Tag: Trump wants to be a dictator

Jennifer Griffin defended by Fox News colleagues after Trump Twitter attack over confirmation of Atlantic reporting

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Jennifer Griffin caused an unexpected media firestorm Friday when she did something fairly routine for a reporter: A competitor had broken a story on her beat, so she set out to see whether she could match it.

In this case, it was the Atlantic’s blockbuster report that President Trump had made disparaging remarks about veterans. Griffin, a national security correspondent for Fox News, found individuals to validate key aspects of the story, sharing her reporting on Twitter and on anchor Bret Baier’s news show.

Other beat reporters had confirmed aspects of the Atlantic story, too. But the fact Griffin works for Fox, whose opinion hosts and corporate owners are seen as reliable supporters and defenders of the president, turned her revelations into a watershed development. It led to Trump’s call for her firing late Friday on Twitter — and an impassioned pushback from Fox News colleagues defending her journalistic honor. Continue reading.

Trump Brazenly Pushes Barr To Prosecute Obama And Other ‘Enemies’

President Donald Trump is telling Bill Barr he must prosecute the president’s critics, like former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in order for him to become “the greatest Attorney General” in history.

As usual, Trump telegraphed his wishes to Barr right out in the open, in a Fox News interview that aired Tuesday night.

“I say this openly: Bill Barr can go down as the greatest Attorney General in the history of our country, or he can go down as just another guy,” Trump told Fox host Laura Ingraham. “They have all the stuff, you don’t need anything else. You know they want everything. You don’t need anything else. They all lied to Congress, they were liars, they were cheaters. They were treasonous it was treason.” Continue reading.

Barr justifies Trump’s suggestion about sending feds to polling places

The attorney general straddled multiple lines in discussing things that could have an impact on the election.

Attorney General William Barr justified President Donald Trump’s suggestion of deploying federal agents to polling places, arguing the Justice Department has historically sent agents to enforce civil rights.

Speaking with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Wednesday, Barr said he hadn’t heard any requests from the White House to deploy federal agents to voting sites, but he wouldn’t rule out the possibility “if there was a specific investigative danger.” He added that federal agents had been sent in the past to “enforce civil rights” and “to make sure that people were not being harassed and there was no suppression of vote against African Americans” in the past.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 allowed the attorney general to send federal observers to ensure there was no voter suppression and also that eligible Black voters were being registered without hindrance. But those observers have a mission drastically different from the federal law enforcement Trump proposed sending to polling places. Continue reading.

The Trump Administration Wants To Pull Federal Funds From Major Cities Where There Are Anti-Racism Protests

The memo comes as Trump has politicized the national movement against systemic racism and police brutality.

The Trump administration plans to review federal funds provided to Seattle, Washington, DC, New York City, and Portland, cities where “outrageous acts of violence and destruction have continued unabated,” according to a memo signed by the president Wednesday.

Within two weeks, the White House will issue guidance to the heads of federal agencies to submit a report on the federal funds provided to the four cities.

In addition, Attorney General Bill Barr will publish a list “identifying State and local jurisdictions that have permitted violence and the destruction of property to persist and have refused to undertake reasonable measures to counteract these criminal activities (anarchist jurisdictions).” Continue reading.

Trump slammed for suggesting Barr must prosecute critics like Obama to become ‘greatest’

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President Donald Trump is telling Bill Barr he must prosecute the president’s critics, like former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in order for him to become “the greatest Attorney General” in history.

As usual, Trump telegraphed his wishes to Barr right out in the open, in a Fox News interview that aired Tuesday night.

“I say this openly: Bill Barr can go down as the greatest Attorney General in the history of our country, or he can go down as just another guy,” Trump told Fox host Laura Ingraham. “They have all the stuff, you don’t need anything else. You know they want everything. You don’t need anything else. They all lied to Congress, they were liars, they were cheaters. They were treasonous it was treason.” Continue reading.

