Category: Uncategorized

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Trump’s Lawyers: Trump Never Asked For “Loyalty,” Never Asked Comey To “Let Flynn Go”

President Trump’s personal lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, issued a statement pushing back on some of James Comey’s testimony earlier today.

Axios points to these excerpts:

“The President never… directed or suggested that Mr. Comey stop investigating anyone, including suggesting that Mr. Comey ‘let Flynn go.’ As he publicly stated the next day, he did say to Mr. Comey, ‘General Flynn is a good guy, he has been through a lot’ and also ‘asked how is General Flynn is doing.'”

“The President also never told Mr. Comey, ‘I need loyalty, I expect loyalty” in form or substance.'”

“It is overwhelmingly clear that there have been and continue to be those in government who are actively attempting to undermine this administration with selective and illegal leaks of classified information and privileged communications. Mr. Comey has now admitted that he is one of these leakers.”

“We will leave it [to] the appropriate authorities to determine whether [these Comey] leaks should be investigated along with all those others being investigated.”

Additionally, Kasowitz said yesterday upon the release of Comey’s 7 pages of testimony that Trump feels “totally vindicated.”

Kasowitz also claimed that Comey’s releasing details of his conversations with President Trump violated executive privilege and that it constituted a “leak.”

John Dean called that “baloney.”

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Paul Ryan Defends Donald Trump: “He’s Just New To This”

Paul Ryan

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan suggested during comments to the press today that President Trump’s request to James Comey to drop FBI investigations into Michael Flynn could stem from his lack of experience in government.

From The Hill:

“Of course there needs to be a degree of independence between [the Department of Justice], FBI, and the White House and a line of communication’s established,” Ryan told reporters.

“The president’s new at this. He’s new to government. So he probably wasn’t steeped in the long-running protocols that establish the relationships between DOJ, the FBI and White Houses. He’s just new to this.”

Another reporter later pressed Ryan on why inexperience is an “acceptable excuse” for Trump’s behavior.

“I’m not saying it’s an acceptable excuse. It’s just my observation,” Ryan replied. “He’s new at government and so therefore I think that he’s learning as he goes.”

The night before, Ryan told MSNBC’s Greta Van Susteren that it was “obviously” inappropriate for Trump to ask for Comey’s loyalty.

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Chris Christie: Trump’s Loyalty Demands Are Just “Normal New York City Conversation”

During an appearance on MSNBC last night, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie told host Nicole Wallace regarding Trump’s unorthodox communications, “What you’re seeing is a president who is now very publicly learning about the way people react to what he considers to be normal New York City conversation.”

That sounds like Christie thinks Trump should get a break for doing things considered very, very inappropriate for a president.

Immediately “normal New York City conversation” began trending on Twitter.

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Tyler Oakley Asks Woofy Gus Kenworthy About Coming Out, First Kisses And More

Gus Kenworthy (L) and Tyler Oakley (R)

Adorable Tyler Oakley chats with woofy Olympic skier Gus Kenworthy about his coming out, his first gay kiss, the first time he had sex with another guy, and the first time he saw gay porn.

Kenworthy also shares how his life has changed since coming out, and the advice he would give to closeted gays.

Watch the way cute guys chat below.

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State & Labor Departments Recognize Pride Month 2017

President Trump won’t recognize Pride Month this year, but the U.S. Navy and the Department of Defense have.

And now, we hear from both the State Department and the Labor Department.

First from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson:

In recognition of LGBTI Month, the Department of State affirms its solidarity with the human rights defenders and civil society organizations working around the world to uphold the fundamental freedoms of LGBTI persons to live with dignity and freedom.

We also recognize that LGBTI persons continue to face the threat of violence and discrimination. Violence and discrimination targeting any vulnerable group undermines our collective security as well as American values. When all persons are protected on the basis of equality and with dignity, global stability is strengthened. We will continue to support the human rights of LGBTI persons together with like-minded governments, businesses, and civil society organizations globally.

The United States remains committed to human rights and fundamental freedoms for all persons. Dignity and equality for all persons are among our founding constitutional principles, and these principles continue to drive U.S. diplomacy.

And from Labor Secretary Alex Acosta:

This June, we recognize Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ) Pride Month at the Department of Labor. The department honors the impactful contributions of all Americans, no matter their ethnic background, gender, religious affiliation, or sexual orientation.

