The Political Thread

FOR NOW, LETS MOVE ON FOR A SECOND OR TWO, TO ANOTHER SUBJECT--I WONDER WHAT THAT SUBJECT SHOULD BE? MAYBE LIES/LIARS???

--DO ME’S THOUGHTS: Donald has stated, tweeted, etc. (Since Becoming President):

WELL OVER 5,000 Misleading/False Statements/Exaggerations (Media Terms-- Those are nice terms for = LYING!!!) = Donald and Judge Kav should get along just GREAT.

Combined that, with Donald’s Statement: “Do Not Believe What You Hear, Read or SEE” (Hitler said, something similar, as have other Dictators…go figure).

And, well, our Country Today, has a lack of RESPECT for: The TRUTH, The FACTS & REALITY (all three of these are sadly lacking in OUR Country today)…thanks Donald.

I only wish I knew this Crap when I was a young boy…

EXAMPLE ONE:
MY DAD: “Well son I have your Report Card in this envelope; before I open it, do you want to tell me what to expect?”

“I got all A’s…”

MY DAD: “But your Report Card says you got C’s D’s & Two F’s…why did you Lie to me? You know what happens to you when you Lie to me…”

“I didn’t Lie, I Exaggerated..”

EXAMPLE TWO:
MY MOM: “Son, the other three kids, said you have stolen all their Toys and are selling them to your friends…tell me, is this True?”

“No it is not!!!”

MY MOM: “I checked your toy box and I found their toys…so why did you Lie to me?’

“I didn’t Lie, instead it was a Misleading Statement…”


EXAMPLE THREE:
MY DAD: “We met with your Teacher today. She stated that, you have been beating up other students that have been laughing at your stuttering problem. Is that True?

“No it is not.”

MY DAD: “You are Lying again to us. We met with the other Parents & their children and saw their injuries…why are you Lying to us?”

“I did not Lie; you two Cannot Believe Everything You Read, Hear or See…”

--AND, THEN THERE ARE ALL THE LIES, ETHICS VIOLATIONS, CORRUPTION SCANDALS,INDICTMENTS, ARRESTS, etc. that have plagued so many of his Cabinet Members, Appointees, Campaign Folks, Associates,  etc. etc. etc.

--10-03-18: NOW IT IS JUST NOT LIES, BUT POTENTIAL TAX FRAUD TOO (TWO MUST READ ARTICLES): www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/11-takeaways-from-the-times%E2%80%99s-investigation-into-trump%E2%80%99s-wealth/ar-BBNQFPv?li=BBnb7Kz   AND: 10-03-18: www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/ny-tax-agency-weighs-probe-after-report-that-trump-family-built-wealth-through-tax-avoidance-schemes-and-fraud/ar-BBNRb7c?li=BBnb7Kz  

--AND MORE OF THE ABOVE 10-04-18: www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/probes-of-trump-taxes-carry-potential-for-millions-in-fines/ar-BBNTVKX?li=BBnb7Kz  
NEW YORK — Though President Donald Trump insists he did nothing wrong on his taxes, experts say he could be on the hook for tens of millions of dollars in civil fines if state and federal authorities substantiate a New York Times report that found he and his family cheated the IRS for decades.

The statute of limitations for bringing criminal charges has long run out, but civil cases have no such limits, and the financial penalties could be staggering.

Civil fraud charges for intentionally underpaying taxes, as the Times alleged the Trump family did, could include a penalty of up to 75 percent of the unpaid federal taxes and double the unpaid state amount, experts said.

The penalties "could be substantial, and if the allegations are proven in court, they should be levied," said Norman Eisen, chairman of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and former chief ethics counsel in the Obama administration.

The New York tax department said it is studying the Times' 15,000-word report and "vigorously pursuing all appropriate avenues of investigation." New York City also said it would investigate. A spokesman for the Internal Revenue Service declined to comment.
READ MORE…

--Yes, Tequila, laugh as hard as you want too, for I am laughing TOO; but also crying at the same time for Donald & his team are in CHARGE of America...

***10-01-18 www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/09/13/president-trump-has-made-more-than-false-or-misleading-claims/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.e3a012148829  
On Sept. 7, President Trump woke up in Billings, Mont., flew to Fargo, N.D., visited Sioux Falls, S.D., and eventually returned to Washington. He spoke to reporters on Air Force One, held a pair of fundraisers and was interviewed by three local reporters.

