Trump should have investigated Hillary and all the corrupt Democrats. Don’t play nice with demons is my motto.
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Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” the likely next chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) said President Donald Trump might “face the real prospect of jail time” in light of charges against his personal attorney, Michael Cohen for illegal payments during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Schiff said, “There’s a very real prospect that on the day Donald Trump leaves office, the Justice Department may indict him, that he may be the first president in quite some time to face the real prospect of jail time. We have been discussing the issue of pardons the president may offer to people or dangle in front of people. The bigger pardon question may come down the road, as the next president has to determine whether to pardon Donald Trump.”
Pollak: Michael Flynn Sentencing Document Shows Collusion — Between Media, Deep State, and Obama Admin
Drain the swamp, Trump. The clock is ticking
Special Counsel Robert Mueller filed a sentencing memorandum Tuesday with the federal court in Washington, D.C. that recommends General Michael Flynn receive no jail time after pleading guilty to the crime of lying to the FBI, citing “substantial” assistance to the government in its investigations.
The mainstream media interpreted that remark as evidence that Flynn gave Mueller key information against President Donald Trump and Russian “collusion.”
More likely, however, Mueller’s request reflects the fact that Flynn did not actually commit the crime to which he pleaded guilty. No less than then-FBI director James Comey told Congress last March that Flynn had not, in fact, lied to the FBI.
If Flynn had demanded a trial on the merits, he could have subpoenaed Comey in his defense. The Special Counsel likely pressured Flynn to cooperate using other accusations — against him, or perhaps his family.
It is not clear exactly what information Flynn provided Mueller. The only other crime referenced in the sentencing document is Flynn’s failure to register as a foreign agent for Turkey.
Again, though, that is rather flimsy. It is rare that anyone in Washington is prosecuted under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), and rarer still that anyone is pursued under the Logan Act, which was the reason Flynn was under surveillance in the first place.
In fact, the most explosive piece of information in the sentencing document is not about collusion with Russians, but about the collusion between the media, the intelligence services, and the outgoing members of the Obama administration.
The document begins its recitation of Flynn’s offenses by citing information that had appeared in the Washington Post from a leaked, classified surveillance transcript in which Flynn’s name had been “unmasked”:
Days prior to the FBI’s interview of the defendant, the Washington Post had published a story alleging that he had spoken with Russia’s ambassador to the United States on December 29, 2016, the day the United States announced sanctions and other measures against Russia in response to that government’s actions intended to interfere with the 2016 election (collectively, “sanctions”). See David Ignatius, Why did Obama Dawdle on Russia’s hacking?, WASH. POST (Jan. 12, 2017).
That information, the document suggests, led the FBI to interview Flynn on Jan. 24, 2017 — the conversation in which he did not (according to Comey) lie to them, but which landed him in trouble.
The government had the surveillance transcripts, and it knew what Flynn had told the Russian ambassador. But the Post‘s intervention was crucial in setting the trap in which to ensnare Flynn and turn him into a government witness.
Mueller’s sentencing document does not mention the fact that the information published in the Post was illegally leaked to the press by the intelligence services. And the reason that happened was that the outgoing Obama administration changed the rules on the sharing of classified surveillance among government agencies, weakening privacy protections, probably intending that such information be more difficult to keep secret, and easier to leak.
Moreover, someone in the Obama administration — we do not yet know who, though it had to be someone senior — “unmasked” Flynn’s name to make sure he was exposed.
So while we do not yet know Mueller’s next moves, what the Flynn sentencing document reinforces is the that the Russia collusion investigation was tainted from the start by a crime committed against Flynn himself — with the collusion of the media, the deep state, and Obama’s loyalists.
Brenda Snipes, the supervisor of elections for Broward County, Florida, will receive nearly $130,000 a year in pensions when she resigns from her position in January.
Snipes, who resigned after receiving intense scrutiny for her office’s handling of the midterm elections earlier this month, is already receiving $58,560 in state pensions from her earlier career as an educator, and is set to add almost $71,000 a year for her time in elected office, the Sun Sentinelreported Tuesday.
When Snipes walks away from her $178,865-a-year job, she’ll be eligible to collect almost $130,000 a year in state pensions for her combined 50 years as a public school educator and elected official.
She already earns $4,880 a month for her time as a teacher and school administrator. She has been receiving that pension in addition to her supervisor’s salary ever since she was appointed by former Gov. Jeb Bush to the position in 2003. She has won election to the office four times since then.
Based on salary information and state retirement rules, the South Florida Sun Sentinel determined Snipes, 75, stands to add another $5,909 a month for her 15 years as supervisor, roughly $71,000 a year. State officials said they could not provide information on Snipes’ new pension because they had not calculated it and would not do so until requested by Snipes.
