Tag: Donald Trump

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House Intelligence Committee Calls It Quits On Russian Interference Investigation

Donald Trump

The New York Times is reporting the Republican-controlled House Intelligence Committee has decided to end it’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election after concluding that Russia did meddle but did not favor Donald Trump.

According to the Republican committee chairman, there was no evidence found of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian actors.

Even as the special counsel expands his inquiry and pursues criminal charges against at least four Trump associates, House Intelligence Committee Republicans said Monday they have found no evidence of collusion between Donald J. Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia to sway the 2016 election.

Representative K. Michael Conaway of Texas, who is leading the investigation, said committee Republicans agreed with the conclusions of American intelligence agencies that Russia had interfered with the election, but they broke with the agencies on one crucial point: that the Russians had favored Mr. Trump’s candidacy.

“The bottom line: The Russians did commit active measures against our election in ’16, and we think they will do that in the future,” Mr. Conaway said. But, he added, “We disagree with the narrative that they were trying to help Trump.”

Democrats on the committee say there are still witnesses to be called and evidence requested that hasn’t been delivered to the committee.

There are reports that the ranking Democrat on the committee, Rep. Adam Schiff, was not informed of the decision to end the investigation before Conway announced his decision to the press.

Expect the Democrats to issue their own report on the committee’s findings.

Even though the House committee calls their investigation to conclude, the Senate Intelligence Committee will continue their investigation in addition to the special counsel.

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Report: Trump Privately Trashed GOP Candidate Rick Saccone As “Weak”

Donald Trump with Rick Saccone

Folks noticed that during Donald Trump’s 75 minute campaign-mode speech last night in Pennsylvania Trump barely mentioned the actual candidate running for office, Republican Rick Saccone.

It turns out Trump doesn’t think much of Saccone and considers him a weak candidate.

From Jonathan Swan at Axios:

There’s a reason Trump said hardly anything about Republican candidate Rick Saccone during a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday night that was supposed to promote his candidacy. The reason: Trump thinks Saccone is a terrible, “weak” candidate, according to four sources who’ve spoken to the president about him.

Trump held that opinion of Saccone before leaving for the rally, and I’ve not been able to establish whether his time on the ground with the candidate changed his mind.

Trump isn’t the only top Republican who’s found Saccone underwhelming. The widely-held view from Republican officials:

• Democrat Conor Lamb is a far superior candidate to Saccone and running a far better campaign. Lamb is running effectively as Republican Lite. He’s pro-gun and says he personally opposes to abortion (though he supports abortion rights).

• The thing that most irks senior Republicans involved in the race: Saccone has been a lousy fundraiser. Lamb has outraised Saccone by a staggering margin — nearly 500 percent.

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#FakeNews: Trump Claims Rasmussen Poll Approval Is “Around 50%”

(click image to enlarge)

Donald Trump took to Twitter (where else?) to lie that news outlets aren’t touting his “around 50% approval rating” from pollsters like Rasmussen.

Ah ha! Fake News!

In truth, the latest Rasmussen daily tracking poll shows Trump at 44% approval.

Real Clear Politics averages his approval at 41%. See graphic above.

These are all facts anyone can look up. Which, from the looks of Twitter, is what everyone did:

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Trump Rants At Reports He’s Hiring Clinton Impeachment Lawyer

Donald Trump

For all his bravado of “no collusion” and pretending Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election will end “soon,” Donald Trump is looking to hire the lawyer who handled Bill Clinton’s impeachment proceedings.

Trump can’t be feeling all THAT confident.

From The New York Times:

The lawyer, Emmet T. Flood, met with Mr. Trump in the Oval Office this past week to discuss the possibility, according to the people. No final decision has been made, according to two of the people.

Should Mr. Flood come on board, the two people said, his main duties would be a day-to-day role helping the president navigate his dealings with the Justice Department.

Two people close to the president said that the overture to Mr. Flood did not indicate any new concerns about the inquiry. Still, it appears, at the least, to be an acknowledgment that the investigation is unlikely to end anytime soon.

Mr. Flood would not replace Ty Cobb, the White House lawyer who since the summer has taken the lead role in dealing with the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III. But Mr. Cobb has told friends for weeks that he views his position as temporary and does not expect to remain in the job for much longer.

And, of course, here comes the predictable Twitter rant from the Trumpster:

Now, the candidate Trump backed in the Alabama Senate race lost. A Republican LOST in Alabama. He doesn’t count a Senate race as part of “Congress?”

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Trump Lawyer Used Trump Organization Email Account To Pay Stormy Daniels

Michael Cohen

NBC News is reporting Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, used his Trump Organization email account to arrange payment of $130,000 to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Now – why would he use his TrumpOrg.com account if the payment to Daniels had nothing to do with Trump?

The lawyer, Michael Cohen, also regularly used the same email account during 2016 negotiations with the actress — whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford — before she signed a nondisclosure agreement, a source familiar with the discussions told NBC News.

