A Barrel Full of Rotten Apples

Is the basket completely filled with rotten apples ? Not enough rotten apples, to fill all positions ?

Some positions and agencies are left to wither and die.


Starved of funds, blocked from carrying out the purpose of their agencies. Employees blocked from completing their work.


Why would someone who loudly broadcasts his love of America, leave everything in America vulnerable to cyber attack ?


https://www.wired.com/story/iran-nuclear-deal-cyberattacks/



Bolton and Pompeo are so far away from the level of acceptable. Who is applauding their assent ?



However, the perception that Russian intrusion helps Republicans may go a long way toward explaining why Bolton and team are so ready to devalue defense against cyber attacks. While former members of the Obama administration have called the loss of a high level position dedicated to cyber security an open threat to the nation, Bolton and others at the Trump White House seem more than willing to accept that risk.


The current cybersecurity coordinator, Rob Joyce, is a rare commodity on the Trump team—a well-respected expert with years of experience in the field. But statements from Trump have continued to dismiss the idea of Russia involvement, no matter how many times the issue is raised by intelligence agencies or how dire the threat appeared. But Joyce is leaving, and no replacement has been named.

Expectation are that the functions of the position will, in the short term at least, devolve to Josh Steinman, a senior aide still in place from Michael Flynn’s stint as NSA. Steinman, despite lacking any expertise in the area, has been highly critical of Joyce and seems to be angling to not just capture his area, but critical of efforts to raise barriers against the actions that Russia took in 2016.


https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-p...r-cyberwar-he-prefers-we-stick-blowing-things

Kelly Sadler may have promised Meghan McCain that she would make a public apology to John McCain, and his family, but it does not mean she was not crossing her fingers, while looking at the Safe Exit door.

On Tuesday evening, deputy press secretary Raj Shah said in a statement: “Kelly Sadler is no longer employed within the Executive Office of the President.”


It seems this “internal dispute” was sparked by Sadler openly accusing her boss (Mercedes Schlapp) of leaking during a meeting with the president.

Trump had directly assured Sadler that she wouldn’t be fired.

Mercedes Schlapp had the Wife Card to play- her husband, Matt Schlapp is chairman of the American Conservative Union and CPAC. Matt Schlapp was the White House political director to former President George W. Bush. Who gets to stay within the circle of direct contact with Trump is practical strategy.

It is said that Washington DC is Hollywood for unattractive people. Kelly Saddler did her turn on the catwalk with her attack on John McCain, and delivered a message, nationwide.

Mercedes and Matt did their half arsed turn on the catwalk, by walking out of the White House Correspondents Dinner. They spoke their lines, even if their "dumb show/part in the Passion Play was unconvincing. They sent a message nationwide, and played their part in a Alice in Wonderland moment-

They fed nonsense into a serious matter, and muddied a moment of clarity. We are expected to go along with the script that Trump and company desire- get caught up in unwinding the tangle they created.

As with Hope, Kelly Sadler knew she would be safely out of the spotlight, when the the uproar died down. Everyone that has taken a shit-filled cream pie, as their duty to the Trump cult, is re-purposed with a new job, or allowed to go free and enjoy the pile of cash they "earned. Just follow the career trail of White House operatives. They have their parachutes on, when they jump into the shitstorm.

Mission Accomplished! Enter the Revolving Door.

Give the signal.

I really expected to see that have a ripple effect all the way down the table.

Justice Department filed a brief refusing to defend the Affordable Care Act

June 13, 2018


The crux of the Trump DOJ’s arguments in this matter is that various provisions of the Affordable Care that currently protect people with preexisting conditions must be repealed by a federal court.

When a court strikes down part of a federal law, it often asks whether other, constitutional provisions of the law must fall along with the unconstitutional provision — this inquiry is known as “severability.” Severability is a speculative inquiry. It asks which law Congress would have passed if Congress had known that it lacked the power to enact the one provision that was just struck down.

Texas plaintiffs and the Trump administration want courts to ignore Congress’ clear intent.

