Re: TRUMP-US Debt Up by $2 Trillion Since He Took Office +Secrets/Spies & Family HIST
 

oh i can't stand him and i don't feel sorry for him at all.. i read recently that pointless shutdown cost us 11 billion bucks and that's even more than his pointless wall costs. and that the reason he had it at all was that was him throwing a temper tantrum on not getting it cause hes' so used to getting everything he wants and has always gotten what he wants since the day he was born.



so for him to not get it he has to make all of us suffer and he doesn't give a damn about it either. how anyone can like this shmuck? i wish i knew? Billy Connelly Said it best look it up on you tube from like a year ago i think? where he said how come his popularity isn't at Zero? and he got a ton of applause for that too.


honestly it's a pretty damn good question if i may say so

Re: TRUMP-US Debt Up by $2 Trillion Since He Took Office +Secrets/Spies & Family HIST
 

Well ya can't blame the shutdown all on Trump. That stupid Pelosi has more than her share of the blame. Ain't none of them got much sense when it comes to compromising.

Re: TRUMP-US Debt Up by $2 Trillion Since He Took Office +Secrets/Spies & Family HIST
 

Could Michael Cohen's Testimony Damage Trump?

BBC Newsnight. 28 Feb 2019


Full Statement: Trump's Ex-Lawyer Michael Cohen Talks to The House of Representatives -







Trump's Response: Terrible For Cohen Hearing to Take Place During Summit - BBC News


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Re: TRUMP-Jared Kushner MORE Dangerous Than Him >Mueller Inquiry
 

Jared Kushner > MORE Dangerous Than TRUMP

Kushner has been caught up in investigations by the Mueller Inquiry and Congress. He already has lawsuits pending against him

Channel 4 News UK. 19 Mar 2019


They were once considered a moderating influence on Donald Trump's Presidency.

A new book, though, portrays Mr Trump's daughter and son-in-law, Ivanka and Jared Kushner, as a power-hungry couple, concerned primarily with enriching themselves.

The White House has dismissed it as "fiction".

But there are long-standing concerns in the US over Mr Kushner's business dealings and the level of influence he has over foreign policy & business dealings.


Jared Kushner: Power Hungry and Intent on Enriching Himself?




Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner’s White House Tenure



.

TRUMP's WAR With Iran STOPPED >When BOMBS Were in The Air
 

Donald Trump 'Cancelled Iran Strikes with Planes in The Air'

Military operation was called off, New York Times reports, as Democrats warn the US/Trump could ‘bumble into a war’ with Iran

• Trump tweeted that the U.S. military were within 10 minutes of hitting three targets in Iran when he called off airstrikes
• He said that he was told there would be 150 deaths which he said was not proportionate to the loss of the $180 million U.S. Navy spy drone
• Iran said that Trump asked for talks with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
• It also said it could have downed a Navy Poseidon P-8 spy plane flying with the drone and claimed it would have killed 35 Americans, but chose not to
• White House confirmed that Trump overruled 'unanimous' advisors including Mike Pompeo and John Bolton when he called off strikes
• It was denounced as an 'unprovoked attack' in international air space by the US
• Iran and the U.S. are at odds over whether the drone was in international or Iranian air space when it was downed by surface-to-air missile

• Price of oil went up Friday over the growing tensions despite Trump refusing to attack; he also said sanctions were being imposed on Iran
  
• United Airlines, Qantas, British Airways, Air France and KLM have changed flight routes in the Gulf

The Guardian UK, 21 JUNE 2019.


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https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06...1138951812.jpg


Donald Trump reportedly gave initial approval for the US military to launch strikes on Iran in retaliation for Tehran shooting down an American drone, before pulling back at the last minute.


Planes were in the air and ships were in position, but no missiles had been fired when word came to stand down on Thursday night, the New York Times quoted an unnamed official as saying.

US military and diplomatic officials were expecting strikes on a handful of radar and missile sites after the president’s top national security officials and congressional leaders gathered at the White House, the paper said. The military operation was called off around 7.30pm ET (12.30am BST).

The UK was informed of the US plan for the attack and not told the reprisal raids were off until 3am UK time (10pm ET).

It was not clear whether strikes would go ahead at a later date. The White House and Pentagon have not commented on the reports.

On Friday Reuters reported that Trump had passed a message to Tehran via Oman warning an attack on Iran was imminent.

“In his message, Trump said he was against any war with Iran and wanted to talk to Tehran about various issues,” an anonymous Iranian official told the news agency. “He gave a short period of time to get our response but Iran’s immediate response was that it is up to Supreme Leader [Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei to decide about this issue.”

A second Iranian official said: “We made it clear that the leader is against any talks, but the message will be conveyed to him to make a decision ... However, we told the Omani official that any attack against Iran will have regional and international consequences.”

Oman – along with Japan, Iraq and to a lesser extent Switzerland – has acted as an intermediary for messages between Trump and the Iranian leadership.

Khamenei has repeatedly said he will not talk to the US until it lifts economic sanctions, adding he does not trust Trump’s motives.

The reported contact with Oman suggests that the White House might have been involved in brinkmanship with Tehran, but pulled back when Iran did not flinch.

US officials said that Trump was known to want talks, but was also a believer in sending mixed messages to keep his adversaries guessing about his next move.

He is surrounded by some officials – notably the national security adviser, John Bolton – who are thought to favour an attack.

Timeline

The Democratic House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, who had attended a classified White House briefing with other congressional leaders on Thursday, had said the administration should “do everything in our power to de-escalate”, while the Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, said he worried the administration “may bumble into a war”.

He said he told the president there must be a “robust, open debate” and Congress should have a real say. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House intelligence committee, said: “The president certainly listened to what we had to say.”

One of the targets of the planned strikes was the S-125 Neva/Pechora surface-to-air missile system, Newsweek quoted a Pentagon official as saying. It reported that the US believed the system was behind the US drone attack, although Tehran said it had used its “3rd Khordad” air defence system, the Iranian equivalent of the Russian Buk system that downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014.

The strikes were seemingly set for early in the day to minimise risk to the Iranian military or to civilians.

Trump had earlier appeared keen to calm tensions following the shooting down early on Thursday of the US Global Hawk drone, saying blame might be on a “loose and stupid” Iranian officer acting without authorisation from Tehran.

Many observers fear there is an absence of ways out if warfare was to break out.

Trump’s allies claimed he was intent on listening to all sides of the argument, but his instinct, relayed to the UK, had been to use economic pressure to force the Iranians to the bargaining table, and not to press for regime change.

“We didn’t have a man or woman in the drone. It would have made a big, big difference,” Trump said. Asked how the US would respond, he said: “You’ll find out.”

The downing on Thursday of the unarmed aircraft was the latest of a series of incidents that have raised tensions in the Gulf region. Earlier, a total of six oil tankers were damaged in two separate attacks.

According to a US official who spoke to the Associated Press, the strikes were recommended by the Pentagon and were among the options presented to senior administration officials.

The report of the swift reversal on US retaliation came as the US Federal Aviation Administration banned all US airlines and aircraft from flying in Iranian airspace close to where the US drone was shot down due to “heightened military activities” in the region.

There have been reports of an increase in Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps activity in the strait of Hormuz, increasing the chances of attacks on oil tankers operated by America or its Gulf allies if the US did mount an attack.

The FAA issued an emergency order saying all flight operations over water in the Tehran flight information region of the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman were prohibited until further notice because military activities and political tensions “present an inadvertent risk to US civil aviation operations and potential for miscalculation or mis-identification”.

The order applies to US aircraft only but since the MH17 disaster all countries rely on airspace risk advice from the US, UK, France and Germany.

On Thursday, Iran’s foreign minister and the US military offered competing graphics showing the drone’s flight path and where it was brought down.

Javad Zarif said Iran had recovered parts of the drone in its waters and that it had originally taken off from the United Arab Emirates.

A map issued by US Central Command suggested the drone was brought down in international waters in the strait of Hormuz.


https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06...1135925206.jpg


https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06...1066994473.jpg


This grainy black and white footage shows the drone as it plummets from the sky

https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06...1118953262.jpg


The purported wreckage of the American drone is seen displayed by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps in Tehran


https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06...1110891810.jpg


Debris from the wrecked drone was pictured by Iranian media as Trump asked for talks with the Supreme leader


Flight tracking data showed commercial aircraft flying close to the Global Hawk drone at the time it was shot down, said OPS Group, which provides safety guidance to air operators.

“The threat of a civil aircraft shootdown in southern Iran is real,” it advised operators on Thursday. “Avoiding the strait of Hormuz area is recommended – misidentification of aircraft is possible.”

Last month, the FAA advised airlines to exercise caution in flying over Iran and nearby areas, due to heightened military activities and increased political tension.

It said: “Although Iran likely has no intention to target civil aircraft, the presence of multiple long-range, advanced anti-aircraft capable weapons in a tense environment poses a possible risk of miscalculation or misidentification, especially during periods of heightened political tension and rhetoric.”

On Friday Sardar Amir Ali Hajizadeh, a commander in Iran’s air force, claimed: “We could have targetted a US-35 P-8 American plane … But we did not do this because our goal was to bring the US drone down and to warn off the terrorist forces of the US regime.” There was no independent verification for his claim.

re: Revenge on TRUMP > FAKE Presidential Seal
 

Ivanka Trump Gets 'Death Stare' From World Leader as She Tries to Join G20 Chat

President Donald Trump's daughter's attempt to join a conversation with Theresa May and Emmanuel Macron backfired


Daily Mirror UK, 1 July 2019.


Donald Trump has let his daughter stand in for him at international events around the world.

But at the G20 summit, international critics who accuse the US President of nepotism took unbridled glee in watching Ivanka Trump falter in the presence of powerful world leaders.

America's 'first daughter,' was caught on camera attempting to join a conversation with UK Prime Minister Theresa May , French president Emmanuel Macron, and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau.

The clip released by the French Government captured the whole exchange.

But no words were required from International Monetary Fund director Christine Lagarde, whose facial reactions to Trump's attempt at international diplomacy instead went viral.


https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incomin...anka-Trump.jpg

IMF chief Christine Lagarde frowns as Ivanka Trump in her pink party frock interjects (Image: elysee/Instagram) (She looks like a Barbie Doll)



In the 19 seconds of footage from the G20 summit in Osaka released by the Elysée Palace, Macron can be heard finishing a sentence about "social justice".

Trump interjects with either "it's on," or "it's all."

.....:crazy:


May replies to Macron: "As soon as you start talking about the economic aspect a lot of people start listening who wouldn't otherwise listen."

"Start listening," echoes Trump.


"And same with the defence side, I think, in terms of the whole sort of..." she offers, gesturing with her hands before trailing off.

:uhh:..........:dunno:



https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incomin...anka-Trump.jpg
.

.. then shoots her a less than friendly look (Image: Instagram)


Trump finishes, smiling and nodding: "Being very male-dominated." .....:confused:


As Trump speaks, Lagarde can be seen frowning and glancing at Trudeau.

The clip of the exchange attracted a widespread reaction.

High profile New York congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez led criticism of Trump's presence at the summit, highlighting that the president's daughter had no reason to be at the important event.

American investigative journalist Olga Lautman tweeted a copy of the video, labelling it "humiliating" for the US.

Ivanka Trump was attending the summit with her husband and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, who the president appointed as his special senior adviser in what has become a trend of the President furnishing his close family members with top White House roles.

Investigative journalist Olga Lautman labelled Ivanka's presence at the event 'humiliating'.

That criticism continued as the couple then joined the President in South Korea.

Ivanka Trump accompanied her father today on his historic crossing through the peninsula's Demilitarised Zone and into North Korea, where he became the first sitting President to enter the territory.

He held ad hoc talks with Kim Jong-un, who accepted the President's offer in a tweet that he would be prepared to meet the hermit state's leader on his soil to "shake his hand and say Hello".

The couple then joined the president in what would have been a tête-à-tête with Kim - adding fuel to accusations the Trumps are establishing a dynastic approach to international relations.

The president's daughter tweeted that it was "an honour" to be a member of the US delegation at the G20 summit, and later told media stepping onto North Korean soil was "surreal."

Quote:

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez It may be shocking to some, but being someone’s daughter actually isn’t a career qualification. It hurts our diplomatic standing when the President phones it in & the world moves on. The US needs a President working the G20. Bringing a qualified diplomat couldn’t hurt either.

re: Revenge on TRUMP > FAKE Presidential Seal
 

'A Narcissistic Travesty': Critics Savage Trump's Independence Day Jamboree

More than $2.5m has reportedly been diverted to pay for Trump’s military parade featuring jets, tanks – and at the centre, himself

The Guardian UK, 3 JULY 2019.



https://s.newsweek.com/sites/www.new...11/adsgads.jpg


Donald Trump here could be said to look like a middle-schooler when he cant get his own way.. And sulks when he doesn't get it... Carlos Barria/Reuters



When Donald Trump holds an Independence Day celebration with fireworks, flyovers and battle tanks at the heart of American democracy on the Fourth of July, critics fear that he will be unable to resist turning it into a vainglorious and politically divisive campaign rally.

They are also demanding that the US president foots the bill for any damage caused to Washington’s roads, bridges and monuments by his “authoritarian-style” display of military pomp.

The US president will deliver an Independence Day speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial, which honours the president who won the civil war and helped end slavery and was the site of civil rights leader Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech a century later.

The Rev William Barber, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, tweeted: “Trump is creating a spectacle of tanks & missiles on the National Mall where the great protests for civil & human rights have been held at a time when 140 million Americans are poor & low income. He thinks this is the sign of strength, but it’s a damn narcissistic travesty.”

Trump was in exuberant mood about the event on social media on Wednesday.

“It will be the show of a lifetime!” he tweeted.

The event takes place in a politically hostile environment: Hillary Clinton took more than 90% of the vote in the District of Columbia in the 2016 election, whereas Trump secured just 4.1%. The Trump International Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue is one of the few outposts in the capital where his supporters are conspicuous.

And for decades, presidents have kept a low profile during Washington’s annual celebration of the 1776 Declaration of Independence, as typically hundreds of thousands of people gather at the National Mall for a nonpartisan concert and fireworks.

But ever the disrupter, Trump its putting himself centre stage this year. He tweeted on Tuesday: “Big 4th of July in D.C. ‘Salute to America.’ The Pentagon & our great Military Leaders are thrilled to be doing this & showing to the American people, among other things, the strongest and most advanced Military anywhere in the World. Incredible Flyovers & biggest ever Fireworks!”

The National Park Service is reportedly diverting nearly $2.5m in entrance and other fees, which are usually used to improve parks, to cover the cost, according to The Washington Post.


The celebration will feature military bands and flyovers from the US navy’s Blue Angels and Air Force One, the modified Boeing 747 that transports presidents, as well as M1 Abrams battle tanks. It could also include a B-2 bomber, F-35 and F-22 fighter jets and the Marine One helicopter, according to the Pentagon. Air traffic at nearby Ronald Reagan national airport will be suspended during the flypasts and the fireworks.

The fireworks display will be held near the Lincoln Memorial instead of its usual location by the Washington Monument. A ticket-only area in front of the memorial is being set aside for VIPs, including members of Trump’s family, friends and members of the military.


Tanks in Washington Ahead of Trump's Fourth of July pageant

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/e84ab...ormat&fit=max&
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M1 Abrams tanks and other armoured vehicles sit atop flat cars in a rail yard after U.S. President Donald Trump said tanks and other military hardware would be part of Fourth of July displays of military prowess in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, July 2, 2019.


The display of military muscle is seen by some as a show not of strength but of weakness. In response to a photo of tanks on train tracks heading to the event, Michael McFaul, a former US ambassador to Russia, posted on Twitter:

“This photo reminds me of parades I used to attend in the Soviet Union. Not the right look for the 4th.”


