Category: Media

Trump Resumes Tweets With Personal Attacks Despite Bipartisan Criticism

donald_trump_president-elect_portrait_croppedYesterday, Republicans lined up to denounce the insulting tweets posted by President Donald Trump as degrading for the Office of the President and damaging to the GOP agenda.  However, this morning Trump was again on Twitter calling Joe Scarborough “Crazy” and Mika Brzezinski “dumb as a rock.”  He also unleashed attacks on CNN and the media.  GOP leaders and 71 percent of the public have said that these tweets are harming his presidency, but Trump continues unabated.  The fact that the President would resume name-calling after his own party leaders begged him to stop is a matter a considerable concern among Republicans.

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Martian Slave Babies! Alex Jones Airs Theory On Kidnapped Children Raised On Mars

flight-to-mars-movie-poster-1951-1010458980Alex Jones has been repeatedly accused of running false stories on his InfoWars program.  However, this week one guest caused jaws to drop and prompted a NASA spokesman to deny that it has kidnapped children and worked them as slaves on a Mars colony.  Of course, that is exactly what National Aeronautics and Slaves Administration (NASA) would say if it was kidnapping children and working them slaves on a Mars colony.

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Did Trump Officials Try To Coerce The Morning Joe Hosts With A National Enquirer Threat? [UPDATED]

UnknownIn the aftermath of the vicious tweets against MSNBC hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, there was an intriguing allegation that three top Trump Administration officials called Joe Scarborough and threatened that, if he did not call Trump to apologize for his negative comments, the National Enquirer would run a hit piece on the hosts.  The allegation is deeply troubling and, while it would not necessarily constitute a crime, it would raise a serious question of abuse of office in the use of staff to convey such an alleged threat.  With all of the understandable passion following the tweets. this is a very significant allegation and one that was not previously disclosed. It has not appeared in both print and on air by the hosts, who are obviously sticking by this chilling account of what they say was a campaign to intimidate them.  The White House has denied the allegations and said that Scarborough has misrepresented his call to the White House.

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Sacked: Justice Department Drops Fight To Strip Redskins of Trademark Protections

350px-Washington_Redskins_logo.svgWithout fanfare, the Justice Department dropped the long fight over stripping the trademark protections from the Washington Redskins football team as an offensive term.  I have long been a critic of the action taken by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and said at the time that the action was flagrantly unconstitutional.  Now millions have been spent but the case is withdrawn in light of the recent decision in Matal v. Tam.

 

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Members of Congress Demand Ginsburg Recuse Herself From Immigration Appeal In Light Of Past Trump Comments

225px-ruth_bader_ginsburg_scotus_photo_portraitA letter from fifty-eight Republican lawmakers calls upon Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to recuse herself in the travel ban case scheduled to be argued in October.  While there is a fair chance that the case could be moot by October as I previously discussed, a recusal is highly unlikely despite that fact that Ginsburg’s comments were highly inappropriate and troubling.  I have been a long critic of Ginsburg’s public speeches and comments as raising serious ethical issues and undermining the integrity of the Court. However, the Court has long declared itself outside of the enforcement of the Code of Judicial Ethics.  The result is a dreadful record of self-regulation and Ginsburg is only the latest disturbing example.  Ironically, while the media has rightfully raised inappropriate public comments about Trump, it has shown little interest in the inappropriate comments of Ginsburg.

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Blogger Sentenced To Ten Years In Jail In Vietnam

Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, 37, is a leading Vietnamese blogger known as “Mother Mushroom” has been writing for years to expose the torture and oppression of the one-party state.  This week Vietnam showed the world that, despite its portrayal as one of the world’s emerging economies, it remains an authoritarian warmed-over Communist regime.  It convicted Quynh and sentenced her to 10 years in jail.  For telling people the truth about their government.

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Trump Unleashes Personal Attack On The Hosts Of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”

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CNN Under Fire Over Statements By Producer Calling Collusion Coverage “Bulls**t” and Retraction of Russian Investigation Story [UPDATED]

I recently ran a column on my concern over the coverage of the Russian investigation and underling legal issues.  While I supported the appointment of the Special Counsel and the investigation into possible obstruction of justice after the firing of James Comey, I have objected to what I see as biased and at times unhinged legal coverage of the underlying allegations.  There has obviously been such bias on both sides as people turn to news sources that offer an echo chamber for their political views.  This week, however, CNN has been under close scrutiny after it retracted a major story on the Russian investigation and three of its top journalists were let go, including respected Pulitzer prize winner Eric Lichtblau.    If that were not bad enough, a conservative filmmaker posted a videotape of CNN Producer John Bonifield talking freely about how the collusion story is nothing by “bulls**t” and how CNN was pushing the story purely for the “ratings.” [UPDATE: O’Keefe has released a new video of CNN host Van Jones saying that the Russian story is a “nothing burger.”]

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The Immigration Order and the Regaining Objectivity In the Media and the Courts

Supreme CourtBelow is my column in the Hill Newspaper on the Supreme Court order lifting the stay over the Trump immigration order.  With the exception of those with bona fide relationships, the Trump Administration has the authority to enforce its travel limitations.  As discussed earlier, the order could prove not the next but final chapter of the immigration controversy given the 90 day period set under the Trump order.  However, a more immediate issue of concern should be the prior coverage and court decisions leading up to the unanimous order of the Supreme Court.

