Tag: Donald Trump

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Manafort Plea Deal Single-Handedly Pays For Special Counsel Investigation

Manafort will forfeit many of his assets as part of the deal, including money in several bank accounts, an apartment in Trump Tower, and one in downtown Manhattan; worth about $46 million, these assets single-handedly cover the cost of the Mueller investigation.
Donald Trump

For over a year, Donald Trump has ranted that the investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller is a “witch hunt” and an expensive waste of taxpayer money.

Actually, that “witch hunt” has now seen FIVE Trump associates plead guilty to felony charges.

A lot of witches out there, huh?

This week, former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort joined that elite group of Trumpers who have copped to felony charges.

The previous four are: Michael D. Cohen, the president’s longtime personal lawyer; Michael T. Flynn, the former national security adviser; Rick Gates, the former deputy campaign chairman; and George Papadopoulos, a former campaign adviser.

And about that “waste of money” charge?

Check this from NY Magazine – a little nugget that was slightly overlooked by many in the heat of the news of Paul Manafort’s plea deal this week.

Manafort will forfeit many of his assets as part of the deal, including money in several bank accounts, an apartment in Trump Tower, and one in downtown Manhattan; worth about $46 million, these assets single-handedly cover the cost of the Mueller investigation.

Keep in mind, at last count, Trump’s excessive golf habit has cost the American taxpayers $77 million in less than two years.

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Trump Campaign Chair Paul Manafort To Plead Guilty To Reduced Charges

Donald Trump's former campaign chair, Paul Manafort, will plead guilty to reduced charges today in an effort to avoid a second high-profile, costly trial.
Former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort

UPDATE – Looks like I spoke too soon.

Talking Points Memo reports that the plea deal between Manafort and Special Counsel Robert Mueller includes an agreement to cooperate with the ongoing investigation.

That will not sit well with the Trumpster.

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Donald Trump’s former campaign chair, Paul Manafort, will plead guilty to reduced charges today in an effort to avoid a second high-profile, costly trial.

According to reports, he will cop to one count of conspiracy against the U.S. and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice.

This would make Manafort the fifth Trump campaign team member to plead guilty to criminal charges.

The charges stem from his work as a political consultant in Ukraine.

From The New York Times:

In documents filed with the United States District Court in Washington, prosecutors from Mr. Mueller’s office charged Mr. Manafort with one count of conspiracy and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice. The prosecutors dropped five other charges encompassing money laundering and violations of a lobbying disclosure law.

So far, four former Trump aides have pleaded guilty to charges related to the special counsel investigation: Michael D. Cohen, the president’s longtime personal lawyer; Michael T. Flynn, the former national security adviser; Rick Gates, the former deputy campaign chairman; and George Papadopoulos, a former campaign adviser.

Mr. Manafort, who has repeatedly insisted that he would not cooperate with the special counsel, has been reassessing his legal risks after last month’s trial. He was found guilty in that case of eight counts of tax fraud, bank fraud and failure to report a foreign bank account, crimes that legal experts predicted were likely to result in a prison term of six to 12 years.

The Times goes on to say the agreement will include government seizure of four of Manafort’s homes as well as the funds in several bank accounts.

A document filed by federal prosecutors indicates Manafort will admit to funneling millions of dollars in payments into offshore accounts to conceal his income from the Internal Revenue Service which resulted in “cheating the United States out of over $15 million in taxes.”

There have been no reports that Manafort plans to cooperate with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing-investigation.

I maintain that Manafort is “keeping his nose clean” in regard to his relationship with Donald Trump with the expectation that the president will step in and pardon Manafort.

Mark my words.

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Trump’s Approval Numbers Drop Again

(click image to enlarge)

According to Gallup’s Daily Tracking poll, Donald Trump’s approval number are dropping again.

The latest results of Gallup’s data shows his approval rating has dropped to 40% while his unfavorable number has climbed up to 54%.

The latest data from Morning Consult is a bit more upbeat for Trump but not by much.

Based on 130,486 interviews of registered voters across each state and Washington, D.C., from August 1, 2018, to August 31, 2018, Trump’s national approval rating drops slightly in August.

President Trump’s net approval rating was 11 points underwater in August, with 42% approval and 53% disapproval. Trump’s approval has dropped 3 percentage points since July.