The White House has not said how much the celebration will cost. The Pentagon postponed a military parade planned for last November after it estimated it could cost $90m. Tom Udall, a Democratic senator, said: “The American people deserve to know how much of their money the president is spending to turn their July 4th celebration into a de facto campaign rally.”

In addition, the District of Columbia council has warned of the damage that tanks could do to city streets. It tweeted on Monday: “We have said it before, and we’ll say it again: Tanks, but no tanks.”

The Democratic congressman Don Beyer, who represents nearby suburbs in Virginia, wrote on Twitter: “The authoritarian-style trappings he demands, including tanks, will come at a great cost to taxpayers, and threaten significant harm to local roads and bridges. I am deeply concerned by the suggestion that the President’s insistence on displaying tanks could subject Arlington Memorial Bridge to strains grossly exceeding its weight restrictions.”

Beyer added: “If Trump is going to turn this event into another partisan rally to boost his own frail ego, he must reimburse US taxpayers for any damage he causes.”

Trump will deliver his speech as the 19ft-high marble statue of Lincoln, whose clarion call “to bind up the nation’s wounds” is carved into the memorial, looks on. He previously spoke there, amid chants of “Make America great again”, at a pre-inauguration concert in January 2017.

White House officials insist that he will avoid partisan politics and stick to patriotic themes in his speech, but opponents fear he will use the elevated, taxpayer-funded platform to lambast Democrats ahead of next year’s presidential election. Spokeswoman Hogan Gidley told Fox Business Network on Tuesday: “That’s absolutely ridiculous. This is all about a salute to America. The president is not going to get political.”



https://i.imgur.com/hafXTQz.jpg
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:crazy:

re: TRUMP > Insiders Damning Allegations About His Mental Stability
 

We Know Who Put That Fake Presidential Seal Behind Trump > He Was Fired.

The person responsible for using a fake presidential seal that roasted President Trump’s love of Russia, golf and cold hard cash, has been found out and fired.

Vice News, 26 July 2019


https://video-images.vice.com/articl...h;0xw,0.0422xh



Conservative student group Turning Point USA says it was one of their own staffers who placed the doctored seal behind the president during his visit to the Teen Student Action Summit in Washington D.C. on Tuesday, according to the Washington Post.

“It was nothing malicious,” the spokesperson told the Post. “Just an accident.”

The staffer was let go regardless of the intention behind the gaffe.

During the president’s 83-minute visit to the gathering of young conservatives at the D.C. Marriott Marquis Tuesday morning, sharp-eyed observers at the Washington Post noticed an unusual piece of set design: a modified presidential seal displayed to the president’s right.


Instead of the bald eagle holding a bundle of 13 arrows in one talon and an olive branch in the other, the altered symbol behind Trump had two heads, resembling the double-headed bird featured on the Russian coat of arms; a wad of cash in one hand; and golf clubs in the other.

The eagle’s banner appeared altered as well. While the real deal features a scroll in the eagle’s mouth that bears the U.S. motto “E Pluribus Unum” (Latin for “Out of many, one”), the doctored seal featured the phrase “45 es un titere,” Spanish for “45 is a puppet”.




:rofl::crackup::laff:

re: TRUMP > Insiders Damning Allegations About His Mental Stability
 

Whitehouse Insiders Reveal Damning Allegations Against Donald Trump | 60 Minutes Australia

60 Minutes Australia. Published on 1 Sep 2019


No one in Washington DC works harder than the person in charge of the red carpet, and whoever it is will be extra busy when the Australian Prime Minister arrives in the next few weeks to have his back slapped by President Donald Trump.

The White House has already signalled it’s setting the pomp and ceremony switch to extreme because the US-Australia relationship is so vital.

But there could be problems.

Two former high-profile Trump aides, Omarosa Manigault Newman and Anthony Scaramucci, have turned on the President and are now revealing damaging details about the inner workings of the White House.

And as Karl Stefanovic reports, one of the most embarrassing claims is that the supposed “unbreakable” alliance between our two countries, > far from being Trumped..... was almost dumped.




... :crazy::crazy:

re: TRUMP Impeachment > Investigations Begin
 

Donald Trump Warns US is 'Locked and Loaded' After Drone Attacks in Saudi Arabia

The US President issued a chilling warning after Iran was blamed for attacks on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia

Daily Mirror UK, 16 Sep 2019.



US President Donald Trump says his country is 'locked and loaded' after the suspected Iranian attacks on Saudi oil plants.

Iran has denied it is behind the drone strikes, with Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen instead claiming responsiblity.

However, America has now released satellite images it says prove Iran was responsible for the raids, which has more than halved Saudi Arabia's oil output.

The pictures show how the attacks could only have been carried out from the direction of Iran or Iraq and not Yemen, the US claims.


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Apocalyptic scenes were caught in footage from Abqaiq (Image: VIDEOS OBTAINED BY REUTERS)


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UK petrol prices could rise by 5p a litre after two Saudi Arabian oil facilities were bombed (Image: Getty)


They have been published amid rising tensions between Iran and the US, with an Iranian Revolutionary Guards Commander warning that his nation is prepared for a 'fully-fledged war'.

He also threatened US bases, saying that they were within range of Iranian missiles.

Trump has announced that he will await Saudi Arabia's conclusions on the source of the attack before acting.


https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incomin...-in-Abqaiq.jpg


A huge fire engulfed multiple sections of the Abqaiq site, which is the world's largest oil processing plant (Image: VIDEOS OBTAINED BY REUTERS)



He tweeted: "Saudi Arabia oil supply was attacked. There is reason to believe that we know the culprit, are locked and loaded depending on verification, but are waiting to hear from the Kingdom as to who they believe was the cause of this attack, and under what terms we would proceed."

The attack "was a wanton violation of international law," British Foreign Secretary said, adding that the United Kingdom stood firmly behind Saudi Arabia.

"In terms of who is responsible, the picture is not entirely clear," Raab said. "I want to have a very clear picture which we will be having shortly.

"This was a very serious attack on Saudi Arabia and the oil installations and it has implications for global oil markets and supply," Raab said.

"It's a very serious, an outrageous act, and we need to have a clear and as united as possible international response to it."

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blamed Iran for the strikes in Abqaiq, the site of largest oil processing plant.

The plant is owned by Saudi Arabia's state-owned Aramco oil company.


https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incomin...t-in-Sochi.jpg

Mike Pompeo has blamed Iran for the strikes (Image: Mikhail Metzel/TASS)

re: TRUMP Impeachment >Upgraded to Criminal Investigation Re Mueller Report
 

Nancy Pelosi Orders Impeachment Inquiry to Focus on Trump-Ukraine

US House speaker wants committees to report within weeks
Democrats were already investigating numerous lines of inquiry


The Guardian UK, 27 Sep 2019.


The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, is narrowing the focus of the impeachment inquiry to focus on the Trump-Ukraine scandal, as the White House reels from one of the most tempestuous weeks of Donald Trump’s presidency.
White House tried to cover up Trump's Ukraine conversation, whistleblower alleges


The revelations that Trump pushed Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to investigate a political rival – and a whistleblower’s accusation that the White House then attempted a cover-up – will now serve as the main thrust of Democrats’ investigation, according to reports.

In narrowing the investigation, from a wide-ranging examination of the lengthy Trump-Russia investigation, Pelosi is said to be hoping for a quicker resolution to the impeachment inquiry. The Washington Post, citing Democrats and congressional aides, said Pelosi has instructed House committees to file the results of their individual investigations within weeks.

That could build towards a vote around Thanksgiving, reports suggested. The celebration, always on the last Thursday in November, falls on 28 November this year.

Adam Schiff, the Democratic chairman of the House intelligence committee, said on Friday he will oversee hearings next week – a period which had originally been set aside as a congressional recess. Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, and William Barr, the attorney general, are set to be called to testify before the panel.

Democrats’ acceleration of their investigation came as Donald Trump sought to disparage both the whistleblower and those who provided the whistleblower with information.

“Sounding more and more like the so-called whistleblower isn’t a whistleblower at all.” Trump tweeted, providing no evidence for his claim.

“In addition, all second hand information that proved to be so inaccurate that there may not have even been somebody else, a leaker or spy, feeding it to him or her? A partisan operative?”

In the complaint, the whistleblower said their information came from national security officials with knowledge of Trump’s actions.

Despite Trump’s attempt to discredit the whistleblower, on Friday the White House confirmed a key aspect of the complaint. A senior White House official acknowledged to CNN that the Trump administration has previously used a separate classified system to house important documents, including the transcript of the president’s Ukraine call.

The attacks on the whistleblower’s credibility appeared to be a deliberate ploy, one Republicans are likely to return to as the investigation continues. Senior White House adviser Kellyanne Conway said it was a “stretch” to refer to the whistleblower as such, while Giuliani dimished the allegations and said that, in fact, he was a “legitimate whistleblower” in the saga.

The fallout from the whistleblower’s complaint and the release of the transcript of the Trump-Zelenskiy call continued on Friday. More than 300 former national security officials signed a statement condemning Trump’s actions, as reports suggested the White House knew of the whistleblower’s complaint more than a week before it was formally referred to the justice department.

“President Trump appears to have leveraged the authority and resources of the highest office in the land to invite additional foreign interference into our democratic processes,” the officials, who include people who have worked in both Republican and Democratic governments, wrote.

“That would constitute an unconscionable abuse of power.”

Trump continued to criticize the media and defend his discussion with Zelenskiy.

“I had a simple and very nice call with with the new President of Ukraine, it could not have been better or more honorable, and the Fake News Media and Democrats, working as a team, have fraudulently made it look bad. It wasn’t bad, it was very legal and very good. A continuing Witch Hunt!” the president tweeted.

The complaint by an unnamed whistleblower was released on Thursday. The whistleblower alleged that Trump’s actions on Ukraine “pose risks to US national security”. According to the complaint the White House intervened to “lock down” the transcript of the July call between Trump and Zelenskiy, in which Trump pressured Zelenskiy to investigate Joe Biden.

“In the course of my official duties, I have received information from multiple US government officials that the president of the United States is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 US election,” the whistleblower wrote.

The complaint was released as the acting director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire, testified before the House intelligence committee. Maguire said he had initially been blocked by the White House from releasing the complaint to Congress.

In his opening remarks on Thursday Maguire said the situation was “totally unprecedented”, later saying the whistleblower had “done the right thing”.

The New York Times reported that the White House was alerted to the detail of the complaint a week before it was formally referred.

The lawyer shared the whistleblower’s allegations with the White House, following normal procedure, as the formal complaint moved up the intelligence community ladder. The news – confirmed by CNN reporting – that the White House had prior knowledge of the accusations in the complaint is likely to raise questions about how the Trump administration then sought to delay its release.

The complaint details how the White House sought to block access to the transcript of the call with Zelenskiy – in which Trump asked the Ukraine president to “do us a favor” and offered help in investigating Joe Biden, a potential 2020 presidential rival.

A number of different House committees – led by Democrats – were already investigating Trump for impeachable actions, based on special counsel Robert Mueller’s Trump-Russia investigation.

At a private event in New York on Thursday, the president lashed out at those who helped to inform the whistleblower and alluded to retaliation.

In audio obtained and released by the Los Angeles Times, Trump says: “Who’s the person that gave the whistleblower the information? Because that’s close to a spy. You know what we used to do in the old days, when we were smart, right? The spies and treason? We used to handle it a little differently than we do now.”

Pelosi accused the White House of a cover-up.

re: TRUMP Impeachment >Upgraded to Criminal Investigation Re Mueller Report
 

Trump Has Put Whistleblower's Life in Danger, Lawyers Say

Trump lashes out at whistleblower and renews attack on House intelligence chair

Attorney: president’s demands prompt safety concerns
Robert Reich: Trump can do more damage than Nixon

The Guardian UK, 30 Sep 2019


Lawyers acting for the whistleblower at the centre of the impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump’s attempts to solicit foreign help for his re-election campaign have warned that their client’s personal safety is in danger, partly as a result of the president’s remarks.

After they did so, Trump continued to attack the whistleblower on Twitter and also suggested the chair of the House intelligence committee be arrested for treason.

Andrew Bakaj, the lead attorney for the unnamed intelligence official who sounded the alarm about Trump’s conduct relating to Ukraine, expressed fears on Sunday that the whistleblower could be put “in harm’s way” if his or her identity were made public.

In a letter to the acting director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire, Bakaj pointed directly at Trump’s aggressive statements that he said prompted “concerns for our client’s safety”.

The letter, first reported by 60 Minutes on CBS News, quotes Trump’s comments on Thursday to staff at the US mission to the UN in New York. In his remarks, made behind closed doors but reported by the New York Times, the president made a thinly-veiled threat that showed disdain for the institutional protections afforded to whistleblowers under federal law.

This is a protected system where retaliation is not permitted, whether direct or implied
Andrew Bakaj


“I want to know who’s the person who gave the whistleblower the information because that’s close to a spy,” Trump said. “You know what we used to do in the old days when we were smart? Right? With spies and treason, right? We used to handle them a little differently than we do now.”

Bakaj said the indirect nature of Trump’s comment in referring to the person who fed the whistleblower the information “does nothing to assuage our concerns for our client’s safety”. The lawyer added that individuals were also offering $50,000 rewards for information that would out the intelligence official.

In an accompanying letter to senior Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and Senate, Bakaj made an impassioned plea to the political leadership of both parties to “speak out in favor of whistleblower protection”.

He asked them to make clear that “this is a protected system where retaliation is not permitted, whether direct or implied. We further expect that political leaders from both parties condemn any intimidation against our client and others.”

The whistleblower is reviled by the White House for having filed a complaint on 12 August that exposed the president’s efforts to engage the Ukraine government in digging up dirt on Joe Biden, the former vice-president who is a frontrunner to challenge Trump in next year’s presidential election.

Trump has responded by belittling the whistleblower, questioning his patriotism and trying to breach his anonymity.

On Sunday night, Trump returned to the subject on Twitter.

“I deserve to meet my accuser, especially when this accuser, the so-called ‘Whistleblower’, represented a perfect conversation with a foreign leader in a totally inaccurate and fraudulent way,” he tweeted.


Trump was referring to the whistleblower’s account of the 25 July conversation between the US president and his opposite number in Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. A reconstructed transcript of the phone call shows that the whistleblower’s account was entirely accurate.

The president went there again on Monday, tweeting that: “The Fake Whistleblower complaint is not holding up. It is mostly about the call to the Ukrainian President which, in the name of transparency, I immediately released to Congress & the public. The Whistleblower knew almost nothing, its 2ND HAND description of the call is a fraud!”

In fact, the whistleblower’s complaint follows protocol in drawing on eyewitness accounts by direct participants.

On Monday, Trump also revisited an incendiary attack, also mounted on Sunday, on Adam Schiff, the chair of the House intelligence committee who is leading the impeachment inquiry and who said on Sunday he hoped to call the whistleblower to testify as part of the proceedings in a secure and private setting.

Trump accused Schiff, a Democrat, of having “illegally made up a FAKE & terrible statement, pretended it to be mine as the most important part of my call to the Ukrainian President, and read it aloud to Congress and the American people.”

At a committee hearing with acting director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire, on Thursday, Schiff said in his introduction he would represent “the essence of what the president communicates”, not providing “the exact transcribed version of the call”.

“It bore NO relationship to what I said on the call,” Trump wrote on Monday. “Arrest for Treason?”


Trump was also criticised on Sunday night by a member of his own party for quoting on Twitter a comment from Pastor Robert Jeffress on Fox News. Trump wrote: “If the Democrats are successful in removing the President from office (which they will never be), it will cause a Civil War like fracture in this Nation from which our Country will never heal.”

Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger said the quote was “repugnant”.

