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" Donald Trump Sends Out Embarrassing New Year’s Eve Message; This is Disturbing. Donald Trump just couldn t wish all Americans a Happy New Year and leave it at that. Instead, he had to give a shout out to his enemies, haters and  the very dishonest fake news media.  The former reality show star had just one job to do and he couldn t do it. As our Country rapidly grows stronger and smarter, I want to wish all of my friends, supporters, enemies, haters, and even the very dishonest Fake News Media, a Happy and Healthy New Year,  President Angry Pants tweeted.  2018 will be a great year for America! As our Country rapidly grows stronger and smarter, I want to wish all of my friends, supporters, enemies, haters, and even the very dishonest Fake News Media, a Happy and Healthy New Year. 2018 will be a great year for America!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2017Trump s tweet went down about as welll as you d expect.What kind of president sends a New Year s greeting like this despicable, petty, infantile gibberish? Only Trump! His lack of decency won t even allow him to rise above the gutter long enough to wish the American citizens a happy new year!  Bishop Talbert Swan (@TalbertSwan) December 31, 2017no one likes you  Calvin (@calvinstowell) December 31, 2017Your impeachment would make 2018 a great year for America, but I ll also accept regaining control of Congress.  Miranda Yaver (@mirandayaver) December 31, 2017Do you hear yourself talk? When you have to include that many people that hate you you have to wonder? Why do the they all hate me?  Alan Sandoval (@AlanSandoval13) December 31, 2017Who uses the word Haters in a New Years wish??  Marlene (@marlene399) December 31, 2017You can t just say happy new year?  Koren pollitt (@Korencarpenter) December 31, 2017Here s Trump s New Year s Eve tweet from 2016.Happy New Year to all, including to my many enemies and those who have fought me and lost so badly they just don t know what to do. Love!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2016This is nothing new for Trump. He s been doing this for years.Trump has directed messages to his  enemies  and  haters  for New Year s, Easter, Thanksgiving, and the anniversary of 9/11. pic.twitter.com/4FPAe2KypA  Daniel Dale (@ddale8) December 31, 2017Trump s holiday tweets are clearly not presidential.How long did he work at Hallmark before becoming President?  Steven Goodine (@SGoodine) December 31, 2017He s always been like this . . . the only difference is that in the last few years, his filter has been breaking down.  Roy Schulze (@thbthttt) December 31, 2017Who, apart from a teenager uses the term haters?  Wendy (@WendyWhistles) December 31, 2017he s a fucking 5 year old  Who Knows (@rainyday80) December 31, 2017So, to all the people who voted for this a hole thinking he would change once he got into power, you were wrong! 70-year-old men don t change and now he s a year older.Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images.",1
" Drunk Bragging Trump Staffer Started Russian Collusion Investigation. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes is going to have a bad day. He s been under the assumption, like many of us, that the Christopher Steele-dossier was what prompted the Russia investigation so he s been lashing out at the Department of Justice and the FBI in order to protect Trump. As it happens, the dossier is not what started the investigation, according to documents obtained by the New York Times.Former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos was drunk in a wine bar when he revealed knowledge of Russian opposition research on Hillary Clinton.On top of that, Papadopoulos wasn t just a covfefe boy for Trump, as his administration has alleged. He had a much larger role, but none so damning as being a drunken fool in a wine bar. Coffee boys  don t help to arrange a New York meeting between Trump and President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt two months before the election. It was known before that the former aide set up meetings with world leaders for Trump, but team Trump ran with him being merely a coffee boy.In May 2016, Papadopoulos revealed to Australian diplomat Alexander Downer that Russian officials were shopping around possible dirt on then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Exactly how much Mr. Papadopoulos said that night at the Kensington Wine Rooms with the Australian, Alexander Downer, is unclear,  the report states.  But two months later, when leaked Democratic emails began appearing online, Australian officials passed the information about Mr. Papadopoulos to their American counterparts, according to four current and former American and foreign officials with direct knowledge of the Australians  role. Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to the F.B.I. and is now a cooperating witness with Special Counsel Robert Mueller s team.This isn t a presidency. It s a badly scripted reality TV show.Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images.",1
" Sheriff David Clarke Becomes An Internet Joke For Threatening To Poke People ‘In The Eye’. On Friday, it was revealed that former Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke, who was being considered for Homeland Security Secretary in Donald Trump s administration, has an email scandal of his own.In January, there was a brief run-in on a plane between Clarke and fellow passenger Dan Black, who he later had detained by the police for no reason whatsoever, except that maybe his feelings were hurt. Clarke messaged the police to stop Black after he deplaned, and now, a search warrant has been executed by the FBI to see the exchanges.Clarke is calling it fake news even though copies of the search warrant are on the Internet. I am UNINTIMIDATED by lib media attempts to smear and discredit me with their FAKE NEWS reports designed to silence me,  the former sheriff tweeted.  I will continue to poke them in the eye with a sharp stick and bitch slap these scum bags til they get it. I have been attacked by better people than them #MAGA I am UNINTIMIDATED by lib media attempts to smear and discredit me with their FAKE NEWS reports designed to silence me. I will continue to poke them in the eye with a sharp stick and bitch slap these scum bags til they get it. I have been attacked by better people than them #MAGA pic.twitter.com/XtZW5PdU2b  David A. Clarke, Jr. (@SheriffClarke) December 30, 2017He didn t stop there.BREAKING NEWS! When LYING LIB MEDIA makes up FAKE NEWS to smear me, the ANTIDOTE is go right at them. Punch them in the nose & MAKE THEM TASTE THEIR OWN BLOOD. Nothing gets a bully like LYING LIB MEDIA S attention better than to give them a taste of their own blood #neverbackdown pic.twitter.com/T2NY2psHCR  David A. Clarke, Jr. (@SheriffClarke) December 30, 2017The internet called him out.This is your local newspaper and that search warrant isn t fake, and just because the chose not to file charges at the time doesn t mean they won t! Especially if you continue to lie. Months after decision not to charge Clarke, email search warrant filed https://t.co/zcbyc4Wp5b  KeithLeBlanc (@KeithLeBlanc63) December 30, 2017I just hope the rest of the Village People aren t implicated.  Kirk Ketchum (@kirkketchum) December 30, 2017Slaw, baked potatoes, or French fries? pic.twitter.com/fWfXsZupxy  ALT- Immigration   (@ALT_uscis) December 30, 2017pic.twitter.com/ymsOBLjfxU  Pendulum Swinger (@PendulumSwngr) December 30, 2017you called your police friends to stand up for you when someone made fun of your hat  Chris Jackson (@ChrisCJackson) December 30, 2017Is it me, with this masterful pshop of your hat, which I seem to never tire of. I think it s the steely resolve in your one visible eye pic.twitter.com/dWr5k8ZEZV  Chris Mohney (@chrismohney) December 30, 2017Are you indicating with your fingers how many people died in your jail? I think you re a few fingers short, dipshit  Ike Barinholtz (@ikebarinholtz) December 30, 2017ROFL. Internet tough guy with fake flair. pic.twitter.com/ulCFddhkdy  KellMeCrazy (@Kel_MoonFace) December 30, 2017You re so edgy, buddy.  Mrs. SMH (@MRSSMH2) December 30, 2017Is his break over at Applebees?  Aaron (@feltrrr2) December 30, 2017Are you trying to earn your  still relevant  badge?  CircusRebel (@CircusDrew) December 30, 2017make sure to hydrate, drink lots of water. It s rumored that prisoners can be denied water by prison officials.  Robert Klinc (@RobertKlinc1) December 30, 2017Terrill Thomas, the 38-year-old black man who died of thirst in Clarke s Milwaukee County Jail cell this April, was a victim of homicide. We just thought we should point that out. It can t be repeated enough.Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images.",1
" Trump Is So Obsessed He Even Has Obama’s Name Coded Into His Website (IMAGES). On Christmas day, Donald Trump announced that he would  be back to work  the following day, but he is golfing for the fourth day in a row. The former reality show star blasted former President Barack Obama for playing golf and now Trump is on track to outpace the number of golf games his predecessor played.Updated my tracker of Trump s appearances at Trump properties.71 rounds of golf including today s. At this pace, he ll pass Obama s first-term total by July 24 next year. https://t.co/Fg7VacxRtJ pic.twitter.com/5gEMcjQTbH  Philip Bump (@pbump) December 29, 2017 That makes what a Washington Post reporter discovered on Trump s website really weird, but everything about this administration is bizarre AF. The coding contained a reference to Obama and golf:  Unlike Obama, we are working to fix the problem   and not on the golf course.  However, the coding wasn t done correctly.The website of Donald Trump, who has spent several days in a row at the golf course, is coded to serve up the following message in the event of an internal server error: https://t.co/zrWpyMXRcz pic.twitter.com/wiQSQNNzw0  Christopher Ingraham (@_cingraham) December 28, 2017That snippet of code appears to be on all https://t.co/dkhw0AlHB4 pages, which the footer says is paid for by the RNC? pic.twitter.com/oaZDT126B3  Christopher Ingraham (@_cingraham) December 28, 2017It s also all over https://t.co/ayBlGmk65Z. As others have noted in this thread, this is weird code and it s not clear it would ever actually display, but who knows.  Christopher Ingraham (@_cingraham) December 28, 2017After the coding was called out, the reference to Obama was deleted.UPDATE: The golf error message has been removed from the Trump and GOP websites. They also fixed the javascript  =  vs  ==  problem. Still not clear when these messages would actually display, since the actual 404 (and presumably 500) page displays a different message pic.twitter.com/Z7dmyQ5smy  Christopher Ingraham (@_cingraham) December 29, 2017That suggests someone at either RNC or the Trump admin is sensitive enough to Trump s golf problem to make this issue go away quickly once people noticed. You have no idea how much I d love to see the email exchange that led us here.  Christopher Ingraham (@_cingraham) December 29, 2017 The code was f-cked up.The best part about this is that they are using the  =  (assignment) operator which means that bit of code will never get run. If you look a few lines up  errorCode  will always be  404          (@tw1trsux) December 28, 2017trump s coders can t code. Nobody is surprised.  Tim Peterson (@timrpeterson) December 28, 2017Donald Trump is obsessed with Obama that his name was even in the coding of his website while he played golf again.Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images.",1
" Pope Francis Just Called Out Donald Trump During His Christmas Speech. Pope Francis used his annual Christmas Day message to rebuke Donald Trump without even mentioning his name. The Pope delivered his message just days after members of the United Nations condemned Trump s move to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The Pontiff prayed on Monday for the  peaceful coexistence of two states within mutually agreed and internationally recognized borders. We see Jesus in the children of the Middle East who continue to suffer because of growing tensions between Israelis and Palestinians,  Francis said.  On this festive day, let us ask the Lord for peace for Jerusalem and for all the Holy Land. Let us pray that the will to resume dialogue may prevail between the parties and that a negotiated solution can finally be reached. The Pope went on to plead for acceptance of refugees who have been forced from their homes, and that is an issue Trump continues to fight against. Francis used Jesus for which there was  no place in the inn  as an analogy. Today, as the winds of war are blowing in our world and an outdated model of development continues to produce human, societal and environmental decline, Christmas invites us to focus on the sign of the Child and to recognize him in the faces of little children, especially those for whom, like Jesus,  there is no place in the inn,  he said. Jesus knows well the pain of not being welcomed and how hard it is not to have a place to lay one s head,  he added.  May our hearts not be closed as they were in the homes of Bethlehem. The Pope said that Mary and Joseph were immigrants who struggled to find a safe place to stay in Bethlehem. They had to leave their people, their home, and their land,  Francis said.  This was no comfortable or easy journey for a young couple about to have a child.   At heart, they were full of hope and expectation because of the child about to be born; yet their steps were weighed down by the uncertainties and dangers that attend those who have to leave their home behind. So many other footsteps are hidden in the footsteps of Joseph and Mary,  Francis said Sunday. We see the tracks of entire families forced to set out in our own day. We see the tracks of millions of persons who do not choose to go away, but driven from their land, leave behind their dear ones. Amen to that.Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images.",1