The Trump administration makes the slightly less audacious, but still quite ridiculous, claim that provisions requiring insurers to cover people with preexisting conditions must fall.

https://thinkprogress.org/trumps-ju...-even-gop-leaders-are-recoiling-144c157608b2/

The Trump DOJ’s baseless justification for refusing to defend the Affordable Care Act has no precedent

https://slate.com/news-and-politics...acare-decision-is-baseless-unprecedented.html

White House senior adviser, Stephen Miller thought separating migrant families would provoke Democrats and bolster Trump

June 16, 2018

How Trump Came to Enforce A Practice of Separating Migrant Families

This is Trump's directive.

Zero Humanity Policy 2018


George W. Bush had mercy.

Barack Obama had mercy.

Jeff Sessions's protégé, Stephen Miller advises no mercy.


https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/16/us/politics/family-separation-trump.html


June 18, 2018

The “zero-tolerance” policy, crafted by Miller, is meant to provoke; to send the administration’s opponents into a spiral of anger and outrage. By that measure, it has been a success.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics...-separation-policy-is-already-backfiring.html

The underlying argument here would be that Republicans wouldn't need to do this if Democrats helped them tighten up the border and that, if Democrats refuse to be coerced, Republicans aren't to blame for the inhumane policy.

gsgs comment- There is a huge difference between emergency measures for a massive influx of people to be processed and given legal papers, in a very short time-

and breaking the laws on the books in order to gather massive amounts of child hostages, and hold them under horrible and shameful conditions.

Manafort Trial goes forward. Mueller did not step beyond his boundaries.

June 26, 2018

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/26/...ge&action=click&module=Latest&pgtype=Homepage

Jeff Sessions makes a joke about breaking up families. People cheer.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-news-sessions-families-06272018-story.html

My white female peers have the numbers and power to change this crap.

Joe McCarthy persecuted innocent people.

Joe McCarthy was a liar.

Alger Hiss was framed.
We did not have the advanced
technology needed to clear his name.

Nixon was a stinky skunk.

Why did Eisenhower cave, and
give Nixon the Vice Presidency ?

1949
Nationalist China falls to Communists,
and Chaing Kai-shek flees to Taiwan.

Chaing Kai-shek's profile immortalized
on a Boston landmark's artwork

1954

Televised Army-McCarthy Hearings begin, many Americans mesmerized by the spectacle see McCarthy in action for the first time.


Those who covered McCarthy’s every move inevitably became his “co-conspirators,” as one of them, Murray Kempton, later said. “In the end, I did not feel any cleaner than he was … I pretended once again now and then that McCarthy was not a serious man; but I always knew that the devil in me and the larger devil in him were very consequential figures indeed.” It is a mistake journalists repeated in 2016.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/04/who-stopped-mccarthy/517782/

Old snake Roy Cohn crawls back, along with Trump

Roy Cohn was a highly controversial attorney who became nationally famous while in his twenties, when he became a prominent aide of Senator Joseph McCarthy. Cohn's highly publicized pursuit of suspected communists was marked by bravado and recklessness and he was widely criticized for unethical behavior.

https://www.thoughtco.com/roy-cohn-biography-4151275


Undoubtedly, the 1950s were more hospitable to the likes of Welch and Murrow. Gerrymandering hadn’t yet pulled the Republican Party to the right of Genghis Khan. There was no Fox News to support McCarthy unconditionally while smearing Murrow and Welch. But these two men remind us that methodical argument and sharp clarity can pierce hysteria and define demagogues.

Within months of their appeals to our collective consciences, McCarthy was censured by the Senate, and his decline was complete. History remembers him as an embarrassment and his movement as despicable. Perhaps that’s the fate of President Trump and his enablers. Perhaps if a Welch or a Murrow arises with an ability to capture Trump’s indecency in a clear, coherent, resonant way, Trump’s craven indecency will join the history books next to McCarthy’s, where it belongs. We’re waiting.

http://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/393831-waiting-for-a-murrow-moment

Isn't the jury still out on Hiss' guilt? Do you have an authoritative source declaring his innocence?

gsgs comment-

What is Jeff Sessions doing before Independence Day ? Did Jeff Sessions trade away our American Independence, and his loyalty to our Declaration of Independence, so that he could wreak harm on Americans that he does not like ?I am supposing the Armed Forces have calculated that they have more than enough human lives to use for cannon fodder. Jeff Sessions made good use of his work hours on Tuesday, fucking with President Obama's guidelines. As if someone would not be concerned with Attorney General Jeff Sessions rooted through guidelines that concerned race, language, access to information, equality, the right to work in America, protections for immigrants.


