Wednesday Open Thread | Sessions Is Said to Have Offered to Resign

Posted on June 7, 2017 by SouthernGirl2

Why is racist Jeff Sessions  still Attorney General? Talk about glaring white privilege.  He lied under Oath during his confirmation hearing and then he didn’t disclose Russia meetings in a security clearance form. Still LYING. That’s a felony! Sessions should have BEEN resigned. Coretta Scott King and  Ted Kennedy warned us about Jeff Sessions. He’s unfit to serve as AG.

WASHINGTON — Attorney General Jeff Sessions offered to resign in recent weeks as he told President Trump he needed the freedom to do his job, according to two people who were briefed on the discussion.

The president turned down the offer, but on Tuesday, the White House declined to say whether Mr. Trump still had confidence in his attorney general.

“I have not had that discussion with him,” Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, told reporters, responding to questions about whether the president had soured on Mr. Sessions.

Mr. Spicer’s remarks came after The New York Times reported that Mr. Trump had vented intermittently about Mr. Sessions since the attorney general recused himself from any Russia-related investigations conducted by the Justice Department. Mr. Trump has fumed to allies and advisers ever since, suggesting that Mr. Sessions’s decision was needless.

He has also blamed Mr. Sessions for the fallout from an executive order that the president signed for a travel ban on seven primarily Muslim countries, which courts have blocked.

The situation between Mr. Sessions and Mr. Trump has grown so tense that the attorney general told Mr. Trump in recent weeks that he needed the freedom to do his job and that he could resign if that was what was wanted, according to the two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal White House matters. Mr. Trump did not take him up on the offer.

One person familiar with the events, who asked not to be identified, said that the discussion in which Mr. Sessions offered to leave his job took place in the days leading up to Mr. Trump’s nine-day foreign trip last month.

About SouthernGirl2

A Native Texan who adores baby kittens, loves horses, rodeos, pomegranates, & collect Eagles. Enjoys politics, games shows, & dancing to all types of music. Loves discussing and learning about different cultures. A Phi Theta Kappa lifetime member with a passion for Social & Civil Justice.
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136 Responses to Wednesday Open Thread | Sessions Is Said to Have Offered to Resign

  4. rikyrah says:
    June 7, 2017 at 10:56 pm

    FROM BJ:

    An Informed Expert’s Initial Views on James Comey’s Testimony Tomorrow
    by Adam L Silverman
    at10:19 pm on June 7, 2017

    Benjamin Wittes is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute and the editor in chief of Lawfare. He is also a friend of James Comey. Earlier this evening he shared his initial thoughts after reading the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence’s release of former FBI Director Comey’s prepared opening statement tomorrow. While I highly recommend the whole thing, here are the final three paragraphs that tie Wittes’ thoughts together.

    But I will make three general observations based on this document alone.

    First, Comey is describing here conduct that a society committed to the rule of law simply cannot accept in a president. We have spent a lot of time on this site over seven years now debating the marginal exertions of presidential power and their capacity for abuse. Should the president have the authority to detain people at Guantanamo? Incinerate suspected terrorists with flying robots? Use robust intelligence authorities directed at overseas non-citizens? These questions are all important, but this document is about a far more important question to the preservation of liberty in a society based on legal norms and rules: the abuse of the core functions of the presidency. It’s about whether we can trust the President—not the President in the abstract, but the particular embodiment of the presidency in the person of Donald J. Trump—to supervise the law enforcement apparatus of the United States in fashion consistent with his oath of office. I challenge anyone to read this document and come away with a confidently affirmative answer to that question.

    Second, we are about to see a full-court press against Comey. I don’t know what it will look like. But the attack instinct always kicks in when a presidency is under siege. And Trump has the attack instinct in spades even when he’s not under siege. It is important to remember what the stakes are here. They are not about whether Comey was treated fairly. They are not about whether you like him. They are not about whether he handled the Clinton email investigation in the highest traditions of the FBI or the Justice Department. They are not about leaks. The stakes here are about whether what Comey is reporting in this document are true facts and, if so, what we need as a political society to do about the reality that we have a president who behaves this way and seeks to use the FBI in this fashion. It is critical, in other words, that people not change the subject or get distracted when others try to do so.

    Finally, it is also critical—though probably fruitless to say—that we eschew partisanship in the conversation. Tomorrow, this document will be the discussion text when Comey faces a committee that, warts and all, has handled the Russia matter to date in a respectable and honorably bipartisan fashion. It is not too much to ask that members put aside party and respond as patriots to the fact that the former FBI director will swear an oath that these facts are true—and was fired after these interactions allegedly took place by a man who then told Lester Holt that “when I decided to just do it [fire Comey], I said to myself … this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story,” and boasted to the Russians the day after dismissing Comey that “I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off.”

    Reply
    • eliihass says:
      June 7, 2017 at 11:09 pm

      Hopefully, Comey is as courageous, selfless, and most importantly, as patriotic as his friend postures, and hints that Comey really is…

      We’ll see..

      Reply
  15. eliihass says:
    June 7, 2017 at 10:01 pm

    So, turns out my phenomenal, all around magnificent ForeveverFLOTUS was in our neck of the woods yesterday, as surprise guest at Apple’s WorldWide Developers Conference 2017…

    And she in her effortlessly authentic way, strolled in, disarmed and taught an invaluable and unforgettable truth-teller masterclass to a multi-country audience of business owners and geeks…who were completely blown away..

    For so many who’d never paid attention …or who’d never heard or seen a public figure so genuine and unpretentious and comfortable in her own skin, it was a thrill and an awakening to behold this whip-smart, percipient, down to earth, genuine greatness of a woman..

    Folks are still buzzing about this incredible experience…And even though the media wasn’t allowed, all the local tv stations camped out and breathlessly reported on it ..interviewing attendees and playing clips from WWCD attendees ..

    As many of the attendees said, this was the best thing Tim Cook ever did for them..

    One guy declared that our historic FLOTUS had done Tim Cook a ‘real solid’…LOL..