" Racist Alabama Cops Brutalize Black Boy While He Is In Handcuffs (GRAPHIC IMAGES). The number of cases of cops brutalizing and killing people of color seems to see no end. Now, we have another case that needs to be shared far and wide. An Alabama woman by the name of Angela Williams shared a graphic photo of her son, lying in a hospital bed with a beaten and fractured face, on Facebook. It needs to be shared far and wide, because this is unacceptable.It is unclear why Williams  son was in police custody or what sort of altercation resulted in his arrest, but when you see the photo you will realize that these details matter not. Cops are not supposed to beat and brutalize those in their custody. In the post you are about to see, Ms. Williams expresses her hope that the cops had their body cameras on while they were beating her son, but I think we all know that there will be some kind of convenient  malfunction  to explain away the lack of existence of dash or body camera footage of what was clearly a brutal beating. Hell, it could even be described as attempted murder. Something tells me that this young man will never be the same. Without further ado, here is what Troy, Alabama s finest decided was appropriate treatment of Angela Williams  son:No matter what the perceived crime of this young man might be, this is completely unacceptable. The cops who did this need to rot in jail for a long, long time   but what you wanna bet they get a paid vacation while the force  investigates  itself, only to have the officers returned to duty posthaste?This, folks, is why we say BLACK LIVES MATTER. No way in hell would this have happened if Angela Williams  son had been white. Please share far and wide, and stay tuned to Addicting Info for further updates.Featured image via David McNew/Stringer/Getty Images",1
" Fresh Off The Golf Course, Trump Lashes Out At FBI Deputy Director And James Comey. Donald Trump spent a good portion of his day at his golf club, marking the 84th day he s done so since taking the oath of office. It must have been a bad game because just after that, Trump lashed out at FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe on Twitter following a report saying McCabe plans to retire in a few months. The report follows McCabe s testimony in front of congressional committees this week, as well as mounting criticism from Republicans regarding the Russia probe.So, naturally, Trump attacked McCabe with a lie. How can FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, the man in charge, along with leakin  James Comey, of the Phony Hillary Clinton investigation (including her 33,000 illegally deleted emails) be given $700,000 for wife s campaign by Clinton Puppets during investigation?  Trump tweeted.How can FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, the man in charge, along with leakin  James Comey, of the Phony Hillary Clinton investigation (including her 33,000 illegally deleted emails) be given $700,000 for wife s campaign by Clinton Puppets during investigation?  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2017He didn t stop there.FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is racing the clock to retire with full benefits. 90 days to go?!!!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2017Wow,  FBI lawyer James Baker reassigned,  according to @FoxNews.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2017With all of the Intel at Trump s disposal, he s getting his information from Fox News. McCabe spent most of his career in the fight against terrorism and now he s being attacked by the so-called president. Trump has been fact-checked before on his claim of his wife receiving $700,000 for her campaign.Politifact noted in late July that Trump s  tweet about Andrew McCabe is a significant distortion of the facts. And the implication that McCabe got Clinton off as a political favor doesn t make much sense when we look at the evidence. His July tweet was rated  mostly false.  But Trump repeats these lies because he knows his supporters will believe them without bothering to Google. It s still a lie, though.Photo by Zach Gibson   Pool/Getty Images.",1
" Trump Said Some INSANELY Racist Stuff Inside The Oval Office, And Witnesses Back It Up. In the wake of yet another court decision that derailed Donald Trump s plan to bar Muslims from entering the United States, the New York Times published a report on Saturday morning detailing the president s frustration at not getting his way   and how far back that frustration goes.According to the article, back in June, Trump stomped into the Oval Office, furious about the state of the travel ban, which he thought would be implemented and fully in place by then. Instead, he fumed, visas had already been issued to immigrants at such a rate that his  friends were calling to say he looked like a fool  after making his broad pronouncements.It was then that Trump began reading from a document that a top advisor, noted white supremacist Stephen Miller, had handed him just before the meeting with his Cabinet. The page listed how many visas had been issued this year, and included 2,500 from Afghanistan (a country not on the travel ban), 15,000 from Haiti (also not included), and 40,000 from Nigeria (sensing a pattern yet?), and Trump expressed his dismay at each.According to witnesses in the room who spoke to the Times on condition of anonymity, and who were interviewed along with three dozen others for the article, Trump called out each country for its faults as he read: Afghanistan was a  terrorist haven,  the people of Nigeria would  never go back to their huts once they saw the glory of America, and immigrants from Haiti  all have AIDS. Despite the extensive research done by the newspaper, the White House of course denies that any such language was used.But given Trump s racist history and his advisor Stephen Miller s blatant white nationalism, it would be no surprise if a Freedom of Information Act request turned up that the document in question had the statements printed inline as commentary for the president to punctuate his anger with. It was Miller, after all, who was responsible for the  American Carnage  speech that Trump delivered at his inauguration.This racist is a menace to America, and he doesn t represent anything that this country stands for. Let s hope that more indictments from Robert Mueller are on their way as we speak.Featured image via Chris Kleponis/Pool/Getty Images",1
" Former CIA Director Slams Trump Over UN Bullying, Openly Suggests He’s Acting Like A Dictator (TWEET). Many people have raised the alarm regarding the fact that Donald Trump is dangerously close to becoming an autocrat. The thing is, democracies become autocracies right under the people s noses, because they can often look like democracies in the beginning phases. This was explained by Republican David Frum just a couple of months into Donald Trump s presidency, in a piece in The Atlantic called  How to Build an Autocracy. In fact, if you really look critically at what is happening right now   the systematic discrediting of vital institutions such as the free press and the Federal Bureau of Investigation as well the direct weaponization of the Department of Justice in order to go after Trump s former political opponent, 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, and you have the makings of an autocracy. We are more than well on our way. Further, one chamber of Congress, the House of Representatives, already has a rogue band of Republicans who are running a parallel investigation to the official Russian collusion investigation, with the explicit intent of undermining and discrediting the idea that Trump could have possibly done anything wrong with the Russians in order to swing the 2016 election in his favor.All of that is just for starters, too. Now, we have Trump making United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley bully and threaten other countries in the United Nations who voted against Trump s decision to change U.S. policy when it comes to recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish State. Well, one expert, who is usually quite measured, has had enough of Trump s autocratic antics: Former CIA Director John O. Brennan. The seasoned spy took to Trump s favorite platform, Twitter, and blasted the decision:Trump Admin threat to retaliate against nations that exercise sovereign right in UN to oppose US position on Jerusalem is beyond outrageous. Shows @realDonaldTrump expects blind loyalty and subservience from everyone qualities usually found in narcissistic, vengeful autocrats.  John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) December 21, 2017Director Brennan is correct, of course. Trump is behaving just like an autocrat, and so many people in the nation are asleep when it comes to this dangerous age, in which the greatest threat to democracy and the very fabric of the republic itself is the American president. Fellow Americans, we know the GOP-led Congress will not be the check on Trump that they are supposed to be. It s time to get out and flip the House and possibly the Senate in 2018, and resist in the meantime, if we want to save our country from devolving into something that looks more like Russia or North Korea than the America we have always know. We re already well on our way.Featured image via BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images",1
" WATCH: Brand-New Pro-Trump Ad Features So Much A** Kissing It Will Make You Sick. Just when you might have thought we d get a break from watching people kiss Donald Trump s ass and stroke his ego ad nauseam, a pro-Trump group creates an ad that s nothing but people doing even more of those exact things. America First Policies is set to release this ad, called  Thank You, President Trump,  on Christmas Day and, well, we threw up a little in our mouths trying to watch this.Basically, the spot is nothing but people fawning all over Trump for all the stuff he hasn t actually done. The ad includes a scene with a little girl thanking Trump for bringing back  Merry Christmas,  which never went away (there are even videos of President Obama saying  Merry Christmas  himself). A man thanks him for cutting his taxes. And America First says that everyday Americans everywhere are thanking Trump for being such a great and awesome president.The best president.Nobody s ever done what he s done. He s breaking all kinds of records every day.Believe us.Anyway, the word  propaganda  comes to mind when watching this. That s what it is   literal propaganda promoting someone who shouldn t need this kind of promotion anymore. Watch this ad bullshit below:The way the MAGAs are kowtowing to Orange Hitler is both disgusting and frightening. The man has done nothing, and his policies will harm the very same Americans who are thanking him. Unfortunately, it will take an obscene amount of pain before they ll open their eyes and see they ve been duped by a con man with a bad hairdo.And his ongoing need for this kind of adoration is, at best, unbecoming of his office. This ad is vile.Featured image via Al Drago-Pool/Getty Images",1
" Papa John’s Founder Retires, Figures Out Racism Is Bad For Business. A centerpiece of Donald Trump s campaign, and now his presidency, has been his white supremacist ways. That is why so many of the public feuds he gets into involve people of color. One of his favorite targets, is, of course, the players in the National Football League who dare to exercise their First Amendment rights by kneeling during the national anthem in protest of racist police brutality. Well, there is one person who has figured out that racism is bad for business, even if it did get the orange overlord elected: The founder of the pizza chain Papa John s.This is a man who has never been on the right side of history on any number of issues, and plus his pizza sucks. But, when he decided to complain about the players protesting, his sales really dropped. Turns out racism doesn t pay, and we all know that corporations are all about the bottom line. Therefore, Papa John Schnatter will no longer be CEO of the hack pizza chain.BREAKING: Papa John's founder John Schnatter to step down as CEO; announcement comes weeks after he criticized NFL over protests.  AP Business News (@APBusiness) December 21, 2017The thing is, while people are certainly allowed to have political opinions, they have to realize that those opinions can often come with dire consequences   especially if one is in the business of trying to garner sales and support from any and all people, which one would presume is the goal of all CEO s. No one knows whether or not the pressure from his shareholders, the public outcry or boycotts, or even the NFL itself had anything to do with his stepping down. As of right now, all we know is that he will be gone, and perhaps the future CEO will run a company that is inclusive of the diverse fabric that we call America. After all, the guiding symbol of this nation will always be the Statue of Liberty, and bigots like Trump and Schnatter are the past. The rest of us are the future. We just have to survive the present to get there.Featured image via Rob Kim/Getty Images",1
" WATCH: Paul Ryan Just Told Us He Doesn’t Care About Struggling Families Living In Blue States. Republicans are working overtime trying to sell their scam of a tax bill to the public as something that directly targets middle-class and working-class families with financial relief. Nothing could be further from the truth, and they re getting hammered on that repeatedly. Speaking on CNBC, Paul Ryan was going full throttle, trying to convince us that the paltry savings we re getting is actually wait for it big money.But he didn t just go with the usual talking points. With a smug look that only someone who grew up in a wealthy family can muster when talking about that which he does not know, Ryan claimed that the $2,059 more per year that families living paycheck-to-paycheck will see is extremely significant. Then he decided he had to amend that to say such savings might be nothing to a family earning $600,000 per year (true), or for people living in New York or California (false).Those are the same two states that Trump s loyal subjects insist on stripping from the 2016 vote totals to claim that Trump actually won the popular vote. Watch Ryan completely dismiss all the struggling families living in blue states below:If you re living paycheck-to-paycheck which is more than half of the people in this country and you got #2059more from a tax cut next year, that s not nothing. pic.twitter.com/8TKtrMqRa1  Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) December 21, 2017Someone needs to reach through their computer or television and wipe that smugness off his face. It is the height of arrogance and insult to imply that there are no struggling families in either of those two states.Featured image via Mark Wilson/Getty Images",1
