Tag: Donald Trump

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Senate Set To Pass Resolution Limiting Trump’s War Powers

Donald Trump

Politico is reporting the U.S. Senate appears ready to approve a bipartisan resolution that would “limit President Donald Trump’s authority to launch military operations against Iran weeks after the U.S. killed a top Iranian general.”

The War Powers resolution, introduced by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), came to the floor Wednesday with a final expected vote Thursday.

While the measure is not likely to garner enough support to overturn a likely Trump veto, its expected passage in the Senate nevertheless illustrates a rare congressional effort to rein in the president’s executive authority.

In addition to all 47 Democrats, the measure so far has support from Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Todd Young of Indiana, Mike Lee of Utah, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Jerry Moran of Kansas.

The Democratic senators running for president are expected to be in Washington for the vote on Thursday, ensuring that the 51-vote threshold for the War Powers resolution will be met.

Predictably, the Donald is not happy.

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Following Trump Meltdown DOJ Will Reduce Roger Stone Prison Sentence Recommendation

Roger Stone (screen capture)
A senior Justice Department official tells the Washington Post the DOJ now plans to reduce its sentencing recommendation for Roger Stone, who was convicted in November of obstructing Congress and witness tampering in the Robert Mueller investigation. The announcement comes after Donald Trump ranted on Twitter about the requested seven-to-nine year recommendation.

In a stunning rebuke of career prosecutors that will surely raise questions about political interference in the case, a senior Justice Department official said the department “was shocked to see the sentencing recommendation in the Roger Stone case last night.”

“That recommendation is not what had been briefed to the department,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive case. “The department finds the recommendation extreme and excessive and disproportionate to Stone’s offenses. The department will clarify its position later today.”

The statement came hours after Trump tweeted about the sentence prosecutors recommended, saying: “This is a horrible and very unfair situation. The real crimes were on the other side, as nothing happens to them. Cannot allow this miscarriage of justice!” The senior Justice Department official, though, said the decision to revise prosecutors’ recommendation came before Trump’s tweet.

Let’s face it, folks. Trump is going to pardon Stone AND Michael Flynn. No matter what, no matter what prison sentence they get, he will pardon them. Mark my words.

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South Carolina Republicans Plan To Boost Bernie To Help Trump

First, Trump supporters called the Iowa caucus hotlines to jam up reporting the results – and now this. From the New York Post:

Republicans in South Carolina have hatched a plan to encourage GOP voters to support Sen. Bernie Sanders in the state’s upcoming Democratic primary, arguing that he poses the weakest threat to President Trump in the general election.

That plan has two goals: Boost the candidate the party believes will have the hardest time winning the state in November against Trump, and pressure Democrats to support their effort to have closed state primaries in the future.

South Carolina has open primaries, which means voters can participate in any primary without being required to register with a specific party.

   

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News Round-Up: February 7, 2020

Anthony Varrechia (via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Like a LOT of folks, I find designer Anthony Varrecchia (above) to be sooo sexy. I’ve been meaning to point out, by the way, that I try to feature a wide range of InstaHunks – younger, older, muscular, beefy, bear-y, all races…Someone made a remark to me a few months ago on my ‘lack of diversity’ in the choices of eye-candy and I was like…whaaaat? • NY Times: Just hours after Donald Trump had Lt. Colonel Alex Vindman escorted from the White House, Trump has fired Gordon D. Sondland, the ambassador to the European Union. Both testified in the House impeachment inquiry into Trump’s alleged quid pro quo with Ukraine. • New Hampshire: Two new polls show Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg leading the pack in the upcoming New Hampshire primary. A new NBC News/Marist poll finds Sanders gets support from 25 percent of likely Democratic primary voters in the Granite State, while Buttigieg gets support from 21 percent. The Boston Globe/Suffolk University poll puts the two even closer with Sanders at 24 percent and Buttigieg at 23 percent. • Courthouse News: At a record 20.4 million voters, California officials announced Thursday over 80% of the state’s eligible voters are registered to vote in next month’s Super Tuesday primary – the highest rate for a presidential primary since 1952. California Secretary of State Alex Padilla says there are currently over 3 million more registered voters compared to a similar point in the 2016 presidential election. • Washington Post: Just days after the earth saw its warmest January on record, Antarctica has broken its warmest temperature ever recorded. A reading of 65 degrees was taken at Esperanza Base along Antarctica’s Trinity Peninsula on Thursday, making it the ordinarily frigid continent’s highest measured temperature in history. • ABC News: In a rare dissent within party ranks, Republican Gov. Phil Scott of Vermont said during a news conference that he believes Donald Trump abused his power and shouldn’t be in office. He added the U.S. Senate should have been allowed to hear more from witnesses who could have provided evidence about the charges against Trump. • KIT212: Kenneth rounds up the what’s what in local gay rags across the country, like Ben McLaughlin and Lee Gonzalez on the cover of Chicago’s GRAB Magazine.