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Where The Wild Things Are: Ivanka Trump Loses Bid To Quash Deposition Over Her Alleged Theft Of Shoe Designs

Ivanka Trump is facing a difficult lawsuit over alleged theft of the designs of an Italian shoemaker, Aquazurra Italia, as part of their “Wild Things” line. The company filed a trademark infringement claim against her and her company in June 2016 and a court recently rejected motions filed on Trump’s behalf.  Those motions included a claim that Ivanka Trump’s duties as a high-ranking government official made her participation in the litigation too difficult. The claim was rejected.  Part of the court’s rationale for rejected her arguments are distinctly reminiscent of the litigation over her father’s immigration order.

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Yale Sacks Dean Over “Classist” and “Insensitive” Yelp Reviews

yelp200px-Yale_University_Shield_1.svgWe recently discussed the controversy surrounding postings by June Chu, dean of the school’s Pierson College, on Yelp.  She was called classist for such comments as “This establishment is definitely not authentic by any stretch of any imagination and perfect for those low class folks who believe this is a real night out.” Chu has now been fired by the university in a move that makes many academics feel uncomfortable over the monitoring of their statements outside of school in social media.

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Do Rosenstein and Mueller Have Conflicts of Interest in the Trump Investigation?

Rod_Rosenstein_US_Attorney440px-Director_Robert_S._Mueller-_III-1For many weeks, I questioned the need for a Special Counsel in the Russian investigation because it seems like a coverup in search of a crime.   I still do not see the evidence of a crime and simply saying “collusion” does not supply an actual crime.  However, when President Donald Trump fired James Comey, I supported the appointment of a Special Counsel to investigate obstruction of justice, even though I remained skeptical of the basis for an actual obstruction charge. I still fail to see the compelling basis for an obstruction case without stretching the criminal code to the breaking point.  Nevertheless, I continue to support the need for an independent investigation.

The investigation of a sitting American president however must itself be beyond question as to any bias or influence.  For that reason, I have been questioning the propriety of Rod Rosenstein to continue in his current position vis-a-vis the Russian investigation.  From the outset, Rosenstein seemed to me to be an inevitable and important witness.  Ironically, the recent leak magnified this problem.  The leak seemed calculated to protect Mueller from being terminated by publicly identifying Trump as a possible target. However, whatever benefit the leak brought Mueller, it undermined Rosenstein.  If Mueller is investigation Trump for obstruction, Rosenstein should immediately recuse himself.

It is not clear if Mueller has an equal conflict of interest. There is reason to be concerned.  If Mueller discussed the Comey’s termination with Trump as a candidate for the next FBI Director, he might also be considered a witness in any obstruction investigation. It would seem highly material to the investigation to learn of how Trump described his decision and what he said (if anything) to Mueller about the ongoing Russian investigation.  At a minimum, the Special Counsel should address what is a reasonable question about his own knowledge of (and participation in) any meetings with Trump on the Comey termination and the Russian investigation.  I do not agree with the campaign to discredit Mueller and strongly object to attacks on his character.  I believe Mueller to be a person of integrity and I hope that he recognizes that such a meeting raises some legitimate questions that should be addressed.

Here is the column:

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Report: NSA Deputy Wrote Memo Detailing Trump’s Effort To Get Agency To Exonerate His Campaign In Russia Investigation

Admiral_Michael_S._Rogers,_USNdonald_trump_president-elect_portrait_croppedAnother day, another leak.  The Wall Street Journal is reporting that it has seen a memo written by Rick Ledgett, the former deputy director of the NSA, detailing a phone call in which U.S. President Donald Trump NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers to state publicly that there is no evidence of collusion between his campaign and Russia.  It is the latest high-level official reporting a concerted effort by Trump to dispel allegations of collusion.  While the Special Counsel is reportedly seeking to interview Ledgett, I still remain skeptical of the current facts being used as the basis for an obstruction case.  As I previously discussed, Robert Mueller has hired at least one senior lawyer known for his unsuccessful effort to expand the scope of obstruction.  However, this memo does not necessarily change the narrative on both sides of the controversy.  There remains an obvious defense to a conventional obstruction claim – assuming the definition of the crime is not stretched beyond recognition to change the meaning of “corruptly influence.”

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New Lawsuits Could Determine Not Only The Legal Status Of The Comey Memos But The Legality of Comey’s Actions

200px-Cnn.svg440px-Comey-FBI-PortraitLast week, CNN filed a lawsuit seeking the famous Comey memos from the FBI, which is discussed in the column below in The Hill newspaper.  The lawsuit could produce an official characterization of the status of the memos as either personal or FBI information.  After this column was posted, Judicial Watch also filed a lawsuit seeking the memos which it maintained were the property of the FBI.  The lawsuit states “Upon learning that records have been unlawfully removed from the FBI, you then are required to initiate action through the Attorney General for the recovery of records.”  These lawsuits could prove vindicating or implicating for Comey. [Update: other news organizations have added additional lawsuits]

Here is the column:

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The Fault Is Not In The Stars: Protester Stops Controversial Julius Caesar Performance in Central Park

ht_protest_dc_061717_12x5_1600Laura Loomer from the conservative website The Rebel ran on to the stage on Friday of the controversial production of Julius Caesar in Central Park. The show has been criticized for its characters modeled on President Donald Trump and others.  Trump, as Caesar, is killed in the show to the delight of the crowd.  Many find the show to be distasteful and hateful.  However, for those of us who have actively criticized liberals who shutdown conservative speakers on campuses and other public events, this is an equally objectionable effort to stop free speech. Indeed, it seeks to prevent both artistic and political expression.

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