Even before the latest presidential threats, lawyers working with whistleblowers had warned that Trump’s belligerent language would send a chill through the intelligence services and dissuade other officials troubled about misconduct from coming forward in future.

On Sunday night another of the whistleblower’s legal team, Mark Zaid, said that discussions were continuing over a possible congressional meeting “but no date/time has yet been set”.

re: TRUMP Impeachment >Upgraded to Criminal Investigation Re Mueller Report
 

re: TRUMP Impeachment Upgraded >Criminal Investigation Re Mueller Report
 

re: TRUMP Impeachment -Difference Between GOD & TRUMP
 

Pelosi Bangs The Gavel: House Votes to Endorse Trump Impeachment Inquiry

Vote set rules for public phase of impeachment inquiry, laying out plan that could produce televised hearings within two weeks

The Guardian UK, 1 NOV 2019.


For only the third time in the history of the modern presidency, the US House of Representatives voted on Thursday to formalize impeachment proceedings against the president of the United States.


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In a largely party-line vote of 232-196, the House embarked on a path that seemed likely to lead to Donald Trump’s impeachment – if not necessarily his removal from office. The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, presided over the vote and marked it with a bang of her gavel.

Republicans held ranks to vote uniformly against the process, while two Democrats crossed party lines to join them. The House’s sole independent, former Republican Justin Amash of Michigan, voted to advance the resolution.

The vote set rules for the public phase of the inquiry, laying out a road map for impeachment that could produce dramatic televised public hearings within two weeks and a vote on impeachment itself by the end of the year.

“This resolution sets the stage for the next phase of our investigation, one in which the American people have the opportunity to hear from the witnesses firsthand,” the House intelligence chairman, Adam Schiff, said in a floor speech ahead of the vote.

“We will continue to conduct this inquiry with the seriousness of purpose that our task deserves because it is our duty and because no one is above the law.”

Pelosi called the vote a “solemn occasion” but said it was a necessary “step forward” to establish the framework for the open hearings.

House minority leader Kevin McCarthy said Democrats were “trying to impeach the president because they are scared that they cannot defeat him” in the 2020 election.

As the vote was announced, Trump tweeted: “The Greatest Witch Hunt In American History!” The White House issued a statement saying “the president has done nothing wrong” and calling the process “a blatantly partisan attempt to destroy the president”.

For weeks, congressional investigators have been interviewing witnesses – 15 and counting – behind closed doors about alleged misconduct by Trump, who stands accused of using the power of his office to solicit foreign interference in the 2020 US election.

The US House of Representatives voted on the resolution, which sets up the next steps in the impeachment inquiry against Trump

Trump has denied wrongdoing, claiming that a July phone call in which he asked the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, for a political “favor”, as captured in a partial transcript released by the White House and backed up by witness testimony, was “perfect”.

The desired favor, as Trump himself explained in the call, was for Ukraine to investigate a company that had employed a son of Joe Biden, whom Trump saw as a top political threat. Trump also wanted an investigation that would cast doubt on Russian tampering in the 2016 election.

At the time, the White House had suspended almost $400m in military aid for Ukraine appropriated by Congress, and US diplomats had advised Ukrainian officials that a White House visit for Zelenskiy was contingent on the announcement of investigations.

The parade of witnesses appearing before congressional investigators continued on Thursday with the testimony of Tim Morrison, a senior national security council official. He corroborated prior testimony describing efforts by the Trump administration to strike a suspicious deal with Ukrainians.

If Trump is impeached, a Senate trial would follow, possibly early next year, with a two-thirds majority vote required to remove Trump from office.

Still in question was whether Morrison’s former boss, the then national security adviser John Bolton, who reportedly described the back-room Trump-Ukraine haggling as a “drug deal” that he wanted no part of, would testify before Congress.

A lawyer for Bolton told Congress on Wednesday that while Bolton would not testify without a subpoena, the lawyer stood ready to receive a subpoena.

Testimony by Bolton, a Yale-educated lawyer, blistering conservative hawk and expert bureaucratic infighter, could be as damaging for Trump as any so far. Bolton reportedly told aides that Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal emissary in the Ukraine saga, was a “hand grenade” that could blow everyone up, and he encouraged multiple aides to take their concerns about Trump’s Ukraine dealings to the top lawyer on the national security council.

That lawyer, John Eisenberg, has also been invited to testify next week before congressional investigators.

The House vote on Thursday implemented a procedure likely to lead to the drafting of articles of impeachment against Trump in the judiciary committee.

When Pelosi banged the gavel, Republicans shouted “objection”, briefly sowing confusion as the clerk strained to be heard and Democrats countered with calls for order. The room eventually settled and the House returned to the rest of its agenda before leaving Washington for a week-long recess.

Moments after the vote, Republicans began their assault on Democrats in “swing” districts who supported the resolution, sending emails to supporters that accused the Democrats by name of participating in a “fraud”. With only two Democratic defections, that list includes members critical to the party’s majority.

Analysts have said that Trump is vulnerable to impeachment for abuse of power, obstruction of justice and contempt of Congress, charges familiar from previous impeachment proceedings against presidents Richard Nixon, who resigned, and Bill Clinton, who was impeached but not removed from office.

The procedure allows for Republicans to request witnesses and documents and provides for the presence of lawyers representing Trump at judiciary committee proceedings.

Before that stage, however, public hearings would play out before the intelligence committee, chaired by Schiff of California, who has been spearheading the impeachment inquiry.

Schiff would call witnesses who previously testified in closed-door depositions before investigators, with an eye on presenting to the public the strongest case against Trump. Many Americans who have not been following the twists and turns of the closed-door testimony would be hearing the allegations against Trump – and meeting the witnesses, who include senior officials in the White House, state department and Pentagon – for the first time.

re: TRUMP Impeachment -Difference Between GOD & TRUMP
 

Impeachment inquiry / Transcripts Reveal Shock and Concern Over Trump Plot

Yovanovitch and McKinley warned plot to manufacture political dirt on Joe Biden in Ukraine undermined national security

The Guardian UK, 5 Nov 2019


Two senior American diplomats warned congressional investigators a White House plot to manufacture political dirt on Joe Biden in Ukraine had undermined US national security interests and shredded faith among foreign service personnel, according to transcripts released on Monday by committees pursuing an impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump.

One of the diplomats, former ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, described her “shock” to discover that Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal emissary who has also worked for Ukrainian and Russian interests, was attempting to destroy her reputation.

When she sought advice on how to stanch the attack, she said, she was told to tweet something nice about Trump.

The second diplomat, P Michael McKinley, described how his dawning awareness of the White House plot to attack Biden, combined with the failure of the state department to support Yovanovitch, led him to resign.

“To see the emerging information on the engagement of our missions to procure negative political information for domestic purposes,” McKinley testified, “combined with the failure I saw in the building to provide support for our professional cadre in a particularly trying time, I think the combination was a pretty good reason to decide … I had no longer a useful role to play.”

Trump and his supporters continue to deny allegations the White House withheld almost $400m in military aid and the promise of a White House meeting until Ukraine announced investigations that could harm Biden, a frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination.

But a summary of a call between Trump and Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, provided evidence of a quid pro quo, which has been backed by testimony from more than a dozen officials and admitted by some Republicans – who claim it is not impeachable conduct.

The committees leading the impeachment inquiry released the transcripts as four White House officials failed to respond to subpoenas, in an abrupt escalation of Trump’s defiance of Congress.

Trump, meanwhile, sparked an outcry by beginning to lift a veil on the identity of the official whose complaint sparked the impeachment inquiry, in spite of federal laws making it a crime to threaten or take action against government whistleblowers.

“The Whistleblower got it sooo wrong that HE must come forward,” Trump tweeted on Sunday, revealing the individual’s gender and hinting at knowledge of his identity. On Monday, he said the whistleblower’s offer of written answers to Republicans’ questions was “not acceptable”.

House intelligence committee chair Adam Schiff vowed the inquiry would not be delayed.

“We may infer by the White House obstruction here, that [the officials’] testimony would be further incriminatory of the president,” Schiff told reporters. “We will continue to release the transcripts and we will soon, although I can’t give you the timetable, be moving to open hearings as well.”

Yovanovitch, a career diplomat with a reputation as a staunch anti-corruption advocate, discovered in late 2018 that Giuliani was campaigning against her, she testified.

When she sought the advice of Gordon Sondland, US ambassador to the European Union, he said: “You need to, you know, tweet out there that you support the president.

“He said: ‘You know the president. Well, maybe you don’t know him personally, but you know, you know, the sorts of things that he likes. You know, go out there battling aggressively and, you know, praise him or support him.’”

It is unclear who was paying Giuliani but he has advised two Ukrainian Americans arrested last month for campaign finance violations. Another witness described former congressman Bob Livingston, a lobbyist, campaigning against Yovanovitch.

Yovanovitch was recalled by the state department in April. “This is about your security,” she said she was told. “You need to come home immediately. You need to come home on the next plane.”

She said she was later told secretary of state Mike Pompeo was trying to protect her from Trump: “They were worried that if I wasn’t, you know, physically out of Ukraine, that there would be, you know, some sort of public either tweet or something else from the White House.”

Yovanovich told investigators she felt “shocked” when she found Trump had said of her in his 25 July call with Zelenskiy, according to a partial White House transcript: “Well, she’s going to go through some things.”

“I didn’t know what it meant. I was very concerned,” said Yovanovitch. “I still am.”

“Did you feel threatened?” she was asked.

“Yes,” she replied.

McKinley, a former ambassador who returned to service at the request of Pompeo, described his frustration at the state department’s refusal to support Yovanovitch.

Three times, Pompeo ignored his outrage that Yovanovitch was being hung out to dry, including a final such statement accompanying his resignation, McKinley testified.

He also said he was shocked to watch efforts inside the department to manufacture dirt abroad on a domestic political opponent.

“And if I can underscore, in 37 years in the foreign service and … working 10 years back in Washington, I had never seen that,” McKinley testified.

More than a dozen current and former state, defense and White House officials have defied a Trump gag order to testify. But the parade came to a halt on Monday.

Defying subpoenas were John Eisenberg, top lawyer on the National Security Council; Michael Ellis, his deputy; Robert Blair, an adviser to acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney; and Brian McCormack, an official in the White House budget office.

Investigators had been eager to hear from Eisenberg, who at least two witnesses have said was responsible for transferring the 25 July call summary on to a restricted network.

Eisenberg did so, according to Lt Col Alexander Vindman, a national security staffer, after Vindman approached him with concerns. Eisenberg instructed Vindman not to discuss the call with anyone, Vindman testified.

In a letter dated 3 November, a justice department lawyer argued that Eisenberg is “absolutely immune from compelled congressional testimony in his capacity as senior adviser to the president”.

In other developments on Monday, a Soviet-born associate of Giuliani reversed course by saying he is prepared to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry, according to his attorney.

Lev Parnas, who is accused of using foreign money to make illegal campaign contributions while lobbying US politicians to oust the country’s ambassador to Ukraine, is willing to comply with a subpoena from impeachment investigators. Parnas and Igor Fruman, another Giuliani associate, were arrested at an airport last month while trying to leave the country.






Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Ukraine plans to fire the prosecutor who led investigations into the firm where Joe Biden’s son served on the board, a central figure in the activity at the heart of impeachment proceedings, according to sources.

Giuliani has acknowledged meeting the prosecutor, Kostiantyn Kulyk, to discuss accusations against the Bidens. Ukraine’s move comes as the country attempts to avoid getting drawn into a partisan fight in Washington.


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re: TRUMP Impeachment -Corrupt & Criminal President on Constitutional Cliff?
 

What's the Difference Between God and TRUMP

God doesn't wander around THE WORLD thinking he's TRUMP


https://static.independent.co.uk/s3f...ld-trump-4.jpg

Sorry GOD, I forgot TO ASK my hairdresser to spray the front of my hair red, before I asked you to GOD BLESS AMERICA...

:crackup::crackup::crackup:

re: TRUMP Impeachment -Corrupt & Criminal President on Constitutional Cliff?
 

re: TRUMP >Corrupt & Criminal President on Constitutional Cliff?
 

Republicans March Over The Impeachment Cliff – Taking Their Self-Respect With Them

Impeachment / Senators block witnesses in Trump trial, paving way for acquittal. Senate voted 51-49 to block witnesses, with Republicans Mitt Romney and Susan Collins joining Democrats

How can Republicans pretend to the world that their vision of America – where a president can happily use military aid to coerce a foreign government to smear his political rival in an election – is the model for democracy?

Richard Wolffe, The Guardian UK, 1 FEB, 2020


Jared Kushner is a genius. It’s all too easy to overlook the sheer brilliance of Donald Trump’s son-in-law, not least when he rolls out a Middle East peace plan that destroys the concepts of both the Israeli and Palestinian states.

But for his rapier-like ability to capture the zeitgeist, there’s no one quite like the young slumlord to tell it like it really is. Speaking to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Kushner talked dramatically about this week as a time for leaders to step up.

“What we’ve done is create an opportunity for their leadership to either seize or not,” he explained. “If they screw up this opportunity – which again, they have a perfect track record of missing opportunities – if they screw this up, I think they will have a very hard time looking the international community in the face, saying they are the victims, saying they have rights.”

Kushner thought he was talking about the Palestinians, in a gloriously brazen blend of racism and gold-leafed ignorance.

But he was in fact describing perfectly the entire caucus of Senate Republicans as they screwed up their last golden opportunity for personal redemption and liberal democracy in the impeachment trial of Donald J Trump.

How will the nation’s Republican senators look anyone in the face and say they have any rights to keep in check a corrupt and criminal president? How can they pretend to be Trump’s victims when they marched themselves off a constitutional cliff?

And how on earth can they pretend to the world that their vision of America – where a president can happily use military aid to coerce a foreign government to smear his political rival in an election – is the model for democracy?

Let’s be honest. There was little drama or suspense in Trump’s impeachment trial, save for the bat-excrement quality of crazy that tumbled out of Alan Dershowitz’s mouth. According to Harvard’s emeritus law professor, presidents are unimpeachable as long as they think they are acting in the national interest when they use their power to corrupt their own election.

This could have been valuable analysis for Richard Nixon, but it also serves to question the value of a Harvard law professor. Perhaps it’s only the detritus who become emeritus.

Dershowitz claimed he said no such thing, but our eyes and ears suggested otherwise. He also said he supported Nixon’s almost-impeachment, naturally. Which is to say: the Harvard man is the perfect specimen of what Trump has propagated through the body politic: a contagious coronavirus of chronic lying, cowardly ambition and plain old corruption.

For all the fake angst about calling witnesses – did Mitch McConnell wobble on the votes to stop them or is he actually manipulating the media every day? – the searing testimony of John Bolton would have done nothing, zippo, nada, to change the final vote.

The facts of Trump’s corruption were never in dispute. The notion that this doesn’t rise to impeachable crimes has always been a joke.

We could play the age-old parlor game of asking how our esteemed Republican senators would have responded to Barack Obama asking the French government to investigate Mitt Romney’s missionary exploits ahead of the 2012 election. But what’s the point?

Today’s Republican party elected to remove their spinal cords three years ago, along with much of their frontal lobe and their self-respect. They wring their hands in private and lament their lampoon-worthy leader whose shoes they must lick on a daily basis.

But they should know they are following in a fine tradition of the world’s puppet legislators, like the People’s Council of Syria and the Russian Duma under the expert guidance of one Vladimir Putin.

We should in some ways be grateful for the honesty of our pseudo-senators. “There is no need for more evidence to prove something that has already been proven,” said Lamar Alexander, the Tennessee senator who was supposedly considering Bolton as a witness.

Having decided the facts against Trump, Alexander then decided to trivialize his criminal acts of withholding congressionally mandated foreign aid and demanding foreign interference in his own election. According to Alexander, such stuff was simply “inappropriate” – much like wearing brogues to the Grand Ole Opry or asking for the fish at Top’s Bar-B-Q.