" Bad News For Trump — Mitch McConnell Says No To Repealing Obamacare In 2018. Republicans have had seven years to come up with a viable replacement for Obamacare but they failed miserably. After taking a victory lap for gifting the wealthy with a tax break on Wednesday, Donald Trump looked at the cameras and said,  We have essentially repealed Obamacare and we will come up with something that will be much better. Obamacare has been repealed in this bill,  he added. Well, like most things Trump says, that s just not true. But, if the former reality show star could have done that in order to eradicate former President Obama s signature legislation, he would have and without offering an alternative.Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told NPR that  This has not been a very bipartisan year. I hope in the new year, we re going to pivot here and become more cooperative. An Obamacare repeal in 2018 is DOA. Well, we obviously were unable to completely repeal and replace with a 52-48 Senate,  the Kentucky Republican said.  We ll have to take a look at what that looks like with a 51-49 Senate. But I think we ll probably move on to other issues. NPR reports:McConnell hopes to focus instead on stabilizing the insurance marketplaces to keep premiums from skyrocketing in the early months of 2018, a promise he made to moderate Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine to get her support for the tax bill.On top of that McConnell broke with House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., on the approach to paring back spending on programs like Medicaid and food stamps. McConnell told NPR he is  not interested  in using Senate budget rules to allow Republicans to cut entitlements without consultation with Democrats. I think entitlement changes, to be sustained, almost always have to be bipartisan,  McConnell said.  The House may have a different agenda. If our Democratic friends in the Senate want to join us to tackle any kind of entitlement reform. I d be happy to take a look at it. This is coming from Mitch McConnell. He knows Donald Trump is destroying the GOP. It doesn t matter, Sen. McConnell. We still recall him saying that his  number one priority is making sure president Obama s a one-term president. Well, we re hoping that Trump doesn t last a full term. Funny how that works.Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images",1
" WATCH: Lindsey Graham Trashes Media For Portraying Trump As ‘Kooky,’ Forgets His Own Words. The media has been talking all day about Trump and the Republican Party s scam of a tax bill; as well as the sheer obsequiousness of Trump s cabinet, and then members of Congress, after their tax scam was all but passed. But the media isn t quite saying what Trump wants. They ve been doing analysis and discussion all day long rather than praising it for the grand achievement Trump believes it is. The GOP has increasingly sounded exactly like Trump when it comes to media coverage, and coverage of the tax scam is no different. Coverage of Trump in general hasn t changed.Today, Lindsey Graham went after the media for portraying Trump as a  kook,  and unfit for office (they wouldn t be doing their job if they weren t telling the truth, though). Graham said: You know what concerns me about the American press is this endless, endless attempt to label the guy as some kind of kook; not fit to be president. Jake Tapper notes that he himself has never labeled Trump that way. But then he points out something rather odd about Graham s opinion. Take a look at the short video clip below:Lindsey Graham today: I m concerned by the media s attempt to label Trump as a kook or not fit to be President.Lindsey Graham in 2016:  I think he s a kook. I think he s crazy. I think he s unfit for office.  pic.twitter.com/hIxs3DciO8  Tomthunkit  (@TomthunkitsMind) December 17, 2017There it is, out of Graham s own mouth. He parroted himself. In 2016, he used the exact words to describe Trump that he said the media is using today. Freudian slip?Featured image via video screen capture",1
" Heiress To Disney Empire Knows GOP Scammed Us – SHREDS Them For Tax Bill. Abigail Disney is an heiress with brass ovaries who will profit from the GOP tax scam bill but isn t into f-cking poor people over. Ms. Disney penned an op-ed for USA Today in which she rips the GOP a new one because she has  always been cognizant of income and wealth inequality.  In other words, she is not Donald Trump, Paul Ryan or Bob Corker. Or Mitch McConnell. She is Abigail Disney, dammit. Since the election of Ronald Reagan, the gap between rich and poor has grown dramatically and  trickle down  economics has turned out to cause more of a trickle up,  she writes.  But nothing has brought the problem of inequality into sharper focus for me than the current proposals by Republicans to overhaul the tax system. Disney says that this proposal will be burdensome to the middle class while decreasing  the responsibility of the wealthy to contribute to the common good. And then she dropped a truth bomb. (We like truth bombs.)Republicans insist this plan will cut taxes for the middle class, but the truth is that any meager savings will be offset by losses elsewhere   in deductions no longer allowed, loss of Medicaid and Medicare coverage, and less funding for education, all of which are on the chopping block in order to provide a tax cut for a few very wealthy people like me. There is even a tax break to private jet owners. This bill will give me this tax cut while also killing health insurance for over 13 million people,  Disney wrote.  It will let me pass over $20 million to my children, tax-free. And all my friends with private jets? They get a tax cut too. With a suffocating education system, a dying infrastructure and a national debt that will be at least $1.5 trillion bigger, that social mobility will be far out of reach for people like you,  Disney continued.  But I will be able to stay comfortably right where I am. Does that strike you as fair? No, it does not, thankyouverymuch. But given how this bill was written, I think it s looking a lot like a nightmare from Pirates of the Caribbean,  Disney wrote.  Have I made you angry yet? I really hope I ve made you angry. You should be. No one who votes for this tax bill will be voting with your life in mind. But you will pay for it. Watch:This Disney heiress is taking a stand against the GOP tax bill  even though she s going to benefit from it pic.twitter.com/E5bmcI83mU  NowThis (@nowthisnews) December 20, 2017 If democracy is just a bunch of people advocating for their own self-interest instead of the interests of the greater good, then we re not a democracy, we re anarchy,  Disney added.  We need to start voting and acting as citizens as though the common good matters more than our own personal well-being. This isn t tax reform. It s a heist.Photo by Ralph Orlowski/Getty Images for Burda Media.",1
" Tone Deaf Trump: Congrats Rep. Scalise On Losing Weight After You Almost Died. Donald Trump just signed the GOP tax scam into law. Of course, that meant that he invited all of his craven, cruel GOP sycophants down from their perches on Capitol Hill to celebrate in the Rose Garden at the White House. Now, that part is bad enough   celebrating tax cuts for a bunch of rich hedge fund managers and huge corporations at the expense of everyday Americans. Of course, Trump is beside himself with glee, as this represents his first major legislative win since he started squatting in the White House almost a year ago. Thanks to said glee, in true Trumpian style, he gave a free-wheeling address, and a most curious subject came up as Trump was thanking the goons from the Hill. Somehow, Trump veered away from tax cuts, and started talking about the Congressional baseball shooting that happened over the summer.In that shooting, Rep. Steve Scalise, who is also the House Majority Whip, was shot and almost lost his life. Thanks to this tragic and stunning act of political violence, Scalise had a long recovery; in fact he is still in physical therapy. But, of course, vain and looks-obsessed Trump decided that he would congratulate Scalise, not on his survival and on his miraculous recovery, but on the massive amount of weight Scalise lost while he was practically dying. And make no mistake   Scalise is VERY lucky to be alive. According to doctors, when he arrived at the hospital, Scalise was actually, quote, in  imminent risk of death.  Here is the quote, via Twitter:How stunningly tone deaf does one have to be to say something like that? I never thought I d say this about a Republican that I, by all reasonable accounts, absolutely loathe, but I feel sorry for him. I am sorry he got shot, and I am even sorrier that he now has to stand there and listen to that orange buffoon talk about him like that.I am sure that Scalise is a much tougher man than Trump, though. I am equally sure that he also knows that Trump is an international embarrassment and a crazy man who never should have been allowed anywhere near the White House.Featured image via Alex Wong/Getty Images",1
" The Internet Brutally Mocks Disney’s New Trump Robot At Hall Of Presidents. A new animatronic figure in the Hall of Presidents at Walt Disney World was added, where every former leader of the republic is depicted in an  audio-animatronics show.  The figure which supposedly resembles Jon Voight Donald Trump was added to the collection and it s absolutely horrifying. The internet noticed that, too.Here s a few more pictures of the Donald Trump animatronic. #HallOfPresidents pic.twitter.com/a45En9Jwys  WDW News Today (@WDWNT) December 19, 2017Trump robot in the Hall of Presidents looks like a 71-year-old Chucky doll. pic.twitter.com/yLCBmhpNvG  John Cohen (@JohnCohen1) December 19, 2017Breaking: 7 Disney Princesses and a Storm Trooper have come forward alleging Hall of Presidents Trump made lewd comments to them  Brohibition Now (@OhNoSheTwitnt) December 19, 2017Trump s animatronic figure for the Disney Hall of Presidents looks like it was carved out of Play-Doh and left out in the Florida heat, where it was discovered by a dying albino squirrel who settled atop its head and has been left there to decompose. pic.twitter.com/3vMZUTEylx  Elizabeth M. (@_ElizabethMay) December 19, 2017In a time w/ so many heavy items, thank you to Disney for the laugh. They did so much so well in the @realDonaldTrump animatronic.  Little hands, check   Absurdly long tie, check   Horrifying face, checkmateWhen Trump is impeached, can they move this to the Haunted Mansion? https://t.co/XrOvu32EV8  State of Resistance (@AltStateDpt) December 19, 2017all the other presidents in Disney s new Hall of Presidents look like they can t believe Donald Trump is president either pic.twitter.com/eMP9UX1bM8  Matt Binder (@MattBinder) December 18, 2017Disney unveiled Trump figure at the Hall of Presidents. To save production costs, they pulled the animated hands off of a retired figurine from the Its a Small World ride.  Tim Hanlon (@TimfromDa70s) December 19, 2017The best part of Donald Trump being in Disney s Hall of Presidents will be when they remove him from the Hall of Presidents and put him in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride s jail. pic.twitter.com/XViyKFQCET  Rex Huppke (@RexHuppke) December 19, 2017Comment today by local news channel anchor in Orlando:  Donald Trump robot just added to Disney s Hall of Presidents. I hope they programmed all the former presidents to not roll their eyes and shake their heads while he s talking.  Mark Hertling (@MarkHertling) December 19, 2017NPR: Disney World Adds Trump Animatronic Figure, But Likeness Is Lacking. But who REALLY wants to look at an accurate Donald? The man is about as presidential looking as a fucking Pokemon. https://t.co/HFYJRkefJ1  Stephen (@Harvest_This) December 19, 2017Could we put the animatronic version in the White House and the  real  one in Disney World? Asking for 7.6 billion people and the future of the planet. https://t.co/65FhbQHuV4 #Disney #Trump #JonVoight  David Schmid (@DavidSchmid1) December 19, 2017We re pretty sure Disney is trolling Trump.Image via Twitter.",1
" Mueller Spokesman Just F-cked Up Donald Trump’s Christmas. Trump supporters and the so-called president s favorite network are lashing out at special counsel Robert Mueller and the FBI. The White House is in panic-mode after Mueller obtained tens of thousands of transition team emails as part of the Russian probe. Ironically, it will quite possibly be emails that brings Trump down.A lawyer for the Trump transition team is claiming that the emails had been illegally turned over by the General Services Administration because the account owners never received notification of the request and he s claiming that they were  privileged communications. In a letter, Trump s attorney requested that Congress  act immediately to protect future presidential transitions from having their private records misappropriated by government agencies, particularly in the context of sensitive investigations intersecting with political motives. Mueller spokesman Peter Carr defended the special counsel s work in a statement issued just past midnight on Sunday, several hours after claims of   unlawful conduct  by Trump s attorney were made, according to Politico. When we have obtained emails in the course of our ongoing criminal investigation, we have secured either the account owner s consent or appropriate criminal process,  he said.The words that pop out in the statement are  criminal investigation,  the  account owner s consent  and  criminal process. While on the campaign trail, Donald Trump asked Russians to hack Hillary Clinton s emails. After the election, Trump s team is claiming that Mueller obtained the transition teams  emails illegally, even though that s not the truth. We see a pattern here.Team Trump thought Mueller was on a fishing expedition. Turns out, he was actually reeling in the fish. The White House was not aware at the time that he had the emails. Mueller got them through GSA so that team Trump could not selectively leave any out if they were requested.Merry Christmas, Mr. Trump.Photo by Ann Heisenfelt/Getty Images.",1
" SNL Hilariously Mocks Accused Child Molester Roy Moore For Losing AL Senate Race (VIDEO). Right now, the whole world is looking at the shocking fact that Democrat Doug Jones beat Republican Roy Moore in the special election to replace Attorney General Jeff Sessions in the United States Senate. Of course, Moore s candidacy was rocked by allegations of sexually harassing and even molesting teenage girls   and being banned from the mall in his hometown of Gadsden, Alabama for doing so.Even before that, Moore was an incendiary character in Alabama politics, having been removed as Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court not once but twice, and having made statements such as Muslims should not be allowed in Congress and homosexuality should be illegal. Hell, he even said that the last time America was great was when we had slavery. Therefore, he was an extraordinarily damaged candidate as it was. However, despite all of this, Alabama is a deep red state, with many voters agreeing with some of Moore s more extreme positions, and some even insisting that the allegations of sexual misconduct were simply not true. That is why it was such a shock that Doug Jones pulled out a win for that Senate seat.Well, there is one entity that could not resist going all in on the fact that Roy Moore lost this race: Saturday Night Live. While doing a caricature of the results, SNL began, with its Weekend Update host Colin Jost brutally mocking Moore s alleged proclivities fore teen girls: Congratulations to Alabama s newest Senator   not Roy Moore. Doug Jones has become the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in Alabama in over 20 years. Said Roy Moore:  gross, over 20 years? Jost then got in a dig at Trump, for whom Moore s loss was  a humiliating failure, remind everyone what Trump said of Jones  win: The Republicans will have another shot at this seat in a very short period of time. It never ends! Indeed. If the sane people of America have anything to say about it, it will be a very, very long time after 2018 before the GOP is allowed to control anything. Jost continued mocking Trump: That s it? You just went all in for an accused pedophile and when he lost, [you re] just like,  well, we had fun! He could be removed from office tonight and tweet:  Congratulations to Robert Mueller on a great investigation. Had a fun time being president. Catch you on the flippity-flop! #DietCokeTime . Oh, if only that could be our reality, to have Trump congratulating Mueller for removing him and his entire treasonous, criminal administration. Until then, we ll have to stick to  Weekend Update  and the rest of SNL, and hope for the best.Watch the video below:Featured image via Scott Olson/Getty Images",1
