U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson has questioned the scope of the authority granted Special Counsel Robert Mueller by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
During a hearing in one of the criminal cases against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, Judge Jackson cast doubt upon the directive appointing Mueller and its broad-brush approach to the investigation. Mueller’s directive allows him to probe the alleged connections between Russia and the 2016 Trump presidential campaign, as well as issues that “may arise” in the course of that investigation.
But Justice Department regulations mandate that a directive must describe a “specific factual matter” to the special counsel. “That’s a fair point,” Jackson said when the point was raised by Manafort’s lead defense attorney, Kevin Downing. “I don’t think that, as good as he is, that the deputy attorney general can see into the future.”
It does not, however, seem likely that even questioning the breadth of Mueller’s authority will do anything to save Manafort from his reckoning. He faces 23 counts across two indictments in both Washington and Virgina, including failure to register as an agent of Ukraine, money laundering, bank fraud, tax evasion, and failing to report foreign bank accounts.
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DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Tuesday, May 01, 2018
Study: Firearm Homicide Rate for Black Men 29 Per 100,000; White Men 2 Per 100,000
A new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine claims to have discovered marked geographical disparities between the homicide and suicide rates among black and white men.
Researchers compiled data on homicides and suicides committed with guns in all fifty states, focusing specifically on non-Hispanic black and white males.
They found significant differences between the two demographics. In gun-related incidents, black men are more likely to die in homicides while white men are more likely to die in suicides.
But while they found no geographical trends related to homicides, 6 of the top 10 states with the highest gun-related suicide rates among whites are located in the south and the other four are located in the west. Northern and eastern states boast the lowest suicide rates among white men.
“The most surprising thing to me when I was conducting the analysis was how different the rates were across states,” Corinne Riddell, a postdoctoral researcher at McGill University in Canada who was the lead author of the study.
“We knew going into it that whites would have a higher rate of suicide and that black men would have a higher rate of homicide, but to see that level of variation in the rates across states was surprising,” she said. “Any time I see variations so large like that, that can’t be due to chance. I want to know why the differences exist.”
Unfortunately, the limitations of the study do not allow researchers to answer Riddell’s question.
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Researchers compiled data on homicides and suicides committed with guns in all fifty states, focusing specifically on non-Hispanic black and white males.
They found significant differences between the two demographics. In gun-related incidents, black men are more likely to die in homicides while white men are more likely to die in suicides.
But while they found no geographical trends related to homicides, 6 of the top 10 states with the highest gun-related suicide rates among whites are located in the south and the other four are located in the west. Northern and eastern states boast the lowest suicide rates among white men.
“The most surprising thing to me when I was conducting the analysis was how different the rates were across states,” Corinne Riddell, a postdoctoral researcher at McGill University in Canada who was the lead author of the study.
“We knew going into it that whites would have a higher rate of suicide and that black men would have a higher rate of homicide, but to see that level of variation in the rates across states was surprising,” she said. “Any time I see variations so large like that, that can’t be due to chance. I want to know why the differences exist.”
Unfortunately, the limitations of the study do not allow researchers to answer Riddell’s question.
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Secret Recording Reveals Democratic Party Boss Ordering Candidate To Quit Race
In the latest striking example of how the Democratic Party resorts to cronyism (and perhaps corruption) to ensure that its favored candidates beat back progressive challengers in local races, a candidate for Colorado's 6th Congressional District has leaked a recording of a conversation with Minority Leader Steny Hoyer to The Intercept which published it overnight. In it, Hoyer can be heard essentially lecturing the candidate about why he should step aside and let the Democratic Party bosses - who of course have a better idea about which candidate will prevail over a popular Republican in the general election - continue pulling the strings.
The candidate, Levi Tillemann, is hardly a party outsider. Tillemann had grandparents on both sides of his family who were elected Democratic representatives, and his family is essentially Democratic Party royalty.
Still, the party's campaign arm - the notorious Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (better known as the DCCC, or D-trip) - refused to provide Tillemann with access to party campaign data or any of the other resources he requested.
