Mayor Pete On Handling Trump: “It’s Almost Like ‘Crazy Uncle’ Management”

Sitting down with Robert Acosta for an hour-long chat for Washington Post Live, Democratic presidential candidate Mayor Pete Buttigieg says he would handle Donald Trump in a general election similar to the way you handle a ‘crazy uncle.’

Via Politico:

South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg on Thursday likened his approach to taking on President Donald Trump to dealing with a “crazy uncle.” “It’s almost like a sort of crazy uncle management,” he said. “Like, he’s there. You’re not going to disrespect his humanity. But he thinks what he thinks. There’s not much you can do about it.”

He later added that he has a “pretty dim view” of Trump’s decision to “use his privileged status to fake a disability in order to avoid serving in Vietnam.” The president was granted five draft deferments — four for college and one for bone spurs in his heel — and never served in the military.

“This is somebody who, I think it’s fairly obvious to most of us, took advantage of the fact that he was the child of a multimillionaire in order to pretend to be disabled so that somebody could go to war in his place,” Buttigieg said.

Mayor Pete was also asked if he thought Trump was racist, to which he replied, “I think so.”

“If you do racist things and say racist things, the question of whether that makes you a racist is almost academic,” Buttigieg said. “The problem with the president is that he does and says racist things and gives cover to other racists.”

Watch the discussion below.

Trump’s Golf Habit Has Now Cost US Taxpayers Over $102 Million

Donald Trump

We all remember Donald Trump’s campaign promise to never play golf if he were to be elected president.

Back in 2016, he repeatedly said he wouldn’t have time to play golf. In fact, he told voters he would probably never leave the White House because he’d be so busy working for the American people.

“I love golf, but if I were in the White House, I don’t think I’d ever see Turnberry again. I don’t think I’d ever see Doral again,” he told supporters at a rally in February 2016. “I don’t ever think I’d see anything. I just want to stay in the White House and work my ass off.”

And yet,… it didn’t really turn out that way.

Wednesday is the 853rd day of the Trump presidency, and the Donald has spent 174 of them at one of his own golf courses, according to Huffpost.

By Obama’s 853rd day in office, he had spent 70 days at a golf course. Huffpost reports of those golf days were at courses on military bases: Joint Base Andrews or Fort Belvoir, both in suburban Washington a short motorcade ride from the White House.

Huffpost crunched the numbers and the Donald’s golf habit has cost U.S. taxpayers over $102 million in extra travel and security expenses.

And next month, his hobby will pass a new milestone: a seven-figure presidential visit to another country so he can play at his own course.

U.S. taxpayers have spent $81 million for the president’s two dozen trips to Florida, according to a HuffPost analysis. They spent $17 million for his 15 trips to New Jersey, another $1 million so he could visit his resort in Los Angeles and at least $3 million for his two days in Scotland last summer ― $1.3 million of which went just for rental cars for the massive entourage that accompanies a president abroad.

While Trump criticized President Obama for playing golf during his administration, Trump’s time on the links is more than double Obama’s when compared to this point in each presidency.

According to Huffpost, that $102 million spent on Trump’s presidential golfing so far is:

• 255 times the annual presidential salary he volunteered not to take

• More than three times the cost of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation that Trump complains about

• Would fund six years of the Special Olympics program that Trump’s recently proposed budget had originally cut to save money

Second Judge Rebuffs Trump, Refuses To Block Congressional Subpoenas

Donald Trump received another setback in court today as a second federal judge has refused to block Congressional subpoenas for Trump's financial records.
Donald Trump

Donald Trump received another setback in court today as a second federal judge has refused to block Congressional subpoenas for Trump’s financial records.

From CNN:

A second federal judge has now rebuffed President Donald Trump’s sweeping attempt to block House lawmakers from accessing his financial records, handing him another defeat in a fight that has infuriated the President and opened deep rifts with Democrats.

Judge Edgardo Ramos in New York on Wednesday refused to block subpoenas from the House of Representatives for Trump’s financial records from Deutsche Bank and Capital One. It’s the second such ruling against the President in three days.