" Republican Senator Gets Dragged For Going After Robert Mueller. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX) thought it would be a good idea to attack Special Counsel Robert Mueller over the Russia probe. As Mueller s noose tightens, Republicans are losing their sh-t and attacking Mueller and the FBI in order to protect probably the most corrupt  president  ever.Former Attorney General Eric Holder tweeted on Friday,  Speaking on behalf of the vast majority of the American people, Republicans in Congress be forewarned: any attempt to remove Bob Mueller will not be tolerated. Cornyn retweeted Holder to say,  You don t. You don t https://t.co/7lHYkIloyz  Senator JohnCornyn (@JohnCornyn) December 16, 2017Bloomberg s Steven Dennis tweeted on Saturday that  [Cornyn] s beef is with Holder, not Mueller,  but Cornyn responded to say,  But Mueller needs to clean house of partisans. But Mueller needs to clean house of partisans https://t.co/g8SwgAKtfH  Senator JohnCornyn (@JohnCornyn) December 16, 2017The Washington Post s Greg Sargent asked Cornyn,  Will you accept the findings of the Mueller probe as legitimate, @JohnCornyn? Makes sense to me to wait to see what they are first,  Cornyn responded.Makes sense to me to wait to see what they are first https://t.co/9lCqpYujKN  Senator JohnCornyn (@JohnCornyn) December 16, 2017Republicans are trying to discredit Mueller and Twitter users took notice.If you even THINK of firing Mueller I ll make it my life s mission to make sure this is your last term, buddy.  Mrs. SMH (@MRSSMH2) December 16, 2017Carrollton, TX here Ready and willing to help get Cruz and Cornyn out  Jules012 (@JulesLorey1) December 16, 2017Garland, TX here Same! Bye Bye   TDK (@ejkmom1998) December 16, 2017Austin, TX. #IStandWithMueller. Cronyn is a fake representative. He represents his own interests and anything to profit himself  Vj (@Tex92eye) December 16, 2017I stand with Mueller!   Kenneth Shipp (@shipp_kenneth) December 16, 2017He speaks for me Its BS how you cover up for a Russia pawn If Trump not gulity why would Mueller be fired to cover up  Ellen Reeher Morris (@EllenMorris1222) December 16, 2017@EricHolder speaks for 69% of Americans according to recent polling. That s  vast majority  in my book. You were around for the Saturday Night Massacre @JohnCornyn. Firing Mueller would be X100!  Lori Winters (@LoriW66) December 16, 2017Country over party. pic.twitter.com/NXEX9rGBgu  PittieBoo (@PittieBoo) December 16, 2017He speaks for me, @JohnCornyn , and he speaks for the vast majority of American citizens who, you should remember, vote. See you in 2018.  Andrew Silver (@standsagreenoak) December 16, 2017I might just move to Texas to get those cronies tossed out of office. Blue wave is coming for the corrupt.  Ollie (@marciebp) December 16, 2017Good try, John. History will not be kind to you.Photo by Ann Heisenfelt/Getty Images",1
" In A Heartless Rebuke To Victims, Trump Invites NRA To Xmas Party On Sandy Hook Anniversary. It almost seems like Donald Trump is trolling America at this point. In the beginning, when he tried to gaslight the country by insisting that the crowd at his inauguration was the biggest ever   or that it was even close to the last couple of inaugurations   we all kind of scratched our heads and wondered what kind of bullshit he was playing at. Then when he started appointing people to positions they had no business being in, we started to worry that this was going to go much worse than we had expected.After 11 months of Donald Trump pulling the rhetorical equivalent of whipping his dick out and slapping it on every table he gets near, I think it s time we address what s happening: Dude is a straight-up troll. He gets pleasure out of making other people uncomfortable or even seeing them in distress. He actively thinks up ways to piss off people he doesn t like.Let s set aside just for a moment the fact that that s the least presidential  behavior anyone s ever heard of   it s dangerous.His latest stunt is one of the grossest yet.Everyone is, by now, used to Trump not talking about things he doesn t want to talk about, and making a huge deal out of things that not many people care about. So it wasn t a huge surprise when the president didn t discuss the Sandy Hook shooting of 2012 on the fifth anniversary of that tragic event. What was a huge surprise was that he not only consciously decided not to invite the victims  families to the White House Christmas party this year   as they have been invited every year since the massacre took place, along with others who share those concerns.In each of the past 4 years, President Obama invited gun violence prevention activists, gun violence survivors (including the Sandy Hook families) and supportive lawmakers to his Christmas party. Zero gun lobbyists were in attendance. pic.twitter.com/QePW9FtbSh  Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) December 15, 2017The last sentence of that tweet is important, because that s exactly who Donald Trump did invite to the White House Christmas party. Instead of victims. On the anniversary day.Yesterday was the 5 year mark of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook School, which went unacknowledged by the President. On the same day, he hosted a White House Christmas party to which he invited @NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre. Here he is at the party with @DanPatrick. pic.twitter.com/mUbKCIWGxB  Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) December 15, 2017Wayne LaPierre is the man who, in response to the Sandy Hook massacre, finally issued a statement that blamed gun violence on music, movies, and video games, and culminated with perhaps the greatest bit of irony any man has ever unintentionally conceived of: Isn t fantasizing about killing people as a way to get your kicks really the filthiest form of pornography? Yes. Yes, it is, Wayne.Anyway, Happy Holidays Merry Christmas from Donald Trump, everyone!Featured image via Alex Wong/Getty Images",1
" KY GOP State Rep. Commits Suicide Over Allegations He Molested A Teen Girl (DETAILS). In this #METOO moment, many powerful men are being toppled. It spans many industries, from entertainment, to journalism, to politics and beyond. Any man that ever dared to abuse his power to sexually harass, molest, or assault women better brace himself for being rooted out, publicly shamed, and forced into early retirement.Well, unfortunately, the latest bombshell story has actually resulted in the suicide of a lawmaker. Kentucky State Representative Dan Johnson left a suicide note on Facebook and then shot himself on a bridge, according to reports from local authorities. Bullitt County Sheriff Donnie Tinnell reported to local station WDRB that Johnson s body was found after his suicide note from Facebook was reported to the local police. Here is that note:Now, nobody wants to celebrate a suicide. This man should have resigned gracefully and faced his accuser, who was a friend of his daughter s, who says that Johnson molested her while she was passed out drunk in his home. Apparently, Johnson, who referred to himself as some kind of  pope,  routinely engaged in parties with plenty of alcohol with minors. Johnson s home was called the  Pope s House,  and he was the preacher at the Heart of Fire City Church, where the alleged molestation took place.Now, innocent until proven guilty and all of that, but if someone commits suicide, it s likely there could be some merit there. That s a rather extreme measure to take. Further, by all accounts, this guy was no saint. He was heavily pro-gun, opposed any and all abortion rights, and has referred to President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama as monkeys on his Facebook page, among other racist messages and images.Again, we re not glad the man is dead. But, it is important for people to remember him for exactly who he was. We grieve for the loss his children, wife, and grandchildren suffered, for nobody deserves such a loss. However, methinks the people of Kentucky are much better off. Sad to say, but true.Featured image via screen capture",1
"As U.S. budget fight looms, Republicans flip their fiscal script. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of a conservative Republican faction in the U.S. Congress, who voted this month for a huge expansion of the national debt to pay for tax cuts, called himself a “fiscal conservative” on Sunday and urged budget restraint in 2018. In keeping with a sharp pivot under way among Republicans, U.S. Representative Mark Meadows, speaking on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” drew a hard line on federal spending, which lawmakers are bracing to do battle over in January. When they return from the holidays on Wednesday, lawmakers will begin trying to pass a federal budget in a fight likely to be linked to other issues, such as immigration policy, even as the November congressional election campaigns approach in which Republicans will seek to keep control of Congress. President Donald Trump and his Republicans want a big budget increase in military spending, while Democrats also want proportional increases for non-defense “discretionary” spending on programs that support education, scientific research, infrastructure, public health and environmental protection. “The (Trump) administration has already been willing to say: ‘We’re going to increase non-defense discretionary spending ... by about 7 percent,’” Meadows, chairman of the small but influential House Freedom Caucus, said on the program. “Now, Democrats are saying that’s not enough, we need to give the government a pay raise of 10 to 11 percent. For a fiscal conservative, I don’t see where the rationale is. ... Eventually you run out of other people’s money,” he said. Meadows was among Republicans who voted in late December for their party’s debt-financed tax overhaul, which is expected to balloon the federal budget deficit and add about $1.5 trillion over 10 years to the $20 trillion national debt. “It’s interesting to hear Mark talk about fiscal responsibility,” Democratic U.S. Representative Joseph Crowley said on CBS. Crowley said the Republican tax bill would require the  United States to borrow $1.5 trillion, to be paid off by future generations, to finance tax cuts for corporations and the rich. “This is one of the least ... fiscally responsible bills we’ve ever seen passed in the history of the House of Representatives. I think we’re going to be paying for this for many, many years to come,” Crowley said. Republicans insist the tax package, the biggest U.S. tax overhaul in more than 30 years,  will boost the economy and job growth. House Speaker Paul Ryan, who also supported the tax bill, recently went further than Meadows, making clear in a radio interview that welfare or “entitlement reform,” as the party often calls it, would be a top Republican priority in 2018. In Republican parlance, “entitlement” programs mean food stamps, housing assistance, Medicare and Medicaid health insurance for the elderly, poor and disabled, as well as other programs created by Washington to assist the needy. Democrats seized on Ryan’s early December remarks, saying they showed Republicans would try to pay for their tax overhaul by seeking spending cuts for social programs. But the goals of House Republicans may have to take a back seat to the Senate, where the votes of some Democrats will be needed to approve a budget and prevent a government shutdown. Democrats will use their leverage in the Senate, which Republicans narrowly control, to defend both discretionary non-defense programs and social spending, while tackling the issue of the “Dreamers,” people brought illegally to the country as children. Trump in September put a March 2018 expiration date on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program, which protects the young immigrants from deportation and provides them with work permits. The president has said in recent Twitter messages he wants funding for his proposed Mexican border wall and other immigration law changes in exchange for agreeing to help the Dreamers. Representative Debbie Dingell told CBS she did not favor linking that issue to other policy objectives, such as wall funding. “We need to do DACA clean,” she said.  On Wednesday, Trump aides will meet with congressional leaders to discuss those issues. That will be followed by a weekend of strategy sessions for Trump and Republican leaders on Jan. 6 and 7, the White House said. Trump was also scheduled to meet on Sunday with Florida Republican Governor Rick Scott, who wants more emergency aid. The House has passed an $81 billion aid package after hurricanes in Florida, Texas and Puerto Rico, and wildfires in California. The package far exceeded the $44 billion requested by the Trump administration. The Senate has not yet voted on the aid. ",0