“The question then is not whether the president did it, but whether the United States Senate or the American people should decide what to do about what he did,” said the senator, elected to make decisions for the American people in one of three co-equal branches of government.

Faced with so many profiles in courage, our reality TV star of a commander-in-chief will carry on regardless, seeking out fellow grifters, foreign strongmen and domestic weaklings. Will he feel liberated by the failure of the Senate trial to seek out more foreign interference in this year’s election? The answer may be similar to the one about bears dumping in forests.

Short of removal from office or federal indictment, there are no constraints on Trump’s conduct. He can hire another goon like Rudy Giuliani to work with sketchy foreigners running businesses called something like Fraud Guarantee. Then he can shovel any amount of sketchy cash on to Facebook’s mountain of money to beguile the gullible about the guaranteed fraud. Because a president can’t be impeached for inappropriate crimes. And because political free speech is untouchable in the fantasy world where Mark Zuckerberg thinks he’s helping humanity.

This has been a historic week for self-destructive politics. Like turkeys voting for Christmas, the British government celebrated its withdrawal from its biggest trading relationships just as Republican senators celebrated their own castration.

Both sets of magnificent morons claimed they were acting for their imaginary friends in the future: a future where Britain will once again bestride the ocean, and presidents will once again lead the free world feeling free from the fear of partisan impeachment.

“The Radical Left, Do Nothing Democrats keep chanting ‘fairness’, when they put on the most unfair Witch Hunt in the history of the U.S. Congress,” tweeted the victim-in-chief sitting in the Oval Office, probably watching Fox News. “They had 17 Witnesses, we were allowed ZERO, and no lawyers. They didn’t do their job, had no case. The Dems are scamming America!”

Donald Trump doesn’t know much about history, foreign policy or politics. He can’t tell the difference between his own lawyers and no lawyers; between lots of witnesses and no witnesses at all. But he does know a lot about scams, and he can’t wait to share them with you.


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Crossfire: EXPLOSIVE New Podcast on Trump-Russia Scandal
 

Crossfire: Explosive New Telegraph Podcast > Spies, Lies and an Election Like No Other

Listen to this gripping new six-part podcast series revealing the untold story of Britain's role in the Trump-Russia scandal.


The Telegraph.UK, 14 Feb 2020


The Telegraph’s US Editor, Ben Riley-Smith takes you inside arguably the biggest political scandal in recent history, speaking to those who saw it first hand.

He finds a story that repeatedly weaves through the UK - from Cambridge University to an East London hotel.

But why does Britain keep coming up?

How exactly does foreign interference happen?

And what does this tell us about how Donald Trump’s campaigns work?

In episode 1, out now, Ben uncovers the moment the scandal began, not in Washington, but in a London wine bar, and you'll hear the mysterious professor at the heart of the scandal for the very first time.

Listen Now:

Crossfire Podcast, Episode 1: The Bomb

Covid-19 Vaccine:Germany is NOT For Sale Mr Trump
 

Not For Sale: Anger in Germany at Trump Seeking Exclusive Coronavirus Vaccine Deal

Ministers and MPs criticise display of ‘self interest’ and accuse US president of electioneering

The Guardian UK 16 MAR 2020


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German ministers have reacted angrily following reports US president Donald Trump offered a German medical company “large sums of money” for exclusive rights to a Covid-19 vaccine.


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“Germany is not for sale,” economy minister Peter Altmaier told broadcaster ARD, reacting to a front page report in Welt am Sonntag newspaper headlined
“Trump vs Berlin”.


The newspaper reported Trump offered $1bn to Tübingen-based biopharmaceutical company CureVac to secure the vaccine “only for the United States”.


The German government was reportedly offering its own financial incentives for the vaccine to stay in the country.

The report prompted fury in Berlin. “International co-operation is important now, not national self-interest,” said Erwin Rueddel, a conservative lawmaker on the German parliament’s health committee.

Christian Lindner, leader of the liberal FDP party, accused Trump of electioneering, saying:

“Obviously Trump will use any means available in an election campaign.”

The German health minister, Jens Spahn, said a takeover of CureVac by the Trump administration was “off the table”.

CureVac would only develop vaccine “for the whole world”, Spahn said, “not for individual countries”.


Worldwide infections have grown to more than more than 86,000, according to the Johns Hopkins university tracker, while cases inside China stood at 80,860 as of Monday. Deaths outside China have risen to more than 3,241, while deaths in mainland China stand at 3,208 as of Monday.

At a news conference on Sunday, interior minister Horst Seehofer was asked to confirm the attempts to court the German company. “I can only say that I have heard several times today from government officials today that this is the case, and we will be discussing it in the crisis committee tomorrow,” he said.

A US official told AFP on Sunday that the report was “wildly overplayed”. “The US government has spoken with many [more than 25] companies that claim they can help with a vaccine. Most of these companies already received seed funding from US investors.”

The official also denied the US was seeking to keep any potential vaccine for itself. “We will continue to talk to any company that claims to be able to help. And any solution found would be shared with the world,” the official said.

CureVac, founded in 2000, is based in the German state of Thuringia, and has other sites in Frankfurt and Boston.

The firm markets itself as specialising in “development of treatments against cancer, antibody-based therapies, treatment of rare illnesses and prophylactic vaccines”.

The lab is working in tandem with the Paul-Ehrlich Institute, linked to the German health ministry.

Last week, the firm mysteriously announced that CureVac CEO Daniel Menichella had been replaced by Ingmar Hoerr, just weeks after Menichella met Trump, his vice-president Mike Pence and representatives of pharma companies in Washington.

CureVac quoted Menichella on its website as saying shortly after the visit: “We are very confident that we will be able to develop a potent vaccine candidate within a few months.”


On Sunday, CureVac investors said they would not sell the vaccine to a single state.

“If we are successful in developing an effective vaccine, then it should help and protect people across the world,” said Dietmar Hopp, head of principle investor dievini Hopp BioTech holding, in a statement.

Altmaier welcomed the statement, saying it was a “fantastic decision”.

He also pointed out the government had the power to scrutinise foreign takeovers, saying:

“Where important infrastructure and national and European interests are concerned, we will take action if we have to.”

re: ATTN TRUMP >Forklift Loads Dead Bodies into N.Y.Refrigerated Trucks
 

Trump Privately Appeals to Asia and Europe for Medical Help to Fight Coronavirus

Despite Trump’s rhetoric that the US would not rely on foreign nations for help, the administration has approached European and Asian partners

The Guardian UK, 25 MAR 2020


The US has been appealing to its allies for help in obtaining medical supplies to overcome critical shortages in its fight against coronavirus.

In his public rhetoric Trump has been talking up the domestic private sector response to the crisis.

“We should never be reliant on a foreign country for the means of our own survival,” Trump said at a White House briefing on Tuesday evening. “America will never be a supplicant nation.”


However behind the scenes, the administration has approached European and Asian partners to secure supplies of testing kits and other medical equipment that are in desperately short supply in the US.

& Trump's 'back-to-work' plan would only make things worse, experts say

On Tuesday, Trump spoke by phone with the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, asking if his country could supply medical equipment.

The official White House account made no mention of the request, but according to the South Korean presidency, the Blue House, the call was made at Trump’s “urgent request”.

Trump praised the South Korean testing programme, which has helped contain the outbreak there. Moon told Trump that he would support South Korean exports of critical supplies to the US “if there is a domestic surplus”.

Foreign Policy reported that the third-ranking diplomat in the state department, David Hale, had asked for a list of countries that might be able to sell “critical medical supplies and equipment” to the US.

“Depending on critical needs, the United States could seek to purchase many of these items in the hundreds of millions with purchases of higher end equipment such as ventilators in the hundreds of thousands,” an email sent to embassies in Europe and Eurasia said.

The email underlined that the request applied to host countries “minus Moscow”.

On 15 March, German officials said they had fended off a Trump administration offer to buy exclusive access to a potential vaccine being developed by a German company, CureVac.


The US has scaled up its diagnostic testing after a slow start and Trump boasted on Tuesday that the country had performed more tests in eight days than South Korea had managed in eight weeks.

As of last week, South Korea had tested 270,000 people (one in 190 of the population) since the beginning of the outbreak while the US has performed 266,000 tests (one in 1,230) in the past eight days. Seoul also started testing much earlier in the country’s outbreak.

Some of the critical components of the diagnostic test are in short supply globally, including the reagents needed to identify the presence of the Covid-19 virus, and nasal swabs used for taking the samples.

The shortages will constrain the US ability to carry out mass testing in the near term, and the administration’s medical experts have been urging that tests are restricted to patients who have already been hospitalised.

On March 18, the Defense One military news site reported that the US air force had quietly flown half a million nasal swabs from Italy to Memphis, where they were distributed around the country.

The US is turning to its allies at a time when it has strained relations with many of them because of Trump.


Trump has been demanding South Korea pay much more, reportedly up to $5 bn a year, to cover the costs of US troops based on its soil and the US military has threatened to lay off thousands of Korean employees if Seoul does not agree to a deal.

“It’s almost like we shouldn’t have used alliances as protection rackets, shaking down a close and highly-capable partner for $5 billion, imagining there would be no consequences for transactional unilateralism,” Mira Rapp-Hooper, senior fellow for Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, commented on Twitter.

The US is by far the largest buyer of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies from China, and is seeking to import Chinese face masks and protective gear, but negotiations have been complicated by growing acrimony between the two countries, over what Trump has insisted until very recently on calling the “China virus”.

Severe disruptions in international air links caused by the outbreak have also disrupted US imports.

“It’s a supply chain which has multiple dynamically shifting bottlenecks and the administration is trying to overcome them one at a time, as they pop up,” Prashant Rao, visiting fellow at the Center for Global Development, said. “What we need is a far more comprehensive approach.”

U.S. Could Become Coronavirus Epicenter: W.H.O

The United States has the potential to become the new epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic due to a "very large acceleration" in infections there, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday.

re: TRUMP's Coronavirus Cure: Inject Disinfectant & Use UV Lights
 

Coronavirus: Horrifying Moment Forklift Loads Dead Bodies into Refrigerated Truck in New York

The disturbing footage was shot outside Brooklyn Hospital in New York City, where Covid-19 is set to peak, with temporary treatment facilities being set up outside six hospitals

Daily Mirror UK, 31 MAR 2020


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Dead bodies were seen being loaded onto a refrigerated truck by a forklift outside a New York hospital as the coronavirus pandemic continues to esculate.


Disturbing footage has emerged from outside Brooklyn Hospital in New York City where Covid-19 has claimed 790 people, while more than 36,000 have contracted the disease.

Hours earlier, a photo shared online had shown a similar scene at a different hospital, while pop-up morgues and hospitals are being constructed.

The last time anything like this has been seen in the east coast city was after the terror attacks on September 11, 2001.

Crews on Sunday started assembling triage tents outside New York City hospitals that are already overwhelmed by coronavirus victims.


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Temporary treatment facilities


The pandemic is set to peak in New York City in the coming weeks, with medical chiefs desperate to prepare the already stretched hospital system - with temporary facilities being set up outside six hospitals, including one in Long Island.

Dr Anthony Fauci, the leading US government infectious disease expert, has warned other American cities could see similar outbreaks to epicentre NYC.


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Refrigerated trucks have been spotted at different locations to transport dead bodies (Image: Corbis via Getty Images)


The doctor said he fears for the likes of Detroit and Los Angeles - though it is News Orelans, where 73 have already died, which is the main candidate for the next hotspot.

Over the weekend, a photo taken by an NYC medical professional at the end of his shift was also shared from inside a truck filled with body bags.

The 38-year-old told Buzzfeed : "It is the ghastly reality of what we deal with and where some of us have ended up already," he said.

He said one of the victims was a female patient he had comforted, remaining with her until she took her "last breath" - the first time he'd done that during the crisis.


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An image taken by a nurse from inside a refrigerated truck lined by Covid-19 victims (Image: Twitter)


The city's largest borough, Queens has seen its case toll hit double figures at over 10,000, followed closely by Brooklyn, The Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island.

Across New York State more than 1,000 people have died from coronavirus with confirmed cases at 59,513.

Yesterday, the US death toll hit more than 2,500 with cases topping 142,000.

Trump has extended social distancing guidelines until the end of April.

The US president, who had faced criticism earlier this month for suggesting he would re-open the country by Easter, has since U-turned. AGAIN

On Sunday Trump said if deaths stayed under 200,000, he would consider that he'd done a "good job".





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re: TRUMP's Coronavirus Cure: Inject Disinfectant & Use UV Lights
 

US Accused of 'Modern Piracy' After Diversion of Masks Meant for Europe

The US reportedly divertied a shipment of masks intended for the German police, and outbidding other countries in the increasingly fraught global market for coronavirus protective equipment.

German politician adds to chorus of complaints about American tactics to source protective gear

The Guardian UK 3 APR 2020


About 200,000 N95 masks were diverted to the US as they were being transferred between planes in Thailand, according to the Berlin authorities who said they had ordered the masks for the police force.

Andreas Geisel, the interior minister for Berlin state, described the diversion as “an act of modern piracy” and appealed to the German government to demand Washington conform to international trading rules. “This is no way to treat trans-Atlantic partners,” Geisel said. “Even in times of global crisis there should be no wild west methods.”

The German reports said the masks had been made by a Chinese producer for the US company 3M, but the firm issued a statement on Friday night saying: “3M has no evidence to suggest 3M products have been seized. 3M has no record of any order of respirators from China for the Berlin police. We cannot speculate where this report originated.”

The German allegations added to a chorus of complaints about the Trump administration’s practice as the US wields its clout in a marketplace for scarce medical supplies that is becoming a free-for-all, with nation competing against nation.

Valérie Pécresse, the influential president of the Île-de-France region, which includes Paris, described the race to get masks as a “treasure hunt”.

“I found a stock of masks that was available and Americans – I’m not talking about the American government – but Americans, outbid us,” Pécresse said. “They offered three times the price and they proposed to pay upfront. I can’t do that. I’m spending taxpayers’ money and I can only pay on delivery having checked the quality,” she told BFMTV. “So we were caught out.”

Pécresse said she had finally obtained a consignment of 1.5m masks thanks to the help of Franco-Chinese residents in the Paris area.

Her comments follow allegations from two other French regional heads that unidentified American buyers outbid on mask shipments, including one instance when a consignment was reportedly “on the tarmac” to be flown to France.

“We really have to fight,” Jean Rottner, a doctor and president of the Grand Est regional council, told RTL radio. His area had been particularly badly hit by Covid-19 cases.

Following reporting on his comments, Rottner said on Twitter that it was not his order of 2m masks that had been diverted, although it was “common practice”.

The French media have started calling the rush for equipment “mask wars”.

The American 3M company, which makes the N95 mask (commonly known as a respirator, which provides better protection than an ordinary surgical mask) said on Friday that the Trump administration had asked it to increase shipments to the US from its factories overseas, and it had secured agreement from China to ship 10mmasks from 3M plants.

But 3M said the administration had also told the company to stop exporting masks from US production sites to Canada and Latin America. The company said the demand raises “significant humanitarian implications” from stopping shipments intended for healthcare workers, and warned it would backfire by triggering retaliation from other countries.

“If that were to occur, the net number of respirators being made available to the US would actually decrease,” the statement said. “That is the opposite of what we and the administration, on behalf of the American people, both seek.”

Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said the US move was a “mistake”, noting that the US also imports medical supplies from Canada.

In the scramble for masks and other critical medical supplies, the US has a significant advantage in its fleet of large air freighters, three times the size of China’s. Buyers from national governments, US states and private buyers are going through a network of brokers, many in Shanghai.

