The BBC is not the only organization saying that Trump's new rules for press conferences are garbage:
https://thehill.com/homenews/media/4176 ... ill-follow
NBC host Chuck Todd on Tuesday criticized the White House's new rules for reporters at presidential news conferences, calling them "absurd" and predicting that journalists won't follow them.
"These aren’t exactly pro first amendment rules. I assume there isn’t a single serious journalist in the WH press corps who would abide by these absurd 'rules.' Manners is one thing, but regulating follow ups is a form of censorship," he wrote in a tweet.
Not even a pretense of upholding decency from this administration.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... -statement
President Trump said Tuesday the U.S. would maintain a "steadfast" alliance with Saudi Arabia in a defiant statement that made it clear Trump does not want the killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi to disrupt the relationship between the two nations.
Trump refused to blame Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for Khashoggi's killing even though the CIA has reportedly concluded that the crown prince ordered his assassination. The CIA on Tuesday was expected to share its full report on the killing with Trump.
Edit:
https://globalnews.ca/news/4684494/dona ... khashoggi/
Amid anger at his lack of punishment towards Saudi Arabia over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, U.S. President Donald Trump has doubled down and thanked the country for a different issue. “Oil prices getting lower. Great! Like a big Tax Cut for America and the World. Enjoy! $54, was just $82. Thank you to Saudi Arabia, but let’s go lower!” Trump wrote.
Is this Trump's reward from the Saudis?
And more corruption:
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... mey-report
President Trump wanted to order the Department of Justice (DOJ) to prosecute his 2016 presidential opponent Hillary Clinton and former FBI Director James Comey, according to The New York Times. Trump this past spring reportedly told then-White House counsel Don McGahn of his desire to prosecute the pair, prompting McGahn to rebuff the president, saying he did not have the authority to do so. McGahn later told the president that he did have the authority, but warned that such a request would likely elicit accusations of abuses of power, the Times reported.
Edit:
https://thehill.com/homenews/media/4177 ... -now-based
Former federal prosector Gene Rossi said late Tuesday that there is enough evidence to draft two indictments against President Trump.
...“I could draft an indictment against the president of the United States on two counts. One would be his relationship with Michael Cohen on the election fraud,” Rossi said. “And number two, I could draft a scheme in an attempt to obstruct justice against the president right now."
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... fit-report
Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker received $1.2 million between 2014 and 2017 from a conservative nonprofit in which he was reported as the only employee, The Washington Post reported Tuesday, citing tax filings.
But the source of the funds that the nonprofit organization, Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), used to pay Whitaker remain unclear, the Post reported. ...the group is part of a a national group of nonprofits that work to spread conservative messages
....The foundation was created under a different name two years before Whitaker arrived in 2014, according to the Post. A spokesman for FACT declined to tell the Post where the foundation received the funds it used to pay Whitaker, saying in a statement it "is not required" to release donor information.
...At least some of the funds FACT received in 2014 reportedly came from DonorsTrust, a nonprofit organization that donors have used to anonymously give to conservative nonprofits, according to the Post, which cited tax filings.
I wonder if Trump is one of those donors.
And from The American Conservative:
https://www.theamericanconservative.com ... otherwise/
Matthew Whitaker is unfit to serve as acting U.S. attorney general. The Appointments Clause of Article II, section 2, clause 2 prohibits his appointment by President Donald Trump without Senate confirmation. Therefore, every action taken by Mr. Whitaker sits under a legal cloud, including domestic and foreign electronic surveillance warrants.
Mr. Whitaker’s appointment exemplifies life imitating art. Prior to his meteoric ascent to Acting Attorney General at age 49, Mr. Whitaker owned a daycare center, a concrete supply business, and a trailer manufacturer. He spearheaded an endeavor to build affordable housing in Des Moines with government subsidies. .. The infinitude of legal ignorance Mr. Whitaker brings to his position is disqualifying...
https://abovethelaw.com/2018/11/matthew ... -football/
Matthew Whitaker Applied To Be A Judge With A Ridiculous Collection Of Nonsense And Football
The Acting AG tried to get on the Iowa Supreme Court. He didn't make it and this application shows why.
The real story here though isn’t that a right-wing operative wanted to crash a gay-friendly state court, but that his application is so laughably bad. It’s just a complete mess. The good people over at American Bridge have uncovered Whitaker’s application to be considered for the Iowa Supreme Court and… wow. If you wondered why career DOJ personnel are so concerned about Whitaker wielding any significant measure of power in his new quasi-job, this application will set you straight.
Trump likes Whitaker's actions (and loyalty) so far:
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... ng-courage
President Trump is praising the man he appointed to serve as acting attorney general, privately telling associates that Matthew Whitaker has shown "courage" in the face of legal challenges posed by Democrats to his appointment, according to a report in Axios.
Not surprisingly, the courts have ruled that the Trump administration can't just ignore the asylum laws and declare them gone by executive order. So Trump's backers are claiming "liberal bias" because he doesn't get to act like a king. They really are a disturbing bunch.
https://thehill.com/homenews/the-memo/4 ... court-blow
...U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar pushed back in a ruling released Monday, noting that existing law stipulates that people can claim asylum from anywhere on U.S. soil. “Whatever the scope of the president’s authority, he may not rewrite the immigration laws to impose a condition that Congress has expressly forbidden,” said Tigar, who was appointed by former President Obama.
Immigration hawks took the verdict as a sign to double down in their support for Trump and his approach.
Meanwhile, the US president is attacking the court system again:
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... of-appeals
President Trump on Tuesday assailed the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, telling reporters that he intends to file a "major complaint" against the court in the wake of an order denying asylum to migrants who enter the U.S. illegally.