Attorney General Jeff Sessions Is Withdrawing Obama-Era "Guidance Documents"



Other documents that Sessions has pulled included guidance on the right of refugees and asylees to work and juvenile detention policies.

July 3, 2018


This is the second wave of documents repealed by Sessions

The Justice Department announcement did not specify why each of the 24 documents were withdrawn.

Seven of the rescinded documents are about affirmative action.


gsgs comment - Racist Keebler Elf really seems to hate diversity. He wants less of that in the Justice Department and the Department of Education.

Sessions also withdrew documents that interpreted US Supreme Court rulings on affirmative action.

The NAACP slammed the Trump administration's move to rollback guidelines on race in college admissions.

“Rolling back access to quality education for all students is a top priority for this Administration," NAACP president and CEO Derrick Johnson said in a statement.

gsgs comment-
Jeff Sessions does not seem fond of the Civil Rights Division. Jeff Sessions does not want refugees and asylum seekers to clearly understand what the Justice Department's interpretation of the law as it relates to refugees and asylees in the workplace.Jeff Sessions sent out the DOJ "spokesperson" to speak with the press, but they declined to comment on questions about the documents to be pulled in the future.

Three of the rescinded documents involve language access issues — one was a draft version of guidance for court systems about best practices for language access, one was described as a planning tool for federal agencies that may encounter people with limited English proficiency, and one was a "frequently asked questions" document about protections for nonnative English speakers under federal civil rights laws.

Seven of the rescinded documents relate to the work of the Justice Department's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, including policy guidance on juveniles who are held in adult jails.

Sessions rescinded an April 6, 2016, document known as a Dear Colleague Letter that provides additional guidance for applicants seeking funding from the National Institute of Justice to research school safety–related issues. The letter explains specific topics the institute was interested in funding research on, including disparities based on race, national origin, sex, and disability in school discipline, and the role of law enforcement officers in schools.

Other rescinded documents included "Federal Protections Against National Origin Discrimination" from 2006 — a DOJ spokesperson said there is a 2011 version of that guidance still operative — "Look at the Facts, Not at the Faces: Your Guide to Fair Employment," from 2009, and "Looking for the Best Mortgage," a December 2010 brochure that offers advice to prospective homebuyers.

According to the Justice Department, Sessions has rescinded the following 24 documents so far in 2018:

March 17, 2011: OJJDP Memorandum re Status Offenders and the JJDPA.

October 20, 2010: OJJDP Memorandum re Status Offenders and the JJDPA.

June 17, 2014: Revised Guidance on Jail Removal and Separation Core Requirements.

2011: Disaggregating MIP Data from DSO and/or Jail Removal Violations: OJJDP Guidance for States.

OJJDP Policy Guidance for Nonsecure Custody of Juveniles in Adult Jails and Lockups; Notice of Final Policy.

OJJDP Guidance Manual: Audit of Compliance Monitoring Systems.

2009: OJJDP Disproportionate Minority Contact Technical Assistance Manual, Fourth Edition.

2016: Bureau of Justice Assistance State Criminal Alien Assistance Program Guidelines.

April 6, 2016: National Institute of Justice Dear Colleague Letter regarding additional topics and research questions of high priority and particular interest to the NIJ as part of its Comprehensive School Safety Initiative.

Dec. 14, 2010: Looking for the Best Mortgage.

Aug. 6, 2015: FRB: Putting Your Home on the Loan Line is Risky Business.

April 30, 2006: Federal Protections Against National Origin Discrimination.

July 2009: Look at the Facts, Not at the Faces: Your Guide to Fair Employment.

May 2011: Refugees and Asylees Have the Right to Work.

On or before Feb. 12, 2003: Language Assistance Self-Assessment and Planning Tool for Recipients of Federal Financial Assistance.

