TwitterGate: What Did Trump Tweet And When Did He Tweet It?

Twitter Logo245px-Donald_Trump_by_Gage_SkidmoreBelow is my column in the Hill on the latest twitter controversy.  While Trump counsel John Dowd has insisted that he merely used “sloppy” drafting, news organizations are reporting that White House Counsel Don McGahn told Trump (before the firing of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn) that Flynn had misled FBI agents in his interview.  In yesterday’s press conference, Sarah Sanders refused to say when Trump first learned that Flynn had lied to the FBI.  That brings us back to Dowd and the breathtakingly dumb mistake in sending out a tweet to millions with an admission against interest under the President’s name.

Here is the column:

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Moore Spokesperson To CNN Anchor: Jones Support Killing Your Unborn Baby

 

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As spokesperson for Roy Moore, Janey Porter may have hit on a brilliant strategy to distract people from the bizarre statements of your candidates . . . make even more bizarre statements.  Porter was on CNN this week when she told pregnant anchor Poppy Harlow that Moore’s opponent Doug Jones basically wanted to kill her eight-month old unborn baby.  Now there’s a catchy campaign slogan: Vote Moore Or Jones Will Kill Your Baby.

She also shocked many by calling all of the women accusing Moore “criminals.”  That’s right, criminals for alleging sexual assault or molestation.

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Scranton Man Hides From Police In Ceiling Before Falling In Front Of Officer

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Roy Moore Denies Knowing Accuser Debbie Wesson Gibson . . . Gibson Then Produces Note From Moore

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Supreme Court Reinstates The Trump Travel Ban In Full Depending Appeal

 court_front_medYesterday, the Trump Administration secured two clear victories after the United States Supreme Court issued two orders lifting the lower court injunctions imposed on the travel ban.  I have written repeatedly on the travel ban (here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here) and my view that the case law supported the Trump Administration.  I thought that the appeal that reached the Supreme Court on the second round seemed likely to succeed while the third round was even stronger for the Administration.  The Administration had already secured an order with the Ninth Circuit reversing the trial courts in critical respects.  Now the Supreme Court restored the travel ban in its entirety pending appeal.  The orders issued shortly before appellate arguments on the merits this week is a further indication that the Administration is likely to prevail on the merits.  Indeed, while the orders do not dictate an outcome, they send a strong message to the lower courts on the skepticism of the Court.

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Mueller Moves To Block Manafort Release From Home Confinement Over Drafting Of An Opinion Piece

440px-Director_Robert_S._Mueller-_III-1Former Donald Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has reportedly scuttled his own deal to secure release from home confinement under a deal Manafort with prosecutors.  Prosecutors learned (from an unspecified source) that Manafort was working with a ghostwriter on an opinion piece on his case.  The second man reportedly had ties to Russian intelligence — hardly ideal for a man at the center of the Russian investigation. The work was deemed to be in violation of a court order for all parties to refrain from “trying the case in the press.” However, the order raises a long-standing question of the need and constitutionality of orders limiting the free speech of defendants and counsel.  While once the exception, gag orders have become the rule with many judges.  Yet, Manafort is presumed innocent and the order prevents him from responding to those questioning his loyalty and honesty.

 

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Florida Man Arrested For Drawing Violent Picture On Student’s Homework

a student’s homework assignment.  The interesting thing is that the police acknowledge that they do not believe that Edwards intended to take any violent action but they criminally charged him because the picture was “disturbing.”  Of course, his mugshot shows that he is relatively indiscriminate on where he puts random pictures.

 

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The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly Of The Flynn Plea

images-2Below is my column on the Flynn plea agreement and its potential significance to the Russian investigation.  One development is that President Donald Trump is now denying that he ever told Director James Comey to let Flynn go.  This follows a highly damaging tweet that a Trump lawyer now says was his sloppy mistake. It is another tweet gone awry for the Trump White House.