One broker, Michael Crotty, who runs Golden Pacific Fashion & Design in Shanghai, told the New York Times that Chinese factories sometimes move the highest-paying customers to the front of the line. “It’s a seller’s market,” Crotty said. “You don’t see this very often.”


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Workers unload a jet used by the New England Patriots after it landed at Logan Airport from Shenzhen, China with a shipment of over one million N95 masks. Photograph: Jim Davis/EPA


Personal connections often provide a decisive edge. Robert Kraft, an American billionaire businessman, lent a Boeing 767 to the Massachusetts governor, Charlie Baker, who was trying to transport 1.2m masks he had bought in China to Massachusetts.

The plane was one of two Kraft bought for the New England Patriots NFL team, which helped organise the shipment, with the help of China’s consul general in New York, Huang Ping, who kept his office open over the weekend to process the documentation, according to an account on the Patriots website. The plane was allowed to land as long as the crew did not disembark and it stayed on the ground in Shenzhen for less than three hours. The plane left with three minutes to spare.

Speaking on Thursday in front of the plane, Baker choked up with emotion. “This gear will make an enormous difference,” the Republican said. “It’s not a secret that securing [personal protective equipment] has been an enormous challenge. And we will continue to come up with ways to chase more gear to keep our frontline workers and patients safe. We need more, we will always need more.”

US states have found themselves competing against each other and the federal government for equipment. The New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, said this week that it was like “being on eBay with 50 other states”.

State governors learned they could not rely on the rapidly depleting national stockpile, especially after Donald Trump made it clear that federal help would be affected by political preference, saying he wanted governors to be “appreciative”.

“I’ve got to tell you that on three good orders, we lost to the feds,” Baker told Trump during a teleconference. “I’ve got a feeling that if someone has the chance to sell to you and to sell to me, I am going to lose on every one of those.”

Trump later said the federal government would attempt to drop bids if there were a conflict.

The US Federal Emergency Management Agency is coordinating flights for US buyers but has so far not nationalised the distribution network, arguing that private distributors can do a better job.

Governments have been accused of using other underhand methods to acquire supplies, including banning exports of protective equipment.

Brazil, too, has said recent attempts to purchase protective gear from China had fallen through. “There is a problem of hyper-demand,” the health minister, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, said on Wednesday.

The US has the largest number of confirmed coronavirus case of any country with about 245,000 reported infections and more than 6,000 deaths. Domestic stocks of masks and other vital equipment are scarce.

re: TRUMP's Coronavirus Cure: Inject Disinfectant & Use UV Lights
 

New York Now Burying Coronavirus Victims in Mass Graves With More Cases Than Any Country

The victims of coronavirus in New York, which has been ravaged by the outbreak, have been buried in mass graves on Hart Island, off the Bronx, which has been used to bury poor people for 150 years

BBC News / Daily Mirror UK, 10 APR 2020


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Drone pictures show bodies being buried on New York's Hart Island (Image: REUTERS)


The victims of Covid-19 in New York have been buried in mass graves as the city struggles to cope with the coronavirus.

Shocking images taken from a drone show workers using ladders to climb into a huge pit on Hart Island, off the Bronx.

The area has been used for mass burials for those who have no next-of-kin, or whose families can't afford funerals, for the past 150 years.

Typically, some 25 bodies are interred each week by low-paid jail inmates working on the island, which is accessible only by boat.

That number began increasing in March as the new coronavirus spread rapidly, making New York the epicentre of the global pandemic.

New York state now has more coronavirus cases than any other country outside the US, after a jump of 10,000 on Thursday to nearly 160,000 put it ahead of Spain and Italy.

The state's death toll is similar to the UK's, with more than 7,000 fatalities among a US-wide number of more than 16,000.

For context, New York state's population is just under a third of that of the UK at about 20 million.

There are about two dozen bodies a day, five days a week buried on the island, said Jason Kersten, a spokesman for the Department of Correction, which oversees the burials.

Before burial, the dead are wrapped in body bags and placed inside pine caskets.

The deceased's name is scrawled in large letters on each casket, which helps should a body need to be disinterred later.


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They are buried in long narrow trenches excavated by digging machines. (Image: REUTERS)


"They added two new trenches in case we need them," Mr Kersten said.

To help with the surge contract laborers have been hired, he said.

"For social distancing and safety reasons, city-sentenced people in custody are not assisting in burials for the duration of the pandemic," Mr Kersten said.

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A barge could be seen arriving at the island on Thursday morning with a refrigerated truck aboard containing about two dozen bodies. (Image: REUTERS)


The department referred questions about causes of death to the city's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME).

The island may also be used as a site for temporary interments should deaths surge past the city's morgue capacity, a point that has not yet been reached, Mr Kersten said.

U.S. deaths due to coronavirus topped 16,400 on Thursday, according to a Reuters tally, although there are signs the outbreak might be nearing a peak.


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(Image: NurPhoto/PA Images)


U.S. officials warned Americans to expect alarming numbers of coronavirus deaths this week, even as there was evidence that the number of new infections was flattening in New York state, the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak.

The number of patients newly hospitalized in New York dropped for a second day, to 200.

Governor Andrew Cuomo said it was a sign that social distancing was succeeding, even though the number of coronavirus-related deaths in the state rose by 799 on Wednesday, a record high for a third day.

New York has lost about the same number of people to coronavirus as the UK.

Re: TRUMP's Coronavirus Cure: Inject Disinfectant & Use UV Lights
 

Coronavirus: Outcry After Trump's Ridiculous Suggestion Injecting Disinfectant as Treatment

US President Donald Trump has been lambasted by the medical community after suggesting research into whether coronavirus might be treated by injecting disinfectant into the body.

BBC NEWS, 24 APR 2020


He also appeared to propose irradiating patients' bodies with UV light, an idea dismissed by a doctor at the briefing.

Another of his officials had moments earlier said sunlight and disinfectant were known to kill the infection.

Disinfectants are hazardous substances and can be poisonous if ingested.

Even external exposure can be dangerous to the skin, eyes and respiratory system.

What Did Trump Say?

During Thursday's White House coronavirus task force briefing, an official presented the results of US government research that indicated coronavirus appeared to weaken more quickly when exposed to sunlight and heat.

The study also showed bleach could kill the virus in saliva or respiratory fluids within five minutes and isopropyl alcohol could kill it even more quickly.


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Bleach and sunshine were proposed as possible strategies to tackle the coronavirus


William Bryan, acting head of the US Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate, outlined the findings at the news conference.

While noting the research should be treated with caution, Mr Trump suggested further research in that area.

"So, supposing we hit the body with a tremendous - whether it's ultraviolet or just very powerful light," the president said, turning to Dr Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response co-ordinator, "and I think you said that hasn't been checked but you're going to test it.

"And then I said, supposing you brought the light inside of the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way. And I think you said you're going to test that too. Sounds interesting," the president continued.

"And then I see the disinfectant where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning?

"So it'd be interesting to check that."

Pointing to his head, Mr Trump went on: "I'm not a doctor. But I'm, like, a person that has a good you-know-what."....


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He turned again to Dr Birx and asked if she had ever heard of using "the heat and the light" to treat coronavirus.

"Not as a treatment," Dr Birx said. "I mean, certainly, fever is a good thing. When you have a fever, it helps your body respond. But I've not seen heat or light."

"I think it's a great thing to look at," Mr Trump said.


Disinfectants Don't Work Inside The Body

Analysis by Rachel Schraer, BBC health reporter

Using a disinfectant can kill viruses on surfaces. It's a very good idea to keep clean the things you touch, using products with anti-microbial properties - for example, substances with a high alcohol content.

There is also some evidence that, in general, viruses on surfaces die more quickly when directly exposed to sunlight. But we don't know how much or how long they have to be exposed for UV light to have an effect, so you're far safer just washing your hands and surfaces and trying not to touch your face.

Crucially, this is only about infected objects and surfaces - not about what happens once the virus is inside your body.

One of the main ways of catching the virus is by breathing in droplets expelled by an infected person, mainly by sneezing and coughing. The virus very quickly begins to multiply and spread, eventually reaching the lungs.

Not only does consuming or injecting disinfectant risk poisoning and death, it's not even likely to be effective.


Equally, by the time the virus has taken hold inside your body, no amount of UV light on your skin is going to make a difference.

And since UV radiation damages the skin, using it to kill the virus could be a case of - to borrow a well-worn phrase - the cure being worse than the disease.

What's the reaction been to Trump's comments?

Doctors warned the president's idea could have fatal results.

Pulmonologist Dr Vin Gupta told NBC News: "This notion of injecting or ingesting any type of cleansing product into the body is irresponsible and it's dangerous.

"It's a common method that people utilise when they want to kill themselves."

Kashif Mahmood, a doctor in Charleston, West Virginia, tweeted: "As a physician, I can't recommend injecting disinfectant into the lungs or using UV radiation inside the body to treat Covid-19.

"Don't take medical advice from Trump."


John Balmes, a pulmonologist at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, warned that even breathing fumes from bleach could cause severe health problems.

He told Bloomberg News: "Inhaling chlorine bleach would be absolutely the worst thing for the lungs. The airway and lungs are not made to be exposed to even an aerosol of disinfectant.

"Not even a low dilution of bleach or isopropyl alcohol is safe. It's a totally ridiculous concept."

Mr Trump has previously hyped a malaria medication, hydroxycloroquine, as a possible treatment for coronavirus, though he has stopped touting that drug recently.

This week a study of coronavirus patients in a US government-run hospital for military veterans found more deaths among those treated with hydroxychloroquine than those treated with standard care.

Reacting to the president's remarks on Thursday evening, Joe Biden, his likely Democratic challenger in November's White House election, tweeted: "UV light? Injecting disinfectant? Here's an idea, Mr President: more tests. Now. And protective equipment for actual medical professionals."


What's the US government's advice?

Only this week, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Americans to be careful with cleaning products as sales of household disinfectants soar amid the pandemic.

"Calls to poison centres increased sharply at the beginning of March 2020 for exposures to both cleaners and disinfectants," found the agency's weekly morbidity and mortality report.

The US Food and Drug Administration has warned against ingesting disinfectants, citing the sale of bogus miracle cures that contain bleach and purport to treat everything from autism to Aids and hepatitis.

The agency's website says: "The FDA has received reports of consumers who have suffered from severe vomiting, severe diarrhoea, life-threatening low blood pressure caused by dehydration, and acute liver failure after drinking these products."

Last week a federal judge secured a temporary injunction against one organisation, known as the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing, for marketing a product equivalent to industrial bleach as a remedy for coronavirus.




NB folks; The Hippocratic medical maxim "primum nil nocere" – first do no harm – seems rather lost on a US President whose scientific illiteracy is rapidly moving from risible to lethal.
Injecting disinfectant at the levels needed to see off the virus would cause severe tissue burns, irreversible blood vessel damage and probable death.

Re: TRUMP Fires Whistleblower Scientist Dr. for Refusing to Push Untried Covid-19 Dru
 

Whistleblower Complaint Set to Lift Lid on Trump Pressure to Push Untried Drug

Dr Rick Bright says he was removed as head of office working on a Covid-19 vaccine for refusing to boost hydroxychloroquine..

Trump has now stopped hyping hydroxychloroquine after study shows no benefit, but its too late for Dr Rick Bright

The Guardian UK, 1 MAY 2020


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Dr Rick Bright, the former head of Barda. Photograph: Reuters


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Donald Trump’s musing over whether cleaning people’s lungs with disinfectant might treat the coronavirus caused a furore... but it may be the US president’s pushing of anti-malarial drugs that does far more lasting damage to his administration.


There is building anticipation over the content of an upcoming whistleblower complaint by Dr Rick Bright, who last week was abruptly removed as the head of the federal government office working on a vaccine for Covid-19.

It is understood that Bright is still working on the details of the complaint before lodging it with the Department of Health and Human Services’ inspector general.

Bright, a vaccines expert, has claimed he was removed as head of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (Barda) because he resisted an effort to expand the use of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine to treat Covid-19. The drugs, approved to treat malaria, have yet to be proven effective for this new use but have been repeatedly promoted by Trump, who has called them a “game-changer”.

“I am speaking out because to combat this deadly virus, science – not politics or cronyism – has to lead the way,” Bright said in a statement, adding he was concerned about “efforts to fund potentially dangerous drugs promoted by those with political connections”.

Bright’s lawyers, Lisa Banks and Debra Katz, subsequently claimed their client was pushed out of his job solely because he “resisted efforts to provide unfettered access to potentially dangerous drugs, including chloroquine, a drug promoted by the administration as a panacea, but which is untested and possibly deadly when used improperly”.


It is expected that Bright’s complaint, when revealed, will shed new light on the political pressure exerted by the Trump administration on health officials to back up the president’s sweeping praise of the drugs as a key weapon against Covid-19.

According to reporting by outlets including Vanity Fair, administration officials pushed for the widespread use of hydroxychloroquine, despite the FDA’s warnings, while also formulating a narrative where Bright was shifted from his role after mistreating his staff. His lawyers reject this characterization.

The battle between Trump and an obscure official who was in charge of a little-known office is set to touch upon broader themes that have repeatedly cropped up during this presidency, specifically the treatment of scientific advice and the use of the federal government to promote the personal views of the president over experts.

“Dr Bright is a strong scientist, he is a visionary leader, he’s able to make decisions, he get things done, and he believes and he stands on strong science,” Nicole Lurie, former assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services, told CNN. “I think this is about something larger than hydroxychloroquine. I think it’s really about listening to scientific opinion, scientific perspective and standing up for strong science.”

Top officials at the Department of Health and Human Services have disputed Bright’s account, pointing out that he has been moved to an important role managing a public-private partnership on vaccine development and treatment. When asked about Bright, Trump said that he had never heard of the man heading the effort to find a vaccine for a virus that has already caused more than 60,000 deaths in the US.

The president has repeatedly advocated the use of hydroxychloroquine following a small-scale study in France that showed some patients with Covid-19 responded well after taking it.

However, further studies have shown mixed or negative results, with research linking it to heart problems and other serious conditions if not administered properly.


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Trump said on 19 March the drug could be “really incredible” in the fight against coronavirus and by that evening first-time prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine were 46 times the rate of the average weekday, according to one analysis. The surge in demand for the drug worried public health experts about serious harm arising from its use, as well as about people with conditions like lupus – a proven target for hydroxychloroquine – facing a shortage in supply.

Two days after Bright announcing his planned whistleblower complaint, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning against the use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine. The drugs, the regulator warned, can cause a number of side-effects “including serious heart rhythm problems that can be life-threatening”.

The FDA issued an emergency use order to allow the drugs to be used in hospitals under certain conditions but the regulator said they should not be used outside this context.

Clinical trials to establish safe use of drugs for new purposes usually take several years, a process chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine have not gone through.
The drugs, the FDA states, “have not been shown to be safe and effective for treating or preventing Covid-19”.

TRUMP has Blocked Dr Fauci From Testifying Before Congress
 

TRUMP has Blocked Dr Fauci From Testifying Before Congress

The Guardian UK, 2 MAY 2020


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U.S. President Donald Trump looks sideways at National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci as Fauci answers a question during the daily coronavirus task force briefing at the White House..Leah Millis/Reuters


Top U.S. health official Anthony Fauci will not testify next week to a congressional committee examining the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, the White House said on Friday, calling it “counterproductive” to have individuals involved in the response testify.

The White House issued an e-mailed statement after a spokesman for the House of Representatives Committee holding the hearing said the panel had been informed by Trump administration officials that Fauci had been blocked from testifying.

“While the Trump administration continues its whole-of-government response to COVID-19, including safely opening up America again and expediting vaccine development, it is counterproductive to have the very individuals involved in those efforts appearing at congressional hearings,” White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement. “We are committed to working with Congress to offer testimony at the appropriate time.”

