Tag: Trump abuse of power

October Surprise Part II: How Ron Johnson Unwittingly Exposed Trump’s Ukraine Plot

The Ukraine Scheme

In April 2018, Trump hired Rudy Giuliani, as his personal attorney, who in turn hired two associates, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, Russian born businessmen living in Florida, where they had contrived a variety of sketchy schemes. (One of Parnas’ firms, Fraud Guarantee, which had no identifiable customers or office, paid Giuliani a $500,000 consulting fee.) At a dinner at the Trump Hotel on April 30, Parnas reportedly told Trump that the U.S. ambassador Marie Yovanovitch was “unfriendly to the president and his interests,” that her presence stood in the way of the Giuliani operation. Trump vehemently repliedthat she should be fired.

The effort to discredit and oust Yovanovitch was launched immediately. On May 9, Parnas and Fruman got Congressman Pete Sessions, a Republican of Texas, to write a letter to the State Department demanding her dismissal, claiming she had “spoken privately and repeatedly about her disdain for the current Administration,” in exchange for a promise to raise $20,000 in campaign contributions through a pro-Trump super PAC, America First Action. Sessions appeared as “Congressman-1” in the federal indictment of Parnas and Fruman. “Parnas and Fruman committed to raising those funds for Congressman-1. Parnas met with Congressman-1 and sought Congressman-1’s assistance in causing the US Government to remove or recall the then-US Ambassador to Ukraine,” the indictment stated. Continue reading “October Surprise Part II: How Ron Johnson Unwittingly Exposed Trump’s Ukraine Plot”

Kayleigh McEnany’s word games on the controversial scenes in Portland

Washington Post logoFederal law enforcement is currently clashing with demonstrators in Portland who say the officers have declined to identify either their agencies or themselves and have thrown the protesters in unmarked vans. But Kayleigh McEnany offered assurances that there is no “secretive” effort afoot. Oh, and she would also like to suggest that perhaps that Navy veteran who was beaten by police had it coming.

That was the gist of the White House press secretary’s Tuesday comments on the controversial and legally suspect scenes in Portland. The White House news briefing was the first since questions have been raised about the constitutionality and appropriateness of law enforcement failing to identify itself during a crackdown.

McEnany offered some very carefully worded and suggestive thoughts about the situation, and it’s worth breaking them down. Continue reading.

Trump’s acting Homeland Security secretary just made a damning admission on Fox News

AlterNet logoAppearing on Fox News Tuesday night, acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf — who has not been confirmed to his position by the Senate — made a damning admission about his department’s conduct in Portland.

Federal officials in Portland have prompted a fierce backlash for aggressive and legally dubious tactics against protesters in the city. Local officials have demanded that the federal officials, some of them using unmarked vehicles and wearing camouflage without identifying insignia, leave and let police handle law enforcement. But President Donald Trump and Wolf seem intent on using the Homeland Security forces to intimidate, rough up, and apprehend protesters to make the federal government appear tough.

And while he was speaking to Fox Host Martha MacCallum on Tuesday, Wolf seemed to confirm what many had accused his agency of doing: making unlawful arrests. Continue reading.

‘MomBloc’ and protest first-timers march into Portland streets, moved by the aggressive tactics of federal agents

Washington Post logoPORTLAND, Ore. — Kim Brolutti was on his knees, he said, when federal agents in Portland sprayed him in the face with chemicals at point-blank range.

It was the first demonstration in a long time for the retired 66-year-old nurse and father of two, who was compelled to join Portland activists who had called on parents from around the region to stand on the front lines after days of clashes with federal officials in the city.

As Brolutti’s eyes burned and his vision blurred, his adult children led him out of the crowd and away from an advancing line of federal police. He found a bench and sat. A volunteer street medic flushed out his eyes with water, and Brolutti’s head leaned back into his daughter’s open palms. Continue reading.

As Trump Pushes Into Portland, His Campaign Ads Turn Darker

New York Times logoThe Trump campaign is spending millions on ads that promote a dark and exaggerated portrayal of Democratic-led cities, a tactic that reinforces his “law and order’’ campaign message.

As President Trump deploys federal agents to Portland, Ore., and threatens to dispatch more to other cities, his re-election campaign is spending millions of dollars on several ominous television ads that promote fear and dovetail with his political message of “law and order.”

The influx of agents in Portland has led to scenes of confrontations and chaos that Mr. Trump and his White House aides have pointed to as they try to burnish a false narrative about Democratic elected officials allowing dangerous protesters to create widespread bedlam.