March 1, 2011: FAQs About the Protection of Limited English Proficiency (LEP) Individuals Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title VI Regulations.

Dec. 18, 2012: Draft Language Access Planning and Technical Assistance Tool for Courts.

Dec. 2, 2011: Dear Colleague Letter Regarding the Use of Race by Educational Institutions.

Dec. 2, 2011: 2011 Guidance on the Voluntary Use of Race to Achieve Diversity in Postsecondary Education.

Dec. 2, 2011: 2011 Guidance on the Voluntary Use of Race to Achieve Diversity and Avoid Racial Isolation in Elementary and Secondary Schools.

September 27, 2013: Dear Colleague Letter on the Voluntary Use of Race to Achieve Diversity in Higher Education After Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin (Fisher I).

September 27, 2013: Questions and Answers About Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin (Fisher I).

https://www.buzzfeed.com/zoetillman...wing-obama-era?utm_term=.rwB6w6EYR#.eaW4K4aOA

It is official. Hope Hicks's former position as "chief communications director, is to be filled by FOX TV's second in command, news executive, Bill Shine.


gsgs comment-

Where did Bill Shine go, after he left FOX TV ? Shine was caught up in the Roger Ailes scandal cover-up. Shine was also involved with the Bill O’Reilly scandal. It is not as if Shine has a squeaky clean reputation to worry about.

But, still! Hannity in bed with Trump at night, FOX TV show in the morning, FOX TV studio play dates, and ex FOX TV exec in Hope Hicks's office during the day.


All FOX TV ?


May 2017

Bill Shine was forced out of FOX for his role enabling sexual harassment (Shine denied knowledge of Ailes’s behavior). By far the most controversial part of Trump’s decision to hire Shine is Shine played a central role in facilitating Ailes’s sexual and psychologically abusive relationship with former Fox executive Laurie Luhn. As I previously reported, Ailes blackmailed Luhn by videotaping her in lingerie and coerced her into performing sex acts on him for nearly 20 years. Luhn told me that Shine summoned her from Washington to meet with Ailes in New York. Shine monitored Luhn’s e-mails to make sure she wan’t talking about Ailes, Luhn told me. Shine also arranged for Luhn to see a psychiatrist after she suffered an emotional breakdown.

(Bill Shine resigned)

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/06/bill-shine-fox-west-wing-hope-hicks


https://www.motherjones.com/politic...onald-trump-white-house-communications-chief/

What can we expect from Bill Shine, Trump’s New White House Communications Chief ?


DAVID CORN worked at FOX as a commentator, and analyst, under the guidance of BILL SHINE

JUL. 5, 2018


I did gain a bit of insight into how he thinks.


On the wall across from his desk was a deck of TVs showing all the news networks. The volume on each was turned off. Shine was sitting at his desk, and I was in a chair facing him. The televisions were behind me. In the middle of our conversation, Shine said, “Excuse me.” He picked up the phone and dialed an extension. I heard his end of the call: “Why did you change the shot? Why did you cut away from the fire?…OK, OK. Go back to it, and stay on it.” Polite but firm. He hung up.

What was that about? I asked. Shine explained that there was an underground electrical fire near the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, and Fox had been airing a live shot of smoke rising through a grate. When Shine noticed that the director had switched to other news, he called the control booth. Shine wanted to stick with the happening-now images of billowing gray smoke—even though this was far from a dramatic image of a major blaze. It was simply smoke coming through a hole in a sidewalk. No flames. No heroic fire-fighters battling a conflagration. No soot-covered victims. Just smoke. The network followed Shine’s command and returned to the shot.

Why do you want to broadcast that? I inquired. With a wide grin on his face, Shine explained: “People will sit on their couches and watch a live shot of a fire for hours and hours. They will not switch the channel. Flames are the best. But smoke is the next best thing. We have smoke. We stick with smoke.”

He’ll fit right in.

https://www.motherjones.com/politic...onald-trump-white-house-communications-chief/

Opticals!

Scott Pruitt, had one more mission to complete, before he took an exit

Provide America with more athsma and lung cancer.