"U.S. military to accept transgender recruits on Monday: Pentagon. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Transgender people will be allowed for the first time to enlist in the U.S. military starting on Monday as ordered by federal courts, the Pentagon said on Friday, after President Donald Trump’s administration decided not to appeal rulings that blocked his transgender ban. Two federal appeals courts, one in Washington and one in Virginia, last week rejected the administration’s request to put on hold orders by lower court judges requiring the military to begin accepting transgender recruits on Jan. 1. A Justice Department official said the administration will not challenge those rulings. “The Department of Defense has announced that it will be releasing an independent study of these issues in the coming weeks. So rather than litigate this interim appeal before that occurs, the administration has decided to wait for DOD’s study and will continue to defend the president’s lawful authority in District Court in the meantime,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. In September, the Pentagon said it had created a panel of senior officials to study how to implement a directive by Trump to prohibit transgender individuals from serving. The Defense Department has until Feb. 21 to submit a plan to Trump. Lawyers representing currently-serving transgender service members and aspiring recruits said they had expected the administration to appeal the rulings to the conservative-majority Supreme Court, but were hoping that would not happen. Pentagon spokeswoman Heather Babb said in a statement: “As mandated by court order, the Department of Defense is prepared to begin accessing transgender applicants for military service Jan. 1. All applicants must meet all accession standards.” Jennifer Levi, a lawyer with gay, lesbian and transgender advocacy group GLAD, called the decision not to appeal “great news.” “I’m hoping it means the government has come to see that there is no way to justify a ban and that it’s not good for the military or our country,” Levi said. Both GLAD and the American Civil Liberties Union represent plaintiffs in the lawsuits filed against the administration. In a move that appealed to his hard-line conservative supporters, Trump announced in July that he would prohibit transgender people from serving in the military, reversing Democratic President Barack Obama’s policy of accepting them. Trump said on Twitter at the time that the military “cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail.” Four federal judges - in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Seattle and Riverside, California - have issued rulings blocking Trump’s ban while legal challenges to the Republican president’s policy proceed. The judges said the ban would likely violate the right under the U.S. Constitution to equal protection under the law. The Pentagon on Dec. 8 issued guidelines to recruitment personnel in order to enlist transgender applicants by Jan. 1. The memo outlined medical requirements and specified how the applicants’ sex would be identified and even which undergarments they would wear. The Trump administration previously said in legal papers that the armed forces were not prepared to train thousands of personnel on the medical standards needed to process transgender applicants and might have to accept “some individuals who are not medically fit for service.” The Obama administration had set a deadline of July 1, 2017, to begin accepting transgender recruits. But Trump’s defense secretary, James Mattis, postponed that date to Jan. 1, 2018, which the president’s ban then put off indefinitely. Trump has taken other steps aimed at rolling back transgender rights. In October, his administration said a federal law banning gender-based workplace discrimination does not protect transgender employees, reversing another Obama-era position. In February, Trump rescinded guidance issued by the Obama administration saying that public schools should allow transgender students to use the restroom that corresponds to their gender identity. ",0
"Senior U.S. Republican senator: 'Let Mr. Mueller do his job'. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The special counsel investigation of links between Russia and President Trump’s 2016 election campaign should continue without interference in 2018, despite calls from some Trump administration allies and Republican lawmakers to shut it down, a prominent Republican senator said on Sunday. Lindsey Graham, who serves on the Senate armed forces and judiciary committees, said Department of Justice Special Counsel Robert Mueller needs to carry on with his Russia investigation without political interference. “This investigation will go forward. It will be an investigation conducted without political influence,” Graham said on CBS’s Face the Nation news program. “And we all need to let Mr. Mueller do his job. I think he’s the right guy at the right time.”  The question of how Russia may have interfered in the election, and how Trump’s campaign may have had links with or co-ordinated any such effort, has loomed over the White House since Trump took office in January. It shows no sign of receding as Trump prepares for his second year in power, despite intensified rhetoric from some Trump allies in recent weeks accusing Mueller’s team of bias against the Republican president. Trump himself seemed to undercut his supporters in an interview last week with the New York Times in which he said he expected Mueller was “going to be fair.”    Russia’s role in the election and the question of possible links to the Trump campaign are the focus of multiple inquiries in Washington. Three committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives are investigating, as well as Mueller, whose team in May took over an earlier probe launched by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Several members of the Trump campaign and administration have been convicted or indicted in the investigation.  Trump and his allies deny any collusion with Russia during the campaign, and the Kremlin has denied meddling in the election. Graham said he still wants an examination of the FBI’s use of a dossier on links between Trump and Russia that was compiled by a former British spy, Christopher Steele, which prompted Trump allies and some Republicans to question Mueller’s inquiry.   On Saturday, the New York Times reported that it was not that dossier that triggered an early FBI probe, but a tip from former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos to an Australian diplomat that Russia had damaging information about former Trump rival Hillary Clinton.  “I want somebody to look at the way the Department of Justice used this dossier. It bothers me greatly the way they used it, and I want somebody to look at it,” Graham said. But he said the Russia investigation must continue. “As a matter of fact, it would hurt us if we ignored it,” he said. ",0
"FBI Russia probe helped by Australian diplomat tip-off: NYT. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos told an Australian diplomat in May 2016 that Russia had political dirt on Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, the New York Times reported on Saturday. The conversation between Papadopoulos and the diplomat, Alexander Downer, in London was a driving factor behind the FBI’s decision to open a counter-intelligence investigation of Moscow’s contacts with the Trump campaign, the Times reported. Two months after the meeting, Australian officials passed the information that came from Papadopoulos to their American counterparts when leaked Democratic emails began appearing online, according to the newspaper, which cited four current and former U.S. and foreign officials. Besides the information from the Australians, the probe by the Federal Bureau of Investigation was also propelled by intelligence from other friendly governments, including the British and Dutch, the Times said. Papadopoulos, a Chicago-based international energy lawyer, pleaded guilty on Oct. 30 to lying to FBI agents about contacts with people who claimed to have ties to top Russian officials. It was the first criminal charge alleging links between the Trump campaign and Russia. The White House has played down the former aide’s campaign role, saying it was “extremely limited” and that any actions he took would have been on his own. The New York Times, however, reported that Papadopoulos helped set up a meeting between then-candidate Donald Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and edited the outline of Trump’s first major foreign policy speech in April 2016. The federal investigation, which is now being led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, has hung over Trump’s White House since he took office almost a year ago. Some Trump allies have recently accused Mueller’s team of being biased against the Republican president. Lawyers for Papadopoulos did not immediately respond to requests by Reuters for comment. Mueller’s office declined to comment. Trump’s White House attorney, Ty Cobb, declined to comment on the New York Times report. “Out of respect for the special counsel and his process, we are not commenting on matters such as this,” he said in a statement. Mueller has charged four Trump associates, including Papadopoulos, in his investigation. Russia has denied interfering in the U.S. election and Trump has said there was no collusion between his campaign and Moscow. ",0
"Trump wants Postal Service to charge 'much more' for Amazon shipments. SEATTLE/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump called on the U.S. Postal Service on Friday to charge “much more” to ship packages for Amazon (AMZN.O), picking another fight with an online retail giant he has criticized in the past.     “Why is the United States Post Office, which is losing many billions of dollars a year, while charging Amazon and others so little to deliver their packages, making Amazon richer and the Post Office dumber and poorer? Should be charging MUCH MORE!” Trump wrote on Twitter.  The president’s tweet drew fresh attention to the fragile finances of the Postal Service at a time when tens of millions of parcels have just been shipped all over the country for the holiday season.  The U.S. Postal Service, which runs at a big loss, is an independent agency within the federal government and does not receive tax dollars for operating expenses, according to its website.  Package delivery has become an increasingly important part of its business as the Internet has led to a sharp decline in the amount of first-class letters. The president does not determine postal rates. They are set by the Postal Regulatory Commission, an independent government agency with commissioners selected by the president from both political parties. That panel raised prices on packages by almost 2 percent in November.  Amazon was founded by Jeff Bezos, who remains the chief executive officer of the retail company and is the richest person in the world, according to Bloomberg News. Bezos also owns The Washington Post, a newspaper Trump has repeatedly railed against in his criticisms of the news media. In tweets over the past year, Trump has said the “Amazon Washington Post” fabricated stories. He has said Amazon does not pay sales tax, which is not true, and so hurts other retailers, part of a pattern by the former businessman and reality television host of periodically turning his ire on big American companies since he took office in January. Daniel Ives, a research analyst at GBH Insights, said Trump’s comment could be taken as a warning to the retail giant. However, he said he was not concerned for Amazon. “We do not see any price hikes in the future. However, that is a risk that Amazon is clearly aware of and (it) is building out its distribution (system) aggressively,” he said. Amazon has shown interest in the past in shifting into its own delivery service, including testing drones for deliveries. In 2015, the company spent $11.5 billion on shipping, 46 percent of its total operating expenses that year.  Amazon shares were down 0.86 percent to $1,175.90 by early afternoon. Overall, U.S. stock prices were down slightly on Friday.  Satish Jindel, president of ShipMatrix Inc, which analyzes shipping data, disputed the idea that the Postal Service charges less than United Parcel Service Inc (UPS.N) and FedEx Corp (FDX.N), the other biggest players in the parcel delivery business in the United States. Many customers get lower rates from UPS and FedEx than they would get from the post office for comparable services, he said. The Postal Service delivers about 62 percent of Amazon packages, for about 3.5 to 4 million a day during the current peak year-end holiday shipping season, Jindel said. The Seattle-based company and the post office have an agreement in which mail carriers take Amazon packages on the last leg of their journeys, from post offices to customers’ doorsteps. Amazon’s No. 2 carrier is UPS, at 21 percent, and FedEx is third, with 8 percent or so, according to Jindel. Trump’s comment tapped into a debate over whether Postal Service pricing has kept pace with the rise of e-commerce, which has flooded the mail with small packages.Private companies like UPS have long claimed the current system unfairly undercuts their business. Steve Gaut, a spokesman for UPS, noted that the company values its “productive relationship” with the postal service, but that it has filed with the Postal Regulatory Commission its concerns about the postal service’s methods for covering costs. Representatives for Amazon, the White House, the U.S. Postal Service and FedEx declined comment or were not immediately available for comment on Trump’s tweet. According to its annual report, the Postal Service lost $2.74 billion this year, and its deficit has ballooned to $61.86 billion.  While the Postal Service’s revenue for first class mail, marketing mail and periodicals is flat or declining, revenue from package delivery is up 44 percent since 2014 to $19.5 billion in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2017. But it also lost about $2 billion in revenue when a temporary surcharge expired in April 2016. According to a Government Accountability Office report in February, the service is facing growing personnel expenses, particularly $73.4 billion in unfunded pension and benefits liabilities. The Postal Service has not announced any plans to cut costs. By law, the Postal Service has to set prices for package delivery to cover the costs attributable to that service. But the postal service allocates only 5.5 percent of its total costs to its business of shipping packages even though that line of business is 28 percent of its total revenue. ",0