 
In that single day, he publicly made 125 false or misleading statements — in a period of time that totaled only about 120 minutes. It was a new single-day high.

The day before, the president made 74 false or misleading claims, many at a campaign rally in Montana.

An anonymous op-ed article by a senior administration official had just been published in the New York Times, and news circulated about journalist Bob Woodward’s insider account of Trump’s presidency.

Trump’s tsunami of untruths helped push the count in The Fact Checker’s database past 5,000 on the 601st day of his presidency.

That’s an average of 8.3 Trumpian claims a day, but in the past nine days — since our last update — the president has averaged 32 claims a day.

When we first started this project for the president’s first 100 days, he averaged 4.9 claims a day. He passed the 2,000 mark on Jan. 10 — eight months ago.

Fittingly, the 5,000th claim was a tweet about the investigation led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III: “Russian ‘collusion’ was just an excuse by the Democrats for having lost the Election!”

On nearly 140 occasions, the president has falsely claimed that the Russia investigation was made up or a hoax.

But the information on Russian efforts to sway the 2016 election was developed by the intelligence community and published in a declassified report, in which the agencies said they had “high confidence” it was correct.

--MORE LIES FROM DONALD & OTHER RELATED ARTICLES:
--09-26-18: www.msn.com/en-us/news/factcheck/fact-checking-trump%e2%80%99s-speech-to-the-united-nations/ar-AAADEFY?li=BBnbcA1  
LIAR, LIAR; PANTS ON FIRE…

WHAT MR. TRUMP SAID:
“In less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country.”

THE FACTS
False.
Mr. Trump rattled off a list of accomplishments on the economy, tax cuts, military spending and the border — many of them cherry-picked, exaggerated or false.

He is right that the United States stock market is soaring, and unemployment rates for Hispanics, African-Americans and Asian-Americans have reached record lows.

But he omitted less flattering indicators when describing an economy “booming like never before.” For example, G.D.P. growth is healthy, but reached higher points as recently as 2014.

The unemployment rate is at an 18-year low, but is higher than several months during the 1940s and 1960s. And wage growth is still slow: after adjusting for inflation, average hourly earnings increased just 0.2 percent in August.

Mr. Trump’s claim of signing the “biggest” tax cut in American history is false; by various metrics, several rank higher. He misleadingly said construction on the border wall with Mexico had begun; projects to replace fencing and barriers are underway, but the administration has not begun to build a 1,000-mile-long wall.

He was also wrong in characterizing recent military spending bills as “record funding.” Even without adjusting for inflation, President Barack Obama signed legislation in 2010 that provided more money for the military.

Additionally, Mr. Trump has signed a relatively low number of bills when compared to other presidents, even at similar points in their terms. While he can claim major legislative victories — on tax cuts and veterans’ benefits — he has also been unable to deliver on other key campaign promises, like the border wall and repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act.

WHAT MR. TRUMP SAID
“Thanks to the United States military and our partnership with many of your nations, I am pleased to report that the bloodthirsty killers known as ISIS have been driven out from the territory they once held in Iraq and Syria.”

THE FACTS
This is exaggerated.
Mr. Trump’s declaration of victory is slightly premature. The Islamic State is down to its last 200 square miles, about 1 percent of the territory it previously held in Iraq and Syria, The New York Times recently reported. Pentagon officials have stressed that their job is not done.

There are still “remaining pockets” of Islamic State fighters in Syria and Iraq, and they continue to threaten the two countries’ peace and security, Col. Sean J. Ryan, a Defense Department spokesman, told reporters on Sept. 18.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters on Monday that American troops will continue to train and advise local security forces to make certain the Islamic State does not resurface. He said “fighting is ongoing” in Syria’s Euphrates River Valley, where troops have been battling the Islamic State.

“I think that getting rid of the caliphate doesn’t mean you then blindly say ‘O.K., we got rid of it,’ march out, and then wonder why the caliphate comes back,’ Mr. Mattis said. “And how many times have we seen — look at even Iraq where they’re still on the hunt for them. And they’re still trying to come back.”