    But it was the young female techies and techies of color who were very emotional and thrilled to bits that she very formidably and effectively made a powerfully compelling and well-received pitch about why and how the tech industry could hire and do more for women and people of color…and care about and participate in delivering for the general good..

    Even though there’s no official video or stream of the event – to the chagrin of many, I did watch it and I’ll find a full version to share ..

    Reply
  17. rikyrah says:
    June 7, 2017 at 9:00 pm

    The Hill
    ✔
    @thehill

    House votes to waive lie detector tests for Border Patrol agent hiring: http://hill.cm/FtMEMjX
    4:25 PM – 7 Jun 2017

    Reply
  18. rikyrah says:
    June 7, 2017 at 8:59 pm

    Key GOP centrists open to ending Medicaid expansion
    06/07/17 05:20 PM EDT

    GOP moderates in the Senate are open to ending federal funding for ObamaCare’s Medicaid expansion, but want a longer deadline for ending the additional funding than their leadership has proposed.

    Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) have proposed a seven-year phase-out of federal funding for the Medicaid expansion, beginning in 2020 and ending in 2027.

    Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) proposed a shorter, three-year phase-out that would end in 2023 at the Senate lunch on Tuesday.

    http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/336814-key-gop-centrists-open-to-ending-medicaid-expansion

    Reply
  19. Ametia says:
    June 7, 2017 at 7:36 pm

    It Is Time for Donald Trump to Leave the White House
    The government cannot pass any stress test with this president* in office.

    The other day, Michelle Goldberg, writing in Slate, made this excellent point: In response to the argument that ridding the country of President* Donald Trump only would worsen the political polarization in the country, perhaps to the point of actual widespread violence, Goldberg argued that, if we’re making decisions of national policy based on that criterion, then we’re already very far down a long, dark road that leads, inevitably, to a beer hall in Munich.

    Goldberg wrote:
    Already, Republicans are trying to normalize the idea that even if collusion between Trump and Russia is found, it doesn’t discredit the administration. If they succeed—if any sort of collaboration between the Trump campaign and Russian intelligence is found but doesn’t end his presidency—it will be a betrayal of the American voting public. You think impeachment threatens America’s civic fabric? Try telling the majority of American citizens that even if their hated rulers are revealed as traitors, there’s nothing they can do about it.
    It really is time for him to go.

    http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a55514/end-of-trump-presidency/?src=socialflowTW

    Reply
  20. eliihass says:
    June 7, 2017 at 7:23 pm

    Pfffttt..

    Beware fam, shady Bannon and the band of merry white supremacists have been said to deliberately feed fake news to distract or change the convo…or elicit ‘pity’, ‘outrage’…as is now suddenly being offered on behalf of the Jim Crow weasel…casting him as ‘victim’ of the ‘spoilt’ buffoon’s ‘disloyalty’..

    Contrary to reports, the shady Grand Wizard chipmunk Beauregard is and remains very much an integral and ‘trusted’ part of the buffoon’s inner Russian entanglement…The buffoon is never voluntarily letting him go..

    For a guy who’s said to focus ‘bigly’ on appearance, and obsessively emphasizes ‘central-casting’ physical qualities in determining his picks for anything – including his family….with the 3rd wife and daughter-wife extensively surgically remade to almost mirror-imaging exaction…down to the cubic centimeter of their selected silicone implants…and the perceived ugly duckling siblings cast aside or relegated and mostly treated as non-existent…

    Doesn’t it boggle the mind how the Alabama Grand Wizard Beauregard not only made his way into the New York buffoon’s ‘trusted’ circle, but is so ‘highly-regarded’ and immediately locks-in and is bestowed the highest Justice position…. by the most superficial of superficial New York poseurs, obsessively impressed by Ivy League degrees – and who repeatedly introduced his son-in-law by touting his brilliance and his daddy-bought Harvard degree….

    This petty, shallow, eternally hollow, morally, spiritually, financially bankrupt and unwise geriatric New York society wannabe, whose every hollow choreographed existence has been specifically designed to play to a largely failed appearance of having ‘money’ and ‘class’ and having ‘arrived’…to impress the grand, old-monied, New York high-society types who’ve always looked down on him, and scoffed at his never-ending lies, gold-plated, personalized, branded, ill-gotten crass possessions and wannabe attempts at belonging …and his unending need to be liked, included in their ranks, approved of and validated, especially by them…

    Beauregard, like Bannon and Flynn do not fit the profile the buffoon and brood normally aspire to align, schmooze, fit in with…Not pedigree, connections, power, or wealth-wise….They do however, fit rather well with the many shady, corrupt types that they are symbiotically connected and held hostage to, and have always lurked in every dubious and corrupt dealings that have always underpinned whatever questionable ‘successes’ the buffoon and brood have ever claimed in his and their life…

    Most marginally smart people at some point – if they have resorted to such dubious dealings, connections and questionable starts – eventually shake lose the dubious shady types, and go legit…But not the buffoon, who’s pretty much relied entirely on it…and has now pretty much hardened his faith, resolve and confidence in them and celebrated the dubious alliances’ value in delivering… having now rode them and their hostile foreign government shenanigans, right into the People’s House…

    And folks better start doing their patriotic duty…or we won’t have much of an intact, morally-sound democracy – or even a country left..

    Reply
  21. Liza says:
    June 7, 2017 at 7:22 pm

    The analysis here is really good and spot on.

    Reply
    • Liza says:
      June 7, 2017 at 7:32 pm

      Crime and Punishment was one of my favorite novels of all time. I haven’t read it in decades, I read it the first time in high school and I remember my older sister explaining it to me.

      But this is kind of funny and I still think about this even now. Raskolnikov committed the perfect crime in that absolutely no one saw him axe the pawnbroker and her sister. If I recall correctly, they could never have proved he was the killer without his confession. When I was a kid and first read this book, I didn’t understand why he didn’t just move on and try to be a better person. And I was Catholic!! But, good grief, who would torment themselves into ending up in Siberia?