Pride at DOL, the Department’s Affinity Group for LGBTQ Employees and Allies, helps educate about issues of concern to those in the LGBTQ community and has partnered with the Diversity and Inclusion Branch of the Office of Employee Engagement to offer programming in support of this special emphasis month.

LGBT Pride Month events can be found on LaborNet. There will be training on Understanding LGBTQ Diversity, guest speakers discussing issues and challenges that impact the LGBTQ community, films, and visibility tables throughout the month to provide resource information.

Additionally, the Library of Congress, National Archives, and Smithsonian Learning Lab sites provide event information and resources in association with LGBTQ Pride Month.

(h/t JoeMyGod)

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New Quinnipiac Poll Shows Trump’s Approval Rating At New Low

New Quinnipiac Poll on President Trump shows him at his lowest level yet in this poll with 34% approval; 57% disapproval.

Also from the survey:

• 54% say Trump is too friendly to Russia, 3% say he is too unfriendly

• 68 percent of voters are “very concerned” or “somewhat concerned” about Trump’s relationship with Russia

• 45% say Russia is an adversary, 8% say it is an ally

• 73% of voters approve of the appointment of Robert Mueller as a special counsel to investigate possible links or coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia; 15% of voters do not approve

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James Comey’s Opening Statement Before Senate Intelligence Released To Public

James Comey

This is fascinating.

The Senate Intelligence Committee has released seven pages of prepared opening testimony penned by former FBI Director James Comey (at Comey’s request) about his interactions with President Trump.

Basically, Comey offers a timeline of his conversations with Trump.

Among many exchanges, according to Comey at a dinner, Trump stated, “I need loyalty. I expect loyalty.”

Some reactions from Twitter:

See below. Click the images to enlarge.

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Eric Trump “Disgusted” By Charity Coverup Being Exposed

Eric Trump is all upset this morning because he got caught lying about money his “charity” raised via a golf tournament at his dad’s golf club.

As the story goes, it seems the Donald charged his son’s charity over $1 million for use of the club for the events. So, it would seem the donors money went into his dad’s pockets not to children.

Via ThinkProgress:

On Tuesday, Forbes reported that Eric Trump has diverted more than $1 million donations to his kids-cancer charity to Trump golf courses. These costs were incurred during the Eric Trump Foundation’s annual golf fundraiser. But according to charity experts, “the listed expenses defy any reasonable cost justification for a one-day golf tournament.”

The golf fundraiser was marketed as an opportunity for donors to have nearly their entire gift go to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, since the golf and other services were provided free of charge.

A former employee of the club, however, told Forbes that beginning in 2011, the charity was charged for the use of course and other services. Ian Gillule, membership and marketing director at Trump National Westchester, said the club began billing Eric Trump’s foundation after Donald Trump “had a cow.”

“I don’t care if it’s my son or not — everybody gets billed,” Donald Trump said, according to Gillule.

The payments by the charity to the Trump Organization for its one-day tournament were also confirmed by a former member of the Eric Trump Foundation board. And the payments increased dramatically over time — from $46,000 in 2011 to $322,000 in 2015.

Eric Trump appears to have gone to significant lengths to cover up these payments. Last year, he told Washington Post reporter David Fahrenthold that none of the money actually went to the Trump Organization.

Rather, Eric Trump insisted, the money was simply passed from the Trump Organization to “to cover the cost of outside vendors.”

Eric Trump was enraged last July when Fahrenthold asked about the money claiming, “It’s disgusting. It is so disgusting what’s happening. I’m saving dying children. We do tremendous good for people. And you’re sitting there tearing us apart.”

At the time, Eric pointedly said the Trump Organization made “zero” from the charity events. That doesn’t seem to be the case now.

Fahrenthold asked Eric Trump yesterday whether he lied last year when discussing the charity. Now the story seems to be the Trump Organization didn’t “profit” from the events.

Eric also spoke to Fox News’ Sean Hannity this week to rant on the Democrats for blocking his dad’s agenda. “I’ve never seen hatred like this,” he said. “To me, they’re not even people. It’s so, so sad. Morality’s just gone, morals have flown out the window and we deserve so much better than this as a country.”