WHAT MR. TRUMP SAID
“The UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar have pledged billions of dollars to aid the people of Syria and Yemen, and they are pursuing multiple avenues to ending Yemen’s horrible, horrific civil war.”

THE FACTS
This is misleading.
Mr. Trump is right that the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have contributed funds to ease humanitarian crises in Syria and Yemen. But his comment glosses over the three countries’ roles in Yemen’s civil war.

The governments of Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. are the top two donors to the United Nations’ humanitarian response plan in Yemen, contributing nearly $1 billion combined. Additionally, the two countries donated another $375 million through other programs, the data show. Qatar also contributed $500,000 to the United Nations response plan.

In Syria, Saudi Arabia donated $18.6 million this year to the world body’s humanitarian response plan and $24.3 million in 2017. Qatar contributed $2.2 million in 2018 and $29.5 million last year, the same reports show.

Dollars aside, it’s worth noting that the United Nations and human rightsgroups have said that the humanitarian crisis in Yemen has been exacerbated by the country’s ongoing civil war. A Saudi-led coalition — including the U.A.E. and the United States — has since 2015 fought Iranian-linked Houthi rebels who ousted the government of President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi of Yemen.

Qatar initially was part of the international coalition fighting the Houthi rebels, but was expelled last year after Riyadh accused the tiny nation of funding terrorism, cozying up to Iran and welcoming dissidents.

A report by United Nations investigators in August accused the Saudi-led coalition of potential war crimes, including charges of killing thousands of civilians in airstrikes, torturing detainees and conscripting child soldiers. The same report also accused the Houthi rebels of possible war crimes.

WHAT MR. TRUMP SAID
“That is why so many countries in the Middle East strongly supported my decision to withdraw the United States from the horrible 2015 Iran nuclear deal and reimpose nuclear sanctions.”

THE FACTS
This is exaggerated.
The reaction to the United States withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal in May was more varied in Middle Eastern countries than Mr. Trump’s claim would suggest.

Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E., Bahrain and Israel issued statements supporting Mr. Trump’s decision.

But Syria, Iraq and Lebanon voiced disappointment. Jordan’s foreign minister warned of a potential arms race in the region absent the nuclear deal. Qatar, Egypt, Kuwait and Oman issued cautious statements that stressed their commitments to peace in the Middle East, but did not take clear positions on the United States’ withdrawal.

Outside of the Middle East, global reaction toward Mr. Trump’s decision has largely been negative. The six other parties to the treaty with Iran — Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia and the European Union — opposed the withdrawal. So did Canada, Australia, Ireland, Japan, Norway, the Netherlands, South Africa and Sweden, according to statements compiled by the Arms Control Association.

WHAT MR. TRUMP SAID
“As a result, our trade deficit ballooned to nearly $800 billion a year.”

THE FACTS
This is exaggerated.
As The New York Times and others have repeatedly reported, Mr. Trump is overstating the figure by about $250 billion. Last year, the United States had an overall trade deficit of $552 billion, according to the Census Bureau. That included a goods deficit of $807 billion, offset by a trade surplus in services of $255 billion.

Mr. Trump’s preoccupation with trade in goods contradicts his own White House economic report, which he signed and was released in February.

The American economy has shifted “away from manufacturing and toward service provision industries” in recent decades, according the report. “Focusing only on the trade in goods alone ignores the United States’ comparative advantage in services.”

--09-27-18: www.msn.com/en-us/news/factcheck/checking-6-claims-from-trump%e2%80%99s-news-conference/ar-BBNCjCj?li=BBnb7Kz  
What Mr. Trump said:
“They made false statements about me. I never met them. I never met these people. And what did they do, what did they do? They took money in order to say bad things.”

The facts
This is misleading.
Mr. Trump said he was accused of sexual misconduct by four or five women “who got paid a lot of money to make up stories about me," and whom he claimed he had never met. He then contradicted himself and said that he “knew them a long time ago. Fifteen years ago, 20 years ago.”

More than a dozen women have accused him of sexual misconduct. Of those women, he has met at least six, as The New York Times reported last year:

People magazine posted on Twitter on Tuesday a photograph of Natasha Stoynoff, one of its reporters, with Mr. Trump at his wedding to Melania Knauss in January 2005. Ms. Stoynoff has said that later that year, she interviewed the couple for an article about their first anniversary at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where she says Mr. Trump assaulted her.