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The candidate, Levi Tillemann, is hardly a party outsider. Tillemann had grandparents on both sides of his family who were elected Democratic representatives, and his family is essentially Democratic Party royalty.
Still, the party's campaign arm - the notorious Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (better known as the DCCC, or D-trip) - refused to provide Tillemann with access to party campaign data or any of the other resources he requested.
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The Secret Circle That Controls Governments
Note: I have many new readers, and they have not read this article of mine, which I first posted several years ago. Here it is—
Who is in charge of destroying economies?
One group has been virtually forgotten. Its influence is enormous. It has existed since 1973.
It’s called the Trilateral Commission (TC).
Keep in mind that the original stated goal of the TC was to create “a new international economic order.”
In the run-up to his inauguration after the 2008 presidential election, Obama was tutored by the co-founder of the Trilateral Commission, Zbigniew Brzezinski.
In 1969, four years before birthing the TC with David Rockefeller, Zbigniew Brzezinski wrote: “[The] nation state as a fundamental unit of man’s organized life has ceased to be the principal creative force. International banks and multinational corporations are acting and planning in terms that are far in advance of the political concepts of the nation state.”
Goodbye, separate nations.
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Who is in charge of destroying economies?
One group has been virtually forgotten. Its influence is enormous. It has existed since 1973.
It’s called the Trilateral Commission (TC).
Keep in mind that the original stated goal of the TC was to create “a new international economic order.”
In the run-up to his inauguration after the 2008 presidential election, Obama was tutored by the co-founder of the Trilateral Commission, Zbigniew Brzezinski.
In 1969, four years before birthing the TC with David Rockefeller, Zbigniew Brzezinski wrote: “[The] nation state as a fundamental unit of man’s organized life has ceased to be the principal creative force. International banks and multinational corporations are acting and planning in terms that are far in advance of the political concepts of the nation state.”
Goodbye, separate nations.
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US Wages And Salaries Rise At Fastest Pace In 10 Years
While the GDP print came in stronger than expected, despite a sharp drop in consumption, the big news in today's data had nothing to do with GDP and everything to do with employment costs, and wages and salaries in particular, which both rose at the fastest pace in nearly a ten years, confirming that inflationary wage pressures are growing.
Specifically, wages and salaries rose 0.9%QoQ, up from 0.6% in the previous quarter. Total compensation, which includes wages and benefits, rose 2.7% over past 12 months, up from 2.4% a year ago, while private-sector wages and salaries advanced 2.9%YoY, also above the 2.6% printed in Q1 2017. Both were the strongest prints since Q3 2008, if slightly below the 3% pace observed heading into the financial crisis as shown below.
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Specifically, wages and salaries rose 0.9%QoQ, up from 0.6% in the previous quarter. Total compensation, which includes wages and benefits, rose 2.7% over past 12 months, up from 2.4% a year ago, while private-sector wages and salaries advanced 2.9%YoY, also above the 2.6% printed in Q1 2017. Both were the strongest prints since Q3 2008, if slightly below the 3% pace observed heading into the financial crisis as shown below.
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The Blowback Against Facebook, Google And Amazon Is Just Beginning
Blow-out earnings from Facebook and Amazon have cheered Wall Street, but institutional owners might want to focus not just on blow-out earnings but rising blowback against the tech superpowers (Facebook, Google and Amazon).
The blowback is social and political: people are starting to question the social and political costs of these tech darlings' dominance and the billions in profits they reap.
The typical corporation can buy political influence, but Facebook and Google are manipulating the machinery of democracy itself. That's a much more dangerous type of power than buying political influence or manipulating public opinion by openly publishing biased "news."
We all understand how Corporate Media undermines democracy: recall how every time Bernie Sanders won a Democratic primary in 2016, The New York Times and The Washington Post "reported" the news in small typeface in a sidebar, while every Hillary Clinton primary win was trumpeted in large headlines at the top of page one.
But this sort of manipulation is visible; what Google and Facebook do is invisible. I recently addressed these invisible (but oh-so profitable) mechanisms in a series of essays:
How Far Down the Big Data/'Psychographic Microtargeting' Rabbit Hole Do You Want to Go"
Is Profit-Maximizing Data-Mining Undermining Democracy?