      Anyhow, it’s an interesting question. If you committed the perfect crime, would you succumb to the belief that you must suffer for your redemption or would you just try to do better?

      Reply
    • rikyrah says:
      June 7, 2017 at 8:56 pm

      I love these. I can’t believe that I didn’t know about him sooner. He is FANTASTIC!

      Reply
      • Liza says:
        June 7, 2017 at 9:13 pm

        I am really enjoying them ever since you posted that one on Beloved. The good thing about being latecomers is that we have so many to catch up on. They are just so well done, very professional, the illustrations are great too.

        Reply
    • eliihass says:
      June 7, 2017 at 7:45 pm

      It isn’t just the grand massa of the plantation rude tone accompanied with disapproving and hostile glare…It isn’t just veteran alt-right Grand Wizard Burr who’s offensive, it’s also little Rod Rosenstein’s superior air, sneering condescension and there, there, dumb little woman, complete with exasperated eye-roll and the follow up let me educate you as you clearly know nothing beyond what you’ve managed to superficially glean and inaccurately cite, performance…and not before thanking the grand massa for shutting the little woman up..

      Reply
      • Liza says:
        June 7, 2017 at 7:09 pm

        The basis for their refusal is that they are afraid of Trump and choose to prolong the inevitable conclusion these investigations will reach.

        Screw these limp d!cks.

        Reply
      • eliihass says:
        June 7, 2017 at 8:01 pm

        These sad, greedy, hollow, unpatriotic, self-interested, self-serving, emasculated ‘men’, are more than anything else, ultimately more concerned with holding on to the underserved and unbelievable power, access, position and perks their undeserved titles that they’d never ever have had a shot at, allows them…As I’ve said, they’re not about to give any of this up…country and ‘reputation’ if and whatever they had to begin with, be damned…

        Only under the mostly option-less pretend-‘presidency’ of a paranoid buffoon with a limited roster of desperate, integrity-deficit, mediocre folks eager to align themselves with and slip into position, would these sad fools …or any number of the other embarrassingly less than mediocre greedy fools, be in these positions ..

        We only pray that the damage being done can be reversed some, but the sooner this devastating nightmare is over, the better..

        Reply
      • eliihass says:
        June 7, 2017 at 8:01 pm

        **Integrity-deficient..

        Reply
      • Liza says:
        June 7, 2017 at 9:27 pm

        I honestly don’t think that any of these people who carry Trump’s slop jar are going to do well in the long term. But these worthless “intel” mofos are civil servants and they are accountable to the citizens, not the buffoon who has occupied the Oval Office.

        Well, this mess was a long time in the making and it will take some time to reverse it.

        I’m having one of my more optimistic days today.

        Reply
  24. Liza says:
    June 7, 2017 at 6:51 pm

    Ryan Coogler & Michael B. Jordan Reunite for ‘Wrong Answer’ – Scripted By Ta-Nehisi Coates
    June 7th 2017

    Director Ryan Coogler and actor Michael B. Jordan will reunite once again for an adaptation of a 2014 essay in The New Yorker titled “Wrong Answer,” written by Rachel Aviv, which explores an adult standardized test cheating scandal at Atlanta Public Schools through the lens of one middle school.

    If Coogler reteaming with Jordan wasn’t thrilling enough, Ta-Nehisi Coates is attached to write the screenplay based on Aviv’s article.

    In addition, Brad Pitt’s Plan B (producer on Barry Jenkins’ “Moonlight,” as well as “Selma,” “12 Years a Slave” and more) will produce “Wrong Answer” with Coogler, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Keliner. New Regency will also produce and fully finance the picture.

    Jordan will star as math teacher Damany Lewis, who struggles under the pressure imposed on his students and school to meet unrealistic standardized testing scores as part of the No Child Left Behind project. In order to save their jobs and prevent their school from shutting down, he joined in an effort to cheat the scores. The scandal led to 11 teachers being convicted on racketeering charges.

    This will be the 4th time Coogler and Jordan will work together after “Fruitvale Station,” “Creed” and the upcoming “Black Panther,” which Coates has also been involved in, writing the new Black Panther comic book series, which influences Coogler’s upcoming Marvel and Disney superhero film.

    https://shadowandact.com/ryan-coogler-michael-b-jordan-reunite-for-wrong-answer-scripted-by-ta-nehisi-coates-produced-by-brad-pitt

    Reply
  25. Liza says:
    June 7, 2017 at 6:46 pm

    Ryan Coogler & Michael B. Jordan Reunite for 'Wrong Answer' Scripted By Ta-Nehisi Coates Produced by Brad Pitt https://t.co/pveRIwbtFp pic.twitter.com/gsPasN8nx8— Shadow And Act (@shadowandact) June 7, 2017

    //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    Reply
  26. Liza says:
    June 7, 2017 at 6:37 pm

    Bree Newsome‏Verified account @BreeNewsome 4h4 hours ago

    “White Lies” [a thread by @breenewsome] 1/27

    The crisis confronting the American republic at this moment is not the fault of Russia, it’s the fault of US racism. 2/27

    White America rallied behind Trump 2 relieve it of an existential threat posed by a black president elected by a multiethnic coalition 3/27

    Trump descended the golden escalator of his tower & announced his candidacy for president to a room full of folks paid to applaud him. 4/27

    What set Trump apart from other GOP primary candidates was his unabashedly racist rhetoric and his white nationalism platform. 5/27

    Soon as Trump was elected, enormous amounts of energy went 2 explaining y whites rallied 4 him, mainly 2 argue it wasn’t about racism… 6/27

    Except, sike! — analysis shows it was primarily racism. 😐 7/27

    Nevertheless, both sides of white power structure, right & left, prioritized defending white Trump voters against charges of racism. 8/27

    Not only was focus placed on defending few thousand voters who tipped electoral college for Trump (he lost popular vote by 3 million)… 9/27

    …but blame for his win was placed on non-white voters for demanding too much focus on “identity politics” (read: civil rights) 10/27

    Now, predictably, as Trump goes down & threatens to take the republic w/ him, there’s already effort underway to rewrite history… 11/27