Fauci’s testimony was being sought for a May 6 hearing by a House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees health programs, said spokesman Evan Hollander. The Washington Post first reported that Fauci would not testify.

Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has been one of the leading medical experts helping to guide the U.S. response to the highly contagious virus that has swept across the United States.

Trump has repeatedly clashed with the Democratic-controlled House over its moves to investigate his actions or those of his administration.

In recent days, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer have urged wide-ranging investigations into Trump’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak, which has killed tens of thousands of Americans.

Democrats have criticized Trump, saying he has failed to develop a comprehensive and effective plan for testing Americans for the coronavirus and tracing contacts of those who are infected by the virus that causes the sometimes fatal COVID-19 respiratory disease.

Fauci, 79, has had a respectful but sometimes complicated relationship with Trump.

The well-regarded doctor has at times corrected or contradicted the president at White House briefings or in press interviews on issues such as the time required to develop a vaccine and the likelihood that the coronavirus will return in the fall.


Trump has occasionally shown exasperation with Fauci but ultimately has followed, largely, the advice that he and Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House’s coronavirus task force co-ordinator, have provided on responding to the pandemic.

Last month, the White House said Trump was not firing Fauci despite his retweet of a supporter’s #FireFauci message.

At the time, White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said: “Dr. Fauci has been and remains a trusted adviser to President Trump.”

Aides to Fauci were not immediately available to comment on the House committee’s desire to have him testify.

RELATED: Dr.Fauci & Bill Gates Will Profit From FALSE COVID-19 Vaccine
.

re: Under TRUMP >America Means Poverty Misery & Death
 

Under TRUMP American Exceptionalism Means Poverty, Misery and Death

No other advanced nation denies healthcare and work protections, or loosens lockdown while fatalities mount

Elsewhere around the world, governments are providing generous income support. NOT in the US.

+ Trump Seizes on Pandemic to Speed up Sales of Public Lands to Private Industry

The Guardian, 11 MAY 2020


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Trump once bounded on stage to the thumping strains of ‘Money, money, money’ from For the Love of Money, a song by the 70s soul group the O’Jays


No other nation has endured as much death from Covid-19 nor nearly as a high a death rate as has the United States under Donald Trump......
Robert Reich


With 4.25% of the world population, America has the tragic distinction of accounting for about 30% of pandemic deaths so far.

And it is the only advanced nation where the death rate is still climbing. Three thousand deaths per day are anticipated by 1 June.

No other nation has loosened lockdowns and other social-distancing measures while deaths are increasing, as the US is now doing.

No other advanced nation was as unprepared for the pandemic as was the US.

We now know Donald Trump and his administration were told by public health experts in mid-January that immediate action was required to stop the spread of Covid-19. But according to Dr Anthony Fauci, “there was a lot of pushback”. Trump didn’t act until 16 March.

Around the world, governments are providing generous income support. Not in the US

Epidemiologists estimate 90% of the deaths in the US from the first wave of Covid-19 might have been prevented had social distancing policies been put into effect two weeks earlier, on 2 March.

No nation other than the US has left it to subordinate units of government – states and cities – to buy ventilators and personal protective equipment. In no other nation have such sub-governments been forced to bid against each another.

In no other nation have experts in public health and emergency preparedness been pushed aside and replaced by political cronies like Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who in turn has been advised by Trump donors and Fox News celebrities.

In no other advanced nation has Covid-19 forced so many average citizens into poverty so quickly. The Urban Institute reports that more than 30% of American adults have had to reduce their spending on food.

At best, Americans have received one-time checks for $1,200, about a week’s worth of rent, groceries and utilities. Few are collecting unemployment benefits because unemployment offices are overwhelmed with claims.

Congress’s “payroll protection program” has been a mess. Because funds have been distributed through financial institutions, banks have raked off money for themselves and rewarded their favored customers. Of the $350bn originally intended for small businesses, $243.4m has gone to large, publicly held companies.

Meanwhile, the treasury and the Fed are bailing out big corporations from the debts they accumulated in recent years to buy back their shares of stock.

Why is America so different from other advanced nations facing the same coronavirus threat? Why has everything gone so tragically wrong?

Some of it is due to Trump and his hapless and corrupt collection of grifters, buffoons, sycophants, lobbyists and relatives.

But there are also deeper roots.

American workers are far less unionized than workers in other advanced economies

The coronavirus has been especially potent in the US because America is the only industrialized nation lacking universal healthcare. Many families have been reluctant to see doctors or check into emergency rooms for fear of racking up large bills.

America is also the only one of 22 advanced nations failing to give all workers some form of paid sick leave. As a result, many American workers have remained on the job when they should have been home.

Adding to this is the skimpiness of unemployment benefits in America – providing less support in the first year of unemployment than those in any other advanced country.

American workplaces are also more dangerous. Even before Covid-19 ripped through meatpackers and warehouses, fatality rates were higher among American workers than European.

Even before the pandemic robbed Americans of their jobs and incomes, average wage growth in the US had lagged behind average wage growth in most other advanced countries. Since 1980, American workers’ share of total national income has declined more than in any other rich nation.

In other nations, unions have long pushed for safer working conditions and higher wages. But American workers are far less unionized than workers in other advanced economies. Only 6.4% of private-sector workers in America belong to a union, compared with more than 26% in Canada, 37% in Italy, 67% in Sweden, and 25% in Britain.

So who and what’s to blame for the worst avoidable loss of life in American history?

Partly, Donald Trump’s malfeasance & GREED.

But the calamity is also due to America’s longer-term failure to provide its people the basic support they need.

re: TRUMP Closer to Prison >BOMBSHELL Book's Most Stunning Claims
 

Will Donald Trump End Up in Prison? He Could be a Step Closer …

Joe Biden has pledged that, if elected, he won’t pardon Trump. Is the president’s attempt to whip up a scandal about Obama because he is scared of going to jail himself?

The Guardian UK, 20 MAY 2020


OBAMAGATE! OBAMAGATE! Donald Trump seems to think that if he yells “Obamagate” often enough and loud enough, it will magic a scandal into existence and send his arch-nemeses, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, to jail.

On Monday, the US attorney general, William Barr, burst his boss’s bubble and dismissed the possibility of a criminal investigation into Obama or Biden. Because, you know, they didn’t do anything wrong. Trump responded to Barr’s statement in his usual fashion: sulking like a petulant child and saying: “Well, if it was me they would [investigate]” before continuing to babble incoherently.

It may be wishful thinking, but I have a feeling that one reason Trump is so keen to accuse Obama and Biden of criminality is because he is starting to get nervous about going to jail himself.


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Last week, Biden pledged that, if elected president, he wouldn’t use his executive powers to pardon Trump of potential crimes. This wasn’t the first time the presumptive Democratic nominee has said he wouldn’t go easy on Trump. In October, Biden told an Iowa radio station that it had been a mistake for Gerald Ford to pardon his predecessor, Richard Nixon, after Watergate in 1974. Pardoning Trump, Biden said, “wouldn’t unite [the US]” and would send the message that some people are above the law.

Of course, as it stands, the US president is above the law. In 1973, amid the Watergate scandal, the Department of Justice adopted the position that a sitting president is “constitutionally immune” from criminal prosecution, a position it reaffirmed in 2000. As long as he is president, Trump is safe.

When he leaves office, however, it is another matter: there are a host of charges he might face. These include obstruction of justice charges in relation to the Russia investigation; illegally withholding military aid to Ukraine in order to pressure them to investigate his political rivals; and soliciting campaign donations from foreign nationals – all of which Trump denies. According to the investigative site the Intercept, the laws Trump has potentially broken in his interaction with Ukraine and China as president could land him 10 years in prison.

And it is not just Trump’s conduct as president that has opened him to potential legal trouble. There is also the matter of his financial and tax dealings, which are the subject of numerous lawsuits.

Importantly, how long Trump stays in power has a bearing on any potential legal liability. The statute of limitations on obstruction of justice charges, for example, is only five years. So if Trump gets another term, he will run down the clock on that. Honestly, if you want to do the crime without doing the time, it really pays to be president.

If Trump ever goes to jail, it will be one of the happiest days of my life. Not everyone is so enthusiastic about “locking him up”, however. Earlier this year, the then Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang said that, if he were president, he wouldn’t investigate Trump: “If you look at history around the world, it’s a very, very nasty pattern that developing countries have fallen into, where a new president ends up throwing the president before them in jail.”

Look, I understand that the US, where people die because they can’t afford diabetes medication, doesn’t want to be like a “developing country”. Nevertheless, there is a very nasty pattern into which authoritarian regimes have fallen, where the leader does whatever they like with no repercussions. I am not sure the US wants to be like that, either.

I have no idea what the chances of Trump ending up in prison are, but I am pretty sure he is not happy that there is even a small possibility he might swap the White House for the “big house”. But his approval ratings are dropping and the chances of a President Biden are rising. That means Trump is going to do everything he can to win re-election in November; he is not just fighting for another term, he is also fighting for his freedom. He is fighting to avoid the possibility of a Trumpgate.


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Trump Says US Topping World Virus Cases is 'Badge of Honour'

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Re: Bully/Coward? Inside Sinister World of TRUMP's Pal/Mentor
 

Bully, Coward, Victim? Inside The Sinister World of TRUMP's Pal/Mentor Roy Cohn

In a new documentary, film-maker Ivy Meeropol discusses the dark legacy of Roy Cohn and how his nefarious work affected her family

The Guardian UK, 17 JUN 2020


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Back in 2004, with the documentary Heir to an Execution, Ivy Meeropol began the decades-spanning project of exorcising the demon haunting her family.




The Academy-shortlisted film sheds some light on the dark heritage of the Meeropol kids, descended as they are from Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, the couple executed by the United States government in 1953 having been convicted of sharing military secrets with the Soviet Union.

When not teaching as an economics professor, Ivy’s father Michael spent most of his adult life on a crusade to restore and advocate for the reputation of his late parents, after years of defamation from the sinister prosecutor in the case Roy Cohn. Ivy’s film-making brought some elusive semblance of closure to this process – until, that is, early November 2016.

“At first, I really didn’t want to make a film about Roy Cohn, because I felt like I’d delved into my family’s story enough, and I didn’t really relish returning to that topic,” Meeropol tells the Guardian over the phone from her home quarantine.

“That made me resistant to tackling his story, even though I was fascinated and compelled by him and I certainly had this unique perspective. But once I did decide to embark on this project, which was a result of Trump’s election – that’s what made me decide to do this – then I did start to feel like this might be an extension of my earlier work.”


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Der Mann, der Trump groß machte (The man who made Trump big)...DER SPIEGEL


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Meeropol’s latest feature, HBO’s boldly titled Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn, returns her to the grimmest chapter of her personal history. But she revisits the topic with fresh perspective to illuminate the other side of her life’s defining conflict, with focus placed less on her family’s struggle than on Cohn himself, a significant yet little-seen character in the previous film.

It plays like a timely companion piece to Meeropol’s early work, enriching and recontextualizing her ideas instead of simply restating them. “I made it clear I didn’t want this to be Heir to an Execution Part II,” she says. “I wanted it to be something new.”

She began by decentering herself, the implicit protagonist of Heir to an Execution. She knew she’d have to provide what she refers to as a “synopsis” of how she and her relatives fit into the material, but she wanted that to serve as the gate through which she could venture into new territory.

“What was gratifying was how I was able to build on Heir to an Execution, expanding on the period of time when my father and uncle were trying to reopen the case. All that new material, which tied back to Cohn, was a revelation.”

The film functions in part as critical biography, comparing conflicting sides of a personality more complicated than evil. While she refrained from playing armchair psychologist and digging into his childhood, Meeropol examined Cohn as an avowed social conservative who lived an open-secret second life as a gay bon vivant. (John Waters provides color commentary on Cohn’s years in the queer hotspot Provincetown.

A rare interview, he only agreed to sit down after Meeropol explained her stake in Cohn’s world. She laughs when she recalls him conceding: “For you? I’ll do it!”)

He shared a house with Norman Mailer and counted Andy Warhol as a friend, yet demonized “deviants” of all stripes in public statements clashing harshly with the company he kept. Recreational assholery seemed to be his greatest hobby, as the millions in deliberately unpaid bills from hotels and dry cleaners still attest, but Meeropol looked for a more circumspect view all the same.

“If I was going to make this one-note, there’s nowhere to go with that,” Meeropol explains. “He is a complex person. I had to decide to have a little empathy for him. I thought of him as a young man in Washington for the first time, first job with McCarthy, and that that was probably one of the unfriendliest spaces at the time for a gay person. He had to be so careful, but then at the same time, he was laughing and traipsing around with G David Schine.”

The relevance of Cohn and his legacy of dishonest, dirty tricks has been renewed by the ascendancy of Donald Trump, the lawyer’s longtime client and protege.

His wobbly-fisted rule has inspired a recent wave of Cohn-related art, including a remounting of the Pulitzer-winning play Angels in America with Nathan Lane as the larger-than-life Cohn and last year’s documentary Where’s My Roy Cohn? Meeropol thinks of that superficially similar production as complement rather than competition.

By the way; once she saw how director Matt Tyrnauer’s approach differed from her own, as she says, “I wasn’t worried so much.” He inspected a linear history, while she intends her film as something closer to a timely warning of the psychology Cohn and Trump share. Though at times, she still questions its efficacy. The people who stand to learn the most from her efforts seem the least likely to give them a chance.


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Donald Trump and Roy Cohn. Photograph: Bettmann/Bettmann
Archive...DER SPIEGEL


“I was thinking about how to get this movie in front of Trump supporters in specific,” she says. “That motivated me in the beginning, the thought that people who support him need to know where he learned his moves, where he got his mob connections …

It’s frustrating, though, because I know that I don’t know how to break through to that world. The title alone will probably rule out some people. I hope they’ll be intrigued by the complexity of those three words, not just bully and coward, but victim. But anyone who’s interested in how we got here, whether you’re pro-Trump or not, can get a lot from this movie.”



Whether they like it or not, the film will infiltrate Trump voters’ living rooms when it goes to air on HBO this Thursday. When it does, Meeropol will be ready to close the book on a subject that’s always blurred the lines between the personal and professional. “I’m definitely ready to move on,” she says.

“After Heir to an Execution, I thought I’d said what I needed to say and gone through what I needed to go through with regard to my family history. Now I really have, in a different way. I hope that I don’t need to again. Unfortunately, we have to keep talking about my grandparents. I just don’t know if I’ll be the one doing it from now on. I think I’ve said enough on the subject.”

But this conversation never really ends, so long as her family line continues onward. Every new generation of parents will have to make sense of the scar left by Cohn for their children, approximating the difficult process that Ivy Meeropol has completed on a national scale. Though she’s done the more intimate version too; when her son, now 15, turned eight, she did the thing she’s spent most of her adult life doing, and explained the bad thing that happened when Grandpa was little.

“I delayed telling him about this,” she says. “He’s very close with my father, but I just thought about the myriad things that could upset him as a child, so I kind of shielded him. But with my kids, I eventually told them that their great-grandparents believed in changing the world, and that Julius was involved in secret-sharing with the Soviet Union specifically because of what he believed in, which was equality and justice. He had to know, eventually, and I wanted him to hear it from me.”

Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn will air on HBO on 18 June and in the UK at a later date...

re: TRUMP is Reckless Callous & Cruel-Teachers' Chief Announces
 

John Bolton’s Bombshell Trump Book: Eight of its Most Stunning Claims

White House tried to block publication of The Room Where It Happened, but the book has been leaked to media outlets

Donald Trump did not know UK had nuclear weapons, Bolton says in new book

US president reportedly said: ‘Oh, are you a nuclear power?’ during meeting with Theresa May in a way that was not a joke, Bolton recalls

The Guardian UK, 18 JUN 2020


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Trump always asked for some help when going down slopes or some stairs..