The Trump campaign is driving home that message with a new adthat tries to tie its dark portrayal of Democratic-led cities to Mr. Trump’s main rival, Joseph R. Biden Jr. — with exaggerated images intended to persuade viewers that lawless anarchy would prevail if Mr. Biden won the presidency. The ad simulates a break-in at the home of an older woman and ends with her being attacked while she waits on hold for a 911 call, as shadowy, dark intruders flicker in the background. Continue reading.

Facing unrest on American streets, Trump turns Homeland Security powers inward

Washington Post logoIn Portland, Washington and other U.S. cities shaken by protests in recent months, the Trump administration has leaned on the considerable authority and assets of the Department of Homeland Security — an agency formed to prevent another Sept. 11, 2001, attack — to spearhead the federal response.

Images of militarized Border Patrol agents clubbing protesters and stuffing them into unmarked vehicles have alarmed civil liberties advocates and administration critics, and the displays of government power echo tactics long associated with authoritarian rule.

Legal analysts say that while the department has broad authority to enforce federal laws, officers’ actions — especially in Portland, Ore. — seemed to be pushing the boundaries and pulling DHS into a domestic policing role. Continue reading.

Trump’s Request of an Ambassador: Get the British Open for Me

New York Times logoWoody Johnson, the N.F.L. owner, Trump donor and ambassador to Britain, was warned not to get involved in trying to move the tournament to a Trump resort in Scotland, but he raised the idea anyway — and he failed.

LONDON — The American ambassador to Britain, Robert Wood Johnson IV, told multiple colleagues in February 2018 that President Trump had asked him to see if the British government could help steer the world-famous and lucrative British Open golf tournament to the Trump Turnberry resort in Scotland, according to three people with knowledge of the episode.

The ambassador’s deputy, Lewis A. Lukens, advised him not to do it, warning that it would be an unethical use of the presidency for private gain, these people said. But Mr. Johnson apparently felt pressured to try. A few weeks later, he raised the idea of Turnberry playing host to the Open with the secretary of state for Scotland, David Mundell.

In a brief interview last week, Mr. Mundell said it was “inappropriate” for him to discuss his dealings with Mr. Johnson and referred to a British government statement that said Mr. Johnson “made no request of Mr. Mundell regarding the British Open or any other sporting event.” The statement did not address whether the ambassador had broached the issue of Turnberry, which Mr. Trump bought in 2014, but none of the next four Opens are scheduled to be played there. Continue reading.

Legal experts slam Trump’s ‘blatantly unconstitutional’ attempt to corrupt the census

AlterNet logoPresident Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a memorandum declaring undocumented immigrants are not to be counted when the number of U.S. Representatives for each state is allotted. That process, called “apportionment,” occurs every ten years after the official national census is conducted.

The U.S. Constitution mandates the census, which is being conducted this year, count “the whole number of persons in each state.” It makes no distinction as to their citizenship status.

What Trump is doing is claiming he has the authority to bypass the Constitution and declare undocumented immigrants are not “persons,” and therefore, literally, do not count. Continue reading.

Graham Backs Masked Federal Agents Sent By Trump To Arrest And Assault Protesters

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) praised Donald Trump for sending federal law enforcement agents in full tactical military gear into Portland, Oregon, saying Trump “is right to demand that law and order be restored in American cities.”

“These protests and riots are getting out of hand, jeopardizing public safety and economic recovery,” Graham tweeted Monday afternoon. “If federal law enforcement officials are necessary to do the job and President Trump chooses to go down this path, I completely support him.”

Federal agents, dressed in camouflage, have been firing off tear gas and even abducting peaceful protesters off the streets in unmarked vans — leading to an uproar about federal overreach. Continue reading.

The dubious deployment of armed enforcers within the U.S. is central to Trump’s politics

Washington Post logoThere are constant protests in New York City.

Meaning daily. It’s a city of millions, including a large number of activists and activist organizations. There are labor protests, antiwar protests, protests focused on foreign policy, protests aimed at arcane legal changes, demonstrations about housing laws, demonstrations leveraging whatever happens to be in the news. At times those protests are massive, a coalescing of activism around a common theme, as they were following the death of George Floyd earlier this year after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck. But even when the protests don’t involve tens of thousands of people, they exist as an undercurrent.

For several days, the protests in May and June over Floyd’s death spiraled into something else. As happened in other places in the same period, groups of looters and vandals used the protests as a jumping-off point for theft and property damage. That quickly faded. When the protests shifted to focus attention on tributes to leaders of the former Confederacy and those who had participated in the slave trade, New York — not exactly a hotbed of Confederate nostalgia — was not an epicenter. City leaders did agree to remove a statue of Theodore Roosevelt from outside a museum, but that was more because of the presentation of the statue itself than anger at Roosevelt specifically. Continue reading.