In the final hours of Scott Pruitt’s tenure as administrator, the Environmental Protection Agency moved on Friday to effectively grant a loophole that will allow a major increase in the manufacturing of a diesel freight truck that produces as much as 55 times the air pollution as trucks that have modern emissions controls.


The decision to benefit the makers of super polluting freight trucks followed what the newspaper described as “intense lobbying” by manufacturers, and the two people to blame are Pruitt and new acting EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler.

According to the report, the EPA will not enforce an annual cap on so-called “glider” trucks that had been in place since January, and manufacturers will be allowed to return to previous production rates—about 10,000 trucks per year, according to 2015 figures. The cap had been at 300 gliders per manufacturer.

"Pruitt and Wheeler are creating a loophole for super polluting freight trucks that will fill our children’s lungs with toxic diesel pollution, ignoring public comments from moms and leading businesses across the country,” Environmental Defense Fund general counsel Vickie Patton told the (NY) Times.

https://splinternews.com/on-his-way-out-the-door-scott-pruitt-says-a-final-fuc-1827417240

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/06/us/glider-trucks-loophole-pruitt.html

Clouds of dirty black smoke and harmful gasses, just like the good old days


The Environmental Protection Agency wants to change how it classifies "glider vehicles" — heavy trucks that are built by pairing a new chassis with an old diesel engine and powertrain. The move would keep the EPA from imposing Clean Air Act emissions standards on the trucks.

To make a glider, companies typically combine a new truck body and cab with a salvaged powertrain. The vintage of the reused engine is important: Many of them date to before 2010, when the EPA tightened emissions standards for pollutants such as nitrogen oxide and particulate matter emitted by heavy duty diesel engines.

For years, usable powertrains had been salvaged from wrecked trucks to make glider vehicles that cost about 25 percent less than new trucks, the EPA says. But it was only after the recent enactment of new emissions restrictions that glider vehicles were "produced in any great number," the agency says.

A main player in the glider industry is Fitzgerald, which petitioned for the EPA rule change along with other companies. In proposing its reversal of course, the EPA cited their petition — including research from Tennessee Tech, which has ties to Fitzgerald. The EPA cited a study by the school that found glider vehicles would emit less than 12 percent of the total NOx and PM emissions for all heavy trucks on the road, rather than the 33 percent that had been claimed by the EPA under the Obama administration.


https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo...older-semi-truck-engines-from-emissions-rules

Trucks might pollute more, but there aren't enough drivers to increase their numbers.

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-02-09/the-u-s-is-running-out-of-truckers

Rotten Apple Rep. Trey Gowdy, chair of the House Oversight Committee

Rotten Apple, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, the House Judiciary Committee's Republican chair

Rotten Apple, Rep. Louie Gohmert called out for rotten apple behaviour during a legal hearing by Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.) Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) reportedly fired back that Gohmert was a “disgrace” and “outrageous." Other voices could be heard yelling “Have you no decency?"


Rotten Republican Apples shouted down a witness, during a legal hearing. It resulted in shouts against “intolerable harassment of the witness."


Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) said, “Wow. The American public might be forgiven for mistaking this so-called hearing for a Russian political show trial. It has got all trappings — character assassination, demagoguery, connecting dots that aren’t meant to be connected… and cherry-picking facts, sometimes fabricating facts. It is astounding, it’s a new low in the U.S. Congress. What a shame."


Strzok, testifying at a joint hearing held by the House Judiciary and House Oversight committees, called Russian interference in the 2016 election a “grave attack on our democracy” that was
“wildly successful” in “sowing discord in our nation and shaking faith” in American institutions.

“I have the utmost respect for Congress’ oversight role, but I truly believe that today’s hearing is just another victory notch in [Vladimir] Putin’s belt and another milestone in our enemies’ campaign to tear America apart,” Strzok said, referring to the Russian president.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entr...trump-texts-putin_us_5b46175de4b07aea75466d91


Thursday’s chaotic hearing was revealing, but not in the way the GOP wanted.


https://www.motherjones.com/politic...cans-partisan-theater-trump-fbi-peter-strzok/

John Roberts came under fire on Friday after declining to come to the aid of his fellow reporter Jim Acosta after Trump lambasted the journalist and CNN as “fake news.”