Earlier Wednesday, Trump lashed out at Democrats for what he claimed were attempts to harass and undermine his presidency, declaring during an irate appearance in the Rose Garden he could no longer work with them as they proceed in their investigations.

The White House has stonewalled Democratic oversight requests, has refused to comply with subpoenas issued for information and is blocking former officials from testifying.

In a statement to CNBC after the ruling, a Deutsche Bank spokesman said, “We remain committed to providing appropriate information to all authorized investigations and will abide by a court order regarding such investigations.”

This decision comes two days after a federal judge in Washington, D.C. ruled Trump’s accountants at the firm Mazars had to comply with a congressional subpoena for his financial records.

Trump has indicated he will appeal the Washington D.C. setback. For those who enjoy irony, it’s notable that the Chief Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is…Merrick Garland.

You’ll recall Garland was President Obama’s nominee for the Supreme Court, but was never granted a vote on his nomination. Senate Republicans kept the SCOTUS seat open for a year blocking Garland’s appointment.

Nancy Pelosi: ‘We Believe That The President Of The United States Is Engaged In A Coverup’

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: "We believe the President of the United States is engaged in a cover-up"
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Donald Trump keeps pressing to hide more documents and suppress more testimony; more Democrats are shifting towards impeachment mode; and now, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is starting to sound like her colleagues are moving her in that direction as well.

Following a meeting with House Democrats, Pelosi reporters that “no one is above the law,” and “we believe the President of the United States is engaged in a cover up.”

Pelosi was scheduled to meet with Trump and other lawmakers this morning regarding infrastructure legislation.

He wasn’t happy.

Mangling the English language once again, Trump sputtered, “Instead of walking in happily into a meeting, I walk in to look at at people that had just said I’m doing a cover-up. I don’t do coverups.”

Uh-huh. That’s why he’s telling his former lawyer, Don McGahn, to not testify before Congress. Because he’s totally-not covering anything up.

At the impromptu presser in the White House Rose Garden, Trump told reporters he told Democrats at the White House he couldn’t work with them while they were pursuing investigations into him and his administration.

Isn’t it his job to DO his job?

IRS Memo Draft Indicates Trump Tax Returns Have To Be Given To Congress

Donald Trump

While Treasury Secretary and Trump toadie, Steven Mnuchin, says he’s refusing to turn over Donald Trump’s tax returns because he wants to kiss Trump’s butt Congress doesn’t have a ‘legitimate reason’ for them, it turns out the IRS has already drafted a memo that finds the returns pretty much have to be given to Congress.

From The Washington Post:

A confidential Internal Revenue Service legal memo says tax returns must be given to Congress unless the president takes the rare step of asserting executive privilege, according to a copy of the memo obtained by The Washington Post.

The memo contradicts the Trump administration’s justification for denying lawmakers’ request for President Trump’s tax returns, exposing fissures in the executive branch. Trump has refused to turn over his tax returns but has not invoked executive privilege. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has instead denied the returns by arguing there is no legislative purpose for demanding them.

But, according to the IRS memo, which has not been previously reported, the disclosure of tax returns to the committee “is mandatory, requiring the Secretary to disclose returns, and return information, requested by the tax-writing Chairs.”

Even when it comes to ‘executive privilege,’ the Post points out that “is generally defined as the president’s ability to deny requests for information about internal administration talks and deliberations.”

Trump’s taxes prior to taking office would not fall under that definition.

Federal Judge Upholds Congressional Subpoena For Trump Financial Records

Donald Trump 

A federal judge ruled today that Congress has the right to subpoena Donald Trump’s financial records from accounting firm Mazars USA.

Via Politico:

U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta’s ruling delivers a striking blow to the president’s efforts to resist Democratic investigations, and is certain to give Democrats further legal basis to investigate Trump, his finances, and his presidential campaign.

In addition to upholding the House Oversight and Reform Committee’s subpoena to accounting firm Mazars USA for eight years of Trump’s financial records, Mehta took the extra step of denying the president’s request for a stay pending appeal.