    …and cast Trump as an anomaly disconnected from the political & religious right. Trump came out of nowhere apparently. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 12/27

    No one recalls the racist birtherism movement that marked his ascendancy in the conservative political sphere. 13/27

    No one recalls GOP presidential candidate Romney holding a special press conference to announce he’d been endorsed by Trump. 14/27

    Trump is now cast as being single handedly responsible for the crisis of the modern American republic. 15/27

    But that’s false and we all know it’s false. And this is why the institutions of America are shaking at their foundations in 2017. 16/27

    “Trump” is not simply Donald J. or a building in Manhattan. Trumpism is a movement that represents a racist police state… 17/27

    …a reifying of the white supremacist ideology that shaped the nation’s institutions from prisons & labor laws to housing & education. 18/27

    “Make America Great Again” 19/27

    How Trump rose to power, peddling racist conspiracy abt 1st black prez w/ complicity of white power structure, shouldn’t be forgotten. 20/27

    152 years after US Civil War, we’re still dealing w/ the consequences of deliberate miseducation & historical erasure re: slavery. 21/27

    Even the current US president is ignorant about the history of a war that killed more Americans than all subsequent US wars combined. 22/27

    Consequences of living in active denial of how US arrived @ Trump crisis (again: racism) are immediate, potentially fatal to republic 23/27

    Only hope 4 US democracy is 4 US to vigorously defend it by securing democracy and human rights for ALL people living in this nation… 24/27

    …something this nation has refused to do generation after generation since its founding. 25/27

    No, we won’t stop speaking on so-called “identity politics” when we’re repeatedly denied civil & human rights b/c we aren’t white. 26/27

    Democracy & human rights must be fully realized for all or US institutions will collapse under the weight of their inbred racism [end]

    Reply
    • Ametia says:
      June 7, 2017 at 6:50 pm

      All of this….

      BUT

      THIS

      White America rallied behind Trump 2 relieve it of an existential threat posed by a black president elected by a multiethnic coalition 3/27

      Reply
      • Liza says:
        June 7, 2017 at 6:58 pm

        The black president was NOT an existential threat, but I think the part of White America that rallied behind Trump knew so little about PBO that they thought he was. And not just him. They are extremely resentful of successful black people. Still.

        Reply
      • Liza says:
        June 7, 2017 at 7:03 pm

        The existential threat to white supremacy is time. And it is racing faster.

        Trump is a detour but not a black hole.

        Reply
  27. Liza says:
    June 7, 2017 at 6:12 pm

    While a case mounts that the President obstructed justice, Senate Republicans are going to quietly repeal Obamacare w no public scrutiny— Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) June 7, 2017

    //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    Reply
  29. rikyrah says:
    June 7, 2017 at 3:39 pm

    Comey walked in and KNEW he had to metaphorically guard his pussy. https://t.co/cU2boPH7ZX

    — Girls Really Rule. (@girlsreallyrule) June 7, 2017

    Pence has just canceled his scheduled appearance on @NewsHour-is this just a coincidence or a direct reaction to the Comey Statement?

    — Girls Really Rule. (@girlsreallyrule) June 7, 2017

    Reply
  30. rikyrah says:
    June 7, 2017 at 2:54 pm

    @KamalaHarris

    The American people deserve to know whether the special counsel is fully independent. We need the truth. I won’t stop until we get it.

    Reply
  31. rikyrah says:
    June 7, 2017 at 2:52 pm

    ABC News Politics‏Verified account
    @ABCPolitics

    “Is that a no?” In tense exchange, @KamalaHarris presses Dep. AG Rosenstein to give assurance special counsel has “full” independence.

    Reply
  32. rikyrah says:
    June 7, 2017 at 2:51 pm

    Some truth from BJ:

    Kay says:
    June 7, 2017 at 2:44 pm
    @Chris:

    My opinion from the start has been that if it can get out of the House, the odds are that it goes all the way through, with only minor or cosmetic changes.
    I would love to be wrong about this.

    It’s what they voted for. This can’t go on forever. All these R voters can’t keep voting for these people and then expecting public services and programs. If they didn’t know this is what they were voting for then they have to put more effort into this.

    If you’re a Medicaid recipient you shouldn’t be relying on Democrats but voting for Republicans. It’s a kind of luxury, this cavalier assumption that the entities and programs people rely upon will continue to operate – it’s a luxury 99% of people don’t have.

    Here’s what happens when voters pitch a hissy fit and elect someone like Donald Trump. They lose. They were not in a position to take all that risk.

    At some point they have see consequences or treating this like a reality tv show will continue. It gets worse every cycle. There was NO substantive discussion of health care yet people are telling pollsters now that it’s Job One. Too late! Too fucking late. They gambled and now they get hurt. Nothing is free. Nothing. If they’re so childish that they believe that Medicaid drops from the sky and everything that exists now will continue to exist forever with no effort or sacrifice or compromise on their part then they have to grow up.

    Reply
  33. rikyrah says:
    June 7, 2017 at 2:11 pm

    Watch: The moment when women everywhere agreed with Sen Harris after she was interrupted by Burr who didn’t do the same w King & others pic.twitter.com/3KPAqwxVQl

    — T. R. Ramachandran (@yottapoint) June 7, 2017

    Reply
  34. rikyrah says:
    June 7, 2017 at 2:10 pm

    Trump’s use of cancer charity draws awkward scrutiny
    06/07/17 11:21 AM—UPDATED 06/07/17 12:14 PM
    By Steve Benen

    For much of the 2016 presidential campaign, there was parlor game of sorts among some who watched Donald Trump closely: what’s the worst thing this guy has ever done? The competition was fierce – Trump’s adult life hasn’t exactly been controversy-free – though my vote was the time he crashed a charitable event for a nursery school helping children with AIDS in order to falsely appear generous.

    Yesterday, however, a new contender emerged.