Should Facebook, Google and Twitter Be Public Utilities"
Should Facebook and Google Pay Users When They Sell Data Collected from Users?
Here's a selection of recent articles on related topics:
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The blowback is social and political: people are starting to question the social and political costs of these tech darlings' dominance and the billions in profits they reap.
The typical corporation can buy political influence, but Facebook and Google are manipulating the machinery of democracy itself. That's a much more dangerous type of power than buying political influence or manipulating public opinion by openly publishing biased "news."
We all understand how Corporate Media undermines democracy: recall how every time Bernie Sanders won a Democratic primary in 2016, The New York Times and The Washington Post "reported" the news in small typeface in a sidebar, while every Hillary Clinton primary win was trumpeted in large headlines at the top of page one.
But this sort of manipulation is visible; what Google and Facebook do is invisible. I recently addressed these invisible (but oh-so profitable) mechanisms in a series of essays:
How Far Down the Big Data/'Psychographic Microtargeting' Rabbit Hole Do You Want to Go"
Is Profit-Maximizing Data-Mining Undermining Democracy?
Should Facebook, Google and Twitter Be Public Utilities"
Should Facebook and Google Pay Users When They Sell Data Collected from Users?
Here's a selection of recent articles on related topics:
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There Was ANOTHER Waffle House Shooting. But This Time It Was Stopped By Someone Armed.
Leftists who used the heroic actions of James Shaw at a Tennessee Waffle House shooting to launch the argument that armed shooters should be confronted by unarmed victims rather than armed ones might recoil at this story: There was another Waffle House shooting.
And this one was stopped by a man with a gun.
Yup. Two days before James Shaw, who was unarmed, heroically disarmed an armed robber at a Tennessee Waffle House on April 19 in New Orleans, Louisiana, two menentered a Waffle House armed with semiautomatic handguns at approximately 10:20 p.m. One of the men, Ernest Thomas, stood by the counter as a lookout while the other man jumped over it and demanded money from the cashier. The other man also took $8 from a customer, but when he approached another customer, who happened to be armed, the customer drew his firearm, prompting the thief to flee. Thomas then pointed his gun at the armed customer, who fired several shots; he later told police he believed he had hit Thomas.
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And this one was stopped by a man with a gun.
Yup. Two days before James Shaw, who was unarmed, heroically disarmed an armed robber at a Tennessee Waffle House on April 19 in New Orleans, Louisiana, two menentered a Waffle House armed with semiautomatic handguns at approximately 10:20 p.m. One of the men, Ernest Thomas, stood by the counter as a lookout while the other man jumped over it and demanded money from the cashier. The other man also took $8 from a customer, but when he approached another customer, who happened to be armed, the customer drew his firearm, prompting the thief to flee. Thomas then pointed his gun at the armed customer, who fired several shots; he later told police he believed he had hit Thomas.
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In Explosive Interview Comey Grilled Over Memos, FBI Bias And Steele Dossier
Fox News host Bret Baier and James Comey sat down for a one-on-one interview Thursday night, in perhaps the most serious and direct conversations with the former FBI Director to date.
Baier held Comey's feet to the fire on a wide variety of controversial topics - including the FBI's decision to exonerate Hillary Clinton before interviewing her, what Comey knew about the "Steele Dossier" used to obtain a surveillance warrant on a Trump campaign aide, and the memos Comey leaked to his friend which he hoped would lead to a special counsel investigation.
Clinton Exoneration
After starting the interview off with a joke about how Comey must find it "a little tougher to get around town without a motorcade," Baier pulled no punches - launching straight into asking the former FBI Director if it was true that his team decided to exonerate Hillary Clinton before interviewing her.
In response, Comey said that because of all the prior investigative work the FBI had done on the Clinton email case, investigators said "it looks like it's not going to get to a place where the prosecutors will bring it," and that it's "fairly typical" for white collar investigations to save interviews for last.
