Tag: Trump weakening the U.S. Constitution

Trump won’t commit to peaceful transfer of power if he loses

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday again declined to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the Nov. 3 presidential election.

“We’re going to have to see what happens,” Trump said at a news conference, responding to a question about whether he’d commit to a peaceful transfer of power. “You know that I’ve been complaining very strongly about the ballots, and the ballots are a disaster.”

It is highly unusual that a sitting president would express less than complete confidence in the American democracy’s electoral process. But he also declined four years ago to commit to honoring the election results if his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, won. Continue reading.

Trump Deprives Congress Of Intelligence On Russian Election Interference

The squatter in the Oval Office, and all of the people intent on keeping him there, are at this point not even bothering to conceal that they will do literally anything to make that happen. That includes going back to the well of foreign interference — and hog-tying Congress to keep the American public in the dark about it. 

This chapter of the story starts in February, a lifetime ago when coronavirus was lurking in our side vision. Trump purged everyone in intelligence services working to hold Russia at bay by keeping Congress and the public informed on election interference. Trump’s Office of the Director of National Intelligence has closed that circle now, CNN has learned, by announcing that it will not be holding in-person briefings with the House and Senate intelligence committees, but will instead provide information in writing.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff responded following the ODNI’s announcement: “This is a shocking abdication of its lawful responsibility to keep the Congress currently informed, and a betrayal of the public’s right to know how foreign powers are trying to subvert our democracy. This intelligence belongs to the American people, not the agencies which are its custodian. And the American people have both the right and the need to know that another nation, Russia, is trying to help decide who their president should be.” In-person briefing are critical to lawmakers’ ability to ask questions, investigate, challenge assumptions, and be fully apprised of what’s happening. Continue reading.

Barr asked Rupert Murdoch to ‘muzzle’ Fox News commentator Napolitano, book claims

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Attorney General William Barr allegedly told Rupert Murdoch to “muzzle” Fox News senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano during a meeting last year, according to a forthcoming book written by CNN media reporter Brian Stelter. 

The book, titled, “Hoax: Donald Trump, Fox News and the Dangerous Distortion of Truth,” is set to be released Tuesday. It claims that Barr made the request to Murdoch during a meeting at the media mogul’s New York home in October 2019, the Guardian reported.

Stelter, citing an unnamed source in his forthcoming book, claims that the president was “was so incensed by the judge’s TV broadcasts that he had implored Barr to send Rupert a message in person … about ‘muzzling the judge’. [Trump] wanted the nation’s top law enforcement official to convey just how atrocious Napolitano’s legal analysis had been.” Continue reading.

Another Trip To Bedminster Means More Taxpayer And Donor Money In Trump’s Pocket

The president is back at his New Jersey golf resort, bringing his taxpayer-paid golf tab to $142 million.

WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump returned to his New Jersey golf course Friday to host a campaign event, meaning yet more donor and tax dollars flowing into his own cash registers.

New York City’s police union is set to endorse Trump’s reelection at his Bedminster resort Friday evening, allowing it to charge Trump’s campaign for the rental of the meeting space and catering. Taxpayers, meanwhile, must pay for rooms and food for Secret Service agents and other staff during his stay.

Neither the Trump campaign nor the Trump Organization, his family business that runs his hotels and golf resorts, responded to HuffPost queries about how much the campaign would be charged for Friday’s event. Continue reading.

Trump opposes election aid for states and Postal Service bailout, threatening Nov. 3 vote

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President Trump on Thursday said he opposes both election aid for states and an emergency bailout for the U.S. Postal Service because he wants to restrict how many Americans can vote by mail, putting at risk the nation’s ability to administer the Nov. 3 elections.

Trump has been attacking mail balloting and the integrity of the vote for months, but his latest broadside makes explicit his intent to stand in the way of urgently needed money to help state and local officials administer elections during the coronavirus pandemic. With nearly 180 million Americans eligible to vote by mail, the president’s actions could usher in widespread delays, long lines and voter disenfranchisement this fall, voting rights advocates said.

Trump said his purpose is to prevent Democrats from expanding mail-balloting, which he has repeatedly claimed, without evidence, would invite widespread fraud. The president has also previously admitted that he believes mail voting would allow more Democrats to cast ballots and hurt Republican candidates, including himself. Continue reading.

Trump opposes election aid for states and Postal Service bailout, threatening Nov. 3 vote

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President Trump on Thursday said he opposes both election aid for states and an emergency bailout for the U.S. Postal Service because he wants to restrict how many Americans can vote by mail, putting at risk the nation’s ability to administer the Nov. 3 elections.

Trump has been attacking mail balloting and the integrity of the vote for months, but his latest broadside makes explicit his intent to stand in the way of urgently needed money to help state and local officials administer elections during the coronavirus pandemic. With nearly 180 million Americans eligible to vote by mail, the president’s actions could usher in widespread delays, long lines and voter disenfranchisement this fall, voting rights advocates said.

Trump said his purpose is to prevent Democrats from expanding mail-balloting, which he has repeatedly claimed, without evidence, would invite widespread fraud. The president has also previously admitted that he believes mail voting would allow more Democrats to cast ballots and hurt Republican candidates, including himself. Continue reading.

A Rare Look Inside Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Draws Legal Threats

New York Times logoA new documentary peers inside the secretive world of immigration enforcement. The filmmakers faced demands to delete scenes and delay broadcast until after the election.

In early 2017, as Immigration and Customs Enforcement prepared to carry out the hard-line agenda on which President Trump had campaigned, agency leaders jumped at the chance to let two filmmakers give a behind-the-scenes look at the process.

But as the documentary neared completion in recent months, the administration fought mightily to keep it from being released until after the 2020 election. After granting rare access to parts of the country’s powerful immigration enforcement machinery that are usually invisible to the public, administration officials threatened legal action and sought to block parts of it from seeing the light of day.

Some of the contentious scenes include ICE officers lying to immigrants to gain access to their homes and mocking them after taking them into custody. One shows an officer illegally picking the lock to an apartment building during a raid. Continue reading.