Summer Zervos was a contestant on Season 5 of ‘The Apprentice,’ Mr. Trump’s long-running reality television show. She says Mr. Trump madeunwanted sexual advances toward her in 2007.

Two additional accusers have participated in beauty pageants that Mr. Trump ran. Temple Taggart McDowell, who represented Utah in Miss USA in 1997, told NBC News that Mr. Trump kissed her on the lips during a rehearsal dinner that year. Ninni Laaksonen, who competed for Finland in Miss Universe, said Mr. Trump groped her in 2006. There are photos of Mr. Trump with both women.

A fifth woman, Jessica Drake, an adult-film actress, said Mr. Trump groped her at a golf tournament in 2006. Last year, Ms. Drake presented an undated photo of her appearing with Mr. Trump at a news conference.

A sixth woman, makeup artist Jill Harth, said Mr. Trump groped her in 1992 and she filed a lawsuit against him in 1997. She later withdrew that complaint as part of a settlement of a different lawsuit with Mr. Trump.

The president’s contention that the women were paid to falsely accuse him of sexual misconduct distorts news reports about financial donations to some accusers.

The Times’ Kenneth Vogel reported in December that political partisans raised money to support accusers who came forward with charges of sexual misconduct about Mr. Trump and members of Congress.

Gloria Allred, a high-profile women’s rights attorney, raised money to support Ms. Zervos’ legal fees in her case against Mr. Trump — not to pay her to make false accusations.

Lisa Bloom, Ms. Allred’s daughter and another prominent lawyer, also sought donations to fund security and relocation for women who were contemplating sharing their stories about Mr. Trump, though some of them ultimately decided not to come forward.

Ms. Bloom did provide financial aid for Ms. Harth, who maintained her allegations were not affected by the payments, according to The Hill.

What Mr. Trump said
“You know, I got 52 percent with women. Everybody said this couldn’t happen, 52 percent.”

This is exaggerated.
Exit polls collected by The New York Times indicated that 53 percent of white women voted for Mr. Trump in the 2016 presidential election. Overall, however, 42 percent of all women voted for him. That data are consistent with polls collected by CNN and The Washington Post.

What Mr. Trump said:
“We’re starting trade talks with Japan. They were not willing, for years, to talk. And now they’re willing to talk trade.”

The facts
False.
The United States and Japan announced on Wednesday that they will begin talks on a bilateral trade deal. But Japan and the United States both signed a major multilateral trade deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, with 10 other nations in 2016. Mr. Trump formally abandoned the TPP deal during his first days in office.

What Mr. Trump said:
“We have trade imbalances with almost everybody. It’s a rare exception that we don’t.”

The facts
This is exaggerated.
The United States has an overall trade surplus with six out of 15 major trading partners, according to the Census Bureau. They are Brazil, Canada, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Taiwan.

When talking about trade imbalances, Mr. Trump frequently focuses solely on the deficit in goods. On that measure, he is even more wrong. Out of 234 trading partners, the United States had a trade surplus in goods with 129 countries or territories.

Mr. Trump has frequently criticized trade deficits as weaknesses in American trade policy, but most economists do not see them that way.

What Mr. Trump said:
“I have 145 judges I will be picking by the end of a fairly short period of time, because President Obama wasn’t big on picking judges. When I got there I said, how is this possible? I have 145, including Court of Appeals judges. And they just didn’t do it, you know why? They got tired, they got complacent — something happened.”

The facts
This is misleading.
Mr. Trump has been very successful in appointing judges to lower courts. But his suggestion Mr. Obama was less so because he “got tired” is not accurate.

Mr. Obama successfully appointed 334 judges to federal courts. Gridlock in Congress, however, stalled most of his nominations in his last two years in office.

Of the 71 people whom Mr. Obama nominated to the courts of appeals and district courts in 2015 and 2016, only 20 were voted on and confirmed, according to data compiled by Russell Wheeler, an expert on the judicial selection process at the Brookings Institution.

“He would have nominated more, but they faced blue slip vetoes,” Mr. Wheeler said, referring to slips of papers that senators submit to — or withhold from — the Judiciary Committee in signaling approval or disapproval of nominees from their home states.