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Incredible interview there from @BretBaier. Respectful, but not deferential. Forceful, without being impolite. And, in a rare feat on TV anymore, it elicited a ton of new and important information.
Clinton Exoneration
After starting the interview off with a joke about how Comey must find it "a little tougher to get around town without a motorcade," Baier pulled no punches - launching straight into asking the former FBI Director if it was true that his team decided to exonerate Hillary Clinton before interviewing her.
In response, Comey said that because of all the prior investigative work the FBI had done on the Clinton email case, investigators said "it looks like it's not going to get to a place where the prosecutors will bring it," and that it's "fairly typical" for white collar investigations to save interviews for last.
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Democrats Face Left-Wing Backlash For Choosing Primary Winners Ahead Of Time
Progressive activists are furious with Democratic Party leaders who have boosted establishment Democrats over their left-wing opponents in primary races across the country.
The Intercept on Thursday published audio of House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer pressuring progressive candidate Levi Tillemann to drop out of a Colorado primary, to clear the field for establishment candidate Jason Crow.
Tillemann secretly taped the conversation with Hoyer in December 2017 before leaking it this week to The Intercept.
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) chairman Ben Ray Lujan had a policy that “early on, we’d try to agree on a candidate who we thought could win the general and give the candidate all the help we could give them,” Hoyer explained in the audio.
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The Intercept on Thursday published audio of House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer pressuring progressive candidate Levi Tillemann to drop out of a Colorado primary, to clear the field for establishment candidate Jason Crow.
Tillemann secretly taped the conversation with Hoyer in December 2017 before leaking it this week to The Intercept.
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) chairman Ben Ray Lujan had a policy that “early on, we’d try to agree on a candidate who we thought could win the general and give the candidate all the help we could give them,” Hoyer explained in the audio.
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Feds Charge, Sanction Major Chinese Fentanyl Traffickers
Drug conspiracy moved hundreds of packages of fentanyl, killed at least four
Four Chinese nationals face charges, and another five face economic sanctions, related to a multistate fentanyl trafficking conspiracy that claimed at least four American lives, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Friday.
Federal work in busting the drug trafficking network has been years in the making, beginning with the January 2015 overdose death of a Grand Forks, N.D. teenager. Tracing the source of fentanyl that led to that tragic death uncovered a conspiracy dealing drugs in 11 states, from Oregon to Florida, over the course of five years. All of those drugs were coming from mainland China, a major source of deadly fentanyl in American drug markets.
At the head of the conspiracy was Jian Zhang, a Chinese national and the owner of Zaron Bio-Tech (Asia) Ltd. Jian, the Treasury and Justice Departments allege, used his company and its factories across southeast Asia to produce fentanyl and smuggle it to the United States.
Jian Zhang was previously indicted by the Justice Department as part of the first ever indictment of Chinese nationals for fentanyl trafficking in the United States. On Friday, Jian, along with four of his co-conspirators and his business, was slapped with a further sanction in the form of designation as a "Significant Foreign Narcotics Trafficker" by the Department of the Treasury.
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Four Chinese nationals face charges, and another five face economic sanctions, related to a multistate fentanyl trafficking conspiracy that claimed at least four American lives, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Friday.
Federal work in busting the drug trafficking network has been years in the making, beginning with the January 2015 overdose death of a Grand Forks, N.D. teenager. Tracing the source of fentanyl that led to that tragic death uncovered a conspiracy dealing drugs in 11 states, from Oregon to Florida, over the course of five years. All of those drugs were coming from mainland China, a major source of deadly fentanyl in American drug markets.
At the head of the conspiracy was Jian Zhang, a Chinese national and the owner of Zaron Bio-Tech (Asia) Ltd. Jian, the Treasury and Justice Departments allege, used his company and its factories across southeast Asia to produce fentanyl and smuggle it to the United States.
Jian Zhang was previously indicted by the Justice Department as part of the first ever indictment of Chinese nationals for fentanyl trafficking in the United States. On Friday, Jian, along with four of his co-conspirators and his business, was slapped with a further sanction in the form of designation as a "Significant Foreign Narcotics Trafficker" by the Department of the Treasury.
