Tag: Donald Trump

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Federal Judge Allows Emoluments Case Against Trump To Move Forward

Donald Trump’s legal woes just got that much more complex as a federal judge just ruled that lawsuits brought by attorneys general in both Maryland and District of Columbia alleging foreign gifts made to Trump can move forward.

However, the decision by Judge Peter Messitte of the US District Court of Maryland narrows the scope of the case to Trump Organization activities in Washington.

Other Trump properties like Mar-a-Lago will be out of bounds for this legal proceeding.

Maryland and DC filed the case saying that the Trump International Hotel holds a special advantage over nearby hotel and entertainment properties, and that the Trump hotel got special tax concessions.

In his ruling, the judge made note several times that foreign governments have shifted their business from hotels like the Ritz Carlton and the Four Seasons to the “President’s Hotel.”

Due to the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause, presidents are barred from illegal “gifts” from foreign countries.

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Trump Fires National Security Adviser McMaster, Brings In Ultra-Hawk John Bolton

Donald Trump

There is NO CHAOS at the White House! Got that?

But – that aside, we began the day with Donald Trump’s lead lawyer quitting his team for the special counsel’s investigation.

Then, the Trumpster’s first Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said goodbye to the state department.

Now, Trump has fired his national security adviser Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster and has announced ultra-hawk former U. N. Ambassador John Bolton.

From The New York Times:

Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, the battle-tested Army officer tapped as President Trump’s national security adviser last year to stabilize a turbulent foreign policy operation, will resign and be replaced by John R. Bolton, a hard-line former United States ambassador to the United Nations, White House officials said Thursday.

General McMaster will retire from the military, the officials said. He has been discussing his departure with President Trump for several weeks, they said, but decided to speed up his departure, in part because questions about his status were casting a shadow over his conversations with foreign officials.

The officials also said that Mr. Trump wanted to fill out his national security team before his meeting with North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un. He replaced Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson with the C.I.A. director, Mike Pompeo, last week.

Voters in 2016 that went for Trump voted for him, in part, because of Trump’s hard line opposition to the Iraq War. And now, he brings in the ultra-hawkish John Bolton who still thinks the Iraq War was a good idea.

This marks Trump’s 3rd national security adviser in only 14 months in office.

Btw – the stock market crashed 724 points over Trump’s proposed $60 billion in tariffs on Chinese imports.

But, there’s NO CHAOS in the White House. Got that?

Just some of the reactions from the Twitterverse:

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Trump’s Lead Lawyer For Special Counsel Inquiry Resigns

Donald Trump

John Dowd, the lead lawyer for Donald Trump’s team of attorneys regarding the special counsel investigation, has resigned after Trump continually ignored Dowd’s legal advice, according to The New York Times.

Mr. Dowd, who took over the president’s legal team last summer, had considered leaving several times in recent months and ultimately concluded that Mr. Trump was increasingly ignoring his advice, one of the people said.

Under Mr. Dowd’s leadership, Mr. Trump’s lawyers had advised him to cooperate with the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, who is investigating Russia’s election interference and possible ties to Trump associates as well as whether the president obstructed the inquiry.

The president has instead in recent days begun publicly assailing Mr. Mueller, a shift in tone that appears to be born of the president’s concern that the investigation is bearing down on him more directly. He has also privately insisted he should sit for an interview with the special counsel’s office, even though Mr. Dowd believed it was a bad idea.

Mr. Dowd’s departure marks the most prominent shake-up for the president’s legal team since he took over from the president’s longtime personal lawyer, Marc E. Kasowitz.

Less than two weeks ago Trump tweeted there would be no changes to his legal team:

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Trump: “Crazy Joe Biden” Would Go Down “Fast And Hard” If We Faced Off

Donald Trump (L) and Joe Biden (R)

Earlier this week, former Vice President Joe Biden told an audience that he might have “beat the hell out of” Donald Turmp if they were in high school regarding Trump’s lewd comments about women in the now-infamous “Access Hollywood” video.

“They asked me would I like to debate this gentleman, and I said no. I said, ‘If we were in high school, I’d take him behind the gym and beat the hell out of him,” Biden shared with the crowd at the University of Miami.

I’m guessing Trump ate his Wheaties (although that sounds awfully healthy for him) this morning, because he was feeling a rough and tough about Biden tweeting “Crazy Joe Biden” would actually “go down fast and hard” if they actually faced off.

Biden is rumored to be considering a White House run in 2020 which is probably what really set Trump off.

I won’t even get into the “less-than-presidential” thing with Trump.

But no one trolls Trump like former White House photographer Pete Souza:

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Trump Slaps At Critics For Congratulatory Call To Putin

Donald Trump was feeling a bit defensive this afternoon as he took to Twitter to slap at critics (and his own national security team one supposes) about his congratulatory call to Russian President Vladimir Putin on his “reelection.”