"Old enough to remember when other networks came to the defense of Fox News WH correspondents during the Obama years. Such did not happen here,” said CNN host Jake Tapper.



“Lesson for the kids out there: no one should ever try to do the right thing with the expectation it will ever be reciprocated.”


https://www.sfgate.com/entertainmen...-John-Roberts-Takes-Heat-for-Not-13072754.php

CNN president Ken Jautz shook things up at his network’s early show, American Morning. He booted anchor John Roberts from the fourth-place cable news morning program.

CNN's Kyra Phillips was made pregnant from her affair with John Roberts. (They married, later.) She left FOX TV for CNN. Then she left CNN for ABC TV.There might have been a grudge, behind the lack of fellow feeling for a member the "old" network.

Trump's rejection of CNN

Because this all happened in the UK, American constitutional law doesn’t directly apply, and Trump’s behavior just does what it always does – makes Americans look like idiots for having elected him. But what if he continues his exclusionary behavior at home? Can he really do that?


Katrin Eismann
@KatrinEismann
John Roberts from FOX News has zero backbone - he should have given the mike to Jim Acosta from CNN after Trump once again insulted CNN.

9:28 AM - Jul 13, 2018


https://lawandcrime.com/opinion/trump-is-on-a-thin-line-with-the-law-and-jim-acosta/


So much, for First Amendment Rights.

*watched Jeff Flake speaking before the Republicans, on PBS Frontline show,"Trump Takeover*

Flake still had hope that the Republican party still had a sense of smell ? The Republicans pretended that they did not hear Flake's speech.

They had all sold out to Trump.

I watched, as Republicans dog-piled on FBI agent Peter Strzok during the hearing.

yikes


One would believe the motherfuckers have been inbreeding for 300 years, to keep wealth and land within the family


Now, it is no wonder, (to me) that they display such eye-popping behavior, with no sense of shame.

gotsnowgotslush said:

*watched Jeff Flake speaking before the Republicans, on PBS Frontline show,"Trump Takeover*

Flake still had hope that the Republican party still had a sense of smell ? The Republicans pretended they did not hear Flake's speech.

They had all sold out to Trump.

I watched, as Republicans dog-piled on FBI agent Peter Strzok during the hearing.

yikes


One would believe the motherfuckers have been inbreeding for 300 years, to keep wealth and land within the family

Now, it is no wonder, (to me) that they display such eye-popping behavior, with no sense of shame.

Click to expand...

Now, if Flake would only vote as he talks.

Republican U.S. Congressman Paul Gosar and Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders were scheduled to speak at a rally supporting extremist Right Wing troll and attention whore,Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (founder of a racist hate group, in the UK) U.S. Congressman Gosar did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

But Wilders tweeted on Thursday that he would not attend the rally because the U.K. Ambassador to the Netherlands, Peter Williams, told Dutch authorities Britain would not provide security for him.


They put their Right Wing rally on, at the same time 100,000 people marched against Trump.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...arch-london-violence-met-police-a8446091.html

Sam Brownback, the U.S. Ambassador for International Religious Freedom, complained to the British ambassador in Washington D.C. about the treatment of Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/a...-of-jailed-right-wing-activist-tommy-robinson

Brownback spoke to Sir Kim Darroch, Britain's Ambassador to the United States, about Stephen Yaxley-Lennon in June and a British official confirmed it.

It is not enough that Trump and his White House trolls baby and spoil the Extremist Far Right in America. We are now looking after arsehole racists in the UK.

Rotting on the inside-

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen had quite a day at the Aspen Security Forum, where she defended white supremacists (“It’s not that one side is right, one side is wrong”), hedged on whether the Trump administration will meet its July 26 deadline to reunite all families separated under its “zero tolerance” policy (“We will do our best, but we will not cut corners”), and denied that Russia tried to interfere in the 2016 elections in support of Trump (“I haven’t seen any evidence that the attempts to interfere in our election infrastructure was to favor a particular political party”). [ThinkProgress, Politico, The New York Times]

https://theslot.jezebel.com/did-you-say-as-much-dumb-shit-today-as-kirstjen-nielsen-1827732100

gotsnowgotslush said:

Rotting on the inside-

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen had quite a day at the Aspen Security Forum, where she defended white supremacists (“It’s not that one side is right, one side is wrong”),

Click to expand...