[…]
[Florida TaxWatch CEO Dominic] Calabro said Snipes will also benefit from annual cost-of-living increases, averaging between 2 percent and 3 percent, that will add thousands of dollars to her pensions each year.
Calabro, whose organization is a nonprofit, nonpartisan government watchdog group, said Snipes’ pension pay “really raises the question, on top of everything else, why she’s being excessively compensated for doing a poor job. That’s the added insult to injury.”
“It just leaves additional salt in the wound,” he added.
The average annual pension for elected officials in Florida’s state retirement plan in 2017 was $53,223, the Sentinel noted.
Snipes became the subject of national scrutiny after a series of mishaps concerning the recount of the Senate race between incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson (Fla.) and his Republican challenger, current Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who eventually was declared the winner.
She favors Don King.
Broward County failed to submit the results of the recount by the state’s deadline; lost thousands of ballots that were initially counted but did not make it to the recount; and her office, according to the Sentinel, opened 205 provisional early-voting ballots before Broward’s Canvassing Board determined their validity.
Snipes—who was also found to have destroyed ballots earlier than allowed in a previous election and regularly lost absentee ballots, among other issues—submitted her resignation last week.
This is Brenda with no Make-up.
“Although I have enjoyed this work tremendously over these many election cycles, both large and small, I am ready to pass the torch,” Snipes wrote in her resignation letter to Scott. “Therefore, I request that you accept my letter of resignation effective January 4, 2019.”
In a wide-ranging, exclusive interview with The Post, President Trump said Wednesday that if House Democrats launched probes into his administration — which he called “presidential harassment” — they’d pay a heavy price.
“If they go down the presidential harassment track, if they want go and harass the president and the administration, I think that would be the best thing that would happen to me. I’m a counter-puncher and I will hit them so hard they’d never been hit like that,” he said during a 36-minute Oval Office sitdown.
The commander-in-chief said he could declassify FISA warrant applications and other documents from Robert Mueller’s probe — and predicted the disclosure would expose the FBI, the Justice Department and the Clinton campaign as being in cahoots to set him up.
“I think that would help my campaign. If they want to play tough, I will do it. They will see how devastating those pages are.”
But Trump told The Post he wanted to save the documents until they were needed.
“It’s much more powerful if I do it then,” Trump said, “because if we had done it already, it would already be yesterday’s news.”
Trump revealed his playbook just as Democrats are set to take over House committeesin January where they are poised to investigate his potential business conflicts of interests, tax returns, Russia dealings and more.
With the GOP losing power in January, its congressional investigations into alleged Department of Justice misconduct in launching the Russia probe is expected to fizzle out.
In September, a group of Trump allies in the House – led by Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York – called on Trump to declassify scores of Justice Department documents they believe undercut the start of the Russia investigation and show bias against Trump.
The documents include Justice officials’ request to surveil Trump campaign adviser Carter Page and memos on DOJ official Bruce Ohr’s interactions with Christopher Steele, the author of a controversial dossier that alleged Trump ties with Russia.
Trump initially agreed to declassify the documents, including text messages sent by former FBI officials James Comey, Andrew G. McCabe as well as Peter Strzok, Lisa Page and Ohr. Trump allies believe the revelations will show favoritism toward Hillary Clinton and a plot to take down Trump.
Trump then reversed course, citing the need for further review and concern of US allies.
Trump added Wednesday that his lawyer Emmet Flood thought it would be better politically to wait.
“He didn’t want me to do it yet, because I can save it,” Trump said.
The president also pushed back on the notion that all the Justice Department documents should eventually be released for the sake of transparency.
“Some things maybe the public shouldn’t see because they are so bad,” Trump said, making clear it wasn’t damaging to him, but to others. “Maybe it’s better that the public not see what’s been going on with this country.”
Michael Moore 2020 Wish List: Meryl Streep, LeBron James, Oprah, Michelle Obama
Michael Moore revealed some of his top picks for the 2020 Democratic ticket Thursday, naming actress Meryl Streep, NBA great LeBron James, TV mogul Oprah Winfrey, and even rocker Bruce Springsteen, among others.
“Let’s name ourselves the “2020 Recruitment Committee” & get the Thanksgiving Dinner conversation started! Our job: Find a BELOVED American who shares our VALUES and can WIN the White House in 2020. Think of a BOLD, fresh idea & post w/ #Draft2020. I’ll start: Ellen Degeneres!” Michael Moore said in a social media post.