Jay Sekulow, one of the president’s personal attorneys, said: “We will be filing a timely notice of appeal to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.”

Speaking with reporters at the White House on Monday, Trump called Mehta’s ruling “ridiculous” and “totally wrong.”

The subpoena is part of an investigation into whether Trump committed crimes related to his finances before becoming president.

The House Oversight Committee is looking to corroborate statements made by Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, regarding Trump artificially inflating and deflating the values of his assets to suit his personal financial benefit.

Trump Breaks With Base, Calls For Rape/Incest Exceptions To Abortion

In the aftermath of the passage of recent abortion bans in Missouri and Alabama, Donald Trump has uncharacteristically broken with his base calling for exceptions in cases of rape, incest and the health of the mother.
Donald Trump

Donald Trump has uncharacteristically broken with his base calling for exceptions in cases of rape, incest and the health of the mother.

Over the weekend, Trump tweeted, “As most people know, and for those who would like to know, I am strongly Pro-Life, with the three exceptions – Rape, Incest and protecting the Life of the mother – the same position taken by Ronald Reagan.”

He went on to trumpet his 105 conservative judges he’s appointed in his two years in office and called for sticking together warning that “all of our hard fought gains for Life can, and will, rapidly disappear.”

His comments follows Alabama’s recent passage of a near-total abortion ban, becoming the nation’s most restrictive law on the procedure. Unlike other states which restrict abortion, Alabama’s new law makes for no exception in cases involving rape or incest.

The Twitterverse also chimed in:

Today’s Trump Twitter Rant: Treasonous FBI & ‘Why Didn’t Anyone Warn Me About Michael Flynn?’

Wrapping up a busy week on Twitter, Donald Trump used his Friday morning rant to again pretend that the FBI "broke the law" by investigating possible collusion between his presidential campaign and Russian operatives.
Donald Trump

Wrapping up a busy week on Twitter, Donald Trump used his Friday morning rant to again pretend that the FBI “broke the law” by investigating possible collusion between his presidential campaign and Russian operatives.

Clearly watching Fox News, he quoted a Fox New poll (ha!): “New Fox Poll: 58% of people say that the FBI broke the law in investigating Donald J. Trump.”

And then, for good measure, tried to pretend that he was never warned about Michael Flynn.

From NBC News in May 2017:

Former President Obama warned President Donald Trump against hiring Mike Flynn as his national security adviser, three former Obama administration officials tell NBC News.

The warning, which has not been previously reported, came less than 48 hours after the November election when the two sat down for a 90-minute conversation in the Oval Office.

A senior Trump administration official acknowledged Monday that Obama raised the issue of Flynn, saying the former president made clear he was “not a fan of Michael Flynn.”

According to all three former officials, Obama warned Trump against hiring Flynn. The Obama administration fired Flynn in 2014 from his position as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, largely because of mismanagement and temperament issues.

Report: Brazilian Crooks Received $62 Million In Funds Earmarked For Struggling US Farmers

The New York Daily News is reporting the Trump administration has forked over more than $62 million — taxpayer cash that was supposed to be earmarked for struggling American farmers — to a massive meatpacking company owned by a couple of corrupt Brazilian brothers.

The Trump administration has forked over more than $62 million — taxpayer cash that was supposed to be earmarked for struggling American farmers — to a massive meatpacking company owned by a couple of corrupt Brazilian brothers.

The Department of Agriculture cut a contract in January to purchase $22.3 million worth of pork from plants operated by JBS USA, a Colorado-based subsidiary of Brazil’s JBS SA, which ranks as the largest meatpacker in the world.

The bailout raised eyebrows from industry insiders at the time, as it was sourced from a $12 billion program meant for American farmers harmed by President Trump’s escalating trade war with China and other countries.

But previously undisclosed purchase reports obtained by the Daily News this week reveal the administration has since issued at least two more bailouts to JBS, even as Trump’s own Justice Department began investigating the meatpacker, whose owners are Joesley and Wesley Batista — two wealthy brothers who have confessed to bribing hundreds of top officials in Brazil.

Both brothers have spent time in jail over the sweeping corruption scandal.