Good luck with her ever being welcomed back to Charlottesville, where she went to law school.

Nothing but rotten apples, attached to Trump-

Gates also testified that Manafort told him to use their influence in Trump’s campaign and then his inauguration to help out Manafort’s bankers, including putting forward the banker’s name to be the new secretary of the Army and getting him tickets to the inauguration.

But when it came time for Gates to be questioned by Manafort’s attorneys, the focus narrowed on Gates himself. He admitted to lying to the special counsel’s office before his plea agreement (which included a guilty plea for … lying to the special counsel) and to embezzling money from Manafort to, among other things, pay for a London apartment that he used to conduct an extramarital affair. Manafort’s lawyer then asked him if he billed Trump’s inaugural committee for “personal expenses,” and Gates responded: “It’s possible.”

https://slate.com/news-and-politics...es-trump-campaign-and-inaugration-favors.html

Ellis: Look at me when you’re talking to me.

Andres: I’m sorry, judge, I was.

Ellis: No, you weren’t. You were looking down.

Andres: Because I don’t want to get in trouble for some facial expression. I don’t want to get yelled at again by the court for having some facial expression when I’m not doing anything wrong, but trying my case.

Ellis [to another prosecutor]: You must be quiet.

Andres: I’m sorry, judge.

Ellis: Well, I understand how frustrated you are. In fact, there’s tears in your eyes right now.

Andres: There are not tears in my eyes, Judge.

Ellis: Well, they’re watery.


(Judge) Ellis, who was appointed to the bench by President Ronald Reagan in 1987, is described by CNN as taking “special delight in toying with attorneys.

According to a number of attorneys who spoke with the network, Ellis “appears to learn toward conservatism,” although largely carries his personal politics close to the chest. This past spring, Ellis seemed frustrated with the Special Council in regards to the case, saying pointedly: “You don’t really care about Mr. Manafort’s bank fraud.” Instead, he suggested, what the prosecutors were “really interested in” was President Trump.



https://splinternews.com/the-judge-in-the-paul-manafort-trial-sounds-like-kind-o-1828167313

His courtroom, his rules-

https://www.washingtonpost.com/loca...ory.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.47949b990c87

King of the Grifters ?

Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross

August 7, 2018

"He’ll push the edge of truthfulness and use whatever power he has to grab assets,” says New York financier Asher Edelman. One of Ross’ former colleagues is more direct: “He’s a pathological liar."


https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a22663557/wilbur-ross-120-million-grift-donald-trump/



Forbes’s Dan Alexander — who has become Ross’s central tormentor in the last few months — reported that, based on conversations he had with 21 people, Ross may have stolen more than $120 million from associates over the years, taking vast amounts of money from business partners and consistently scamming investors. “If even half of the accusations are legitimate,” the magazine writes, “the current United States secretary of commerce could rank among the biggest grifters in American history.”

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/08/report-wilbur-ross-may-have-grifted-usd120-million.html

Corrupt ? Oh yeah

https://www.newsweek.com/ross-accused-stealing-120-million-1060598

yuck!
rotten

New York Republican Rep. Chris Collins and his son are under indictment for alleged insider trading.


Prosecutors say his son dumped stock in a pharmaceutical company after Collins alerted him that an experimental drug had failed.

Congressman Collins couldn’t keep his crime a secret forever. The FBI asked to interview him, and instead of telling the truth, he lied. By lying to the FBI, they compounded their insider trading crime with the crime of criminal cover-up.

Collins, who is one of the wealthiest members of Congress, was the first member to publicly endorse Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign. He also served on Trump's transition team.


https://www.npr.org/2018/08/08/636666323/new-york-congressman-indicted-on-insider-trading-charges


https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/news-wrap-collins-indicted-for-insider-trading-criminal-cover-up