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And... Yet Another Wells Fargo Banking Scandal
Is it Friday again? Must be time for another banking scandal!
Seriously– these banking scandals are happening with such regularity and predictability it would be almost comical. . . were it not for the millions of people who have had their lives turned upside down.
The latest transgression involves, once again, our old friends at Wells Fargo.
Bear in mind that the ink isn’t even dry yet on the $1 billion check that Wells Fargo wrote last week as a penalty to settle its previous scandal, where they defrauded 570,000 clients in a car insurance scam.
By the bank’s own estimates, as many as 20,000 of those clients may have had their vehicles repossessed as a result of their inability to pay for the car insurance that Wells Fargo illegally stuck them with.
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Seriously– these banking scandals are happening with such regularity and predictability it would be almost comical. . . were it not for the millions of people who have had their lives turned upside down.
The latest transgression involves, once again, our old friends at Wells Fargo.
Bear in mind that the ink isn’t even dry yet on the $1 billion check that Wells Fargo wrote last week as a penalty to settle its previous scandal, where they defrauded 570,000 clients in a car insurance scam.
By the bank’s own estimates, as many as 20,000 of those clients may have had their vehicles repossessed as a result of their inability to pay for the car insurance that Wells Fargo illegally stuck them with.
More
EXCLUSIVE: Cabal Of Wealthy Donors Financing $50 Million Trump-Russia Investigation
A group of wealthy donors from New York and California have forked out $50 million to fund a Russia investigation being conducted by Christopher Steele, Fusion GPS and a former Senate staffer for Dianne Feinstein.
That bombshell revelation is made in a footnote to the House Intelligence Committee’s newly released report on Russian interference in the presidential campaign.
Fusion GPS hired Steele, a former MI6 agent, to investigate Trump’s activities in Russia. He would go on to produce a 35-page report alleging collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian government.
The Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee funded the project. A law firm representing the organizations hired Fusion GPS in April 2016.
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That bombshell revelation is made in a footnote to the House Intelligence Committee’s newly released report on Russian interference in the presidential campaign.
Fusion GPS hired Steele, a former MI6 agent, to investigate Trump’s activities in Russia. He would go on to produce a 35-page report alleging collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian government.
The Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee funded the project. A law firm representing the organizations hired Fusion GPS in April 2016.
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Lindsey Graham: Trump Deserves Nobel Peace Prize for North Korea
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said Friday that his former rival, President Trump, should get the Nobel Peace Prize if North and South Korea decide to denuclearize and become peaceful neighbors again.
"It wouldn't have happened without Trump," Graham said on Fox News this morning. "It may not happen, but it's the biggest change since the end of the hostilities."
He continued: "What happened? Donald Trump convinced North Korea and China he was serious about bringing about change. We're not there yet, but if this happens, President Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize."
Graham said he was glad Trump didn't listen to the advice of all those who had failed before him.
"He has convinced North Korea, you've got two options. You can become a normal country or we will take you down if you keep trying to build missiles to hit the American homeland," he said. "And I think they convinced North Korea and China that Trump is serious."
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"It wouldn't have happened without Trump," Graham said on Fox News this morning. "It may not happen, but it's the biggest change since the end of the hostilities."
He continued: "What happened? Donald Trump convinced North Korea and China he was serious about bringing about change. We're not there yet, but if this happens, President Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize."
Graham said he was glad Trump didn't listen to the advice of all those who had failed before him.
"He has convinced North Korea, you've got two options. You can become a normal country or we will take you down if you keep trying to build missiles to hit the American homeland," he said. "And I think they convinced North Korea and China that Trump is serious."
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Uncle Sam Is "Biggest Brother"
Back in the 1770’s there was a collection of radicals, who were highly educated in the natural law and the errors and successes of past political and economic systems. They were American Colonists with names like John Hancock, Samuel Adams, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, et. al. They believed that each man was uniquely created by God and could have a personal relationship with the Creator if he or she chose to do so. This mind-set also caused these men to reject the idea that God only spoke to men through either the Pope or the King, and that the political theory of the “Divine Right of Kings” was a scam used by kings to justify their dictatorial form of government. Claiming their divine right, kings would claim they represented God to the people and that all their policies were God ordained and therefore infallible.