"White House, Congress prepare for talks on spending, immigration. WEST PALM BEACH, Fla./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Friday it was set to kick off talks next week with Republican and Democratic congressional leaders on immigration policy, government spending and other issues that need to be wrapped up early in the new year. The expected flurry of legislative activity comes as Republicans and Democrats begin to set the stage for midterm congressional elections in November. President Donald Trump’s Republican Party is eager to maintain control of Congress while Democrats look for openings to wrest seats away in the Senate and the House of Representatives. On Wednesday, Trump’s budget chief Mick Mulvaney and legislative affairs director Marc Short will meet with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan - both Republicans - and their Democratic counterparts, Senator Chuck Schumer and Representative Nancy Pelosi, the White House said. That will be followed up with a weekend of strategy sessions for Trump, McConnell and Ryan on Jan. 6 and 7 at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, according to the White House. The Senate returns to work on Jan. 3 and the House on Jan. 8. Congress passed a short-term government funding bill last week before taking its Christmas break, but needs to come to an agreement on defense spending and various domestic programs by Jan. 19, or the government will shut down. Also on the agenda for lawmakers is disaster aid for people hit by hurricanes in Puerto Rico, Texas and Florida, and by wildfires in California. The House passed an $81 billion package in December, which the Senate did not take up. The White House has asked for a smaller figure, $44 billion. Deadlines also loom for soon-to-expire protections for young adult immigrants who entered the country illegally as children, known as “Dreamers.” In September, Trump ended Democratic former President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which protected Dreamers from deportation and provided work permits, effective in March, giving Congress until then to devise a long-term solution. Democrats, some Republicans and a number of large companies have pushed for DACA protections to continue. Trump and other Republicans have said that will not happen without Congress approving broader immigration policy changes and tougher border security. Democrats oppose funding for a wall promised by Trump along the U.S.-Mexican border.  “The Democrats have been told, and fully understand, that there can be no DACA without the desperately needed WALL at the Southern Border and an END to the horrible Chain Migration & ridiculous Lottery System of Immigration etc,” Trump said in a Twitter post on Friday. Trump wants to overhaul immigration rules for extended families and others seeking to live in the United States. Republican U.S. Senator Jeff Flake, a frequent critic of the president, said he would work with Trump to protect Dreamers. “We can fix DACA in a way that beefs up border security, stops chain migration for the DREAMers, and addresses the unfairness of the diversity lottery. If POTUS (Trump) wants to protect these kids, we want to help him keep that promise,” Flake wrote on Twitter. Congress in early 2018 also must raise the U.S. debt ceiling to avoid a government default. The U.S. Treasury would exhaust all of its borrowing options and run dry of cash to pay its bills by late March or early April if Congress does not raise the debt ceiling before then, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Trump, who won his first major legislative victory with the passage of a major tax overhaul this month, has also promised a major infrastructure plan. ",0
"Trump says Russia probe will be fair, but timeline unclear: NYT. WEST PALM BEACH, Fla (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Thursday he believes he will be fairly treated in a special counsel investigation into Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election, but said he did not know how long the probe would last. The federal investigation has hung over Trump’s White House since he took office almost a year ago, and some Trump allies have in recent weeks accused the team of Justice Department Special Counsel Robert Mueller of being biased against the Republican president. But in an interview with the New York Times, Trump appeared to shrug off concerns about the investigation, which was prompted by U.S. intelligence agencies’ conclusion that Russia tried to help Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton by hacking and releasing embarrassing emails and disseminating propaganda. “There’s been no collusion. But I think he’s going to be fair,” Trump said in what the Times described as a 30-minute impromptu interview at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida. Mueller has charged four Trump associates in his investigation. Russia has denied interfering in the U.S. election. U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said this month that he was not aware of any impropriety by Mueller’s team. Trump’s lawyers have been saying for weeks that they had expected the Mueller investigation to wrap up quickly, possibly by the end of 2017. Mueller has not commented on how long it will last. Trump told the Times that he did not know how long the investigation would take. “Timing-wise, I can’t tell you. I just don’t know,” he said. Trump said he thought a prolonged probe “makes the country look bad” but said it has energized his core supporters. “What it’s done is, it’s really angered the base and made the base stronger. My base is strong than it’s ever been,” he said. The interview was a rare break in Trump’s Christmas vacation in Florida. He has golfed each day aside from Christmas Day, and mainly kept a low profile, apart from the occasional flurry of tweets. He spent one day golfing with Republican Senator David Perdue from Georgia, who has pushed legislation to cap immigration numbers, and had dinner on Thursday with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, an international trade hawk. Trump told the Times he hoped to work with Democrats in the U.S. Congress on a spending plan to fix roads and other infrastructure, and on protections for a group of undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children. Trump spoke about trade issues, saying he had backed off his hard line on Chinese trade practices in the hope that Beijing would do more to pressure North Korea to end its nuclear and missile testing program. He said he had been disappointed in the results. He also complained about the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which his administration is attempting to renegotiate in talks with Mexico and Canada. Trump said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had played down the importance of Canadian oil and lumber exports to the United States when looking at the balance of trade between the two countries. “If I don’t make the right deal, I’ll terminate NAFTA in two seconds. But we’re doing pretty good,” Trump said. ",0
"Factbox: Trump on Twitter (Dec 29) - Approval rating, Amazon. The following statements were posted to the verified Twitter accounts of U.S. President Donald Trump, @realDonaldTrump and @POTUS.  The opinions expressed are his own. Reuters has not edited the statements or confirmed their accuracy.  @realDonaldTrump : - While the Fake News loves to talk about my so-called low approval rating, @foxandfriends just showed that my rating on Dec. 28, 2017, was approximately the same as President Obama on Dec. 28, 2009, which was 47%...and this despite massive negative Trump coverage & Russia hoax! [0746 EST] - Why is the United States Post Office, which is losing many billions of dollars a year, while charging Amazon and others so little to deliver their packages, making Amazon richer and the Post Office dumber and poorer? Should be charging MUCH MORE! [0804 EST] -- Source link: (bit.ly/2jBh4LU) (bit.ly/2jpEXYR) ",0
"Trump on Twitter (Dec 28) - Global Warming. The following statements were posted to the verified Twitter accounts of U.S. President Donald Trump, @realDonaldTrump and @POTUS.  The opinions expressed are his own. Reuters has not edited the statements or confirmed their accuracy.  @realDonaldTrump : - Together, we are MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! bit.ly/2lnpKaq [1814 EST] - In the East, it could be the COLDEST New Year’s Eve on record. Perhaps we could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming that our Country, but not other countries, was going to pay TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS to protect against. Bundle up! [1901 EST] -- Source link: (bit.ly/2jBh4LU) (bit.ly/2jpEXYR) ",0
"Alabama official to certify Senator-elect Jones today despite challenge: CNN. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill said he will certify Democratic Senator-elect Doug Jones as winner on Thursday despite opponent Roy Moore’s challenge, in a phone call on CNN. Moore, a conservative who had faced allegations of groping teenage girls when he was in his 30s, filed a court challenge late on Wednesday to the outcome of a U.S. Senate election he unexpectedly lost. ",0
"Jones certified U.S. Senate winner despite Moore challenge. (Reuters) - Alabama officials on Thursday certified Democrat Doug Jones the winner of the state’s U.S. Senate race, after a state judge denied a challenge by Republican Roy Moore, whose campaign was derailed by accusations of sexual misconduct with teenage girls. Jones won the vacant seat by about 22,000 votes, or 1.6 percentage points, election officials said. That made him the first Democrat in a quarter of a century to win a Senate seat in Alabama.  The seat was previously held by Republican Jeff Sessions, who was tapped by U.S. President Donald Trump as attorney general. A state canvassing board composed of Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill, Governor Kay Ivey and Attorney General Steve Marshall certified the election results. Seating Jones will narrow the Republican majority in the Senate to 51 of 100 seats. In a statement, Jones called his victory “a new chapter” and pledged to work with both parties. Moore declined to concede defeat even after Trump urged him to do so. He stood by claims of a fraudulent election in a statement released after the certification and said he had no regrets, media outlets reported. An Alabama judge denied Moore’s request to block certification of the results of the Dec. 12 election in a decision shortly before the canvassing board met. Moore’s challenge alleged there had been potential voter fraud that denied him a chance of victory. His filing on Wednesday in the Montgomery Circuit Court sought to halt the meeting scheduled to ratify Jones’ win on Thursday. Moore could ask for a recount, in addition to possible other court challenges, Merrill said in an interview with Fox News Channel. He would have to complete paperwork “within a timed period” and show he has the money for a challenge, Merrill said. “We’ve not been notified yet of their intention to do that,” Merrill said. Regarding the claim of voter fraud, Merrill told CNN that more than 100 cases had been reported. “We’ve adjudicated more than 60 of those. We will continue to do that,” he said.  Republican lawmakers in Washington had distanced themselves from Moore and called for him to drop out of the race after several women accused him of sexual assault or misconduct dating back to when they were teenagers and he was in his early 30s.  Moore has denied wrongdoing and Reuters has not been able to independently verify the allegations. ",0
"New York governor questions the constitutionality of federal tax overhaul. NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The new U.S. tax code targets high-tax states and may be unconstitutional, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Thursday, saying that the bill may violate New York residents’ rights to due process and equal protection.  The sweeping Republican tax bill signed into law by U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday introduces a cap, of $10,000,  on deductions of state and local income and property taxes, known as SALT. The tax overhaul was the party’s first major legislative victory since Trump took office in January.  The SALT provision will hit many taxpayers in states with high incomes, high property values and high taxes, like New York, New Jersey and California. Those states are generally Democratic leaning.  “I’m not even sure what they did is legally constitutional and that’s something we’re looking at now,” Cuomo said in an interview with CNN. In an interview with CNBC, Cuomo suggested why the bill may be unconstitutional.  “Politics does not trump the law,” Cuomo said on CNBC. “You have the constitution, you have the law, you have due process, you have equal protection. You can’t use politics just because the majority controls to override the law.” The Fifth Amendment of the Constitution, better known for its protection against self-incrimination, also protects individuals from seizure of life, liberty or property without due process and has been interpreted by the Supreme Court as guaranteeing equal protection by the law.  Cuomo and California Governor Jerry Brown, both Democrats, have previously said they were exploring legal challenges to SALT deduction limits.  Law professors have said legal challenges would likely rest on arguing that the provision interferes with the protection of states’ rights under the U.S. Constitution’s 10th Amendment. Tax attorneys said Cuomo’s legal argument against the tax bill could be that it discriminates and places an unjust tax burden on states that heavily voted for Democrats in the past - known as “blue states.” “The de facto effect of this legislation is to discriminate against blue states and particularly from (Cuomo’s) perspective the state of New York,” said Joseph Callahan, an attorney with the law firm Mackay, Caswell & Callahan in New York.  But some tax experts noted the U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted the 16th Amendment to give Congress broad latitude to tax as it sees fit. In a frequently cited 1934 decision, the Supreme Court called tax deductions a “legislative grace” rather than a vested right. “I don’t understand how they think they have a valid lawsuit here,” David Gamage, a professor of tax law at Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law, told Reuters last week, speaking generally about governors in blue states that could challenge the tax bill.  Cuomo also said on Thursday that New York is proposing a restructuring of its tax code. He provided no details.  A group of 13 law professors on Dec. 18 published a paper suggesting ways that high-tax states could minimize the effects of the SALT deduction cap.  Their suggestions included shifting more of the tax burden onto businesses in the form of higher employer-side payroll taxes, since the federal tax bill’s cap on SALT deductions only applies to individuals and not businesses. States also could raise taxes on pass-through entities, which the federal tax bill specifically benefits with a lower rate on a portion of their income. On Friday, Cuomo said he would allow state residents to make a partial or full pre-payment on their property tax bill before Jan. 1, allowing taxpapyers to deduct such payments for 2017 before the cap kicks in, prompting a wave of residents to pay early.  However, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service on Wednesday advised homeowners that the pre-payment of 2018 property taxes may not be deductible. ",0
"Factbox: Trump on Twitter (Dec 28) - Vanity Fair, Hillary Clinton. The following statements were posted to the verified Twitter accounts of U.S. President Donald Trump, @realDonaldTrump and @POTUS.  The opinions expressed are his own. Reuters has not edited the statements or confirmed their accuracy.  @realDonaldTrump : - Vanity Fair, which looks like it is on its last legs, is bending over backwards in apologizing for the minor hit they took at Crooked H. Anna Wintour, who was all set to be Amb to Court of St James’s & a big fundraiser for CH, is beside herself in grief & begging for forgiveness! [1024 EST] -- Source link: (bit.ly/2jBh4LU) (bit.ly/2jpEXYR) ",0