What Mr. Trump said:
“I heard somebody on a certain network last night, I won't mention which one, say why has President Trump given so much to North Korea? I said wait a minute. I asked Sarah Huckabee, please call this person. I gave him nothing other than I met. What did I give him? I didn't do what Obama did; give him $1.8 billion in cash to get back four hostages.”

The facts
This is misleading.
Mr. Trump is likely referring to a $1.7 billion cash payment the Obama administration made to Iran, not North Korea. The payment helped secure the release of three American hostages in 2016, but it stemmed from a decades-long dispute. As The Times has previously reported:

Before the 1979 revolution, Iran’s shah had paid $400 million for American military goods but, after he was overthrown, they were never delivered. The clerics who seized control demanded the money back, but the United States refused. The additional $1.3 billion is interest accumulated over 35 years.

The United States does not have diplomatic relations with North Korea and while it has provided emergency food and other aid in the past during times of famine or natural disasters, it has not paid North Korea for the return of any hostages.

--09-25-18: www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/trump-boasts-of-americas-might-draws-headshakes-at-un/ar-AAABj9K?li=BBnb7Kz   AMERICA IS NOW TRULY THE LAUGHING STOCK OF THE WORLD = SAD; THANKS, DONALD.
UNITED NATIONS — Promoting his aggressive "America First" agenda, President Donald Trump delivered a sharp rebuke of global governance at the United Nations on Tuesday, drawing headshakes and even laughter from fellow world leaders as he boasted of America's economic and military might.

Trump arrived late, forcing a last-minute scheduling switch, then received polite applause but also blank stares as he took his blustery brand of policies to the annual General Assembly.

Speaking in triumphal terms, Trump approached the address as an annual report to the world on his country's progress since his inauguration.

He touted economic figures, declared that the U.S. military is "more powerful than it has ever been before," and crowed that in "less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country."

Five sentences into the president's remarks, the audience began to chuckle and some leaders broke into outright laughter, suggesting the one-time reality television star's puffery is as familiar abroad as it is at home. Appearing briefly flustered, Trump smiled and joked that it was not the reaction he expected "but that's all right."

The moment only reinforced Trump's isolation among allies and foes alike, as his nationalistic policies have created rifts with erstwhile partners and cast doubt in some circles about the reliability of American commitments around the world.

Since taking office, Trump has removed the U.S. from the Paris climate accord, promoted protectionist tariffs and questioned the utility of alliances like the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in furtherance of what he termed on Tuesday a strategy of "principled realism." READ MORE…

--AND 09-26-18: www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/a-journey-along-the-entire-1933-mile-us-mexico-border-shows-the-monumental-task-of-securing-it/ss-AAxaRS0?li=BBnb7Kz#image=43  
Watch Slide Show…building a Border Wall easier said than done…

--09-26-18: www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/trump-to-meet-with-netanyahu-chair-security-council-meeting/ar-AAAEvbZ?li=BBnb7Kz  
NOW HE IS BLAMING CHINA FOR MEDDLING INTO OUR ELECTIONS; BUT NOT RUSSIA???!!!

I think that Donald has his Tongue so far up Putin’s Ass, that Putin no longer needs Toilet Paper…Why else doesn’t DONALD Admit that Russia Meddled, Attacked, Inferred, Etc. with Our Elections???...

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump's appearance at the U.N. General Assembly (all times local):

10:50 a.m.
President Donald Trump says China has been meddling in the November election in the United States.

He's offering few details, but says at a meeting of the U.N. Security Council: "Regrettably, we found that China has been attempting to interfere in our upcoming 2018 election."

U.S. intelligence officials have said previously that other nations could opt to try and copy Russia's playbook of meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. But Trump's comments Wednesday seem to confirm that China is actively interfering now.Trump says Beijing doesn't want him or the Republicans "to win because I am the first president ever to challenge China on trade."

10:40 a.m.
For the first time, President Donald Trump is calling to order a meeting of the U.N. Security Council for a meeting on countering nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

Trump, seated at the center of an arc-shaped table, immediately uttered tough words against Iran, saying that a government with Iran's track record "must never be allowed to obtain" a nuclear weapon.