Instead, these radicals reasoned that if each of them were uniquely created in God’s image, not only were they all equal before God in the spiritual sense, but that every man was also equal politically. Back in the 1700’s such thinking was radical compared to the status quo. They also believed that men were capable of governing themselves and writing their own laws.
In 1765, the “Divine Right of Kings” form of government clashed with the “all men are created equal” way of thinking when the King’s government imposed a tax on tea in the American Colonies. The amount of the overall tax burden was small, only about 2%, but the way the tax was imposed on Americans was highly offensive to them. American Colonists objected to any tax being imposed on them that they did not approve of through representation in the legislative body imposing the tax.
Americans further objected to being forced to purchase the taxed tea only through governmentally approved outlets. In fact, these passionate and thinking Americans were so opposed to this construct they successfully boycotted the entire scheme and the tax on tea had to be withdrawn. Finally in 1775 a war was fought over these conflicting political theories and much blood and treasure was expended in order to resolve the conflict. During the War of Independence, Americans would cry out “No Taxation without Representation”.
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Instead, these radicals reasoned that if each of them were uniquely created in God’s image, not only were they all equal before God in the spiritual sense, but that every man was also equal politically. Back in the 1700’s such thinking was radical compared to the status quo. They also believed that men were capable of governing themselves and writing their own laws.
In 1765, the “Divine Right of Kings” form of government clashed with the “all men are created equal” way of thinking when the King’s government imposed a tax on tea in the American Colonies. The amount of the overall tax burden was small, only about 2%, but the way the tax was imposed on Americans was highly offensive to them. American Colonists objected to any tax being imposed on them that they did not approve of through representation in the legislative body imposing the tax.
Americans further objected to being forced to purchase the taxed tea only through governmentally approved outlets. In fact, these passionate and thinking Americans were so opposed to this construct they successfully boycotted the entire scheme and the tax on tea had to be withdrawn. Finally in 1775 a war was fought over these conflicting political theories and much blood and treasure was expended in order to resolve the conflict. During the War of Independence, Americans would cry out “No Taxation without Representation”.
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EPA Leaker Lied About Coast Guard Service
The former Environmental Protection Agency deputy chief of staff for operations, who’s behind a Democratic letter full of accusations against Scott Pruitt, reportedly misrepresented how long he served in the U.S. Coast Guard.
Kevin Chmielewski’s resume claims he served for four years, from 1998 to 2002, but a Coast Guard spokeswoman told the Washington Free Beacon the EPA whistleblower only served for one year.
The Free Beacon also reported Chmielewski got two raises totaling $24,000 after working at EPA for three months, the Washington Free Beacon reported. Chmielewski got the raises under the same hiring authority he complained Pruitt had used to secure raises for two close aides.
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Kevin Chmielewski’s resume claims he served for four years, from 1998 to 2002, but a Coast Guard spokeswoman told the Washington Free Beacon the EPA whistleblower only served for one year.
The Free Beacon also reported Chmielewski got two raises totaling $24,000 after working at EPA for three months, the Washington Free Beacon reported. Chmielewski got the raises under the same hiring authority he complained Pruitt had used to secure raises for two close aides.
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Trump: Russia probe 'MUST END NOW!'
President Trump on Friday declared the Russia investigation “MUST END NOW” after congressional Republicans released a report saying his campaign did not collude with Moscow to influence the 2016 presidential election.
“Wow! A total Witch Hunt! MUST END NOW!” Trump tweeted.
Trump’s message came just minutes after Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee released their final report on Russia’s influence operations in the 2016 election.
It found “no evidence that the Trump campaign colluded, coordinated, or conspired with the Russian government.” But the report does criticize the Trump and Hillary Clinton campaigns for “poor judgment and ill-considered actions” in their dealings with Russia-related figures.
Democrats on the Intelligence panel refused to endorse the report, calling the committee's investigation a sham that was biased in favor of Trump.
