Re: Trump's Embrace of Foreign Interference Draws FEC Response
Trump has been much better for Russia than any Democrat would have been. Trump's repudiated the intelligence community's assessment and endorsed Putin. Trump thinks Russian election Interference is funny and no problem. Trump has never even mildly criticized Putin.
It was obvious during the campaign that Trump is an ignorant buffoon. His representatives discussed dropping sanctions with Russians. He's divided the country by making it clear he represents only his supporters.
I don't know if Putin hates us. He intends to make us a third-tier power with few supporters in the world. He's doing wonderfully well at that with Trump's aid.
Re: Trump's Embrace of Foreign Interference Draws FEC Response
But it looks to me like you're saying that "it's all illegal", that is, no foreign help period, when it comes to campaigns. Just like the summary statement that I quoted from the FEC chair. If there's something in your link that is a "yes, BUT", then I have to ask you to c/p it here.
Sheesh, at least try to keep up. I've posted the applicable law twice and the FEC web site once. Message 2939:
(1) a foreign national, directly or indirectly, to make”
(A) a contribution or donation of money or other thing of value, or to make an express or implied promise to make a contribution or donation, in connection with a Federal, State, or local election; (B) a contribution or donation to a committee of a political party; or (C) an expenditure, independent expenditure, or disbursement for an electioneering communication (within the meaning of section 30104(f)(3) of this title); or
(2) a person to solicit, accept, or receive a contribution or donation described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) from a foreign national.
No President before wanted to meet Kim, and now the President grovels at his feet. I think he's panicking trying for some significant achievement, any significant achievement, before the election.
quote: It turns out something like this had been in the works all week, with Trump all the way back to last Monday wanting to meet Kim at the DMZ. It was mentioned during an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the White House asked them not to print it for security reasons, they said "OK," and Trump just ... tweeted it out. We guess Kim wasn't answering his texts, even though he could totally see Kim had read them, because um hello you can see when people have read texts on iPhones, and OMG WHY WAS HE NOT RESPONDING?
...
Here is a video of Trump talking about how "powerful" Kim's voice is, talking about how "honored" he is, and also thanking Kim for accepting the invitation in his "Call Me Maybe" overshare tweet -- we are not kidding here -- because of how it would have looked really bad if Kim had stood him up and the media would have made fun of him.
...
Kim will continue to pursue nuclear weapons, more easily than he has been, because he knows all he has to do is wink at Trump, and he gets a free pass. Oh hey, what is this in the New York Times? An article saying that the Trump administration might ... accept??????? ... North Korea as a nuclear power, as long as they pinky swear not to make any new weapons, in exchange for a whole basket of sanctions relief and Trump Steaks? Jesus fucking Christmas
I'm suspicious of that NYT story. Of course it's been denied.
Re: Trump's Embrace of Foreign Interference Draws FEC Response
Missed this earlier.
So in answer to the Stephanopoulos question, if Trump would have said "I'd hire a U.S. research firm to listen to the information offered to me, and let them relay it to me, that would have been okay?
It depends. If the firm did not pay the source, that's definitely illegal. If the source doesn't offer anything but the firm seeks him out and contracts him to supply information in exchange for something of value, that's OK. If the source offered freeinformation and Trump hired a firm to accept the information for free that's certainly a deplorable attempt to evade the law and almost certainly illegal.
The fundamental issue is whether or not the transaction is completed after the transfer of information. As in normal contract law, if both parties complete their side of the transaction and something of value is exchanged, that's just normal commerce. But if the information-supplying party receives no previously established thing of value, that can create a debt that the information-supplying party could call in some day (no matter how many intermediaries are between the two parties). That's the situation the law is designed to protect against.
quote: [Tucker] Carlson said there "is no defending the North Korean regime," which he described as "monstrous and "the last really Stalinist regime in the world."
"On the other hand, you've got to be honest about what it means to lead a country. It means killing people," Carlson continued. "Not on the scale the North Koreans do, but a lot of countries commit atrocities, including a number that we are closely allied with."
quote: The Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General on Tuesday released its final report on overcrowding at several border facilities in the Rio Grande Valley ” nearly a week after BuzzFeed News reported on a draft version ” revealing shocking photographs of people crammed into small detention spaces.
Inspectors detailed how, when they visited several the facilities earlier this month, they found adults and minors with no access to showers. Many adults were only fed bologna sandwiches, and detainees were seen banging on cell windows ” pressing notes to the windows that detailed their time in custody.
Inspectors described the conditions as "dangerous" and "prolonged." Some adults were held in standing-room-only conditions for a week. There was little access to hot showers or hot food for families and children in some facilities
quote:
{Acting DHS Secretary} McAleenan had attempted to downplay conditions at the administration’s detention camps after shocking reports on the conditions ” even as he knew his own department’s Inspector General had prepared a report confirming the news story.
“I mean, the Homeland security secretary has been proven wrong now by his own agency. Right?” Maddow wondered.
“He went to Congress and said these allegations about bad conditions in his facilities, these were just unsubstantiated allegations that were creating a sensation. That was a handful of days ago,” she explained.
Now his own agency has published these photos and this urgent management alert calling exactly the same alarm. Right? Saying exactly the same thing which he was dismissing as unsubstantiated just days ago,” she continued.
Guess he can't find any presentable real supporters.
quote:
The AP explains that there’s “just one problem: The people in the videos that ran in the past few months are all actually models in stock video footage produced far from the U.S. in France, Brazil and Turkey, and available to anyone online for a fee.”
Though the 20-second videos include tiny disclaimers that say “actual testimonial, actor portrayal,” they raise the question why a campaign that can fill arenas with supporters would have to buy stock footage of models. It’s a practice that, under different circumstances, Trump himself would likely blast as “fake news.”
The Trump campaign refused to respond to the AP’s request for comment.
quote:"Absolutely. It's the lawyers advising him. @realDonaldTrump should ignore them. Completely," Roy said in a Tuesday evening tweet. "Print the census with the question - and issue a statement explaining why - 'because we should.' Done."
"These drawings show children’s views of their time in detention at the U.S. Southern Border. AAP believes no time in detention is healthy or safe for children."
Drawings by recently released children. Note how The bars dominate.
quote:If President Trump is trying to include a citizenship question for the drawing of congressional districts, he might be surprised to know that the U.S. Constitution makes clear the Census must count everyone living in the United States - not just citizens. And congressional districts are to be based on the number of people living in an area - not just the number of U.S. citizens.
Ixnay onway theway edistictringray, Donald. Definitely not data for gerrymandering programs. Nosiree!
quote: In one of the most sensitive documents, Sir Kim writes: 'We don't really believe this Administration is going to become substantially more normal; less dysfunctional; less unpredictable; less faction riven; less diplomatically clumsy and inept.'
He also says that he doesn't think Trump's White House will 'ever look competent'.
They really are addressing only the terminally bewildered
Deputy Director of Communications for Rapid Response for Trump's campaign. He knows his audience will never read the sentence before the highlighted one.
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