Donald Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton has made a series of explosive claims about the US president in his new book The Room Where It Happened, according to numerous news reports and an excerpt.

Most notably, Bolton claims Trump asked China to use its economic power to help him in the 2020 election, and tried to kill criminal investigations as “favors” for dictators he liked.

The explosive allegations came after a White House lawsuit sought to block the publication of Bolton’s book. But ahead of its scheduled release next week it has now been leaked to the New York Times and Washington Post, which reported on some of the stunning claims. An excerpt also appeared in the Wall Street Journal.

Here are Eight of The Most Shocking Revelations:

1. Trump pleaded with China to help win the 2020 election

According to the excerpt of Bolton’s book published by the Wall Street Journal, Trump asked China to use its economic power to help him win a second election.

In one instance, Trump and President Xi Jinping were discussing hostility to China in the US. “Trump then, stunningly, turned the conversation to the coming US presidential election, alluding to China’s economic capability and pleading with Xi to ensure he’d win,” Bolton writes.

“He stressed the importance of farmers and increased Chinese purchases of soybeans and wheat in the electoral outcome. I would print Trump’s exact words, but the government’s prepublication review process has decided otherwise.”

2. Trump suggested he was open to serving more than two terms

In another eye-opening exchange published in the Wall Street Journal, Trump also seems to support Xi’s idea of eliminating presidential term limits. “Xi said he wanted to work with Trump for six more years, and Trump replied that people were saying that the two-term constitutional limit on presidents should be repealed for him,” Bolton writes. “Xi said the US had too many elections, because he didn’t want to switch away from Trump, who nodded approvingly.”

3. Trump offered favours to dictators

Bolton’s book reportedly details cases where Trump tried to kill criminal investigations as favors to dictators. One incident published in the Washington Post includes a 2018 discussion with the Turkish president, Recep Erdoğan. Bolton says Erdoğan gave Trump a memo claiming that a Turkish firm under investigation in the US was innocent. “Trump then told Erdoğan he would take care of things, explaining that the southern district prosecutors were not his people, but were Obama people, a problem that would be fixed when they were replaced by his people.”

4. Trump praised Xi for China’s internment camps

According to Bolton, Trump was also approving when Xi defended China’s internment of Uighur Muslims in detention camps.

“According to our interpreter,” Bolton writes, “Trump said that Xi should go ahead with building the camps, which Trump thought was exactly the right thing to do.”

According to leaked Communist party documents published in November, at least 1 million Uighur Muslims are detained in the camps.

5. Trump defended Saudi Arabia to distract from a story about Ivanka

Trump made headlines in November 2018 when he released a bizarre statement defending the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman over the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. It included lines such as “The world is a very dangerous place!” and “maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!”

According to Bolton’s book, making headlines was the point. A story about his daughter Ivanka using her personal email for government business was also in the news at the time. After waging war on Hilary Clinton during the 2016 campaign for doing the same thing, Trump need a distraction.

“This will divert from Ivanka,” Trump reportedly said. “If I read the statement in person, that will take over the Ivanka thing.”

6. Trump’s top staff mocked him behind his back

From what has been reported, it sounds like Bolton’s book provides one of the clearest insights into the despair of Trump’s top officials behind the scenes.

In one example given by the New York Times, Bolton claims he received a note from the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, after Trump’s 2018 meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, simply saying, “He is so full of ****.” On top of this, Pompeo also allegedly said a month later that Trump’s diplomatic efforts with North Korea had “zero probability of success”.

7. Trump thought Finland was part of Russia

Bolton’s book reportedly details some giant holes in Trump’s knowledge. In one instance, Bolton says Trump didn’t seem to know basic knowledge about the UK, asking its former prime minister Theresa May: “Oh, are you a nuclear power?”. On top of this, he also alleges that Trump once asked if Finland was part of Russia, and repeatedly mixed up the current and former presidents of Afghanistan.

8. Trump thought it would be ‘cool’ to invade Venezuela

According to the Washington Post, Bolton claims Trump said invading Venezuela would be “cool”, and that the country was “really part of the United States”.

Donald Trump Did Not Know UK Had Nuclear Weapons

Donald Trump was unaware that the UK had its own nuclear weapons, according to the former US national security adviser John Bolton.

The president’s lack of knowledge of the nuclear capabilities of his country’s closest ally is one of many examples Bolton gives of the president’s ignorance of geopolitics in his memoir The Room Where it Happened.


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Trump may have bathmophobia - a combined fear of stairs and dirty handrails.

" I happen to be a clean hands freak. I feel much better after I thoroughly wash my hands, which I do as much as possible.."
Donald Trump


Bolton recalls a meeting in 2018 with the then prime minister, Theresa May, at which a British official referred to the UK as a “nuclear power”. Trump replied: “Oh, are you a nuclear power?” in a tone of voice that made Bolton believe it “was not intended as a joke”, according to a Washington Post excerpt from the book.

The UK first tested a nuclear warhead in 1952, and its current submarine-based deterrent force is based on US Trident missiles.

A former US official has described a similar conversation with May when Trump made a state visit to the UK in June 2019.

“He told May the number one existential threat is still nuclear weapons, and not climate change or any of these other issues that all these other people were raising,” the former official told the Guardian.

When May asked how that would affect the UK deterrent, the official said Trump appeared taken aback by the question.

“In his view, this was all about the US and Russia,” the official said. “He didn’t really factor in the other countries.”


Read More;How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man >

• Why has Trump's niece written a damning memoir?

Trump was willing to halt criminal investigations as 'favor' to dictators, Bolton book says

The latest major Trump resignations and firings

re: TRUMP is Reckless Callous & Cruel-Teachers' Chief Announces
 

re: TRUMP is Reckless Callous & Cruel-Teachers' Chief Announces
 

The US Supreme Court Has Ruled That President Trump's Financial Records Can be Examined by Prosecutors in New York.

In a related case, the court ruled that this information did not have to be shared with Congress.

BBC UK, 10 JUL 2020


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Trump: Supreme Court ruling a 'witch hunt' and 'hoax'


Mr Trump has come under fire for not making his tax returns public like his predecessors.

His lawyers had argued that he enjoyed total immunity while in office and that Congress had no valid justification to seek the records.

Two Democratic-controlled House of Representatives committees and New York District Attorney Cyrus Vance - also a Democrat - had demanded Mr Trump's tax documents over several years in order to determine whether current conflict-of-interest laws on a US president were tough enough.

Mr Trump, a Republican, denies wrongdoing and has called the investigation into his tax affairs a "witch hunt".

"The Supreme Court sends case back to Lower Court, arguments to continue. This is all a political prosecution," he wrote in a series of tweets following the court rulings.

What do the rulings mean?

In the case regarding the request from the New York prosecutors, the Supreme Court ruled, by a majority of seven to two;...

The president did not have absolute immunity from criminal investigation.

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"Two hundred years ago, a great jurist of our Court established that no citizen, not even the President, is categorically above the common duty to produce evidence when called upon in a criminal proceeding," the court said.

"We reaffirm that principle today."

But the two cases regarding Congressional committees were closely watched, as they could have had implications on how far US lawmakers could scrutinise the activities of a sitting president.

The court ruled that Congress had significant, but not limitless, power to request the president's personal information. In this case, the court returned the case to the lower courts.


A Political Win for Trump

Those wanting to see President Donald Trump's tax returns before the November presidential election shouldn't hold their breath.

In a series of high-stakes rulings on Thursday, the US Supreme Court swatted down the president's defence that, by dint of his high office, he was somehow above the law when it came to state-level criminal subpoenas. That's good news for the president's critics, advocates of limited executive power, and New York prosecutors seeking to investigate Trump's personal finances.

The opinion is not-so-good news for anyone wanting a quick resolution to this case, however. Chief Justice John Roberts sent the lawsuit back down to the lower courts and offered a few new legal avenues for Mr Trump's lawyers to pursue that could continue to put off a day when the president's accounting firm ultimately hands over the documents. And if that day comes, there's still no guarantee that the request, by a secret grand jury, will ever lead to a public disclosure.

In the other case, involving a request by congressional Democrats for Mr Trump's financial records, the court was even more circumspect. It simply punted the case down to the lower court with instructions to further balance presidential privileges with legislative power. The gears of justice will grind even more slowly there.

While legally these decisions may have been, at best, a draw for the president, by pushing the final day of reckoning further down the road, it's a political win.

Why do Trump's tax returns matter?

Two of the cases centred on the ability of the House intelligence, oversight and financial services committees to compel Deutsche Bank and Mazars USA, Mr Trump's long-time accounting firm, to turn over his tax and financial documents. The committees argued that they needed this information to determine whether current conflict-of-interest laws on a US president were sufficiently rigorous.

The case of Trump v Vance was based on on Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance's criminal subpoena - an order to hand over evidence.

Mr Vance argued Mr Trump's documents were needed to determine if financial records had been doctored to cover up hush-money payments to two women in 2016 who say they had affairs with Mr Trump.

Following the ruling Mr Vance said the investigation into Mr Trump's financial affairs would resume.

House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, said she would continue to campaign for Mr Trump's financial records to be handed over to Congress.

"Congress will continue to conduct oversight for the people, upholding the separation of powers that is the genius of our constitution," she told reporters.

Will we get to see his tax returns?

It is not clear whether this will happen. Even if Mr Trump's financial records are turned over to prosecutors, they may remain hidden from public view until charges are filed.


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The judges are hearing the cases remotely because of the coronavirus Image copyright AFP

re: Robert Mueller Breaks Silence & Condemns TRUMP on Commuting Stone's Sentence
 

TRUMP Commutes Sentence of Roger Stone, Longtime Friend and Adviser

Move means Stone, due to serve more than three years for crimes related to Russia investigation, will not set foot in prison

The Guardian UK, 11 JUL 2020


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Donald Trump has commuted the sentence of Roger Stone, a longtime friend and former campaign adviser who was to spend three years and four months in jail for crimes related to the Russia investigation.

In a statement released on Friday evening, the White House denounced the prosecution of Stone on charges stemming from “the Russia Hoax” investigation.

“Roger Stone has already suffered greatly,” the statement reads. “He was treated very unfairly, as were many others in this case. Roger Stone is now a free man!”


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Roger Stone leaves federal court in Washington in November 2019.

U.S. President Donald Trump called Roger Stone to inform his longtime political confidant that he would commute his sentence for crimes related to the Russia investigation. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/The Associated Press)



Stone, 67, was convicted in November 2019 of obstructing a congressional investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to win the 2016 election. He was sentenced in February to 40 months and was due to report to prison on Tuesday.


The commutation does not erase Stone’s felony convictions the way a pardon would, but it allows Stone to avoid setting foot in prison for his crimes.

Echoing the language that Trump has used in tweets and speeches, the official White House statement attacked the “witch hunts” led by the special counsel, Robert Mueller, who was investigating Russian interference in the 2016 elections.

Stone had been openly lobbying Trump for clemency for months.

“The president told me he thought my trial has been unfair,” Stone told the Associated Press on Friday.

While not unexpected, Trump’s move to spare Stone from prison will only increase alarm among critics concerned that the Trump administration has interfered with the justice system in order to shield the president and his friends.

In February, Trump commuted the 14-year sentence of Rod Blagojevich, a former Democratic Illinois governor accused of trying to sell the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama. He also offered clemency for allies including the Maricopa county, Arizona, sheriff Joe Arpaio, who disobeyed a judge’s order to stop racial profiling immigrants, and the conservative commentator Dinesh D’Souza, who was convicted of campaign finance violations.

Last month, Trump fired Geoffrey Berman, the US attorney who had prosecuted the president’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen and was investigating Rudy Giuliani – another Trump lawyer. And in May, the justice department dismissed its case against the former national security adviser Michael Flynn after Trump complained that prosecutors were acting unfairly.

“With Trump, there are now two systems of justice in America: one for Trump’s criminal friends and one for everyone else,” said Adam Schiff, a Democratic US representative of California and the lead prosecutor in the president’s impeachment trial, in reaction to the news.

“Regardless of our political parties or differences, we all know this is disgraceful,” said Val Demings, a Democratic US representative of Florida. “Pray that our republic will endure.”

The commuting of Stone’s sentence comes after the US attorney general, William Barr, revised prosecutors’ original recommendation that Stone serve seven to nine years in federal prison. Trump had railed that the conviction “should be thrown out” and called the justice department’s initial sentencing recommendation “horrible and very unfair”.

Following the reversal, the entire prosecution team working on the case resigned.

Although the White House did not dispute that Stone had committed the crimes for which he was convicted, its statement argued that Stone would not have been charged “if the special counsel had not been pursuing an absolutely baseless investigation”.

Stone was celebrating in Florida with conservative friends, according to the AP. He told reporters there were “too many people opening bottles of champagne here”.

re: TRUMP is Reckless Callous & Cruel-Teachers' Chief Announces
 

Will Republicans Ditch Trump to Save The Senate as Support Nosedives?

The human and economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic has transformed the political landscape and increased talk of a Sinking Ship

The Guardian UK, 11 JUL 2020


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Hispanic supporters of Donald Trump sat around the cabinet table, lavished him with praise and promised: “We will rebuild America with you, and we will make America great again.”


For a moment, in his self-affirming White House bubble, it seemed the US president remained master of his destiny.

But when reporters questioned him, Trump answered only one. Then he was done.
A White House staffer bellowed forcefully at the assembled media: “Let’s go! Let’s go! Keep going! Let’s go! Come on, we’re done! Let’s go!”
It was a sign of how the president has become less indulgent of unfriendly media questions than when he thought he was riding high.

Trump is in trouble....

The coronavirus has killed more than 130,000 Americans, tens of millions of people have lost their jobs and there has been a tectonic cultural shift for racial justice.

Opinion polls suggest he is the worst-placed incumbent since Jimmy Carter was hammered by Ronald Reagan in 1980, leaving his Republican party somewhere between anxiety and panic about November’s elections for the White House and Congress.

“The mood is like probably what it felt like when you were on the Titanic,” said Joe Walsh, a former congressman from Illinois.

“These cowardly Republicans in the Senate and House know Trump’s going to get destroyed in November but they’re tied to him and they’re gonna go down with him and they have no choice, and I think they realise that.”

The sinking ship metaphor comes up again and again among Republicans interviewed by the Guardian and other media outlets.


Biden leads Trump by 52% to 40% in a Guardian/Opinium Research poll conducted in late June. Numerous other polls agree the Democrat has a double-digit lead and, crucially, put him ahead in six battleground states.

Two in three people now disapprove of Trump’s handling of the pandemic, according to an ABC News/Ipsos poll, with the percentage of Republicans who approve sinking from 90% in mid-June to 78% now.

Nothing is going right for the president....

A campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, last month was a flop with thousands of empty seats. Another rally planned for Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on Saturday night has been postponed due to weather.
From his basement, Biden has outraised Trump in fundraising for the past two months in a row.

The president has even failed to brand his opponent with a pejorative nickname that sticks.

Amy Walter, national editor of Cook Political Report, wrote this week:
“This election is looking more like a Democratic tsunami than simply a blue wave … Republican strategists we’ve spoken with this week think Trump is close to the point of no return. A couple of others wondered if Trump had reached his ‘Katrina’ moment: a permanent loss of trust and faith of the majority of voters.”

The Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, wears a mask as he listens to Donald Trump, who by contrast goes uncovered.

She added:
“In talking with strategists on both sides last week, it’s also clear that Trump is dragging Republican congressional candidates with him as well.”

Indeed, Republicans realise they could lose everything, with the presidency and Senate following the House of Representatives, which they surrendered in 2018.

The Senate is critical.

