May 30, 2018

Trump's contempt for the rule of law: It's deeply troubling, and getting worse

Trump’s comments about deporting NFL players or shutting down the court system are just little “jokes,” right?

HEATHER DIGBY PARTON
MAY 30, 2018 12:00PM (UTC)

Many in the media and Democratic politics are complaining vociferously about the Republican-led House Judiciary, Oversight and Government Reform committees and the Senate Judiciary Committee, which they see as lackadaisical in their approach to administration scandals. They are actually way off base. Those committees are committed to do their duty and have simply been waiting for Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz to release his report so they can really dig in and investigate. That report is about to drop, and the committees have already scheduled a number of hearings to obtain testimony from high-level participants in the hopes of getting to the bottom of this whole complicated mess.

I'm speaking, of course, about Obama administration scandals, specifically the ongoing, burning issue of Hillary Clinton's emails from when she was secretary of state. This particular investigation began in January 2017 with the intention of looking into former FBI Director James Comey's decision to violate protocol and publicly criticize Clinton, even as he declined to pursue a case against her, and then to reignite the controversy just 10 days before the election.

Horowitz was also going to investigate whether former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe should have recused himself, an issue that has already been discussed when McCabe was fired earlier this year, and also explore Rudy Giuliani's shenanigans in the waning days of the 2016 campaign, when he signaled that he might be getting information from inside the FBI about the reopening of the email investigation. (Fox News reports that the committees have scheduled a whole bunch of current and former FBI and DOJ officials, but so far Giuliani doesn't seem to be on anyone's witness list.)

So never say these Republicans don't care about oversight. They are actually obsessed with it -- as long as it has nothing to do with the current occupant of the White House. We can expect a full-blown rehash of the email scandal, possibly in public, leaving no stone unturned, turned over, rolled down a hill or turned over again.

This is their privilege, of course. They have the power to investigate anyone they choose. But it doesn't take a very stable genius to know that they are not doing this because they are deeply concerned with national security. If they were, they might be investigating the fact that the president spills classified information constantly and -- much as he declares himself immune from all conflict of interest and corruption -- insists that he cannot endanger national security since he has the power to declassify anything he chooses.

more
https://www.salon.com/2018/05/30/trumps-contempt-for-the-rule-of-law-its-deeply-troubling-and-getting-worse/

May 30, 2018

Trump auto tariffs could threaten GM Korea

Source: The Hill



BY JOSH DELK - 05/30/18 10:06 AM EDT

New auto tariffs under consideration by President Trump could threaten General Motors' struggling South Korean operation, just after the company agreed on a bailout for its Asian branch. The Trump administration is currently weighing the possibility of tariffs on imported automobiles and car parts, and investigating whether imports could threaten national security.

The White House announced its move just two weeks after GM partnered with a South Korean state bank in a $7 billion bail out for GM Korea, in exchange for the company's pledge to remain in the country for at least another decade and purchase more Korea-made auto parts, according to Reuters.

New tariffs would put a strain on GM Korea, the company's largest Asian export center outside of China, which ships nearly a quarter of its products to the U.S. GM Korea's U.S. exports are also reportedly set to rise under the corporate agreement, which also mandates that the overseas plants produce two more models popular in America.

Earlier this year Trump praised GM for closing a plant in South Korea, crediting his protectionist trade policies. The company said it would not reopen any of its U.S. manufacturing plants, despite suggestions by the president to move auto jobs "back from Korea to Detroit."

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Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/finance/389860-trump-auto-tariffs-would-threaten-gms-korea-operation

May 30, 2018

Ambien maker knocks Roseanne: 'Racism is not a known side effect'

Ambien maker knocks Roseanne for blaming its drugs for her tirades: ‘Racism is not a known side effect’

BRAD REED
30 MAY 2018 AT 10:26 ET

Sanofi, the pharmaceutical company behind Ambien, has put out a statement knocking Roseanne Barr for seemingly blaming its drugs for her racist tirade this week.

“People of all races, religions and nationalities work at Sanofi every day to improve the lives of people around the world,” the company said in an official announcement. “While all pharmaceutical treatments have side effects, racism is not a known side effect of any Sanofi medication.”

https://twitter.com/SanofiUS/status/1001824999496404992

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https://www.rawstory.com/2018/05/ambien-maker-knocks-roseanne-blaming-drugs-tirades-racism-not-known-side-effect/

May 30, 2018

Alan Dershowitz: 'I'm On the Way to Being Persuaded' Trump's Spygate Claims are Bogus

by Ken Meyer | 9:58 am, May 30th, 2018

Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz has defended President Donald Trump‘s “SpyGate” claims over the last few days — but now it seems he’s not so sure the president’s allegations are legitimate anymore.

In a conversation with Fox News’ Bill Hemmer, Dershowitz was asked for his thoughts about how Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) threw cold water on the notion that the FBI embedded a spy in Trump’s 2016 campaign. Dershowitz said he would prefer it if the inspector general looked into the matter, but he thought Gowdy’s reasoning about the FBI’s actions was sound last night.