    At first blush, the story seems rather mundane. Eric Trump, one of the president’s adult sons, hosted the annual Eric Trump Foundation golf invitational in New York, and the money raised at the event went to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. Best of all, because the charitable tournament was held at his family’s course at no charge, it meant more money raised at the event could go to help sick kids.

    Forbes reported yesterday, however, that not all of the money went to St. Jude.

    In reviewing filings from the Eric Trump Foundation and other charities, it’s clear that the course wasn’t free – that the Trump Organization received payments for its use, part of more than $1.2 million that has no documented recipients past the Trump Organization. Golf charity experts say the listed expenses defy any reasonable cost justification for a one-day golf tournament.

    Additionally, the Donald J. Trump Foundation, which has come under previous scrutiny for self-dealing and advancing the interests of its namesake rather than those of charity, apparently used the Eric Trump Foundation to funnel $100,000 in donations into revenue for the Trump Organization.

    And while donors to the Eric Trump Foundation were told their money was going to help sick kids, more than $500,000 was re-donated to other charities, many of which were connected to Trump family members or interests, including at least four groups that subsequently paid to hold golf tournaments at Trump courses.

    Reply
  35. rikyrah says:
    June 7, 2017 at 1:53 pm

    @AJentleson

    Harry Reid worked every angle and pulled every lever to give health care to millions.

    McConnell will do the same to take it away.

    Reply
  36. Liza says:
    June 7, 2017 at 1:30 pm

    From Moonlight:

    Reply
  37. rikyrah says:
    June 7, 2017 at 1:20 pm

    James Comey’s Prepared Statement to Congress

    Just released.

    Getting a lot of play on Twitter:

    The President began by asking me whether I wanted to stay on as FBI Director, which I found strange because he had already told me twice in earlier conversations that he hoped I would stay, and I had assured him that I intended to. He said that lots of people wanted my job and, given the abuse I had taken during the previous year, he would understand if I wanted to walk away.

    My instincts told me that the one-on-one setting, and the pretense that this was our first discussion about my position, meant the dinner was, at least in part, an effort to have me ask for my job and create some sort of patronage relationship. That concerned me greatly, given the FBI’s traditionally independent status in the executive branch.

    I replied that I loved my work and intended to stay and serve out my tenyear term as Director. And then, because the set-up made me uneasy, I added that I was not “reliable” in the way politicians use that word, but he could always count on me to tell him the truth. I added that I was not on anybody’s side politically and could not be counted on in the traditional political sense, a stance I said was in his best interest as the President.

    A few moments later, the President said, “I need loyalty, I expect loyalty.” I didn’t move, speak, or change my facial expression in any way during the awkward silence that followed. We simply looked at each other in silence. The conversation then moved on, but he returned to the subject near the end of our dinner.

    Reply
  38. SouthernGirl2 says:
    June 7, 2017 at 1:04 pm

    We don’t have this twisted. The entire country saw the #SenateIntelHearing was a crock of ISH!

    https://twitter.com/RawStory/status/872513115174424576

    Reply
  39. SouthernGirl2 says:
    June 7, 2017 at 12:55 pm

    Just as I feel a glimmer of hope….they snatch it away with the bullshit we heard in the #SenateIntelHearing

    Reply
  40. SouthernGirl2 says:
    June 7, 2017 at 12:54 pm

    The #SenateIntelHearing was a crock of ISH. Wasted time and money for a dog and pony show. Shameless mofos.

    Reply
    • eliihass says:
      June 7, 2017 at 8:30 pm

      Which is why I’ve said that until we have actual, tangible action effected…and until the treasonous buffoon and his alt-right Putin-installed cohorts are permanently removed from the People’s House, I’m not impressed …and I’m certainly not buying the whole Mueller is a ‘great patriot with integrity’ and will get it done rhetoric …And I’m certainly not holding my breath with regard to Comey…besides him ensuring that he has enough of his so-called decent ‘reputation’ and assured access to the next big money-making position and opportunity left, to move on to…that’s all he pretty much cares about…

      And perhaps, in about 5 years, he’ll release some juicy blockbuster piece of info that’ll boost him again…but that could have been better used to serve and save our democracy and country today…

      I hope I’m proven wrong, but, I’ll be shocked..

      These folks don’t give a hoot about this country or our democracy, as long as they’re good and taken care of personally …

      Comey, as with most of those who quickly rallied to legitimize and normalize the buffoon – insisting ‘the Russian interference didn’t alter vote counts’ and that ‘the American people had spoken’ – even though for the first time in modern history, didn’t win the popular vote even with just a third of the eligible American population voting…chose to stay on..

      Comey didn’t seem to have a problem staying on under Grand Wizard Beauregard and the buffoon…until he was forcibly removed…that’s all one really needs to know…

      Reply
  41. SouthernGirl2 says:
    June 7, 2017 at 12:36 pm

    Isn’t this RICH? The obstructionist has the GALL to call @TheDemocrats obstructionists. But that’s how a mobster works. IMPEACH THIS THUG!

    Reply
  44. SouthernGirl2 says:
    June 7, 2017 at 11:34 am

    #SenateIntelHearing Trump KNOWS he has white privilege w/ these white men. It’s glaring. Let this had been PBO..all hell would break loose.

    Reply
  45. rikyrah says:
    June 7, 2017 at 11:28 am

    ISIL Attacks Iran

    by Adam L Silverman
    at 12:02 pm on June 7, 2017.

    Earlier today ISIL conducted two attacks in Iran with a third being thwarted. The first was at the Iranian majlis or parliament. The second was a suicide bombing at the shrine to Ayatullah Uzma Khomeini. The BBC has the details:

    …………………..

    Unlike the attacks we’ve seen throughout Europe, ISIL quickly claimed responsibility.

    BREAKING: Islamic State group claims attacks on Iranian parliament, Khomeini shrine.