"Trump on Twitter (Dec 27) - Trump, Iraq, Syria. The following statements were posted to the verified Twitter accounts of U.S. President Donald Trump, @realDonaldTrump and @POTUS.  The opinions expressed are his own. Reuters has not edited the statements or confirmed their accuracy.  @realDonaldTrump : - “On 1/20 - the day Trump was inaugurated - an estimated 35,000 ISIS fighters held approx 17,500 square miles of territory in both Iraq and Syria. As of 12/21, the U.S. military estimates the remaining 1,000 or so fighters occupy roughly 1,900 square miles...” via @jamiejmcintyre  [1749 EST] - Just left West Palm Beach Fire & Rescue #2. Met with great men and women as representatives of those who do so much for all of us. Firefighters, paramedics, first responders - what amazing people they are! [1811 EST] - “On 1/20 - the day Trump was inaugurated - an estimated 35,000 ISIS fighters held approx 17,500 square miles of territory in both Iraq and Syria. As of 12/21, the U.S. military est the remaining 1,000 or so fighters occupy roughly 1,900 square miles..” @jamiejmcintyre @dcexaminer [2109 EST] - ""Arrests of MS-13 Members, Associates Up 83% Under Trump"" bit.ly/2liRH3b [2146 EST] -- Source link: (bit.ly/2jBh4LU) (bit.ly/2jpEXYR) ",0
"Man says he delivered manure to Mnuchin to protest new U.S. tax law.  (In Dec. 25 story, in second paragraph, corrects name of Strong’s employer to Mental Health Department, not Public Health Department.) By Bernie Woodall (Reuters) - A man claiming to be the person who delivered a gift-wrapped package of horse manure at the Los Angeles home of U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Monday he did it to protest the federal tax overhaul signed into law last week by President Donald Trump. Robert Strong, 45, a psychologist for the Los Angeles County Mental Health Department, said by telephone he left the poop-filled parcel addressed to Mnuchin and Trump in the driveway outside Mnuchin’s home in the posh Bel Air community.  KNBC-TV, an NBC television affiliate in Los Angeles, reported Mnuchin was not home at the time. The package was found by Mnuchin’s neighbor.    “Protest really should be funny,” Strong told Reuters. “People’s eyes glaze over when they just see angry people in the streets.” He believes the new tax law will hurt poor people. Neither the U.S. Secret Service nor the Los Angeles Police Department, both of which investigated the incident, would confirm Strong was responsible. The Secret Service interviewed an individual who admitted delivering the package, but no charges had been filed against him as of Monday afternoon. LAPD Lieutenant Rob Weise said it was possible whoever left the package did not break any criminal laws. While he is not assigned to investigate the incident, Weise said if the box did not present any danger, it would not be illegal. The LAPD bomb squad X-rayed the box before opening it on Saturday. In a photo of the card Strong posted on Twitter, he wrote “Misters Mnuchin & Trump, We’re returning the ‘gift’ of the Christmas tax bill” and signed it “Warmest wishes, The American people.”      Strong said a Secret Service agent, accompanied by six police officers, showed up at his house to question him on Sunday night, and the agent chided him, asking, “‘Are you ashamed of your behavior?’”     The White House declined to comment on Monday and officials with the Treasury Department could not be reached.         ",0
"Virginia officials postpone lottery drawing to decide tied statehouse election. (Reuters) - A lottery drawing to settle a tied Virginia legislative race that could shift the statehouse balance of power has been indefinitely postponed, state election officials said on Tuesday, after the Democratic candidate mounted a legal fight. The decision to put off the high-stakes lotto, originally scheduled for Wednesday, marks the latest twist in a dramatic election recount that at one point showed Democrat Shelly Simonds beating Republican incumbent David Yancey by a single vote.  A victory by Simonds would shift Republicans’ slim control of the 100-member House of Delegates to an even 50-50 split with the Democrats, forcing the two parties into a rare power-sharing arrangement. A day after Simonds emerged as the victor of a recount, a three-judge panel ruled that a disputed ballot should be counted for Yancey. That decision left the two candidates tied with 11,608 votes each in a district that encompasses the shipping hub of Newport News in southeastern Virginia, setting the stage for the equivalent of a coin toss to pick a final winner. Simonds asked a state court to reconsider on Tuesday, arguing that the disputed ballot was wrongly included. An image filed in court showed that the ballot had bubbles filled in beside both names, with a slash mark by Simonds’ name. The voter selected Republicans for other offices. Simonds told reporters that the case had implications not only for her contest but for the integrity of state elections as a whole, saying that without a court ruling in her favor, “recounts would become a never-ending spiral of courtroom challenges.” The chairman of the Virginia Board of Elections, James Alcorn, said in a statement that while holding a lottery would be in keeping with state law, such a move should be considered “an action of last resort.” He added: “Any substantive concerns regarding the election or recount should be resolved before a random drawing is conducted.”    Yancey’s campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Virginia House Republican Caucus said in a statement that it was reviewing the new court filings. “We believe the court acted appropriately and that the integrity of the process is without question,” spokesman Parker Slaybaugh said. Virginia Department of Elections spokeswoman Andrea Gaines said in an email that no new date for a drawing has been set. Democrats notched historic gains in Virginia’s statehouse elections last month, part of the party’s first big wave of political victories since Republican Donald Trump won the White House last year. Before the Nov. 7 general election, Virginia Republicans held 66 seats to the Democrats’ 34 in the House of Delegates, along with a majority in the state Senate. ",0
"U.S. lawmakers question businessman at 2016 Trump Tower meeting: sources. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Georgian-American businessman who met then-Miss Universe pageant owner Donald Trump in 2013, has been questioned by congressional investigators about whether he helped organize a meeting between Russians and Trump’s eldest son during the 2016 election campaign, four sources familiar with the matter said. The meeting at Trump Tower in New York involving Donald Trump Jr. and other campaign advisers is a focus of probes by Congress and Special Counsel Robert Mueller on whether campaign officials colluded with Russia when it sought to interfere in the U.S. election, the sources said. Russia denies allegations by U.S. intelligence agencies that it meddled in the election and President Donald Trump denies any collusion. The Senate and House of Representatives intelligence committees recently questioned behind closed doors Irakly Kaveladze, a U.S. citizen born in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, the sources said. He is a U.S.-based representative of Azerbaijani oligarch Aras Agalarov’s real estate firm, the Crocus Group. The panels knew Kaveladze was at the June 9, 2016 meeting but became more interested in him after learning he also attended a private dinner in Las Vegas in 2013 with Trump and Agalarov as they celebrated an agreement to hold that year’s Miss Universe pageant in Moscow, the sources said.  Committee members now want to know more about the extent of Kaveladze’s contacts with the Trump family and whether he had a bigger role than previously believed in setting up the Trump Tower meeting when Trump was a Republican candidate for president. The White House declined to comment. Mueller’s office also declined to comment. Scott Balber, a New York lawyer who represents Kaveladze, confirmed that his client attended both the dinner in Las Vegas and the Trump Tower meeting but said he did not set up the second meeting. Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, other Trump campaign aides, and Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya were also at that meeting. Lawyer Balber also said the committees were only seeking Kaveladze’s input as a witness and were not targeting him for investigation. “No-one has ever told me that they have any interest in him other than as a witness,” Balber said. Lawyers for Trump Jr. and Kushner did not respond to requests for comment about their contacts with Kaveladze. A lawyer for President Trump declined to comment. One photograph from the 2013 dinner, when Trump still owned the Miss Universe pageant, shows Agalarov and his pop singer son Emin along with Trump, two Trump aides and several other people at the dining table. Another shows Kaveladze standing behind Trump and Emin Agalarov as they speak. The pictures were found by a University of California at Irvine student and blogger Scott Stedman, who posted them on Nov. 22. Aras Agalarov is a billionaire property developer in Russia who was awarded the Order of Honor by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Several U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said Mueller’s team and the committees are looking for any evidence of a link between the Trump Tower meeting and the release six weeks later of emails stolen from Democratic Party organizations. They are also trying to determine whether there was any discussion at the New York meeting of lifting U.S. economic sanctions on Russia, a top priority for Putin, the officials said. Rob Goldstone, a British publicist, told Trump Jr. ahead of the New York meeting that Russian lawyer Veselnitskaya would be bringing damaging information about donations to a charity linked to Trump’s Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, according to emails later released by Trump Jr. Trump Jr. initially said the meeting was about Russian adoptions but later said it also included Veselnitskaya’s promises of information on the donations to the Clinton charity. He said he ultimately never received the information, although it was later posted on the Internet. In a statement issued after meeting with the Senate Judiciary Committee on Sept. 7, Trump, Jr. said Goldstone and Veselnitskaya were in a conference room with him as well as Kaveladze and a translator. Balber said Kaveladze attended expecting to serve as a translator, although he did not do so in the end because Veselnitskaya brought her own. ",0
"Trump on Twitter (Dec 26) - Hillary Clinton, Tax Cut Bill. The following statements were posted to the verified Twitter accounts of U.S. President Donald Trump, @realDonaldTrump and @POTUS.  The opinions expressed are his own. Reuters has not edited the statements or confirmed their accuracy.  @realDonaldTrump : - Based on the fact that the very unfair and unpopular Individual Mandate has been terminated as part of our Tax Cut Bill, which essentially Repeals (over time) ObamaCare, the Democrats & Republicans will eventually come together and develop a great new HealthCare plan! [0658 EST] - WOW, @foxandfrlends “Dossier is bogus. Clinton Campaign, DNC funded Dossier. FBI CANNOT (after all of this time) VERIFY CLAIMS IN DOSSIER OF RUSSIA/TRUMP COLLUSION. FBI TAINTED.” And they used this Crooked Hillary pile of garbage as the basis for going after the Trump Campaign! [0824 EST] - All signs are that business is looking really good for next year, only to be helped further by our Tax Cut Bill. Will be a great year for Companies and JOBS! Stock Market is poised for another year of SUCCESS! [17:17 EST] -- Source link: (bit.ly/2jBh4LU) (bit.ly/2jpEXYR) ",0
"U.S. appeals court rejects challenge to Trump voter fraud panel. (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court in Washington on Tuesday upheld a lower court’s decision to allow President Donald Trump’s commission investigating voter fraud to request data on voter rolls from U.S. states. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) watchdog group, which filed the lawsuit, did not have legal standing to seek to force the presidential commission to review privacy concerns before collecting individuals’ voter data. EPIC had argued that under federal law, the commission was required to conduct a privacy-impact assessment before gathering personal data. But the three-judge appeals court panel ruled unanimously that the privacy law at issue was intended to protect individuals, not groups like EPIC. “EPIC is not a voter,” Judge Karen Henderson wrote in the ruling.  Washington-based U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly first denied EPIC’s injunction request in July, in part because the collection of data by the commission was not technically an action by a government agency so was not bound by laws that govern what such entities can do.  Kollar-Kotelly noted that the commission, headed by Vice President Mike Pence, was an advisory body that lacks legal authority to compel states to hand over the data. Most state officials who oversee elections and election law experts say that voter fraud is rare in the United States. Trump, a Republican, set up the commission in May after charging, without evidence, that millions of people voted unlawfully in the 2016 presidential election in which he defeated Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton despite losing the popular vote.  The commission’s vice chair, Kris Kobach, the Republican secretary of state for Kansas and an advocate of tougher laws on immigration and voter identification, asked states in June to turn over voter information. The data requested by Kobach included names, the last four digits of Social Security numbers, addresses, birth dates, political affiliation, felony convictions and voting histories.  More than 20 states refused outright and others said they needed to study whether they could provide the data. Civil rights groups and Democratic lawmakers have said the commission’s eventual findings could lead to new ID requirements and other measures making it harder for groups that tend to favor Democratic candidates to cast ballots. EPIC executive director Marc Rotenberg could not immediately be reached for comment. ",0
"Treasury Secretary Mnuchin was sent gift-wrapped box of horse manure: reports. (Reuters) - A gift-wrapped package addressed to U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s home in a posh Los Angeles neighborhood that was suspected of being a bomb was instead filled with horse manure, police told local media. The package was found Saturday evening in a next-door neighbor’s driveway in Bel Air, the Los Angeles Police Department told the Los Angeles Times and KNBC television, the NBC affiliate in Los Angeles. The package also included a Christmas card with negative comments about President Donald Trump and the new U.S. tax law signed by Trump last week. Reuters could not reach LAPD officials for comment on Sunday. An LAPD bomb squad X-rayed the package before opening it and found the horse manure inside, police told local media. Aerial footage from KNBC showed officers investigating a large box in wrapping paper, then dumping a large amount of what they later identified as the manure and opening the card that was included inside.  Mnuchin, who KNBC said was not home when the package was discovered, is a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc executive and Hollywood film financier. A road in Bel Air was closed for about two hours, KNBC reported. The U.S. Secret Service is also investigating the incident, according to the TV station. ",0