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Trump: Death Toll From Hurricane Maria In Puerto Rico Made Up By Dems

Donald Trump took to Twitter this morning to declare the death toll in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria - officially reported at 2.975 according to a study done by George Washington University - is a manufactured nothing-burger in an attempt to make him look "as bad as possible."
Donald Trump

Donald Trump took to Twitter this morning to declare the death toll in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria – officially reported at 2,975 according to an independent study done by George Washington University – is a manufactured nothing-burger in an attempt to make him look “as bad as possible.”

Like the Trumpster really needs help in that department?

You’ll recall during an open meeting/press event in Puerto Rico, when Trump finally went down to the American territory, he claimed the destruction in Puerto Rico was not that bad compared to Hurricane Katrina.

Via Vox:

“If you look at the — every death is a horror, but if you look at a real catastrophe like Katrina and you look at the tremendous hundreds and hundreds of people that died and what happened here with a storm that was just totally overbearing. No one has ever seen anything like that. What is your death count?” he said.

“Sixteen,” responded Gov. Ricardo Rosselló.

“Sixteen certified,” Trump said, and then told the leaders assembled that they should all be “very proud.”

Earlier this week, Trump called his administration’s response to the devastation in Puerto Rico “an incredible unsung success.”

Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz responded to Trump’s boasts:

New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman told her Twitter followers that, yes, Trump believes the Dems really made up the death toll figures:

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Trump Begins 9/11 Anniversary Not With Inspiration But Russian Probe Twitter Rant

Donald Trump

As the world observes the 17th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks on the United States, Donald Trump began the day not with uplifting prose for the nation he’s charged with leading, but by tweeting out yet another rant about the ongoing investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller into Russian interference in our 2016 election.

“We have found nothing to show collusion between President Trump & Russia, absolutely zero, but every day we get more documentation showing collusion between the FBI & DOJ, the Hillary campaign, foreign spies & Russians, incredible,” wrote the Trumpster.

Hours later, the current occupant of the White House tweeted this inspiring missive:

According to reports, Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will attend a memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where United flight 93 went down after passengers stood up to the terrorists.

Vice President Mike Pence attended a ceremony with Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Paul Selva at the Pentagon where another plane crashed and killed 184 in the deadly attack.

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Donald Trump Retweets His Followers Praising Him

Donald Trump spent some of his 'executive time' this morning retweeting praise from his followers.

Donald Trump spent some of his ‘executive time’ this morning retweeting praise from his followers.

One tweet he especially liked used a photo of the Trumpster wrapped in a flag proclaiming, “Thank God for Trump!”

He also took a swipe at the NFL as some players over the opening weekend of the new season took a knee during the playing of the national anthem.

Trump tweeted that viewership is down 13%, but he wasn’t quite accurate.

From Philly.com:

CBS had its best opening NFL single-header rating in three years, drawing an average overnight household rating of 10.6 on its slate of five regional single-header games. That’s up 23 percent compared to CBS’ slate of games in Week 1 last year.

FOX averaged an 8.9 overnight rating on its 1 p.m. regional games, up six percent compared to last year. In its 4 p.m. national window, which featured the Carolina Panthers defeating the Dallas Cowboys, Fox garnered a 15.7 overnight rating, up slightly from last year.

In fact, Panthers-Cowboys drew the second-highest overnight Week 1 ratings in that national window since 2014, and it’s the seventh-highest number since 2004, according to Sports Media Watch.

What Trump failed to include is that most other programming, including scripted television shows, have seen drops in their viewership as streaming services like Hulu and Netflix continue to garner more and more customers.

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UPDATE: Meet ‘Plaid Shirt Guy’ From Trump Rally

Update – CNN’s Don Lemon chats with ‘plaid shirt guy’ whose name is Tyler Linfesty, a Billings West High School senior.

Watch his informative interview with Lemon below.

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With all the hyperbolic statements Donald Trump made last night at a rally in Billings, Montana, one attendee was unable to suppress his expressions.

Take a look at green plaid shirt guy – hysterical.

Eventually, someone noticed and decided the guy was not ‘Trumpian’ enough to sit behind the Trumpster.

But this has to be my favorite moment of the rally. Check out green plaid shirt guy wondering “Have you?” when the president says he’s picked up “a lot” of support.

Last thing I have to point out: with all of Trump’s ‘respect for the American flag’ talk, take a look at how this one female support ‘respects’ the flag – by wiping her nose with it.

