Wednesday, February 6, 2019

BREAKING: Trump transition official Paul Erickson indicted for wire fraud and money laundering


In the Spanish-language response to the State of the Union, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra says he plans to sue the Trump administration the moment the president declares a national emergency to get funds for a border wall


BREAKING: Sandusky, Ohio will stop observing Columbus Day — switching the holiday to Election Day instead. This needs to happen nationally.


NEW: Acting AG Whitaker is undergoing significant prep ahead of his Friday testimony


BREAKING: Paul Erickson, Russian agent Maria Butina’s boyfriend, indicted for fraud


Congress will vote this year on reauthorizing parts of the Patriot Act that oversee the government’s surveillance activities. As the debate gets underway, both Congress and the public need some answers


We’ve conflated the war on terror, the war on drugs, with immigration. This has led to mass deportations & militarization at a time of record safety on the U.S. border. False fear is cynically stoked to harm those who pose no threat to this country.


“The House Judiciary Committee focused on a bipartisan bill called the Bipartisan Background Checks Act, which would require background checks for all firearm sales and most firearm transfers. It has 230 House co-sponsors, including 5 Republicans.”


Democratic Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii is working on a plan that would tax financial trades


Justice Department opens probe into Jeffrey Epstein plea deal


In private meeting today, House GOP pushes Dems on House Intel to investigate Clinton campaign and whether it colluded with Russians. Also called for extension of Nunes FISA probe. Dems rejected it


NEW: @TMobile execs -- who need approval from @realDonaldTrump's govt for a big merger -- booked at least 52 nights at Trump's hotel after the merger was announced. That's even more than we'd previously thought. One paid $2,246 per night.


Students should be able to give anonymous feedback to federal student loan servicers. This is a no-brainer and taking that away is a nonstarter. @BetsyDeVosEd puts students AND taxpayers at risk at a time when we need MORE visibility into fraudulent aid practices, not less.


Media outlets uncritically push Trump’s anti-abortion lies while reporting on the State of the Union


Trump claimed more women than ever are working. The reality is much more grim.


"The data means that the five warmest years in recorded history have been the last five, and that 18 of the 19 warmest years ever recorded have occurred since 2001."


As the Joint Chiefs of Staff look on, Pres spotlights his decision to withdraw from the INF Treaty with Russia. Says perhaps a new treaty can be negotiated to include Russia and China, but if not, says the US will outspend and out-innovate all others.


Native Americans protest construction for border wall expected to plow over Texas butterfly sanctuary


U.S. banks got a $21 billion windfall from the Trump tax overhaul. Then they cut staff and loaned less, a new review finds


U.S. financial watchdog agency to gut most of its payday lending rules


I can understand why the idea of meaningful oversight terrifies the President. Several of his close associates are going to jail, others await trial, and criminal investigations continue. We’re going to do our job and won’t be distracted or intimidated by threats or attacks.


The Venezuelan government has blocked a bridge connecting Venezuela to Colombia, effectively blocking the passage of humanitarian aid called for by Venezuela's opposition, should it be delivered via this route


Fox News’ Shep Smith wonders if Russia is using Turkey’s Erdogan to manipulate Trump


MUST WATCH: @Kasie grills @TulsiGabbard on Bashar al-Assad today on @Morning_Joe, Rep. Gabbard says Assad is "not the enemy of the United States."


Trump Ally Tries to Remove Parkland Fathers From Gun Violence Hearing


NEW: Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Office will get the following transcripts (partial list) from House Intelligence:


Schiff said that the committee will probe whether anyone, “foreign or domestic,” sought to “impede, obstruct and/or mislead” the intelligence committee’s investigation or any others. And that, he said, includes “those in the Congress.”


NEW: My bill to block the President from taking military action against Venezuela without Congressional approval.


Schiff: The House Intel Committee's Russia investigation "will focus principally on five interconnected lines of inquiry, beginning with these incomplete or unexamined investigative threads:"


JUST IN: Senate Judiciary Cmte. member Sasse says the US Justice Dept. has opened an investigation into allegations that dept. attorneys "may have committed professional misconduct in the manner in which the [Jeffrey] Epstein criminal matter was resolved."


Trump’s Moscow Deal Is Exactly What the Framers Worried About.


Rep. Matt Gaetz derails gun violence hearing by demanding wall and calling on Parkland survivors to be removed


If you’re afraid of a background check you shouldn’t be able to buy a gun.