"Federal judge partially lifts Trump's latest refugee restrictions. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal judge in Seattle partially blocked U.S. President Donald Trump’s newest restrictions on refugee admissions on Saturday, the latest legal defeat for his efforts to curtail immigration and travel to the United States. The decision by U.S. District Judge James Robart is the first judicial curb on rules the Trump administration put into place in late October that have contributed significantly to a precipitous drop in the number of refugees being admitted into the country. Refugees and groups that assist them argued in court that the administration’s policies violated the Constitution and federal rulemaking procedures, among other claims. Department of Justice attorneys argued in part that U.S. law grants the executive branch the authority to limit refugee admissions in the way that it had done so. On Oct. 24, the Trump administration effectively paused refugee admissions from 11 countries mostly in the Middle East and Africa, pending a 90-day security review, which was set to expire in late January. The countries subject to the review are Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Mali, North Korea, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. For each of the last three years, refugees from the 11 countries made up more than 40 percent of U.S. admissions. A Reuters review of State Department data showed that as the review went into effect, refugee admissions from the 11 countries plummeted. Robart ruled that the administration could carry out the security review, but that it could not stop processing or admitting refugees from the 11 countries in the meantime, as long as those refugees have a “bona fide” connection to the United States. As part of its new restrictions, the Trump administration had also paused a program that allowed for family reunification for refugees, pending further security screening procedures being put into place. Robart ordered the government to re-start the program, known as “follow-to-join”. Approximately 2,000 refugees were admitted into the United States in fiscal year 2015 under the program, according to Department of Homeland Security data. Refugee advocacy groups praised Robart’s decision.  “This ruling brings relief to thousands of refugees in precarious situations in the Middle East and East Africa, as well as to refugees already in the U.S. who are trying to reunite with their spouses and children,” said Mariko Hirose, litigation director for the International Refugee Assistance Project, one of the plaintiffs in the case. A Justice Department spokeswoman, Lauren Ehrsam, said the department disagrees with Robart’s ruling and is “currently evaluating the next steps”. Robart, who was appointed to the bench by Republican former President George W. Bush, emerged from relative obscurity in February, when he issued a temporary order to lift the first version of Trump’s travel ban. On Twitter, Trump called him a “so-called judge” whose “ridiculous” opinion “essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country”. Robart’s ruling represented the second legal defeat in two days for the Trump administration. On Friday, a U.S. appeals court said Trump’s travel ban targeting six Muslim-majority countries should not be applied to people with strong U.S. ties, but said its ruling would be put on hold pending a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. ",0
"Exclusive: U.S. memo weakens guidelines for protecting immigrant children in court. NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department has issued new guidelines for immigration judges that remove some instructions for how to protect unaccompanied juveniles appearing in their courtrooms. A Dec. 20 memo, issued by the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) replaces 2007 guidelines, spelling out policies and procedures judges should follow in dealing with children who crossed the border illegally alone and face possible deportation.  The new memo removes suggestions contained in the 2007 memo for how to conduct “child-sensitive questioning” and adds reminders to judges to maintain “impartiality” even though “juvenile cases may present sympathetic allegations.” The new document also changes the word “child” to “unmarried individual under the age of 18” in many instances. (Link to comparison: tmsnrt.rs/2BlT0VK May 2007 document: tmsnrt.rs/2BBR8wj December 2017 document: tmsnrt.rs/2C2sWCs)  An EOIR official said the new memo contained “clarifications and updates” to 10-year-old guidance “in order to be consistent with the laws as they’ve been passed by Congress.” The new memo was posted on the Justice Department website but has not been previously reported.  Immigration advocates said they worry the new guidelines could make court appearances for children more difficult, and a spokeswoman for the union representing immigration judges said judges are concerned about the tone of the memo. President Donald Trump has made tougher immigration enforcement a key policy goal of his administration, and has focused particularly on trying to curb the illegal entry of children. The administration says it wants to prevent vulnerable juveniles from making perilous journeys to the United States and eliminate fraud from programs for young immigrants.  One changed section of the memo focuses on how to make children comfortable in the court in advance of hearings. The old guidance says they “should be permitted to explore” courtrooms and allowed to “sit in all locations, (including, especially, the judge’s bench and the witness stand).”  The new guidance says such explorations should take place only “to the extent that resources and time permit” and specifically puts the judge’s bench off limits. The new memo also warns judges to be skeptical, since an unaccompanied minor “generally receives more favorable treatment under the law than other categories of illegal aliens,” which creates “an incentive to misrepresent accompaniment status or age in order to attempt to qualify for the benefits.” It also says to be on the lookout for “fraud and abuse,” language that was not in the previous memo. Immigration judges are appointed by the U.S. Attorney General and courts are part of the Department of Justice, not an independent branch. The only sitting immigration judges routinely allowed to speak to the media are representatives of their union, the National Association of Immigration Judges.  Dana Marks, a sitting judge and spokeswoman for the union, said the “overall tone” of the memo “is very distressing and concerning to immigration judges.”  “There is a feeling that the immigration courts are just being demoted into immigration enforcement offices, rather than neutral arbiters,” Marks said. “There has been a relentless beating of the drum toward enforcement rather than due process.”   Former immigration judge Andrew Arthur, who now works at the Center for Immigration Studies, which promotes lower levels of immigration overall, said the new guidelines were needed.  In their previous form, he said, “so much emphasis was placed on the potential inability of the alien to understand the proceedings ... that it almost put the judge into the position of being an advocate.”   The courts have had to handle a surge in cases for unaccompanied minors, mostly from Central America, after their numbers sky-rocketed in 2014 as violence in the region caused residents to flee north.  While illegal crossings initially fell after Trump took office, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said that since May, each month has seen an increase in children being apprehended either alone or with family members.  Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a speech in Boston in September that the special accommodations for unaccompanied minors had been exploited by “gang members who come to this country as wolves in sheep clothing.” Echoing some of these concerns, the new memo notes in a preamble that not all child cases involve innocents, and that the courts might see “an adolescent gang member” or “a teenager convicted as an adult for serious criminal activity.”  Jennifer Podkul, policy director of Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) said Congress included special procedural protections for immigrant children in a 2008 anti-trafficking bill to “make sure that a kid gets a fair shot in the courtroom.” “These kids are by themselves telling a very complicated and oftentimes very traumatic story,” said Podkul. “The approach of this memo, which is much more suspicious, is not going to help get to the truth of a child’s story.”  In cases where children are called to testify, the old guidance instructed judges to “seek to limit the amount of time the child is on the stand.” The new guidance says that judges should “consider” limiting the child’s time on the stand “without compromising due process for the opposing party,” which is generally a government prosecutor. The memo leaves in a range of special accommodations made for children, including allowing them to bring a pillow or booster seat or a “toy, book, or other personal item.” It also maintains that cases involving unaccompanied minors should be heard on a separate docket when possible and that children should not be detained or transported with adults. ",0
"Trump travel ban should not apply to people with strong U.S. ties: court. (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Friday said President Donald Trump’s hotly contested travel ban targeting people from six Muslim-majority countries should not be applied to people with strong U.S. ties. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers several West Coast states, also said its ruling would be put on hold pending a decision on the latest version of the travel ban from the Trump administration by the U.S. Supreme Court. Since taking office in January, Trump has been struggling to enact a ban that passes court muster. A three-judge panel from the 9th Circuit narrowed a previous injunction from a lower federal court to those people “with a credible bona fide relationship with the United States.” It also said that while the U.S. president has broad powers to regulate the entry of immigrants into the United States, those powers are not without limits. “We conclude that the President’s issuance of the Proclamation once again exceeds the scope of his delegated authority,” the panel said. The ban targets people from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen seeking to enter the United States. Trump, a Republican, has said the travel ban is needed to protect the United States from terrorism. The state of Hawaii, however, challenged it in court, and a Honolulu federal judge said it exceeded Trump’s powers under immigration law. Trump’s ban also covers people from North Korea and certain government officials from Venezuela, but the lower courts had already allowed those provisions to go into effect. The same three-judge 9th Circuit panel, which limited a previous version of Trump’s ban, heard arguments earlier this month. Trump issued his first travel ban targeting several Muslim-majority countries in January, which caused chaos at airports and mass protests. He issued a revised one in March after the first was blocked by federal courts. That expired in September after a court fight and was replaced with the current version. The ban has some exceptions. Certain people from each targeted country can still apply for a visa for tourism, business or education purposes, and applicants can ask for an individual waiver. “We are pleased that the Supreme Court has already allowed the government to implement the proclamation and keep all Americans safe while this matter is litigated. We continue to believe that the order should be allowed to take effect in its entirety,” U.S. Justice Department spokeswoman Lauren Ehrsam said in a statement. ",0
"Second court rejects Trump bid to stop transgender military recruits. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal appeals court in Washington on Friday rejected a bid by President Donald Trump’s administration to prevent the U.S. military from accepting transgender recruits starting Jan. 1, the second court to issue such a ruling this week. Four federal judges around the country have issued injunctions blocking Trump’s ban on transgender people from the military, including one that was also handed down on Friday. The administration has appealed the previous three rulings. In a six-page order, the three-judge-panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said the administration had “not shown a strong likelihood that they will succeed on the merits of their challenge” to a district court’s order blocking the ban. On Thursday the Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it was denying the administration’s request while the appeal proceeds. The two courts’ actions could prompt the administration to ask the conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court to intervene. Also on Friday, a federal trial court in Riverside, California, blocked the ban while the case proceeds, making it the fourth to do so, after similar rulings in Baltimore, Seattle and Washington, D.C. U.S. District Judge Jesus Bernal said without the injunction the plaintiffs, including current and aspiring service members, would suffer irreparable harm. “There is nothing any court can do to remedy a government-sent message that some citizens are not worthy of the military uniform simply because of their gender,” he added. The administration had argued that the Jan. 1 deadline for accepting transgender recruits was problematic because tens of thousands of personnel would have to be trained on the medical standards needed to process transgender applicants, and the military was not ready for that. The Obama administration had set a deadline of July 1, 2017, to begin accepting transgender recruits, but Trump’s defense secretary, James Mattis, postponed that date to Jan. 1. In an August memorandum, Trump gave the military until March 2018 to revert to a policy prohibiting openly transgender individuals from joining the military and authorizing their discharge. The memo also halted the use of government funds for sex-reassignment surgery for active-duty personnel. ",0