“I’m halfway persuaded,” Dershowitz said. “I want to hear the inspector general and would like to see the facts myself, but I’m on the way to being persuaded.”

When Hemmer asked if the FBI should’ve told the Trump campaign about their investigation, Dershowitz said the Bureau should’ve at least informed Trump that they were looking into certain suspicious individuals. The professor added that it was a judgement call, though, and he wouldn’t criticize the FBI on that account.

Eventually, Hemmer asked about the connotations that the FBI remained silent about the preliminary investigation because it didn’t unveil anything hugely alarming. Dershowitz responded by saying its possible former Director James Comey was trying to even the playing field after how he handled the investigations into Hillary Clinton.

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https://www.mediaite.com/tv/alan-dershowitz-im-on-the-way-to-being-persuaded-trumps-spygate-claims-are-bogus/

May 30, 2018

NFL Owner Testifies...He Changed His Mind About Hiring Kaepernick After Trump's Comments

NFL Owner Testifies Under Oath that He Changed His Mind About Hiring Kaepernick After Trump’s Comments

by Amy Dash | 8:07 pm, May 29th, 2018

An NFL owner testified under penalty of perjury that he changed his mind about hiring NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick because of President Trump’s comments, Kaepernick’s attorney Mark Geragos told me on my podcast “Straight Aim”Tuesday.

The Kaepernick legal team has already conducted more than 14 depositions of league coaches, managers and owners including billionaire Patriots owner Bob Kraft Geragos said, revealing that several owners have testified that Trump and/or Kaepernick’s position regarding the national anthem influenced their hiring practices.

“In this civil case, there’s no doubt that the existing coaches — and I’m talking about Super Bowl-winning coaches — have testified under oath that he’s a starting quarterback in this league, and so that’s mind boggling,” Geragos said. “When you ask them … specifically why he isn’t he being hired … they say because of the national anthem policy.”

“The only reason — and the owners will admit that — they haven’t signed him is they’re afraid of Trump, and they’ve colluded because of Trump,” Geragos said.

Geragos said the new NFL national anthem policy only helps Kaepernick’s case and he didn’t think the NFL would be “stupid enough” to change the national anthem Policy, “but they did.”

more
https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/nfl-owner-testifies-under-oath-that-he-changed-his-mind-about-hiring-kaepernick-after-trumps-comments/

May 30, 2018

Romney threads the needle on Trump in Utah Senate debate

By James Hohmann
May 30 at 9:29 AM

THE BIG IDEA: Mitt Romney let it slide when his Republican primary opponent ripped him as a flip-flopping “Boston businessman” who “has seen fit to relocate here” during a Utah Senate debate on Tuesday night. He didn’t get worked up as the young state representative, Mike Kennedy, attacked him for signing an assault weapons ban as governor of Massachusetts and imposing an individual mandate that forced people to buy health insurance, a.k.a. Romneycare.

But the onetime standard-bearer of the GOP would not let it go when his opponent mentioned that Romney called Donald Trump a “phony” and a “fraud” in 2016 and recently attacked Robert Jeffress, an ally of the president, as a “religious bigot.” It came toward the end of an hour-long debate at Brigham Young University in Provo. Moderator David Magleby said there wasn’t enough time for the front-runner to respond. Romney protested. So Magleby, a professor at the school, said he could take 20 seconds.

“No, no, no, no,” Romney complained. “I get longer!”

The 71-year-old touted “relationships” he has with the Trump White House that he says will help him offset the clout being lost by the Beehive State with the retirement of Orrin Hatch, who has served in the Senate for 41 years.

“First of all, I've known the president for a long, long time and the president has endorsed me in this campaign — which shows he respects people who call ‘em like they see ‘em,” Romney said in a 55-second answer.

“I'm not sure with President Trump, you see things the right way,” said Kennedy, a practicing physician. “I do know some good doctors if you’d like a referral to get your vision checked because I think President Trump has been outstanding. He is one of the presidents that we have that actually keeps his promises … and I'm proud to stand with the president and not deride him publicly.”

more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2018/05/30/daily-202-romney-threads-the-needle-on-trump-in-utah-senate-debate/5b0dbfbc30fb0425887996ac/

May 30, 2018

Women's rights PAC asks candidates seeking endorsements to air sex harassment accusations

By Stephanie Ebbert GLOBE STAFF MAY 29, 2018

Candidates who hope to win the endorsement of a leading Massachusetts women’s rights group this election cycle should be prepared to answer this question: “Have you ever been formally accused of sexual harassment? If so, please explain.”

The provocative query appears on a questionnaire circulating among state candidates that’s believed to be the first instance nationally in which an interest group is demanding such disclosures as a condition of its endorsement.

“I think our biggest hope is to help elevate the conversation about sexual harassment and make clear that one of the values of reproductive freedom is being free from harassment in the workplace,” said Rebecca Hart Holder, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, whose political action committee produced the questionnaire. “As uncomfortable as it can be to have these conversations, I think they’re really critical to advancing women’s role in society and also in politics.”