At the same time, he thanked Iran, Russia and Syria for slowing their attack on Idlib province in Syria. Last week, Russia and Turkey reached a deal to avert an offensive against Idlib, the last major rebel-held stronghold in Syria.

He also said China was interfering in the U.S. midterm elections, but offered no details about the claim except to say that Beijing opposes his trade policy. READ MORE…

--09-26-18: www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-26/bolivia-s-morales-slams-trump-to-his-face-at-un-security-council  
Most foreign leaders are delicate when presented the opportunity to criticize Donald Trump to his face. Not Bolivian President Evo Morales.

Trump was forced to sit through a lengthy tongue-lashing from Morales on Wednesday at a meeting of the UN Security Council that the U.S. president hosted. It’s likely the harshest any foreign leader has ever spoken to Trump in public.

“I would like to say to you, frankly and openly here, that in no way is the United States interested in upholding democracy ’’ Morales said through a translator.

Morales is a well-known agitator at the UN with longstanding anti-American sentiments. He has in the past attacked the U.S. for its interventions in the Middle East, including the Iraq war, the toppling of Libyan dictator Moammar Qaddafi and the civil war in Syria.

But on Wednesday he rebuked Trump’s foreign and domestic policies alike, asserting that the U.S. president’s treatment of other countries and immigrants is callous.

“The United States could not care less about human rights or justice,’’ Morales said. “If this were the case, it would have signed the international conventions and treaties that have protected human rights.

It would not have threatened the investigation mechanism of the International Criminal Court, nor would it promote the use of torture, nor would it have walked away from the Human Rights Council. And nor would it have separated migrant children from their families, nor put them in cages.
READ MORE…

--09-29-18: www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/trump-anti-discrimination-official-faces-rebellion-at-agency-over-racially-tinged-blog-posts/ar-BBNGAlL?li=BBnbfcL  
A senior Trump appointee at an agency responsible for enforcing laws against financial discrimination faced open rebellion from subordinates Friday over blog posts he wrote years ago expressing controversial views on the n-word and hate crimes, according to internal emails obtained by The Washington Post.

The uproar came as two Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee and a national housing rights organization called for the departure of the appointee, Eric Blankenstein, a policy director at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

The upheaval was triggered by a mass email from a senior civil servant who harshly criticized the writings, which The Post revealed and linked to Blankenstein in a report Wednesday.

Writing under a pen name in 2004, Blankenstein questioned whether the n-word was inherently racist and claimed that the great majority of hate crimes were hoaxes.

“The tone and framing are deeply disturbing to me as a woman, African American, advocate for LGBTQ rights, and human being,” Patrice A. Ficklin, a career staffer and director of the Office of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity, wrote to hundreds of agency employees.

Earlier in the week, Blankenstein asked Ficklin, his subordinate, to write a supportive note about him for The Post’s initial story. In her email Friday, Ficklin said she had not read Blankenstein’s blog when she did so.

“After the article appeared, I began to read his posts and was struck by how they reminded me of debates we’ve had with Eric on supervisory and enforcement matters,” she wrote.

“And while he has been collegial, thoughtful and meticulous, I have had experiences that have raised concerns that are now quite alarming in light of the content of his blog posts — experiences that call into question Eric’s ability and intent to carry out his and his Acting Director’s repeated yet unsubstantiated commitment to a continued strong fair lending program under governing legal precedent,” she wrote. READ MORE…

--09-29-18: www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-emoluments/us-court-lets-congress-members-sue-trump-over-foreign-payments-idUSKCN1M82S0   The HOUNDS are nipping at his ASS…Donald thinks the Laws & Ethics do NOT include him…

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan in Washington said in a 58-page ruling that lawmakers who brought the suit had legal standing to sue the president for allegedly flouting the U.S. Constitution’s “emoluments” clause, which prevents federal officeholders from accepting presents and other benefits from foreign governments without the “consent” of Congress.

The lawsuit, filed in June 2017, is the third constitutional challenge to Trump’s business interests while in office, but it is notable because the plaintiffs are themselves members of Congress.

The 198 members of Congress involved in the suit are all Democrats but also include Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016.

U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte in Greenbelt, Maryland, has allowed a similar lawsuit to move forward, but in December 2017 a judge in Manhattan threw out yet another case, which is now on appeal.