Reelection, oh my sides… LOL

Trump wrote, “I called President Putin of Russia to congratulate him on his election victory (in past, Obama called him also). The Fake News Media is crazed because they wanted me to excoriate him. They are wrong! Getting along with Russia (and others) is a good thing, not a bad thing. They can help solve problems with North Korea, Syria, Ukraine, ISIS, Iran and even the coming Arms Race. Bush tried to get along, but didn’t have the “smarts.” Obama and Clinton tried, but didn’t have the energy or chemistry (remember RESET). PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH!”

There’s no way Trump even knows what “excoriate” means…

The Twitterverse reacted:

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President Puppet Congratulates Russian President Putin After Being Warned Not To By National Security Team

Donald Trump

Even though his national security team told Donald Trump specifically not congratulate Russian President Vladimir Putin on his election “win,” in that it was neither a free nor fair election, Trump went ahead and did exactly that, according to The Washington Post.

Trump also ignored the direction to chastise the Russian president for the recent poisonings in the U.K., including one earlier this month of an ex-Russian spy with a nerve agent.

Although several world leaders including Prime Minister Theresa May condemned Putin for the near-deadly attack, Trump did not mention the topic.

Nor did he bring up Russia’s interference in the 2016 U.S. election or attacks on the U.S. power grid.

The president characterized his phone call with the Russian dictator as “very good call,” and added, “We’ll probably be meeting in the not-too-distant future.”

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Playboy Model Sues To Get Out Of “Catch And Kill” Deal Regarding Alleged Trump Affair

Karen McDougal (image via Instagram)

The New York Times is reporting a second woman, former Playboy model Karen McDougal, has filed a lawsuit to invalidate a non-disclosure agreement she signed regarding an alleged extramarital relationship with Donald Trump.

The model, Karen McDougal, is suing the company that owns The National Enquirer, American Media Inc., which paid her $150,000 and whose chief executive is a friend of President Trump’s. The other woman, the adult entertainment star Stephanie Clifford, better known as Stormy Daniels, was paid $130,000 to stay quiet by the president’s personal lawyer, Michael D. Cohen. She filed suit earlier this month.

Both women, who argue that their contracts are invalid, are trying to get around clauses requiring them to resolve disputes in secretive arbitration proceedings rather than in open court. Mr. Trump has denied the affairs.

Ms. Clifford and Ms. McDougal tell strikingly similar stories about their experiences with Mr. Trump, which included alleged trysts at the same Lake Tahoe golf tournament in 2006, dates at the same Beverly Hills hotel and promises of apartments as gifts. Their stories first surfaced in the The Wall Street Journal four days before the election, but got little traction in the swirl of news that followed Mr. Trump’s victory.

McDougal’s argument is she was initially told her deal with tabloid publisher A.M.I. would include being featured on the covers of publications like Star and OK! along with a regular monthly fitness column as well as several posts each month on Radar Online.

Very little of that actually materialized.

It turns out her agreement gave A.M.I. the “right” to publish those items, but was not an obligation to do so.

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Stormy Daniels Took A Lie-Detector Test Regarding Trump Affair And Passed

Stormy Daniels

According to the The Wall Street Journal (conservative newspaper, ahem…) porn star Stormy Daniels, who alleges she had a sexual relationship with Donald Trump just months after the birth of his son Barron, took a polygraph test about the affair and passed.

Reporter Jordi Lippe-McGraw said she interviewed Ms. Clifford and recorded her discussing alleged encounters with Mr. Trump, starting with dinner and sex at his hotel room after they met at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe in 2006, according to a transcript published by Bauer.

Lie-detector tests supported the accounts of Ms. Clifford according to reports reviewed by the Journal.

Examiner: Ronald D. Slay, Western Security Consultants, Las Vegas

PRE-TEST INTERVIEW: Ms. Clifford presented herself well in outward appearance of credibility. There were no observable indications of intent to deceive.

Question: Around July 2006, did you have vaginal intercourse with Donald Trump?
Answer: YES
Determination: Truthful

Question: Around July 2006, did you have unprotected sex with Donald Trump?
Answer: YES
Determination: Truthful

Question: Did Trump say you would get on “The Apprentice?”
Answer: YES
Determination: Inconclusive

CONCLUSION: In the opinion of this examiner Ms. Clifford is truthful about having unprotected vaginal intercourse with Donald Trump in July 2006.

In related news, Stormy Daniels’s lawyer said he hasn’t yet received any interview requests to appear on Fox News.

“I’ve been invited to give interviews to literally hundreds of media outlets around the world,” Michael Avenatti said during an interview on MSNBC.

“What is shocking to me is, I haven’t received a single request, not one, from Fox News,” he said.

Now, wouldn’t a major news outlet be interested in asking Daniels’ attorney questions?