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Government Ethics Office Recommends Disciplinary Actions Against Kellyanne Conway

It looks like White House counselor Kellyanne Conway will get more than just “counseled” in regard for her recent hawking of Ivanka Trump merchandise on national television.

From The Hill:

The director of the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) says White House counselor Kellyanne Conway misused her official position by hawking Ivanka Trump’s product line on TV and recommends the White House punish her.

“Under the present circumstances, there is strong reason to believe that Ms. Conway has violated the Standards of Conduct Act and that disciplinary action is warranted,” Walter Schaub wrote in a Tuesday letter to White House legal counselor Stefan Passantino.

Schaub asked the White House to respond by Feb. 28 with the results of its investigation and any disciplinary action it may decide to take. “I recommend the White House investigate Ms. Conway’s actions and consider taking disciplinary action against her,” he wrote.

Here’s Conway on Fox News last week promoting Ivanka Trump’s wares:

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have released the letter on Twitter. See below.

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Out Music: Tom Goss “More Than Temporary”


 Randy Report favorite Tom Goss shares this uber-romantical music video just in time for Valentine’s Day – “More Than Temporary” from his album, What Doesn’t Break.

In telling the story of blossoming young love, Tom spotlights senior LGBT couples as guiding inspiration.

From Tom: “If you let it, love will blossom. Look to these LGBT seniors for inspiration. Their example will light the way.”

“I’m grateful to those that have come before me. They have paved the way for the rights and privileges that I take for granted,” he told The Huffington Post. “Hopefully this video can highlight the beauty and inspiration of LGBTQ seniors, and in turn, give an example to those that are hesitant to dive into love.”

The video was directed by Christopher Turner, who makes a cameo appearance with his other half, author Armistead Maupin, well-known for his Tales of the City series of novels.

Click here for past posts where I’ve featured Tom’s music on The Randy Report.

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New Music: Kelly&Ellis “Anyone Who Isn’t Me Tonight”

Country music duo Kelly&Ellis – Casey Kelly and Leslie Ellis – share this music video from their upcoming album, The Long Road To You.

Via Facebook: “In the spirit of love, we hope this video helps us all look at each other with a little bit more kindness this Valentine’s Day.”

If you watch carefully, you might see a certain blogger and handsome hubby featured in the video 🙂

I’ve heard an advance copy of the album, and it’s terrific. Excited for the well-deserved acclaim headed Kelly&Ellis’ way.

The album is currently on pre-sale at iTunes with a release date of February 24th.

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President Trump Suddenly Concerned About “Leaks Coming Out Of Washington”

President Trump tweets today that the “real story here is why are there so many illegal leaks coming out of Washington?”

And yet, last fall, when it was clear Russia had hacked into American email servers and leaked info about Hillary Clinton, the “leaking” was of no interest to Trump – only the info leaked.

Shoe on the other foot now?

And by the way, if Trump is concerned about folks finding out how he deals with North Korea, perhaps he shouldn’t handle a national security crisis from the middle of dinner at Mar-a-Lago surrounded by club members…

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Catching Up With “Michael Flynn’s Wild Ride”

In this episode of “As The Trump Turns:”

Last night, White House senior advisor Kellyanne Conway told MSNBC that (then) National Security Advisor Michael Flynn had “the complete confidence of the president.”

Just hours later, Flynn resigned as the news emerged that the acting Attorney General Sally Yates (fired for telling the truth) informed the White House last month that Flynn had probably misled Trump and the administration, and had possibly opened himself up to blackmail by the Russian government.

So, President Trump knew of these reports last month, but last Friday when asked about the issue onboard Air Force One by reporters, Trump said he had not read or heard of such reports and he’d have to get back to the media over it.

So, which is it? Did Trump know about the moves by Flynn? Or did President Bannon not keep Trump in the loop?

If Trump knew about these revelations last month, how did Flynn have the “full confidence of the president?”

Or, more importantly, if this had not come to light, would Flynn STILL have the full confidence of the president?

If Trump knew all this, why did he allow Flynn complete access to American intel when he might be vulnerable to Russian blackmail?

It wasn’t Flynn’s lie to Vice-president Pence that brought Flynn down. It was the facts coming to light. The White House knew about these allegations for weeks. Nothing was done until the info got out to the public.

CNN is now reporting that Republican Sen. Roy Blunt, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, on Tuesday has called for an investigation into connections between President Donald Trump and Russia, and wants the Intelligence Committee to speak with Michael Flynn.

Here’s Kellyanne Conway this morning twisting in the wind with NBC’s Matt Lauer:

And while Kellyanne was talking in circles at NBC, poor Rep. Chris Collins seemed to have drawn the short GOP straw, and had to spin his own circular nonsense over at CNN:

And just one final piece of irony: here’s now-former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn last summer at the Republican National Convention where he led the crowd in chants of “Lock her up!” in regard to possible security leaks from Hillary Clinton’s email server.

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BREAKING: National Security Advisor Michael Flynn Resigns

CNN is reporting that National Security Advisor Michael Flynn has resigned.

Gloria Borger of CNN says General David Petreaus has an appointment at the White House tomorrow.

More from the New York Times:

The Justice Department warned the White House that Michael T. Flynn, the national security adviser, misled administration officials about whether he had discussed American sanctions against Russia during a phone call with the Russian ambassador, and his job appeared in danger on Monday night.

Publicly, the White House offered a series of conflicting messages on whether Mr. Flynn still had the confidence of President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.