The constitutional provision at issue is designed to prevent corruption and foreign influence. Sullivan said in his ruling that the provision gives each member of Congress the right to vote before the president accepts a prohibited foreign emolument.

“Accordingly, plaintiffs adequately allege that the President has completely nullified their votes,” Sullivan wrote.

“By recognizing that members of congress have standing to sue, the court proved to all in America today that no one is above the law, not even the president,” said Elizabeth Wydra, president of the Constitutional Accountability Center, a Washington-based liberal legal organization representing the lawmakers.

--09-29-18 ANOTHER LOSS FOR DONALD’S TEAM & FOLLOWERS OF FANATICS:
www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/judge-strikes-down-kentucky-law-in-win-for-abortion-clinic/ar-BBNGvH4?li=BBnbfcL  
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — In a victory for abortion-rights supporters, a federal judge struck down a Kentucky law that had put the state's last abortion clinic at risk of closing when Gov. Matt Bevin's administration cited it in a licensing fight with the facility.

U.S. District Judge Greg Stivers, in a long-awaited ruling, said Friday that the two-decade-old law violates constitutionally protected due process rights. The law required Kentucky's abortion clinics to have written agreements with a hospital and an ambulance service in case of medical emergencies.

Stivers said the so-called transfer agreements "do not advance a legitimate interest" in promoting the health of women seeking abortions.

"The court has carefully reviewed the evidence presented in this case and concludes that the record is devoid of any credible proof that the challenged regulations have any tangible benefit to women's health," Stivers wrote in his 60-page ruling.

"On the other hand, the regulations effectively eliminate women's rights to abortions in the state. Therefore, the challenged regulations are unconstitutional."

The ruling was welcomed by the American Civil Liberties Union, which joined the legal fight on behalf of the Louisville abortion clinic. A spokeswoman for Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin said the decision will be appealed.

In a statement, ACLU attorney Brigitte Amiri said: "The court's decision recognized the Kentucky law for what it is: an attack on women wrapped up in a bogus justification and pushed by politicians who've been transparent in their pursuit to ban abortion in the state of Kentucky."

--10-01-18: www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/beto-orourke-holds-largest-political-rally-since-2016/ar-BBNKI2u?li=BBnbfcL&ocid=U147DHP  
NOT GOOD FOR THE GOP…
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Beto O'Rourke hosted the largest single-candidate political rally in the country since the 2016 presidential election, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

O'Rourke's political rally was held Saturday alongside country music singer Willie Nelson in the outdoor Austin, Texas ampitheater, Auditorium Shores. Campaign estimates for attendance were all in excess of 50,000 people, with local estimates placing the number in attendance at around 55,000, making it the largest political rally for one candidate since at least 2016.

Rep. O'Rourke, of El Paso, Texas, is in a heated U.S. Senate race with Republican incumbent Ted Cruz that has drawn continued national attention.

--10-01-18: www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nba/bill-bradley-concisely-deconstructs-donald-trump%e2%80%99s-use-of-sports-to-divide/ar-BBNKMlp?li=BBnbfcL&ocid=U147DHP   IT IS TRUE WHAT HE SAYS ABOUT THE COMPULSIVE SERIAL LYING, INCOMPETENT & RACIST DONALD…
That's former NBA player and U.S. Senator Bill Bradley delivering perhaps the most trenchant dissection of Trump's methods that I've read yet. It deserves to by typed out:

"I think what's driving it is that people realize that athletes are citizens, too, and have their own opinions. And I look at this and I think Donald Trump is going to go wherever there's press. And a lot of people are interested in sports and sports is very intensely emotional. That's his bailiwick and he knows how to divide. So he uses sports to divide people.

That's something that, to me, is so antithetical to what sports is. Because if you win a championship you have to be a team. You're talking from a very early age about unselfishness, imagination, courage … all those values, right? Well those are disregarded when you use the sport to divide people, in my opinion.

I think players have a right to say what they believe. If you look at the NBA, one of the things that Adam Silver has done that I think is really exceptional is he has encouraged players to be involved politically.

To do something in their communities. To have opinions about national issues. To express them. Encourage them to use their well-knowness to further their view of what America should be."