And Clifford’s attorney at the time addressed correspondence to Cohen in his capacity at the Trump Organization and as “Special Counsel to Donald J. Trump,” the source said.

Cohen has tried to put distance between the president and the payout, which has been the subject of campaign finance complaints.

In a statement last month, Cohen said he used his “personal funds to facilitate a payment” to Clifford, who says she had an intimate relationship with Trump a decade ago.

“Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly,” Cohen said in that statement.

But an email uncovered in the last 24 hours and provided to NBC News by Clifford’s current attorney, Michael Avenatti, shows First Republic Bank and Cohen communicated about the money using his Trump company email address, not his personal gmail account.

“I think this document seriously calls into question the prior representation of Mr. Cohen and the White House relating to the source of the monies paid to Ms. Clifford in an effort to silence her,” said Avenatti, who is representing Clifford in a lawsuit against Trump.

You can see the email here.

Daniels’ lawyer says the email suggests the money for Daniels came from a Trump account since Cohen used his TrumpOrg email account to facilitate the transfer.

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Donald Trump Accepts North Korea’s Invitation To Discuss Denuclearization

Breaking news: In a stunning announcement, South Korea’s national security adviser just announced that President Trump has accepted Kim Jung Un’s invitation to meet by May and discuss denuclearization.

Back in October of 2017, Trump tweeted he thought negotiating with North Korea was a waste of time:

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NYT: Trump Has Asked Russian Probe Witnesses What Was Discussed With Special Counsel Investigators


 The New York Times is reporting that Donald Trump has spoken to witnesses who have been questioned by Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators.

In one episode, the president told an aide that the White House counsel, Donald F. McGahn II, should issue a statement denying a New York Times article in January. The article said Mr. McGahn told investigators that the president once asked him to fire the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III. Mr. McGahn never released a statement and later had to remind the president that he had indeed asked Mr. McGahn to see that Mr. Mueller was dismissed, the people said.

In the other episode, Mr. Trump asked his former chief of staff, Reince Priebus, how his interview had gone with the special counsel’s investigators and whether they had been “nice,” according to two people familiar with the discussion.

The episodes demonstrate that even as the special counsel investigation appears to be intensifying, the president has ignored his lawyers’ advice to avoid doing anything publicly or privately that could create the appearance of interfering with it.

Legal experts said Mr. Trump’s contact with the men most likely did not rise to the level of witnesses tampering. But witnesses and lawyers who learned about the conversations viewed them as potentially a problem and shared them with Mr. Mueller.

When you’re being investigated and it’s revealed you’re asking what was discussed in testimony, it can appear that folks are trying to “get their stories straight.”

Geez, you’d think by now he’d know how to be a better criminal…

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President With Lowest Approval Ratings In History Mocks Oscars Low TV Ratings

Donald Trump

And who says irony is dead?

Donald Trump, the president with the lowest approval ratings in history, took a swipe at Hollywood by pointing out the Academy Awards’ low TV ratings with a tweet that read, “Lowest rated Oscars in HISTORY. Problem is, we don’t have Stars anymore – except your President.”

The Trumpster added a quick “just kidding, of course,” but I’m not so sure he was kidding…

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SNL’s Trump On Hope Hicks’ Departure: “I Hate Seeing Her Go, But I Love Watching Her Walk Away”

After weeks of hiatus, Alec Baldwin’s “Donald Trump” handled SNL’s cold open last night like a boss by convening a bipartisan meeting on gun control which included Beck Bennett’s “Mike Pence” and Cecily Strong’s “Dianne Feinstein.”

But the segment was non-stop Baldwin as he skewered the current commander in chief.

Baldwin’s “Trump” began by addressing gun control: “It’s clear something has to change. We have to take a hard look at mental health, which I have so much of. I have one of the healthiest mental. My mentals are so high, but we have to respect the law. Believe me, no one love the Second Amendment and due process more than me, but maybe we just take everyone’s guns.”

On the announced departure of close adviser Hope Hicks: “She’s like a daughter to me. So smart, so hot. You know, I hate seeing her go but I love watching her walk away. Boom bada boom…”

On Trump’s unique governing style: “I said I was going to run this country like a business. That business is a Waffle House at 2AM. Crazies everywhere, staff walking out in the middle of their shift, managers taking money out of the cash register to pay off the Russian mob.”

And to wrap things up, Kate McKinnon’s Jeff Sessions stands up on his own “hind legs” to let the Trumpster know he’s not going anywhere: “I’m like skunk stink on a bird dog. I linger.”

Strong material. Watch below.

Baldwin was perhaps keeping a promise he made this week as he traded barbs with Trump via Twitter.

Although Trump attacked Baldwin and his “dying mediocre career,” it was Baldwin who delivered the coup de grâce: “Agony though it may be, I’d like to hang in there for the impeachment hearings, the resignation speech, the farewell helicopter ride to Mara-A-Lago. You know. The Good Stuff. That we’ve all been waiting for.”