    — The Associated Press (@AP) June 7, 2017

    This is significant as it indicates a directly coordinated attack, rather than actions taken by self radicalized actors on behalf of/in the name of the Islamic State. The New York Times‘ Rukmini Callimachi, who has done a magnificent job in her reporting on ISIL, breaks this down on her twitter feed:

    4. What is significant here is unlike recent attacks in Europe, ISIS has released a video allegedly showing attackers going room by room: pic.twitter.com/vb7oNwFGvE

    — Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) June 7, 2017

    6. Again if video is proved legit, it shows the attackers had a direct line to ISIS. We saw this during the Bangladesh cafe siege last year

    — Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) June 7, 2017

    This is a very significant point that Callimachi is making:

    8. While this may be the 1st successful attack in Iran, ISIS has been agitating to hit them for years. See comments of expert @JcBrisard pic.twitter.com/yn5gMhj11O

    — Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) June 7, 2017

    Reply
  47. rikyrah says:
    June 7, 2017 at 11:25 am

    Eric Trump: President’s detractors are ‘not even people’
    06/07/17 10:18 AM—UPDATED 06/07/17 10:30 AM
    By Steve Benen

    For a guy who’s supposed to be helping lead Donald Trump’s business empire, and steering clear of politics, Eric Trump maintains a surprisingly active political schedule. Eric Trump recently sat down with officials at the Republican National Committee, for example, to discuss ways in which the party could help his father. He also tried to discredit the investigation into the Russia scandal during an ABC News interview this week.

    Last night, however, The Hill reports that presidential son took his political rhetoric to a whole new level.

    President Trump’s son Eric Trump on Tuesday said Democrats are “not even people” to him after their obstruction of his father’s agenda.

    “I’ve never seen hatred like this,” he said on Fox News’s “Hannity” Tuesday night. “To me, they’re not even people. It’s so, so sad. Morality’s just gone, morals have flown out the window and we deserve so much better than this as a country.”

    Reply
  48. SouthernGirl2 says:
    June 7, 2017 at 11:24 am

    That’s what I see. White men protecting Trump. They are not going to take down this white man & country be damned. Fuck them all.

    https://twitter.com/ladyc10/status/872467507042562051

    Reply
  50. rikyrah says:
    June 7, 2017 at 11:04 am

    Intel Chiefs Refuse To Confirm If Trump Asked Them To Help Kill Flynn Probe
    By ALICE OLLSTEIN
    Published JUNE 7, 2017 11:08 AM

    At a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing Wednesday morning, Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) directly questioned Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and Admiral Mike Rogers, the leader of the NSA, about recent reports that President Donald Trump asked them to intervene with the FBI to get the agency to back off its investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

    Rogers, responding testily to Warner’s repeated attempts to get additional details, refused to confirm or deny the reports. “I am not going to discuss the specifics of any interaction or conversations I may or — if I could finish please — that I may not have had with the President of the United States.”

    He then added what sounded like a categorical denial.

    “In the three plus years that I have been the director of the National Security Agency, to the best of my recollection, I have never been directed to do anything I believe to be illegal, immoral, unethical or inappropriate,” he said. “And to the best of my recollection, during that same period of service, I do not recall feeling ever pressured to do so.”

    Warner tried several more times, to no avail, to get Rogers to divulge information about allegations Trump asked him to talk to Comey about easing off the federal investigation into Flynn.

    “I understand your answer but I am disappointed with your answer,” Warner said, before turning his attention on Coats, who similarly demurred.

    “I do not feel it is appropriate for me in a public session to breach confidential conversations between the president and myself in a public session,” Coats said, adding: “In my time of service, which is interacting with the President of the United States or anybody in his administration, I have never been pressured, I’ve never felt pressure to intervene or interfere in any way with shaping intelligence in a political way or in relationship to an ongoing investigation.”

    In limiting his comments to attempts at “shaping intelligence,” Coats did not contradict reporting by the Washington Post that President Trump asked for his help in intervening with former FBI Director James Comey to convince him to back off the Flynn investigation.

    Reply
    • yahtzeebutterfly says:
      June 7, 2017 at 11:06 am

      Is this because they don’t want the PUBlIC to hear their answers or because they don’t want TRUMP to hear their answers? I wonder.

      Reply
  52. yahtzeebutterfly says:
    June 7, 2017 at 11:02 am

    http://www.cbsnews.com/news/senate-intel-committee-hearing-live-updates/

    Excerpt:

    Top intelligence leaders are set to testify Wednesday at 10 a.m. ET before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

    Scheduled to testify today:

    Dan Coats — Director of national intelligence
    Andrew McCabe — Acting FBI director
    Mike Rogers — NSA director
    Rod Rosenstein — Deputy attorney general

    HIGHLIGHTS:
    *Rogers, Coats decline to comment on conversations they’ve had with Trump, though Rogers said he’s never “been directed to do anything illegal, immoral, unethical or inappropriate” as NSA director
    *The four officials decline to discuss whether they’ve taken notes or issued memos related to the Russia probe

    The hearing is focused on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), though there are likely to be questions involving the firing of former FBI Director James Comey and Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election.

    This comes a day before Comey is set to testify publicly before Congress for the first time on Thursday since President Trump fired him as FBI director last month.

    King grills Rogers and Coats about why they’re not answering questions
    Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, who caucuses with Democrats, spent several minutes grilling Rogers and Coats about why they aren’t answering questions regarding the Comey firing or the Russia probe.

    Asked if the White House was invoking executive priviledge, Rogers said he wasn’t aware of that. King then asked why he isn’t answering questions. Rogers said, “I feel it isn’t appropriate, senator” and added that he stands by his comment and he’s not going to repeat himself and he said he doesn’t mean it in a contentious way. King said that his questions are intended to be contentious.

    Reply
  54. rikyrah says:
    June 7, 2017 at 10:57 am

    Found at BJ:

    Adam L Silverman says:
    June 7, 2017 at 10:44 am

    @Corner Stone: Coats’ testimony, and a chunk of Rogers’, will be about rebutting, without mentioning it, a hatchet job done on 702 and the NSA by Circa that is circulating among conservative and right wing commenters, political consultants, and politicians. The author of the piece doesn’t understand the law and has basically written a one sided screed attempting to use the government’s own disclosure to the FISA Court about when non-compliance occurred per that court’s instructions. Since a lot of this, based on the FOIAed FISA Court information on this, occurred during the Obama Administration it is part of the larger: Obama spied on Americans, Obama’s evil appointees unmasked people, Obama spied on the President and his folks and this is all part of some Obama plot to delegitimize the President and his administration plot.