If Republicans can retain their majority, they will be able to obstruct significant parts of the Democratic agenda, just as they did for much of Barack Obama’s presidency.

Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Cory Gardner of Colorado, Martha McSally of Arizona and Thom Tillis of North Carolina are all trailing in polls.

Even leading Trump loyalists Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham face stiff challenges from Democratic opponents raising huge funds in Kentucky and South Carolina respectively.

Walsh, who unsuccessfully challenged Trump for the 2020 Republican nomination, said:

“I can tell you, publicly and privately conversations I’ve had, they’re scared ****less, all of them, any Senate Republican on the ballot. I mean, forget about Colorado, it’s done. Arizona is done. I think Maine is done. Joni Ernst in Iowa is almost done. Every race is going to be competitive. Democrat Doug Jones has got a fighter’s chance of winning in Alabama. Lindsey Graham is in serious trouble and they all know it.”

It is an astonishing turnaround in less than a year as the political and business worlds have lost confidence in Trump.

A Citigroup poll of 140 fund managers last December found 70% expected him to win re-election, but last week 62% said they expect Biden to prevail.

That once-impenetrable Republican strongholds such as Arizona, Iowa and South Carolina are now in play is a measure of how much has changed.

Tara Setmayer, a former Republican communications director on Capitol Hill, said:

“The people who pay attention to the numbers internally are very worried and they’re spending money in places that they never imagined they’d have to allocate resources like New Hampshire, like Georgia, like South Carolina.

“Politics on a national level is a numbers game. When you have to start spending money in states that were reliably red one cycle ago, you’re in trouble.

Clearly Trump is haemorrhaging support in areas that he needs to win again.

His margin of victory was so narrow last time that he cannot afford to lose anyone, so the alarms are definitely sounding within the Republican party despite Donald Trump’s proclamations on Twitter that he has overwhelming Republican support.”

Will Republicans finally disown Trump in an attempt to save themselves?
Collins has refused to say how she plans to vote in November, telling the New York Times that she will not campaign against Biden, a former Senate colleague.

She is also among several senators who have said they will not attend next month’s Republican national convention to renominate Trump in Jacksonville, Florida.

Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution thinktank in Washington, argues that with every drop in the polls, the cracks in the Republican party grow bigger. “What generally happens in a situation like this is that people just start going their own way,” she said.

“They just start differentiating themselves from an unpopular president.
They start saying, ‘I work with Democrats,’ or ‘I don’t agree with everything the president says’.
They start signalling to the electorate that they’re different.

If the trends keep going as they have, the ultimate messaging will be: vote to keep the Senate Republican so we can protect against the worst policies that Joe Biden might try to enact.”

But there are more than three months until election day. Trump’s base remains fervent. His campaign argues that in this year’s Republican primaries he has set a record for most votes ever cast for an incumbent president. And he defied the party’s prophets of doom in 2016.

Senator Susan Collins, who is highly vulnerable in New Hampshire, has said she will NOT campaign against Joe Biden.

Tim Miller, former communications director for Jeb Bush and ex-spokesman for the Republican National Committee, recently interviewed nine campaign consultants for Republican candidates in Senate and House races for Rolling Stone magazine. Although the unnamed individuals expressed views such as “Every shred of evidence points to a likely ass kicking in the fall”, Miller writes, support for Trump remains “steadfast”.

“What I found in their answers was one part Stockholm syndrome, one part survival instinct,” he explains. “They all may not love the president, but most share his loathing for his enemies on the left, in the media, and the apostate Never Trump Republicans with a passion that engenders an alliance with the president, if not a kinship.

Responding to the Rolling Stone article, Setmayer, host of the Honestly Speaking podcast, said:

“It was disheartening to hear that because for those of us who are on the other side of this we’re like, ‘Come on! How much more are you going to take? Are you going to get off the ship or what? You’ve still got a chance here.’ It doesn’t look like they’re going to do that.

“They may go down with the ship because they feel as though the party faithful are so locked into Trump that they have zero chance if they separate themselves. That’s the calculation.”

There was little evidence of mask-wearing or physical distancing at the White House on Thursday. Nor, even now, does McConnell seem likely to politically distance himself from Trump in a last-ditch bid to hold on to the Senate.

Setmayer added:

“The shotgun marriage of the Republican party and Trump is so far gone at this point it would be virtually impossible for party leaders to outright reject him.”


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:rolleyes:.....:whistle:.....

Re: Robert Mueller Breaks Silence & Condemns TRUMP on Commuting Stone's Sentence
 

Robert Mueller Breaks His Silence and Condemns Trump For Commuting Roger Stone's Sentence

US special counsel defends his investigation into allegations of corruption during 2016 election

The Guardian UK, 12 JUL 2020



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The former special counsel Robert Mueller made a rare move on Saturday to publicly defend his two-year investigation into allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia in the 2016 election – and to castigate US president Donald Trump’s decision to commute Roger Stone’s prison sentence.


Mueller wrote an opinion article for the Washington Post [paywall] published under the headline “Roger Stone remains a convicted felon, and rightly so”.

“The work of the special counsel’s office – its report, indictments, guilty pleas and convictions – should speak for itself,” he wrote.

“But I feel compelled to respond both to broad claims that our investigation was illegitimate and our motives were improper, and to specific claims that Roger Stone was a victim of our office ...

“Stone was prosecuted and convicted because he committed federal crimes. He remains a convicted felon, and rightly so.”

Trump commuted the sentence of Stone on Friday night, sparking outrage from Democrats and some senior Republicans.

Stone was a former campaign adviser to the president, convicted in November 2019 of seven crimes including obstruction of justice, lying to Congress and witness tampering.

The 2017-19 Mueller investigation uncovered evidence of communications between Stone and WikiLeaks related to the release of hacked Democratic party emails during the 2016 election, discovered in a separate inquiry into Russian intelligence officers charged with hacking the emails and staging their release.

The partially released Mueller report in April 2019 described Russian efforts to tamper with the election and the Trump campaign’s receptivity to certain “Russian offers of assistance to the campaign”.

It outlined actions by Trump that may have amounted to obstruction of justice and concluded: “While this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”

Mueller also concluded he did not have the power to charge Trump even if he thought it was warranted.

Mueller wrote: “The special counsel’s office identified two principal operations directed at our election: hacking and dumping Clinton campaign emails, and an online social media campaign to disparage the Democratic candidate.

“We also identified numerous links between the Russian government and Trump campaign personnel – Stone among them. We did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired with the Russian government …

“The investigation did, however, establish that the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome. [And] that the campaign expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts.”

Trump has repeatedly attempted to discredit Mueller and his investigations.

Mueller has kept his counsel since he testified in Congress in July last year. It was a muted affair, and many perceived Trump was emboldened in his efforts to seek assistance in his current election campaign from the Ukraine.

This led to the historic impeachment of the president, and Trump’s ultimate acquittal by the Senate earlier this year.

On Saturday Mueller wrote: “Russia’s actions were a threat to America’s democracy. It was critical that they be investigated and understood.”

Read More;Mueller report: justice department ordered to turn over ...

Mueller: Russian interference will continue into 2020 election

re: TRUMP is Reckless Callous & Cruel-Teachers' Chief Announces
 

re: TRUMP to US Schools-Reopen or Maybe Lose Fed Funds >'Reckless/Callous/Cruel'
 

Bully Trump to US Schools: > Reopen or You May Lose Federal Funds

-TRUMP is Reckless Callous & Cruel-Teachers' Chief Denounces Trump Plan to Reopen Schools

‘Angry’ AFT president Randi Weingarten tells Guardian proposal from Trump and Betsy DeVos could result in teaching exodus

Betsy DeVos insists all US children should be in school this fall

TIMES HERALD / The Guardian UK, 17 JUL 2020.


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Plans put forward by Trump and Betsy DeVos his education secretary to reopen America’s schools in the fall are “reckless” and could result in many teachers leaving the profession, the president of one of the country’s biggest teaching unions has warned.


Determined to reopen America's schools despite coronavirus worries, President Donald Trump threatened Wednesday to hold back federal money if school districts don't bring their students back in the fall. He complained that his own public health officials' safety guidelines are impractical and too expensive.

Shortly afterward, Vice President Mike Pence announced that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would be issuing new guidance next week “that will give all new tools to our schools.” The recommendations will keep students safe, he said, but "the president said today we just don’t want the guidance to be too tough. ”

Despite Trump's increased pressure on state and local officials, New York City announced that most of its students would return to classrooms only two or three days a week and would learn online in between. “Most schools will not be able to have all their kids in school at the same time,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio.

For a nation that prides itself on its public school system, it's an extraordinary situation in this pandemic year.

With millions of the nation's parents anxious about their children's safety in the fall — and their own work interruptions if they must stay home — Trump continued to inject politics into public health.

He accused Democrats yet again of wanting to keep schools closed for election-year reasons rather than health concerns. And he issued a veiled threat to CDC officials over their reopening guidelines, tweeting, “I will be meeting with them!!!”
TIMES HERALD


Plans put forward by Donald Trump and his education secretary to reopen America’s schools in the fall are “reckless” and could result in many teachers leaving the profession, the president of one of the country’s biggest teaching unions has warned.

The new school year is just weeks away in the “sun belt”, the region which stretches from southern California to Florida, as coronavirus spreads like wildfire. But the Trump administration has pushed ahead with calls for schools across the country to reopen fully, despite widespread safety concerns.

Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, told the Guardian she watched Betsy DeVos, the education secretary, with disbelief that turned to anger when she appeared on TV this week to call on schools to be “fully operational” this fall.

“It’s as if Trump and DeVos want to create chaos and want to jeopardize reopening,” Weingarten said in an interview. “There’s no other reason why they would be this reckless, this callous, this cruel.”

Florida is setting new infection and death records almost daily. California is returning to lockdown, with bars, restaurants and even offices shuttered. Texas and Arizona are requesting refrigerator trucks as cases increase and morgues are expected to fill to capacity.

The Trump administration has made school reopenings one of its main priorities as it attempts to deal with the coronavirus crisis, with less that four months to go until the November election. Trump has tweeted multiple times that schools “must” reopen in the fall, and berated the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines on reopening schools as too “tough” and “expensive”.

Trump has also threatened to withhold federal funding from schools that do not reopen because of coronavirus concerns.

Although that is not within his power, Republicans in Congress are now looking to try to attach conditions to emergency school funding in the forthcoming coronavirus relief package.


In her television appearance, DeVos excoriated those schools that have opted for online learning or part-time returns.

This has foiled months of work from Weingarten’s union, which has been conducting its own surveys on how to help teachers back to work. In June, two-thirds of the AFT’s 1.7 million members said they would prefer to teach in person at least part-time – on the condition there were safeguards such as masks, physical distancing, ventilation and sanitation.

Broad agreement is no small feat for a teaching workforce in which a quarter – or 1.5 million teachers nationally – are believed to be at heightened risk of Covid-19 complications, because of age or pre-existing conditions. The agreement is also a feat considering recent polls show broad majorities of voters see a return to school as risky.

“They have, from the beginning of this pandemic to now, made this much, much, much worse for not only the 137,000 who have died and the over 3 million Americans who have tested positive,” said Weingarten. “Not just in beginning, and the haphazard way we closed, but the haphazard way we will reopen.”

She said: “Their recklessness scared people so much that now I fear a brain drain of people basically opting out of teaching, because they don’t want to jeopardize their own families.”

Few dispute that virtual instruction, even when it is necessary, is inferior to in-person classes. Children are far less likely to be infected by or suffer complications from Covid-19. However, that risk changes with age and chronic health conditions, and the extent to which children can spread the disease is a matter of disagreement among experts.

Schools face myriad logistical challenges. Even as they retrofit buildings, implement enhanced cleaning, and buy more supplies, state budgets hit hard by a pandemic -induced recession are proposing school funding cuts. In one example, New York proposed a 20% cut in school funding in April.

“You have to have a plan that embeds safety, and the resources to do this,” said Weingarten.

The mounting surge in the American south and south-west has resulted in Covid-19 test result delays of a week or longer, and stretch far outside the worst-affected regions, making contact-tracing efforts all but impossible. And school districts could also stumble at the personal protective equipment market, which is rife with million-mask minimum orders and fraud.

Meanwhile, the varying resources available to schools have widened the divide between rich and poor students at a steady clip. While the most vulnerable students miss school meals, wealthy private schools have been able to call on donors to retrofit buildings and return to class.

Despite these federal calls for reopening, school districts are locally controlled. Los Angeles and San Diego schools have both announced they will only teach online this fall, as cases surge in southern California.

In the hardest-hit counties of Florida, officials are weighing whether to have half in-person, half-virtual instruction, called hybrid models, or fully online instruction.

Some states that are not experiencing widespread Covid-19 outbreaks will probably be able to reopen in the fall. But Weingarten called for choice – both for educators with special health requirements, and for parents fearful children could spread Covid-19 to vulnerable family members.

“Teachers understand the importance of physical schooling, because teachers want what kids need,” she said. “We’re about to be comfortable with these safeguards, until Donald Trump and Betsy DeVos intentionally scared them and scared families. And that’s why I am so angry.”

re: TRUMP-Wicked Wizard of West Wing Consults Torture Lawyer to Skirt Law & Rule by Decre
 

Michael Cohen Sent Back to Jail After Vowing to Release Book Exposing Trump's Racism, Lawsuit Argues

Attorneys for Donald Trump’s former lawyer have demanded his immediate release from prison, claiming he was taken back into custody because he began promoting a tell-all book he was planning to publish about the president.

The Independent UK 22 JUL 2020.


Michael Cohen, who previously described himself as Mr Trump’s personal “fixer” and was sentenced to three years in jail for providing false statements to Congress, tax fraud and campaign finance violations, received a furlough from the Bureau of Prisons in May at the request of his lawyers, citing the coronavirus pandemic and his risk of contracting Covid-19 in prison.

Cohen and his attorneys were at a federal courthouse earlier this month so he could be fitted for an electronic monitoring device, as well as to transfer his status from furlough to home confinement, when he was taken into custody by US Marshals.

Probation officers were requesting Cohen sign a Federal Location Monitoring Agreement form, which included a provision described as unusual by experts. The provision would bar him from speaking to the press or posting on social media, CNN reported.

While his attorneys told the news outlet they did not refuse to sign the agreement, instead requesting they check whether the provision could be removed, a Bureau of Prisons spokesperson said Cohen was detained after he “declined to agree to the terms required for the programme and home confinement placement”.

Cohen’s lawyers filed a petition on Monday afternoon that named US Attorney General William Barr, Bureau of Prisons director Michael Carvajal and the warden of the federal prison where their client was held in Otisville, New York.
The petition, which has been backed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), argued Cohen was “being held in retaliation for his protected speech, including drafting a book manuscript that is critical of the President — and recently making public his intention to publish that book soon, shortly before the upcoming election”.

Cohen had been tweeting out his support for the president’s niece, Mary Trump, who went through a bevy of legal challenges before she could publish her own tell-all book about her uncle, titled;

Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man.

He also expressed on social media that he was planning to release a book about the president, with the lawsuit indicating it would reveal how Mr Trump made racist comments about Barack Obama and Nelson Mandela.

The ACLU confirmed it was joining the petition in a statement on Monday night that read: “We're suing the federal government for imprisoning Michael Cohen in retaliation for his plans to publish a book critical of Trump.”

The group added: “We will defend the First Amendment from government censorship — as we have for a century now.”

Cohen’s lawsuit also argued against the White House’s apparent attempts to quash other books about the president prior to their release, citing Mr Trump’s niece, as well as his former national security adviser John Bolton, who published a book about his tenure in the administration earlier this year.


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Trump’s disgraced former fixer Michael Cohen leaves prison early-‘There’s so much I want to say’

‘There’s so much I want to say’: Trump’s disgraced former ...
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