I’ll take a knee any day.

Oh! Oh – one more. Trump trying and failing twice to pronounce the word “anonymous” is pretty funny.

Green plaid shirt guy steals Trump’s thunder (click to enlarge pic)
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Anonymous Op-Ed In NY Times: “I Am Part Of The Resistance Inside The Trump Administration”

The New York Times has published an astonishing anonymous op-ed from someone who purports to be a senior official in the Trump White House. The Times says it knows the identity of the author, and is publishing the piece due to its "important perspective."
Donald Trump

Umm, wow.

The New York Times has published an astonishing anonymous op-ed from someone who purports to be a senior official in the Trump White House.

The Times says it knows the identity of the author, and is publishing the piece due to its “important perspective.”

Here’s how the essay begins:

President Trump is facing a test to his presidency unlike any faced by a modern American leader.

It’s not just that the special counsel looms large. Or that the country is bitterly divided over Mr. Trump’s leadership. Or even that his party might well lose the House to an opposition hellbent on his downfall.

The dilemma — which he does not fully grasp — is that many of the senior officials in his own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.

I would know. I am one of them.

The author goes on to say he and his allies are not the ‘resistance’ of the left but are putting country first while Donald Trump continues to act “in a manner that is detrimental to the health of our republic.”

The goal of the insiders (who the author refers to as not the “deep state” but the “steady state”) is to thwart “Mr. Trump’s more misguided impulses until he is out of office.”

Continuing, the author refers to Trump’s leadership style as “impetuous, adversarial, petty and ineffective.”

And then there’s this bombshell:

Given the instability many witnessed, there were early whispers within the cabinet of invoking the 25th Amendment, which would start a complex process for removing the president. But no one wanted to precipitate a constitutional crisis. So we will do what we can to steer the administration in the right direction until — one way or another — it’s over.

You really must read the full essay here.

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New Book “FEAR” Chronicles Backstage Drama In The Trump White House

Donald Trump

Lots of news today about veteran journalist Bob Woodward’s forthcoming book, Fear, which Woodward says is based on hundreds of hours of interviews with current and past White House staffers.

In one passage, Woodward says Gary Cohn, Trump’s former top-economic adviser, was very unhappy about Trump’s “both sides to blame” comment regarding a neo-nazi rally in Charlottesville.

And Trump allegedly felt calling out the neo-nazis was “the biggest fucking mistake” he’d ever made.

Via The Washington Post:

Gary Cohn came to regard the president as “a professional liar” and threatened to resign in August 2017 over Trump’s handling of a deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville. Cohn, who is Jewish, was especially shaken when one of his daughters found a swastika on her college dorm room.

Trump was sharply criticized for initially saying that “both sides” were to blame. At the urging of advisers, he then condemned white supremacists and neo-Nazis, but almost immediately told aides, “That was the biggest fucking mistake I’ve made” and the “worst speech I’ve ever given,” according to Woodward’s account.

In another anecdote, according to Woodward, Trump’s advisers all had different nicknames for the president.

Via CNN:

Chief of staff John Kelly describes Trump as an “idiot” and “unhinged,” Woodward reports. Defense Secretary James Mattis describes Trump as having the understanding of “a fifth or sixth grader.” And Trump’s former personal lawyer John Dowd describes the President as “a fucking liar,” telling Trump he would end up in an “orange jump suit” if he testified to special counsel Robert Mueller.

“He’s an idiot. It’s pointless to try to convince him of anything. He’s gone off the rails. We’re in crazytown,” Kelly is quoted as saying at a staff meeting in his office. “I don’t even know why any of us are here. This is the worst job I’ve ever had.”

It looks to be a fascinating read. Check out a lengthy list of episodes chronicled in the book here.

The White House has predictably denied allegations in the book and called it a “pathetic attempt to smear people” close to the president.

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Trump Celebrates Labor Day By Trolling Labor Union Head

Donald Trump celebrated Labor Day by criticizing the head of America's largest labor union, Richard Trumka of the AFL-CIO.
Donald Trump

Donald Trump celebrated Labor Day by criticizing the head of America’s largest labor union, Richard Trumka of the AFL-CIO.

Trumka had dared to suggest that Canada needs to be a part of any North American trade deal.

A few hours earlier, Trump boasted about low unemployment numbers ( a trend established over 7 years of the Obama administration) and “big progress” being made on the U.S. economy.