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Impeachment Witness Lt. Colonel Vindman Escorted From White House

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman

NBC News is reporting Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the top Ukraine expert on the National Security Council who testified during the House impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump, was escorted from the White House Friday afternoon.

“LTC Vindman was asked to leave for telling the truth,” his attorney David Pressman said in a statement. “The truth has cost LTC Alexander Vindman his job, his career, and his privacy.”

Pressman added that, “the most powerful man in the world – buoyed by the silent, the pliable, and the complicit” had “decided to exact revenge” on Vindman.

Vindman had, as part of his duties, listened in on the July 25 call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskiy, which was at the heart of the impeachment inquiry.

The Washington Post first reported on efforts by the White House to push out Vindman, citing two people familiar with the move, as part of a broader targeting by Trump of perceived enemies in the wake of his acquittal in the Senate after a two-week trial. The Post reported that Vindman would be reassigned to a job at the Defense Department.

Other than to embarrass him, there was no reason to “escort” a decorated Army officer honored with a Purple Heart medal after being injured in Iraq in 2004. In his opening statement during his appearance before Congress, Vindman included an emotional message to his father. “You made the right decision 40 years ago to leave the Soviet Union and come here to the United States of America in search of a better life for our family,” said Vindman. “Do not worry, I will be fine for telling the truth.”

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Trump Attacks Political Foes At National Prayer Breakfast

Donald Trump used this morning’s bipartisan National Prayer Breakfast to attack “dishonest and corrupt” individuals who opposed him in his impeachment trial singling out Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) who voted against Trump, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. NBC News reports:

Entering the stage, Trump lifted up a copies of USA Today and The Washington Post with headlines reading “ACQUITTED” and “Trump Acquitted” splashed across the front pages, displaying them to the crowd.

“I don’t like people who use their faith as justification for doing what they know is wrong. Nor do I like people who say, ‘I pray for you,’ when they know that that’s not so. So many people have been hurt and we can’t let that go on. And I’ll be discussing that a little bit later at the White House.”

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Senate Votes To Acquit Donald Trump, Romney Only GOP Guilty Vote

The U.S. Senate voted to acquit Donald Trump today on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) was the only Republican to cross party lines and vote to remove Trump from office. Two notable red-state Democratic Senators – Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona cast ‘guilty’ votes. This becomes the first bipartisan vote to remove a sitting president via impeachment. From the New York Times:

The tally for conviction fell far below the 67-vote threshold necessary for removal and neither article of impeachment garnered even a simple majority.

The first article, abuse of power, was rejected 48 to 52, and the second, obstruction of Congress, was defeated 47 to 53. Senator Mitt Romney, Republican of Utah, was the only member to break with his party, voting to remove Mr. Trump from office.

The votes, ending the third presidential impeachment trial in American history, were a resounding victory for Mr. Trump after five months of blaring scandal over Ukraine that embroiled Washington and threatened his presidency. But both sides agreed that the final judgment on Mr. Trump will be rendered by voters when they cast ballots in just nine months.

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Bloomberg Trolls Trump: “Two Billionaires? Who’s The Second One?”

Talk about next-level trolling. During an interview with CBS News, Mike Bloomberg was asked about his feud with Donald Trump, and whether people want to see two billionaires fighting on Twitter. Bloomberg: “Two billionaires? Who’s the second one?” Bloomberg is a self-made billionaire worth an estimated $56 billion. Trump claims he’s a billionaire, but no one has ever seen any proof of that as he is the first president in over 40 years to refuse to release his tax returns.

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Bloomberg Would Repeal Tax Cuts For Wealthy

L-R Mike Bloomberg, Donald Trump
From the New York Times:

Former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York unveiled a plan on Saturday that would raise an estimated $5 trillion in new tax revenue from high earners and corporations, a proposal that would almost certainly raise his personal tax bill but is less aggressive than those from his most liberal rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination. The proposal includes a repeal of President Trump’s 2017 tax cuts for high earners, along with a new 5 percent “surcharge” on incomes above $5 million per year. It would raise capital gains taxes for Americans earning more than $1 million a year and maintain a limit on federal deductions of state and local tax payments set under the 2017 law, which some Democrats have pushed to eliminate.