Critics of the president fear he might use the report to stymie the federal probe into Russia’s election interference, including firing the special counsel Robert Mueller or his supervisor, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
The White House has refused to rule out the possibility that Trump could fire either man, but the president has downplayed the chances he will do so.
“They’ve been saying I’m going to get rid of them for the last three months, four months, five months, and they’re still here,” Trump told reporters last week.
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“Wow! A total Witch Hunt! MUST END NOW!” Trump tweeted.
Trump’s message came just minutes after Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee released their final report on Russia’s influence operations in the 2016 election.
It found “no evidence that the Trump campaign colluded, coordinated, or conspired with the Russian government.” But the report does criticize the Trump and Hillary Clinton campaigns for “poor judgment and ill-considered actions” in their dealings with Russia-related figures.
Democrats on the Intelligence panel refused to endorse the report, calling the committee's investigation a sham that was biased in favor of Trump.
Critics of the president fear he might use the report to stymie the federal probe into Russia’s election interference, including firing the special counsel Robert Mueller or his supervisor, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
The White House has refused to rule out the possibility that Trump could fire either man, but the president has downplayed the chances he will do so.
“They’ve been saying I’m going to get rid of them for the last three months, four months, five months, and they’re still here,” Trump told reporters last week.
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Democrat Plantation Searches For Runaway Slave Kanye, In Bombshell Political Art
‘Indeed, The Left strokes out when any high-profile black leaves the Dem plantation’
An angry donkey who runs a plantation, marked with a letter “D,” looks for missing slave Kanye West, in the latest spicy cartoon from artist Branco.
The political commentary, entitled, “An Angry Master,” comes after the Left’s collective outrage over rapper Kanye West’s tweets in support of conservative activist Candace Owens and President Donald Trump.
“Liberals are in a psychotic frenzy over Kanye West thinking independently toward Trump, rather than the lockstep groupthink they expect out of black Americans,” Branco writes. “Indeed, The Left strokes out when any high-profile black leaves the Dem plantation.”
Watch: Infowars interviews conservative artists Ben Garrison and SABO, AKA UnsavoryAgents.
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The political commentary, entitled, “An Angry Master,” comes after the Left’s collective outrage over rapper Kanye West’s tweets in support of conservative activist Candace Owens and President Donald Trump.
“Liberals are in a psychotic frenzy over Kanye West thinking independently toward Trump, rather than the lockstep groupthink they expect out of black Americans,” Branco writes. “Indeed, The Left strokes out when any high-profile black leaves the Dem plantation.”
Watch: Infowars interviews conservative artists Ben Garrison and SABO, AKA UnsavoryAgents.
More/Video
One Year Later: Illinois On The Verge Of Downgrade To Junk; Its Residents $5 Billion Poorer
Illinois’ brutal political campaigns may have distracted attention from the reality of the state’s crumbling finances, but an upcoming $500 million bond borrowing by the state will remind investors and Illinoisans alike how little has improved.
Both Moody’s and S&P recently affirmed Illinois’ one-notch-above-junk rating in preparation for the state’s upcoming bond, even as Moody’s continues to maintain a negative outlook on Illinois’ rating. That means a downgrade by the agency is more likely than an upgrade in the next year.
The reasons for the rating agencies’ pessimism are obvious. It’s not just what lawmakers have failed to do, it’s what lawmakers continue to do that’s dragging the state down.
The state continues to operate at a deficit despite nearly $5 billion in new taxes in 2018. And the shortfalls aren’t being compensated with spending reforms. Instead, the state continues to primarily use interfund sweeps to make the general budget balance. And the agencies don’t expect any big reforms this year – not with a stalemate that might ensue during this campaign season.
Bond investors are demanding a heavy price from Illinois for the increased risk they are being asked to take.
According to Municipal Market Data, Illinois will pay yearly interest rates that are 2.1 percentage points higher than the states with the best credit ratings – states that include Indiana, Iowa and Missouri. By comparison, states like Connecticut and New Jersey, states with severe pension crises, only pay about 0.85 percentage points more than the best-rated states. Illinois and its taxpayers are being heavily penalized for the state’s fiscal and governance mess.