The questionnaire shows how much the political discourse has changed since the 2016 presidential election, and how much further women’s rights groups hope to push it in the #MeToo era. Eighteen months ago, voters sent Donald Trump to the Oval Office, dismissing his hot-mike bragging about grabbing and kissing women. But in the seven months since a wave of women began divulging their stories of being sexually assaulted or harassed, the commonality of their experience has driven men out of positions of power. The language used by NARAL makes it clear that the movement is far from over.

more
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/05/29/women-rights-pac-asks-candidates-seeking-endorsements-air-sex-harassment-accusations/xvxXxaQymjwYZ2ozATaEfM/story.html

May 30, 2018

Exclusive: Immigration dominates GOP candidates' TV ads in House contests across the country

Deirdre Shesgreen and Eliza Collins, USA TODAY Published 6:00 a.m. ET May 29, 2018 | Updated 8:39 p.m. ET May 29, 2018

WASHINGTON – House Republican candidates are blanketing the airwaves with TV ads embracing a hard line on immigration — a dramatic shift from the midterm elections in 2014, according to a USA TODAY analysis of data from Kantar Media.

Republicans have aired more than 14,000 campaign ads touting a tough Trump-style immigration platform this year. The barrage underscores why House GOP leaders worry that passing a legislative fix for undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children, referred to as DREAMers, would put GOP candidates at risk heading into the fall election.

“I’ll end sanctuary cities to stop illegals from taking our jobs … and use conservative grit to build the darn wall,” Troy Balderson, a GOP state senator running for Congress in Ohio, promises in one such ad.

Democrats bombard voters with ads that promise to protect Obamacare, shore up Social Security and expand Medicare, according to the data from Kantar’s Campaign Media Analysis Group (CMAG).

more
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/05/29/immigration-dominating-gop-tv-ads-house-contests/638063002/

May 30, 2018

Eric Greitens used Trump's playbook to try to beat scandal. It didn't work.

By Amber Phillips
May 30 at 7:00 AM

He maintains that he hasn't broken any law, that this is all a “witch hunt” against him, that the reason he's resigning is because his opponents “specifically designed” an “ordeal” to torment his family and friends.

Basically, departing Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (R) tried to survive career-ending sex and legal scandals by tossing blame everywhere but himself. It's the same playbook President Trump has used to defend himself in various legal and sex scandals, right down to language such as “witch hunt.”

Except for one very big difference: Trump has kept his job. Greitens, abandoned by members of his own party and facing impeachment threats, did not. He announced his resignation Tuesday, just a year and a half after getting elected to his first political office and being deemed a rising star of the Republican Party.

Greitens just demonstrated the limitations of the Trump playbook — the first rule of which is to fight allegations fiercely — for anyone not named Trump. Actually, even in admitting defeat, Greitens refused to admit defeat.

“This ordeal has been designed to cause an incredible amount of strain on my family; millions of dollars of mounting legal bills, endless personal attacks designed to cause maximum damage to family and friends,” Greitens said Tuesday.

more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/05/30/eric-greitens-used-trumps-playbook-to-try-to-beat-scandal-it-didnt-work/

May 30, 2018

Does Maria count as a 'real catastrophe' now, Mr. President? - Washington Post Editorial Board

By Editorial Board
May 29 at 7:58 PM

A NEW report by independent public-health researchers estimates that at least 4,645 people died as a result of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. Consider that number. Contrast it with those who died from Katrina (almost 2,000) and those killed in the 9/11 attacks (almost 3,000). Remember President Trump’s visit to the stricken island in the storm’s aftermath, tossing out paper towels and telling Puerto Rican officials they should be “very proud” that hundreds didn’t die from Maria as in a “real catastrophe like Katrina.”

Think how many lives might have been saved if Puerto Rico’s devastation had been handled with the seriousness and urgency it deserved. Ask yourself whether Mr. Trump would have thought — or acted — differently if the American citizens who were affected had lived not in Puerto Rico but in Texas or Tennessee.

A study published Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine by scientists from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and other institutions takes aim at the official government count of 64 dead. It suggests the actual number of deaths — many caused by interruption and delays in medical care — is more than 70 times higher than that reported by Puerto Rico officials. Researchers acknowledged their estimate, based on calculations from surveys of randomly chosen households, is imprecise and further study is needed. But the report, along with earlier reporting and analysis by the New York Times, paints a devastating picture of how people, particularly the elderly and infirm, were imperiled by long-standing losses of electricity, water and communications.

The power of a nearly Category 5 storm in causing damage cannot be overstated, and the fact that Puerto Rico is an island presented unique challenges. But neither local nor federal government rose to that challenge. Bad decisions by Puerto Rico officials were compounded by a federal bureaucracy that didn’t aggressively marshal the resources that were needed. Many communities were cut off from vital services for weeks and months. The Post’s Arelis R. Hernández and Laurie McGinley recounted how a 54-year-old woman contracted an infection and died Nov. 29 after lapses in medical services, including the 20 minutes her family had to wait to get cell reception just to call 911. “The worst part was knowing I could do nothing to help her,” said her daughter.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/does-maria-count-as-a-real-catastrophe-now-mr-president/2018/05/29/16ba7fc8-6380-11e8-a768-ed043e33f1dc_story.html