President Nicolas Maduro blew through more than 40% of Venezuela’s gold reserves last year


SCOOP: Trump wanted a $20 million upfront fee from a Ukrainian-Russian developer to put his name on a Moscow tower in 2006, the developer tells


New 'Narativ': Deripaska: Our in-depth investigation into the central figure of Trump-Russia. Read our exclusive findings and stay tuned for our @NarativLive show to discuss the story.


"So even as I am very disappointed by the president's approach to our problems, I still don't want him to fail. But we need him to tell the truth and to respect his duties, and respect the extraordinary diversity that defines America."


“We must reject the cynicism that says allowing every eligible vote to be cast and counted is a ‘power grab.’ Americans understand that these are the values our brave men and women in uniform and our veterans risked their lives to defend.”


Docket activity in U.S. v. Michael Cohen on the same morning his testimony is postponed. "SEALED DOCUMENT placed in vault. (mhe)"


.@RepCummings is on fire. Stop whatever you're doing and watch this. “One year ago today, on my mother’s dying bed at 92 years old — a former sharecropper — her last words were: Do. Not. Let. Them. Take. Our. Votes. Away. From. Us.”


This is nuts: "If I had not been elected President of the United States, we would right now, in my opinion, be in a major war with North Korea."


Trump: "We will build a human wall if necessary"


There's a reason Texas has historically been a nonvoting state. Those in power try really hard to keep people out of their democracy. That's why we need to protect and enhance voting rights.


Governor of New Mexico orders withdrawal of National Guard troops from the state's border with Mexico.


Donald Trump calls for an end to "ridiculous partisan investigations" in his #SOTU address


Stacey Abrams: "We can no longer ignore these threats to democracy"


So... Trump started being a traitor during the Cold War. During The Cold War, Trump Funded Attack Ads Against NATO, A Soviet Enemy


Germany's antitrust regulator is preparing the results of an unprecedented investigation into Facebook


Opinion: The Trump administration is riddled with holes — and the president couldn’t care less


⁦@TheRickWilson⁩ has a good day at the plate


.@staceyabrams: "The foundation of our moral leadership around the globe is free and fair elections, where voters pick their leaders, not where politicians pick their voters."


Tiffany Trump wears all-white to father's #SOTU speech, matching Dems wearing white in solidarity


The new House Democratic majority is widely expected to demand the president's personal tax returns and the Trump administration has been gearing up for months to fight back hard


Trump to anchors: "When I say something that you might think is a gaffe, it’s on purpose; it’s not a gaffe. When Biden says something dumb, it’s because he’s dumb.”


Stacey Abrams: "The shutdown was a stunt engineered by the President of the United States, one that defied every tenet of fairness and abandoned not just our people, but our values."


House Intel also looking into finances of Trump inauguration


House Oversight vice chair: 'Wait, did he really just say that?'


Trump wall hype not aligned with perspective of border residents


.@RepJerryNadler vows final Mueller report will be made public one way or another. By legislation, subpoena or testimony by Mueller. "The American people paid for that report...& deserve to know everything that's in it."


Trump says he’s going to defeat AIDS with Pence over his shoulder, who defunded Planned Parenthood in Indiana and worsened an HIV epidemic


El Paso Sheriff Richard Wiles to NBC: "It is sad to hear Pres. Trump state falsehoods about El Paso, Texas in an attempt to justify the building of a 2,000 mile wall ... El Paso was a safe city long before a wall was built. Pres. Trump continues to give a false narrative."


Trump is seen in video at Dec 1995 meeting with Yuri Luzhkov, corrupt mayor of Moscow 1992-2010 Coincidentally around 2002 Luzhkov appointed Sergei Polonsky as advisor - Polonsky later founded Mirax, a co Felix Sater advised & was director w/Trump Moscow developer Andrey Rozov


Stacey Abrams: "Compassionate treatment at the border is not the same as open borders. President Reagan understood this, President Obama understood this, Americans understand this … America is made stronger by the presence of immigrants — not walls"


Seriously, don't fall for his fear-mongering rants. He's lying about the border. Don't take our word for it.#SOTU — Nancy Pelosi


Fact check: Trump said “we have spent more than $7 trillion dollars in the Middle East.” Nope


JOSHUA TRUMP RULES


Melania seems relaxed and comfortable


Trump just got a standing ovation from Republicans for withdrawing from a nuclear arms treaty signed by Reagan


"If there is going to be peace and legislation, there cannot be war and investigation." - Trump's SOTU, 2019


Who knew clapping could convey rage, disdain and threats of revenge...


Likely the photo of the night.


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