But a former senior official said the Justice Department raised concerns last month about the call, during which the two men discussed American sanctions against President Vladimir V. Putin’s government weeks before Mr. Trump’s inauguration. Mr. Flynn appears to have not fully disclosed that fact to other senior White House officials, and the Justice Department feared he could be vulnerable to blackmail by Moscow.

Officials said Mr. Pence has told others in the White House that he believes Mr. Flynn lied to him by saying he had not discussed the topic of sanctions on a call with the Russian ambassador in late December. Even the mere discussion of policy — and the apparent attempt to assuage the concerns of an American adversary before Mr. Trump took office — represents a remarkable breach of protocol.

You’ll note that 6 hours and 46 minutes ago, Kellyanne Conway told America that Flynn had the “complete confidence” of the president.

Earlier tonight the Washington Post reported that the White House had been informed by the acting Attorney General (now fired) that Flynn represented a possible liability and possible blackmail due to his communications with Russia during the presidential transition period.

The acting attorney general informed the Trump White House late last month that she believed Michael Flynn had misled senior administration officials about the nature of his communications with the Russian ambassador to the United States, and warned that the national security adviser was potentially vulnerable to Russian blackmail, current and former U.S. officials said.

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National Security Advisor Flynn Has “The Full Confidence Of The President” Despite Rumors He Lied

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway appeared on MSNBC today, and in an interview with Steve Kornacki stated that beleaguered National Security Advisor Michael Flynn “does enjoy the full confidence of the President.”

This comes as more questions are being asked whether Flynn had inappropriate conversations with Russian nationals before Donald Trump became president.

Last week, the Washington Post reported that Flynn spoke to the Russian ambassador and, either through direct statement or insinuation, discussed the sanctions President Obama ordered on Russia for interfering in the U.S. presidential campaign.

When asked if Flynn did or did not discuss those sanctions with the Russian ambassador, Conway dodged today:

“You’re asking me ‘What did he talk about with people when I wasn’t on the phone. So the only way for me to answer that is to tell you what he has said, which is that he can’t recall.”

Prior to the publication of the Washington Post piece, Flynn was adamant that he did not discuss the sanctions. The day after, Flynn’s story shifted to not being sure if he did or didn’t discuss the sanction.

Watch the segment from MSNBC below:

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Laverne Cox Puts Upcoming SCOTUS/Transgender Rights Case In Grammy Spotlight

Laverne Cox

Out transgender actress Laverne Cox, of Netflix’s Orange Is The New Black and the upcoming Doubt on CBS, had the LGBT moment of the Grammy Awards last night when she used her time center stage to bring attention to transgender high school student Gavin Grimm and his fight for equal rights that is headed to the Supreme Court.

Before introducing Lady Gaga and Metallica, Cox told the audience, “Please Google Gavin Grimm. He’s going to the Supreme Court in March. #StandWithGavin.”

Grimm is the 17-year-old student whose fight for the right to use a bathroom that matches his gender identity at his local Virginia school district has garnered headlines in the national LGBT press.

More about Gavin’s case from the ACLU:

Gavin is a 17-year-old boy. But because he is transgender, his school board passed a policy barring him from sharing facilities with the rest of his peers. Rather than use the boys’ restroom that all other boys use, Gavin is forced into a converted utility closet or another, separate, stigmatized space every time he needs to use the restroom during the day.

Gavin’s case will go before the U.S. Supreme Court on March 28th.

According to the Washington Post, Grimm had no idea Cox was going to bring up his case:

Grimm, now 17 and a high school senior, said Sunday night that he had no idea Cox was going to mention his name and was not watching the Grammys. But his mother Deirdre was in another room, and Grimm found out only when she “started shrieking.”

“I was just so thrilled because I love her. She’s just a beautiful person inside and out,” Grimm said. “I was really touched and thrilled and honored that that was the first thing out of her mouth.”

Grimm, once painfully shy, has become the unlikely standard-bearer for transgender student rights.

“At this point, that’s the role I occupy and I want to make sure I’m using that platform for positive,” Grimm said. “I definitely didn’t set out at the beginning wanting to or expecting to shouted on the Grammys.”

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Donald Trump Handles Missile Incident Surrounded By Mar-a-Lago Members At Dinner

On Saturday night, Donald Trump hosted a dinner with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at his exclusive Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

During the dinner, news came in that North Korea had tested a mid-range ballistic missile. Both leaders went to work. The problem is – they went to work right there in the middle of the dinner surrounded by club members.

Paying members of the social club had the added bonus of entertainment with their meals, as they got to watch Abe and Trump deal with an international crisis.

Many shared the experience on Facebook and other social media like Richard DeAgazio.

DeAgazio wrote on Facebook:

“HOLY MOLY!!! It was fascinating to watch the flurry of activity at dinner when the news came that North Korea had launched a missile in the direction of Japan. The Prime Minister Abe of Japan huddles with his staff and the President is on the phone with Washington DC. the two world leaders then conferred and then went into another room for hastily arranged press conference. Wow…the center of the action.!!!”

So, for $200K, you can get a Mar-a-Lago membership and have unfettered access to the President of the United States. What could possibly go wrong?

While it doesn’t seem like club members were close enough to overhear anything being discussed, the waiters – who according to CNN continued service as the leaders addressed the incident – certainly were.

Shouldn’t they all have gotten up immediately and moved to a secure, private setting? Didn’t Trump thrash Hillary Clinton during the campaign over issues of security breaches with sensitive info? And Trump sits in his club dining room addressing his first international ‘incident?’

Oh – and you thought YOUR club was exclusive? Before the night was over, the Mar-a-Lago member took a pic with (according to the poster) the guy who was carrying the nuclear football.

And, no – the agent’s name was NOT blacked out in Mr. DeAgazio’s post…