Michael Moore
✔
@MMFlint
· Nov 22, 2018
Let’s name ourselves the “2020 Recruitment Committee” & get the Thanksgiving Dinner conversation started! Our job: Find a BELOVED American who shares our VALUES and can WIN the White House in 2020. Think of a BOLD, fresh idea & post w/ #Draft2020. I’ll start: Ellen Degeneres!
Michael Moore
✔
@MMFlint
We need to think outside the box. If a Lesbian Native American MMA fighter can be sent 2 Congress from KANSAS—the sky’s the limit! Sully Sullenberger. Michelle Obama. Tulsi Gabbard. Tom Hanks. LeBron! Bernie! Oprah! Beto! Streep! Why don’t we win for once! #Draft2020 Post a name!
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7:57 AM – Nov 22, 2018
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When I said think outside the box I meant food box.
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“We need to think outside the box. If a Lesbian Native American MMA fighter can be sent 2 Congress from KANSAS—the sky’s the limit! Sully Sullenberger. Michelle Obama,” Moore continued. “Tulsi Gabbard. Tom Hanks. LeBron! Bernie! Oprah! Beto! Streep! Why don’t we win for once! #Draft2020 Post a name!”
The Bowling For Columbine director later followed up with a bigger list of names, reading, “Thx for these new names as to who should run in 2020: Sally Yates, Andrew Gillum, Kamala Harris, Sherrod Brown, Richard Ojeda, Shaun King, Cecile Richards, Anthony Romero, Stacey Abrams, Marianne Williamson, Jerry Brown, Gavin Newsom, Kate Brown, Amy Klobuchar, Bruuuce! Others?”
Michael Moore
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@MMFlint
Thx for these new names as to who should run in 2020: Sally Yates, Andrew Gillum, Kamala Harris, Sherrod Brown, Richard Ojeda, Shaun King, Cecile Richards, Anthony Romero, Stacey Abrams, Marianne Williamson, Jerry Brown, Gavin Newsom, Kate Brown, Amy Klobuchar, Bruuuce! Others?
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2:40 AM – Nov 23, 2018
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I’m not fat I just carry a lot of water. Like Lake Michigan
Moore’s celeb-filled list may be indicative of his wishes but most voters aren’t likely to care. According to a Rasmussen poll from October, most voters have no interest in celebrities’ feelings about politics.
While not suggesting that Bruce Springsteen run for president, the 58-year-old filmmaker is busy warning anyone that will listen that the United States could be in the “last days of democracy.”
The state allocated $925,000 each to Legal Services of New Jersey and the American Friend Service Committee.
It allocated $125,000 apiece to the law schools at Rutgers and Seton Hall universities.
“Families who came to New Jersey for a better life do not deserve to be torn apart by the federal government’s cruel and discriminatory policies,” Murphy said in a statement. “Deportation is one of the harshest consequences an individual can face under U.S. law, yet most immigrants do not have the right to appointed counsel and many cannot afford an attorney.”
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 3,189 undocumented immigrants in the Garden State in fiscal year 2017 — a 42 percent uptick from the year before.
Murphy said on his call-in radio show Monday night this money was needed because undocumented immigrants often don’t know where to go “to get the right answer.”
He said “in this era of Trump,” people are being scared “into the shadows,” and it’s “shaken a lot of our communities.”
“I believe with all my heart in the ‘safer cities’ notion,” Murphy said. “When folks feel like they can come out of the shadows, engage with their neighbors, community leaders, elected official, law enforcement members importantly, you have a safer, more stable community.”
He said the “intention here is to put an amount of money in place that begins us on a process where people know where to go.”
Murphy said he didn’t know how many immigrants this would help.
“But it’s a start,” he said on the show, which was broadcast on public radio stations WBGO in Newark, WNYC in New York City, and WHYY in Philadelphia.
Murphy said his administration came up with the $2.1 million figure based on averaging $100,000 per each of New Jersey’s 21 counties.
Erika Nava, a policy analyst at liberal think tank New Jersey Policy Perspective, told NJ Advance Media on Monday the cost to represent every undocumented immigrant who’s incarcerated in New Jersey could reach as much as $15 million.
Even though this money would be a sliver of that, Nava said it’s a “step in the right direction.”
State Treasurer Elizabeth Muoio said the move will also “dramatically reduce” the costs taxpayers foot for detention of undocumented immigrants. There are three ICE detention centers in New Jersey.
Melville D. Miller Jr., president of Legal Services, said immigrants seeking help will “receive a full assessment of their legal claims and specific advice concerning their legal rights.”
Other Democratic-led states, such as New York and California, provide legal help to poor immigrants.