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Both Moody’s and S&P recently affirmed Illinois’ one-notch-above-junk rating in preparation for the state’s upcoming bond, even as Moody’s continues to maintain a negative outlook on Illinois’ rating. That means a downgrade by the agency is more likely than an upgrade in the next year.
The reasons for the rating agencies’ pessimism are obvious. It’s not just what lawmakers have failed to do, it’s what lawmakers continue to do that’s dragging the state down.
The state continues to operate at a deficit despite nearly $5 billion in new taxes in 2018. And the shortfalls aren’t being compensated with spending reforms. Instead, the state continues to primarily use interfund sweeps to make the general budget balance. And the agencies don’t expect any big reforms this year – not with a stalemate that might ensue during this campaign season.
Bond investors are demanding a heavy price from Illinois for the increased risk they are being asked to take.
According to Municipal Market Data, Illinois will pay yearly interest rates that are 2.1 percentage points higher than the states with the best credit ratings – states that include Indiana, Iowa and Missouri. By comparison, states like Connecticut and New Jersey, states with severe pension crises, only pay about 0.85 percentage points more than the best-rated states. Illinois and its taxpayers are being heavily penalized for the state’s fiscal and governance mess.
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Week Before Blaming 'F*cking Russians,' McCaskill Said Election 'Impossible' to Rig
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D., Mo.) was quoted on election night blaming the "f*cking Russians" for Hillary Clinton's loss, but a week earlier she was on CNN saying "it would be impossible to rig an election in the United States of America."
McCaskill's October 28, 2016, comments to Chris Cuomo came when most were confident Clinton would be victorious and Democrats were pressuring Donald Trump to say he would accept the election results.
"The notion that the most resilient and admired democracy in the world is now subject to election rigging is preposterous," McCaskill said. "Frankly, it would be impossible to rig an election in the United States of America."
McCaskill goes on to criticize Trump for "whining" and "making excuses" for losing.
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McCaskill's October 28, 2016, comments to Chris Cuomo came when most were confident Clinton would be victorious and Democrats were pressuring Donald Trump to say he would accept the election results.
"The notion that the most resilient and admired democracy in the world is now subject to election rigging is preposterous," McCaskill said. "Frankly, it would be impossible to rig an election in the United States of America."
McCaskill goes on to criticize Trump for "whining" and "making excuses" for losing.
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Trump slams former intel chief Clapper: ‘Lying machine’
President Trump hurled fresh insults at former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, calling him a “lying machine,” as he kept tabs on his favorite news show Saturday morning.
“’Clapper lied about (fraudulent) Dossier leaks to CNN’ @foxandfriends FoxNews,” Trump tweeted at 8:58 am. “He is a lying machine who now works for Fake News CNN.”
The charge referred to a revelation in Friday’s House Intelligence Committee report on its investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Clapper, the report said, at first “flatly denied” having been the source of any reports that then-President-elect Trump had been briefed on the “Steele dossier,” a collection of unverified opposition research against the Republican.
“Clapper subsequently acknowledged discussing the ‘dossier with CNN journalist Jake Tapper,’” the report said.
Clapper’s leak sparked CNN’s initial reports on the dossier — and its lewd descriptions of misbehavior with prostitutes — shortly before Trump’s 2017 inauguration.
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“’Clapper lied about (fraudulent) Dossier leaks to CNN’ @foxandfriends FoxNews,” Trump tweeted at 8:58 am. “He is a lying machine who now works for Fake News CNN.”
The charge referred to a revelation in Friday’s House Intelligence Committee report on its investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Clapper, the report said, at first “flatly denied” having been the source of any reports that then-President-elect Trump had been briefed on the “Steele dossier,” a collection of unverified opposition research against the Republican.
“Clapper subsequently acknowledged discussing the ‘dossier with CNN journalist Jake Tapper,’” the report said.
Clapper’s leak sparked CNN’s initial reports on the dossier — and its lewd descriptions of misbehavior with prostitutes — shortly before Trump’s 2017 inauguration.
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