    Circa is owned by Sinclair Broadcasting, which cut a special deal with Jared Kushner during the campaign for favorable coverage. They took on Boris Epshteyn when he had to leave the White House position he had because of the CI investigation into Russia (there is some informed speculation that he is Source E in the Steele dossier) and amid ongoing, informed RUMINT that he is Bratva, as their director of political analysis. Leading to the recently debuted The Bottom Line with Boris segments that Sinclair Broadcasting is pushing to its local affiliates and forcing them to air.

    So you can now connect the dots.

    Reply
  56. yahtzeebutterfly says:
    June 7, 2017 at 10:56 am

    “Former US intelligence chief: Watergate pales in comparison to Russia probe”
    http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/07/politics/james-clapper-watergate-russia/

    Reply
  57. rikyrah says:
    June 7, 2017 at 10:55 am

    It begins: McConnell initiates the “Rule 14” process of putting the House-passed AHCA on the Senate calendar for fast-track consideration.

    — Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) June 7, 2017

    This is it, folks. If you have a Republican senator, now is the time to make their lives hell. https://t.co/z26byHB0uq

    — Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser) June 7, 2017

    Reply
  59. rikyrah says:
    June 7, 2017 at 10:53 am

    THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/6/17
    Comey firing probe could mean new role for DoJ’s third in line
    Rachel Maddow explains how Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of the firing of James Comey would force recusals of Jeff Sessions and Rod Rosenstein in the matter, elevating the DoJ’s third in line, Rachel Brand.

    Reply
  60. rikyrah says:
    June 7, 2017 at 10:52 am

    THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/6/17
    Mueller would gain resources as scope of Trump probe widens
    Rachel Maddow reports that in the event that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation takes on the Paul Manafort and/or Mike Flynn cases, he would also inherit the considerable resources devotes to those investigations.

    Reply
  61. SouthernGirl2 says:
    June 7, 2017 at 10:50 am

    This Senate Intel hearing is full of effing ISH. Grown ass men scared of the bully. It’s unbelievable to watch. I want to cry.

    Reply
  62. rikyrah says:
    June 7, 2017 at 10:49 am

    THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/6/17
    Mueller adds heavy hitter prosecutor to Trump investigation team
    Rachel Maddow reports on some of the prosecutorial accomplishments of Andrew Weissmann, who has left the fraud section of the criminal division of the Justice Department to join Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of the Trump-Russia affair.

    Reply
  63. rikyrah says:
    June 7, 2017 at 10:48 am

    THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/6/17
    Trump being Trump worries prospective lawyers
    Michael Isikoff, chief investigative correspondent for Yahoo News, talks with Rachel Maddow about why top law firms are turning down the opportunity to work on Donald Trump’s defense as scandals continue to pile up.

    Reply
  64. rikyrah says:
    June 7, 2017 at 10:47 am

    THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/6/17
    Trump’s deadbeat past hurts him in search for scandal lawyers
    Rachel Maddow reviews Donald Trump’s history of not paying his debts and notes how that is a contributing factor as he is reportedly facing rejection from outside law firms as he seeks to bolster his defense in the face of mounting scandals.

    Reply
  65. rikyrah says:
    June 7, 2017 at 10:46 am

    THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/6/17
    Trump pressed Coats for way to stop Russia investigation: WaPo
    Adam Entous, national security reporter for The Washington Post, talks with Rachel Maddow about new reporting that DNI Dan Coats told associates that Donald Trump had pressed him on ways to get James Comey to stop the Trump-Russia investigation.

    Reply
  66. rikyrah says:
    June 7, 2017 at 10:45 am

    Kansas lawmakers reject Brownback’s ‘experiment,’ force taxes higher
    06/07/17 09:20 AM
    By Steve Benen

    Just how spectacularly has Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s (R) radical economic “experiment” failed? Enough to lead a Republican-led legislature in a ruby-red state to force taxes higher.

    The Wichita Eagle reported overnight on GOP officials in Kansas embracing the one policy contemporary Republicans almost never even consider.

    Lawmakers rolled back Gov. Sam Brownback’s signature tax policy over his objections Tuesday night, forcing into law tax increases to fix a budget shortfall and provide more money for schools.

    The legislation ends the “march to zero” income tax cuts that Brownback heralded for much of his time as governor…. The increases are expected to generate more than $1.2 billion for the state over the next two years.

    Reply
  68. rikyrah says:
    June 7, 2017 at 10:42 am

    Quick Takes: Mueller Hires Experts in the Mafia and Fraud
    A roundup of the stories that caught my eye today.

    by Nancy LeTourneau
    June 6, 2017 7:00 PM

    * As Martin noted today, Trump is having a hard time finding lawyers to represent him. Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller doesn’t seem to be having that problem and his hires send a strong signal about where this investigation is headed.

    Special counsel Robert Mueller is assembling a prosecution team with decades of experience going after everything from Watergate to the Mafia to Enron as he digs in for a lengthy probe into possible collusion between Russia and President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign.

    His first appointments — tapping longtime law-firm partner James Quarles and Andrew Weissmann, the head of the Justice Department’s criminal fraud unit — were the opening moves in a politically red-hot criminal case that has upended the opening months of the Trump White House.

    Reply
  69. rikyrah says:
    June 7, 2017 at 10:37 am

    Um. I just got a text from a source: “the Department of Justice is on fire.”

    — Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) June 7, 2017

    Reply
  72. Ametia says:
    June 7, 2017 at 10:24 am

    ICYMI

    Reply
  74. SouthernGirl2 says:
    June 7, 2017 at 10:21 am

    Wow! They refused to say whether they’ve been ASKED to influence the investigation. This is nothing but a ISH show!

    https://twitter.com/tommyxtopher/status/872473160175767552

    Reply
    • eliihass says:
      June 7, 2017 at 8:39 pm

      But he should have specifically said this at the hearing, instead of mostly parsing stuff ..and even declaring he categorically ‘saw nothing to suggest collusion’…

      Patriots don’t wait until they’re on a paid speech circuit in Australia to speak these pertinent and much-needed truths…

      Reply
    • eliihass says:
      June 7, 2017 at 8:44 pm

      Evil..

      This is the evil the Russian-owned buffoon and his white supremacist cohorts have unleashed on America the ‘great’…

      Reply
  78. rikyrah says:
    June 7, 2017 at 9:32 am

    Andy Slavitt‏Verified account @ ASlavitt 10h10 hours ago
    And then use June to “buy” the incremental votes they need. Most ppl. think it will pass w 50 & there are 43 in now.

    Reply
  80. rikyrah says:
    June 7, 2017 at 9:29 am

    BREAKING: Trump FBI Director Nominee Wray Is Partner at Law Firm Representing Russia’s National Oil Company Rosneft http://www.kslaw.com/imageserv…..wledge.pdf …

    Reply
  81. rikyrah says:
    June 7, 2017 at 9:27 am

    Trudeau decides it’s just not worth appeasing Trump in foreign-policy shift
    JOHN IBBITSON
    OTTAWA — The Globe and Mail
    Published Tuesday, Jun. 06, 2017 2:41PM EDT
    Last updated Tuesday, Jun. 06, 2017 7:07PM EDT

    America has left the world, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland signalled in Tuesday’s landmark foreign policy address. Canada and its allies will hang together, she vowed, awaiting its return.

    This was a very dangerous thing to say. But we live in dangerous times.

    Although Ms. Freeland never mentioned the words “Donald Trump” in her speech to the House, practically every line was informed by the crisis of his rogue presidency. Clearly, something happened at May’s NATO and G7 meetings to make Prime Minister Justin Trudeau conclude there is nothing to be gained by treating with this man.

    Reply
  83. rikyrah says:
    June 7, 2017 at 9:24 am

    Sam Wang‏ @SamWangPhD
    In my world, people do research and develop treatments for children, don’t get their name in the papers for it, and don’t skim from the till
    Sam Wang Retweeted Eric Trump
    Eric Trump @EricTrump
    I have raised $16.3 million dollars for terminally ill children at @StJude with less than a 12.3% expense ratio. What have you done today?!

    Reply
  84. Liza says:
    June 7, 2017 at 9:03 am

    Eric Trump: Dems ‘not even people’
    BY MARK HENSCH – 06/06/17 11:22 PM EDT

    President Trump’s son Eric Trump on Tuesday said Democrats are “not even people” to him after their obstruction of his father’s agenda.

    “I’ve never seen hatred like this,” he said on Fox News’s “Hannity” Tuesday night. “To me, they’re not even people. It’s so, so sad. Morality’s just gone, morals have flown out the window and we deserve so much better than this as a country.”

    “You see the Democratic Party, they’re imploding. They’re imploding. They became obstructionists because they have no message of their own.”

    Trump additionally criticized the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) leadership without directly naming Chairman Tom Perez.

    “You see the head of the DNC, who is a total whack job,” he told host Sean Hannity. “There’s no leadership there.”

    “They lost the [2016 presidential] election that they should have won because they spent seven times the amount of money that my father spent.”
    …
    http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/336683-eric-trump-dems-not-even-people

    Reply
  85. rikyrah says:
    June 7, 2017 at 8:45 am

    Hunter Woodall‏
    @HunterMw

    BREAKING: Kansas House votes 88 to 31 to fundamentally end Brownback tax cuts and override gov’s veto. It will be law. #ksleg

    Reply
  86. Liza says:
    June 7, 2017 at 8:43 am

    Black troops as much as twice as likely to be punished by commanders, courts https://t.co/zo0CeYA8uy— deray mckesson (@deray) June 7, 2017

    //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    Reply
  87. rikyrah says:
    June 7, 2017 at 8:34 am

    Found at BJ:

    Comrade Jake says:
    June 7, 2017 at 6:53 am
    Eric Trump took money from kids with cancer to give it to Daddy. Holy shit.

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2017/06/06/how-donald-trump-shifted-kids-cancer-charity-money-into-his-business/#6ba9e46c6b4a

    Reply
  88. rikyrah says:
    June 7, 2017 at 8:32 am

    Obama and Trudeau on a dinner date tonight in Montreal. pic.twitter.com/qVm3LcM08C

    — Yashar Ali (@yashar) June 7, 2017

    Reply
  89. rikyrah says:
    June 7, 2017 at 8:29 am

    Call the Senate & pessimism index update

    by David Anderson
    at 8:21 am on June 7, 2017

    Call the Senate.

    Right now, it looks like the Senate’s plan is to make a few minor tweaks to the AHCA, and then dare half a dozen Repbulicans to vote no. It would be a rapid turn-around with votes in under a month from today.

    If McConnell has his way, the public will only have two days to read the bill, with a day to debate & a vote 6/28. 2

    — Andy Slavitt (@ASlavitt) June 7, 2017

    Reply
  90. rikyrah says:
    June 7, 2017 at 6:48 am

    He is in all the Russia mess up to his neck. Plus, he is getting to live out his White Supremacist fantasies. He didn’t offer shyt.

    Reply
    • Ametia says:
      June 7, 2017 at 7:49 am

      TELL.THE.TRUTH.

      There isn’t anyone connected to #45 who should be TRUSTED, least of all, this CaC

      Reply
    • Liza says:
      June 7, 2017 at 8:42 am

      And the little maggot is not qualified to be the Attorney General. His incompetence was not so glaring in the Senate where there are many others to hide among.

      Reply
  91. rikyrah says:
    June 7, 2017 at 5:36 am

    I don’t believe one word from Attorney General White Citizens Council

    Reply
  92. rikyrah says:
    June 7, 2017 at 5:35 am

    Good Morning Everyone 😐😐😐

    Reply

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