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“For People Of Color By People Of Color”: Evergreen State College Newspaper Bars Whites From Opinion Section

theevergreenstate640_c0-0-640-373_s885x516We recently discussed the controversy at Evergreen State College where Biology Professor, Bret Weinstein, was essentially forced off the faculty after objecting to a planned “Day of Absence” in which white people were asked to stay off campus.  Despite Weinstein being subject to abuse by students on campus for merely stating his view of the implications of the proposal, the faculty sided with the students and shunned the academic.  He and his wife, fellow biology professor Heather Heying, were eventually given a  $500,000 settlement.  The school preferred not to litigate the issue and pay the settlement rather than defend a point of obvious academic freedom and free speech on campus. Now the student newspaper is under fire for creating an opinion section where white students are excluded.  The Cooper Point Journal is funded by all students but its editors have not responded to calls about the segregation of its pages by race.

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Gloria Steinem: No Regrets For 1998 Column In Support Of Clinton . . . But Would Not Write The Column Today

Continue reading “Gloria Steinem: No Regrets For 1998 Column In Support Of Clinton . . . But Would Not Write The Column Today”

Miami Doctors Allow Man To Die Because Of “Do Not Resuscitate” Tattoo On Chest

nejmc1713344_f1-800x601Doctors at the Jackson Memorial Hospital faced a novel issue when a 70-year-old man was brought into the emergency room after being found intoxicated and unconscious on the street.  (The man lived at a nursing home and had a history of pulmonary disease).  The doctors were working to assist the man when someone noticed a large chest tattoo reading “DO NOT RESUSCITATE.”  It even had a tattoo signature.  After consulting an “ethics expert,” the hospital treated the tattoo as a viable DNR form and allowed the man to die. In my view, the expert was wrong on the law if his decision was based solely on the tattoo.

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ABC News Retracts Flynn Bombshell Story

download-6.jpgDuring the frenzy yesterday over the Flynn plea deal, ABC dropped a bombshell report that Michael Flynn told Special Counsel Bob Mueller that he was prepared to testify that it was Trump who told him to contact the Russians.  ABC News later not only retracted that statement but corrected it with information supporting Trump’s account and contacts with Russians.  With the story today of an FBI special agent removed from the Russian investigation due to anti-Trump tweets, the “clarification” by ABC plays into the narrative by Trump supporters that the Russian investigation is politically motivated.

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Proletarian Pot? Canadian Politician Warns The Marijuana Will Led To Communism

Marijuana Leaf130px-Mao_Zedong_portraitAlberta Conservative MLA Ron Orr appears to be planning the remake of Reefer Madness.   In the case of Orr, the use of marijuana however does not yield to jazz-fused madness but lock-step communism.  Orr is warning that legalizing marijuana could send Canada into the arms of the red army and fellow travelers.

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From Katz To Carpenter: The Supreme Court Hears Case That Could Gut Privacy In the United States

CellPhoneSupreme CourtBelow is my column in the Hill Newspaper on the case this week before the Supreme Court on cellphones and privacy.  As discussed below, the government’s argument in Carpenter v. United States represents one of the greatest threats to privacy in a generation.  One promising sign is that Justice Neil Gorsuch seemed to be siding with privacy in his questions during oral argument.

Here is the column:

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Moore: Sexual Allegations Are The Work Of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transgenders, and Socialists

Judge_Roy_MooreRepublican Senate candidate Roy Moore in Alabama has faced a large and broad spectrum of accusers over his alleged pursuit of girls aged 14-16 while a prosecutor in his 30s. The allegations have come from multiple women, including one who says that she was sexually assaulted at age 14.  There are also an array of neighbors, former colleagues, and security officers who have come forward to detail Moore’s reputation as a menace for young girls.  The women accusing Moore are Republican and Trump supporters.  They describe a similar and chilling pattern of a man who was reportedly on a watch list at the local mall as well as cheerleading events.  While denying the sexual assault, Moore avoided any substantive national interview.  Now, however, Moore appears to entered a delusional and deranged realm in blaming the allegations on a conspiracy of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender persons, and socialists.

 

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