..."You go to the Ninth Circuit and it's a disgrace, and I'm going to put in a major complaint," Trump told reporters outside the White House when asked about the judge's asylum ruling. He did not elaborate on what specific action he might take.
The president railed against the Ninth Circuit for nearly two minutes, claiming that "everybody who wants to sue the United States" does so in the California-based court because "it means an automatic loss" for his administration.
Nielsen is also lying to Americans. Unless she's as stupid as Trump, she must know this isn't true:
https://thehill.com/regulation/national ... lum-rulingHomeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said Tuesday that the Trump administration intends to appeal a federal judge's ruling blocking the president's order that was aimed at preventing certain immigrants from claiming asylum.
..."We will follow all laws and judicial rulings, but we will also be appealing it as quickly as possible. I have no doubt we will be successful,"
What's scarier is that his appointees at the Dept of Justice, which knows better, are also supporting Trump in his executive order and not supporting the law. This is our Dept of Justice under Whitaker.
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-ba ... ylum-order
In a statement obtained by Reuters, the Trump administration called the ruling from Judge Jon Tigar "absurd" and added that the Trump administration would continue to crack down on what it calls "benefits" for "illegal aliens."
“We look forward to continuing to defend the Executive Branch’s legitimate and well-reasoned exercise of its authority to address the crisis at our southern border,” the Justice Department told Reuters. Civil rights groups including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) should not have the ability “to stop the entire federal government from acting so that illegal aliens can receive a government benefit to which they are not entitled," the DOJ added in its statement.
Edit:
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-ba ... bama-judge
Chief Justice John Roberts on Wednesday rebuked President Trump's criticism of a federal judge who ruled against his administration's asylum policy this week as "an Obama judge." Roberts said in a rare statement first reported by The Associated Press that the U.S. doesn't have "Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges.” “What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them,” Roberts said in the statement released by the Supreme Court's press office.
When was the last time you saw a Supreme Court Justice rebuke the president?
Apparently, we're paying for informants to spy on the caravans while they're in a sovereign foreign country. Not that DHS is apparently getting its money's worth.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... nt-caravan
The Trump administration has been paying undercover informants in the migrant caravan moving toward the U.S. border in an effort to gather intelligence, NBC News reported Tuesday, citing two Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials. DHS has also been monitoring text messages between members of the caravan ...
NBC News noted that DHS officials said Monday that their intelligence led them to believe that migrants were planning to rush the border at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, which is near San Diego. That prompted Customs and Border Control to close traffic lanes near that port of entry on Monday, but the influx of migrants never occurred.
Just how stupid do they think these migrants are? Yeah, let's rush the border and get ourselves arrested, that should really help with our asylum claims. Though I suppose most of this is just the Trump show.
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/4 ... eparations
The Trump administration has spent more than $80 million in the past year to house, care for and reunite thousands of migrant children separated from their parents at the southern border as a result of the “zero tolerance” policy. The figures were revealed in a report to Congress from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) last week and obtained by The Hill.
The numbers are expected to grow, as 140 children have yet to be reunited with their parents and remain in HHS custody. Among them are 117 children whose parents have already been deported. The parents of 30 of the children have been declared ineligible for reunification based on their criminal histories, HHS said.
Another Trump scandal. Even Fox is blowing the whistle on it:
https://thehill.com/homenews/media/4177 ... mail-after
Fox News contributor Marc Thiessen said Monday that it was “unforgivable” for the president's daughter and senior adviser, Ivanka Trump, to use a private email address to conduct government business after witnessing the 2016 campaign.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... ontroversy
President Trump on Tuesday dismissed as "fake news" reports that his daughter and senior adviser Ivanka Trump may have violated federal law by using a personal email account to conduct government business.
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-envir ... for-forest
The Trump administration is pointing to the deadly California wildfires to renew its call for Congress to boost the administration’s ability to remove more brush and trees from federal forests.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told reporters Tuesday that the fires, which have killed more than 80 people so far, should spur lawmakers to adopt more “active forest management” policies — a term that refers to increased logging, removing brush, conducting planned burns and other activities.
Anyone who's spent time in the forests and mountains of California knows they already do planned burns and remove brush as they're able and have funds. This is just a cover for the logging industry, which has Zinke et al in their pockets. Interesting, too, that Sonny Perdue is weighing in on this. What does this have to do with
his job and what does he know about forest management?
Trump's tentacles of loyalty really do reach deeply into all branches of the government now and he's consolidating his power through his political appointees.
And Trump's destructive effect extends to international efforts to improve health:
https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/ ... h-services
The Mexico City policy (global gag rule) prohibits foreign organizations that receive U.S. government funding for health services from engaging in abortion-related services or advocacy. ...Not only does Trump’s expansion of the global gag rule disrupt the work of reproductive health groups, it has also opened the door for an evangelical takeover of public health services worldwide.
One of the reasons the global gag rule is so destructive, is because it prohibits organizations from engaging in abortion-related services, referrals, or advocacy, even when using their own money — money not provided to them by the U.S. government.
Under previous Republican administrations, the rule was limited to funds specifically dedicated to family planning. Even then, it was a public health disaster. The policy failed to reduce rates of abortion globally and, in fact, led more unsafe abortions and higher rates of maternal mortality.
The Trump administration has expanded this old policy to apply to all $8.8 billion of U.S. global health funding. As a result, the impact it will have on health services and advocacy will be all the more widespread and devastating. For instance, the policy now also applies to all U.S. funding for HIV treatment and prevention — which accounts for nearly half of all HIV/AIDS funding globally...
It's probably worth mentioning that the foreign aid to fight diseases is not just altruistic; it benefits Americans. These days, an outbreak in another country can spread around the world very quickly in travelers.