ‘blowing up the White House,’ Buck takes her comment totally out of context.

Her statement occurred at the women’s march on Washington in January 2017 opposing the inauguration of Donald Trump.

Here’s the remark in full:

“Yes, I’m angry. Yes, I am outraged. Yes, I have thought an awful lot of blowing up the White House, but I know that this won’t change anything. We cannot fall into despair. As the poet W.H. Auden once wrote on the eve of World War II: ‘We must love one another or die.’ I choose love. Are you with me? Say this with me: We choose love…”

Madge clarified her comments on Instagram the very next day writing, “I am not a violent person, I do not promote violence and it’s important people hear and understand my speech in it’s entirety rather than one phrase taken wildly out of context.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Madonna (@madonna)

Madonna and Kathy Griffin were soon trending on Twitter for this very surprising reason.

Posted on

CYA: Trump Urges ‘No Violence, No Lawbreaking’

Trump issues a statement calling for no violence
Donald Trump
Lacking his social media platforms, Donald Trump issued a statement ‘old-school’ today discouraging any further violence. “In light of reports of more demonstrations, I urge that there must be NO violence, NO lawbreaking and NO vandalism of any kind,” read the statement from the White House Press Secretary. “That is not what I stand for, and it is not what America stands for.” “I call on ALL Americans to help ease tensions and calm tempers. Thank you.” As the House is currently debating an article of impeachment at this very moment, this seems like Trump probably got advice from his lawyers that he needs to at least ‘appear’ to discourage violence like the hideous insurrection that occurred at the U.S. Capitol building last week. Trump calls for no violence as House debates impeachment

Posted on

Mitch McConnell Won’t Bring Senate Back Early

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
While the House of Representatives debates approving an article of impeachment against Donald Trump for last week’s insurrection at the U.S. Capitol building, The Hill reports Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has informed Democrats he will not be bringing the Senate back into session before its currently scheduled date of January 19.

McConnell said in a memo circulated to colleagues last week that the Senate will not be able to handle business on the floor until senators are scheduled to return to Washington on Jan. 19 unless all 100 senators agree to reconvene sooner.

The memo stated that unless there is unanimous consent from senators, Trump’s impeachment trial would not be allowed to begin until 1 p.m. on Jan. 20, at which time Joe Bidenwill have been sworn in as president. 

In that case, any trial against Trump would not begin until around the time of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration. CBS News reports that McConnell supports the impeachment maneuver but doesn’t want to address it until the article of impeachment is approved and sent to the Senate.

Posted on

Geraldo Rivera: Trump Should Be Impeached

Geraldo Rivera with Donald Trump

Geraldo Rivera with Donald Trump
L-R Geraldo Rivera, Donald Trump (image via Facebook)
File this under ‘More rats leaving the ship.’ Fox News personality Geraldo Rivera, a longtime ally of Donald Trump, now says the Donald should be impeached as the House of Representatives debates the issue today. In a tweet posted today Rivera says he had a “eureka moment,” saying that “my loyalty toward Donald Trump, my old friend, was misplaced when it comes to what happened last Wednesday.” “Shame on him. He should be impeached,” continued Rivera. “If the Senate wants to acquit him, that’s their business, but he should know that history is judging him.”

Posted on

News Round-Up: January 12, 2021

Real-life couple featured in new Cadbury chocolate ad

Real-life couple featured in new Cadbury chocolate ad
(screen capture via Cadbury)
Some news items you might have missed: • OUT: One half of the real-life gay couple in that Cadbury ad (above) clapped back at critics of the spot – “I’m sure there would be half as many complaints if it was two ‘beautiful’ cisgendered hetero-looking Caucasian women. Get your act together world: y’all are as hypocritical and uneducated and bizarre as Donald Trump.” • The Advocate: Hillsborough has become the first town in North Carolina to adopt LGBTQ-inclusive antidiscrimination protections since the state’s ban on doing so expired. • NowThis News: “Knock the crap out of ’em, would you? I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees” — Watch this report on how Donald Trump has been inciting violence from his supporters for years.

• LGBTQ Nation: An 18-year-old lesbian who says she has been kicked out of her home for being gay has outed her Trump-loving family members who participated in the violent altercation in D.C. last week. • New York Times: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has told associates that he believes Donald Trump committed impeachable offenses and that he is pleased that Democrats are moving to impeach him, believing that it will make it easier to purge him from the party, according to people familiar with his thinking. • NBC News: Michael Sherwin, the acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, and Steven D’Antuono, head of the FBI’s Washington field office, briefed reporters on the sprawling criminal investigation designed to catch those who took part in the violent Capitol insurrection last week. They said that the FBI had opened 160 case files, and that “this is only the beginning.”

Posted on

Michael Henry: Things Gays Will (And Won’t) Put In Their Bodies

Adrian Anchondo in Michael Henry's latest gay life video

Adrian Anchondo in Michael Henry's latest gay life video
Adrian Anchondo (screen capture)
When funny guy Michael Henry runs into Randy (Adrian Anchondo) on the streets of West Hollywood, it quickly becomes clear that Randy is not up for the coronavirus vaccine. “I don’t know what’s in that,” says Randy with a shrug. But Henry points out that not only does Randy smoke cigarettes and buy gas station viagra but he hippy hopped down to Mexico for the super-spreader event known as the Jeffrey Sanker New Year’s Eve White Party – “but you won’t take a vaccine?” Randy does share that he did all the proper preparing for PV during a pandemic – “Botox, filler, and some juice to make my muscles look swole.” More stuff Randy puts in his body – but won’t take a vaccine… Hit the play button below as Michael Henry tries to make sense out of the circular logic.