Federal court blocks release of Trump taxes while case appealed

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A federal appeals court in New York on Tuesday temporarily halted a lower court ruling that would have sped up the disclosure of President Trump‘s tax returns to prosecutors in Manhattan.

The unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals allows Trump to continue shielding eight years of corporate and personal tax returns while he appeals the lower court decision.

The 2nd Circuit on Tuesday also scheduled a Sept. 25 hearing over Trump’s claim that the New York grand jury subpoena seeking his tax returns is overbroad and was issued in bad faith. A federal trial judge dismissed those assertions in a lengthy opinion last month. Continue reading.

‘Great Patriots!’: Trump lavishes praise on supporters amid deadly clashes with social justice protesters

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President Trump on Sunday amplified his call for federal forces to help subdue protests in American cities, denouncing local Democratic leaders and fanning partisan tensions a day after a deadly clash between his supporters and social justice protesters in Portland, Ore., underscored the threat of rising politically motivated violence.

Scenes of Trump faithful firing paint and pellet guns at protesters during a “Trump cruise rally” caravan through downtown Portland — a liberal bastion that has been the site of weeks of street demonstrations — raised the specter that the nation’s summer of unrest had entered a new phase in which the president’s backers are rallying to defend businesses and fight back against Black Lives Matter and other groups he has labeled “anarchists” and “terrorists.”

One man, thought to be a member of a pro-Trump group, was shot and killed Saturday night during the Portland unrest. Continue reading.

Senior intelligence officials will no longer brief Congress in person on foreign threats to the 2020 election

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Senior intelligence officials will no longer brief Congress in person on foreign interference in the 2020 election. Instead, they will inform lawmakers of threats in writing, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said Saturday.

The decision, made with Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe’s assent, arose out of concerns that briefings to lawmakers have resulted in leaks of classified information, an ODNI official said.

But the change threatens to undermine the community’s pledge to be transparent with Congress and the public at a time when three foreign adversaries, including Russia, are seeking to influence the American political process. Continue reading.

Trump aides interviewing replacement for embattled FTC chair

Joe Simons has come under White House pressure for resisting the president’s fight against alleged political bias in social media.

The White House is searching for a replacement for Federal Trade Commission Chair Joe Simons, a Republican who has publicly resisted President Donald Trump’s efforts to crack down on social media companies, four people with knowledge of the discussions said.

Simons, a veteran antitrust lawyer, hasn’t announced he’s leaving the agency. He is serving a term that doesn’t end until September 2024, and he cannot legally be removed by the president except in cases of gross negligence. But the White House has already interviewed at least one candidate for the post, the people said — a sign that the administration is preparing for an opening that could give Trump a chair more in line with his agenda.

John McEntee, who heads the White House personnel office, informally interviewed at least one candidate for the job, according to one individual. Two others confirmed that FTC veteran and Fox Corp. executive Gail Slater was among those interviewed. The people spoke anonymously to discuss internal White House deliberations. Continue reading.

The Hatch Act, the law Trump flouted at the RNC, explained

The Hatch Act is designed to protect the rule of law. Trump flouts it openly.

The United States prohibits most federal employees from engaging in certain political activity — especially if those employees are engaged in fundamentally nonpartisan activity such as diplomacy — in order to prevent abuse of power and corruption. On Tuesday night, however, the Trump administration flouted these limits by holding part of the Republican National Convention at the White House and broadcasting a partisan speech by the nation’s top diplomat.

The Hatch Act of 1939 imposes strict limits on most federal civilian workers who want to engage in political activity, and some Cabinet departments augment these statutory limits with additional policies intended to maintain a clear wall of separation between partisan politics and nonpartisan government functions.

These restrictions on government workers exist for two interlocking reasons. As the Supreme Court explained in United States Civil Service Commission v. National Association of Letter Carriers (1973), “it is in the best interest of the country, indeed essential, that federal service should depend upon meritorious performance rather than political service.” But if civil servants are free to engage in political activities, presidential appointees could reward loyal partisans and punish civil servants who favor the party that does not control the White House. Continue reading.