Tag: cnn
At Justice Department, Trump Calls CNN And MSNBC 'Illegal'

At Justice Department, Trump Calls CNN And MSNBC 'Illegal'

President Donald Trump, just 54 days into his second term, declared himself “the chief law enforcement officer in our country” and labeled two major news organizations, CNN and MSNBC, as “illegal,” while further denouncing their coverage as “illegal.” His remarks Thursday afternoon were delivered to officials at the Department of Justice, in an appearance that shattered a decades-old norm designed to insulate the department from political interference—a safeguard established in response to President Richard Nixon’s abuses of power. Trump’s statements have drawn sharp criticism for their authoritarian tone and direct attack on press freedom, sparking alarm.

“I believe that CNN and MSNDC,” said Trump (video below), using his own derogatory twist on MSNBC’s name, “who literally write 97.6 percent bad about me, are political arms of the Democrat Party. And in my opinion, they’re really corrupt and they’re illegal. What they do is illegal.”

Trump also “rallied against the press,” in general, “claiming they are influencing judges and, without any evidence, claiming the media works in coordination with political campaigns, which is not allowed in the news industry,” The Hillreported.

It has been widely reported that during his first term in office, Fox News host Sean Hannity spoke with Trump “nearly every weeknight.”

“These networks and these newspapers are really no different than a highly paid political operative. And it has to stop, it has to be illegal, it’s influencing judges and it’s really, eh, changing law and it just cannot be legal. I don’t believe it’s legal and they do it in total coordination with each other,” the President alleged.

Trump’s remarks were just a part of a speech that lasted more than one hour, during which he “delivered an insult-laden speech that shattered the traditional notion of DOJ independence,” as Politicoreported. During those remarks, Trump also “labeled his courtroom opponents ‘scum,’ judges ‘corrupt’ and the prosecutors who investigated him ‘deranged.'”

“With the DOJ logo directly behind him, Trump called for his legal tormentors to be sent to prison.”

It is not the first time the President, who is a convicted felon, has declared MSNBC “illegal.”

Last month, when MSNBC host Joy Reid left the news network, Trump unleashed a torrent of hatred.

“Lowlife Chairman of ‘Concast,’ Brian Roberts, the owner of Ratings Challenged NBC and MSDNC, has finally gotten the nerve up to fire one of the least talented people in television, the mentally obnoxious racist, Joy Reid,” Trump wrote in a post on his social media platform. “Based on her ratings, which were virtually non-existent, she should have been ‘canned’ long ago, along with everyone else who works there. Also thrown out was Alex Wagner, the sub on the seriously failing Rachel Maddow show. Rachel rarely shows up because she knows there’s nobody watching, and she also knows that she’s got less television persona than virtually anyone on television except, perhaps, Joy Reid.”

Trump’s Friday afternoon assault on the media was swiftly criticized.

“This is what a dictator sounds like,” wrote U.S. Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-RI).

“Journalism is legal,” declared award-winning investigative journalist Lindsay Beyerstein. “Criticizing the president is legal. Being a Democrat is legal. Nothing Donald Trump is ranting about here is a crime and he’s disgracing himself and the Department of Justice by talking this way.”

Journalist Matt O’Brien observed, “Trump wants to get rid of freedom of speech because he wants to be a dictator. And unlike his first term, he now has a government full of fascists who are eager to make that a reality.”

Marlow Stern, adjunct assistant professor of journalism at Columbia Journalism School wrote: “sounds like putin.”

Pulitzer Prize-winning political columnist Kyle Whitmire wrote simply: “Enemy of the Constitution.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

Busted! Trump Official Posted Fashion Videos While Defending Federal Layoffs

Busted! Trump Official Posted Fashion Videos While Defending Federal Layoffs

The communications director for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) was recently caught doubling as a fashion influencer on social media — while using her government office as a backdrop in an apparent violation of federal rules.

That's according to a Tuesday article in CNN, which reported that McLaurine Pinover posted videos of herself modeling clothing to her Instagram account from her OPM office. Some of those videos included affiliate links to sites where the clothing she was wearing was being sold. Pinover was eligible to be paid commission based on site visitors who bought those clothing items after clicking the links from Pinover's videos.

CNN further reported that Pinover was working as an influencer while simultaneously "defending mass layoffs of federal workers" as an employee of OPM's communications office. The network's Audrey Ash, Curt Devine and Casey Tolan observed that Pinover "posted a video blowing a kiss to the camera with the caption 'work look' and the hashtag #dcinfluencer" on the same day her employer "sent a government-wide memo pressing federal officials to identify barriers they faced in their work to 'swiftly terminate poor performing employees.'"

On February 13 — the same day OPM held a call with multiple federal agencies instructing them to fire thousands of probationary employees — Pinover posted another fashion-related video to her Instagram account. Several former OPM staffers said that was also the same day that roughly 20 of Pinover's coworkers in the agency's communications office were laid off.

"While her team is getting axed, she’s twirling around in her office," a former OPM employee told CNN.

The Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (ECFR) has explicit rules for federal employees mandating that only official work be performed during official work hours, especially while using agency office space. ECFR § 2635.705 instructs employees to "use official time in an honest effort to perform official duties."

"Employees not under a leave system, including Presidential appointees exempted under 5 U.S.C. 6301(2), have an obligation to expend an honest effort and a reasonable proportion of their time in the performance of official duties," ECFR guidelines read.

CNN reported that many of Pinover's videos were posted during the daytime, and during work hours. However, Pinover's Instagram handle, @getdressedwithmc, was apparently deleted several minutes after the network contacted her.

Pinover added content to her Instagram account regularly, where she had approximately 800 followers, and her most recent video was posted Tuesday. One former OPM communications staffer recognized the background as the office of the agency's communications director, who said: “I saw it, and I was like, ‘Are you kidding me, that’s my office.'"

“She’s the spokesperson for the agency that is advocating for the firing based on performance and efficiency of the rest of the government workforce, and she’s using government property as a backdrop for her videos," the staffer said.

South African centibillionaire Elon Musk, who unofficially leads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has asserted on multiple occasions that federal agencies are rife with unproductive employees. In January, he posted to his X social media platform: "Pretending to work while taking money from taxpayers is no longer acceptable."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

As Markets Plunge, CNN Supercut Shows Trump Warning Of Crash (Unless He Won)

As Markets Plunge, CNN Supercut Shows Trump Warning Of Crash (Unless He Won)

President Donald Trump notably stayed away from cameras on Monday, as Wall Street experienced its worst day in years as investors react to a climate of economic uncertainty.

On Monday evening, CNN host Anderson Cooper reminded viewers that despite normally being willing to take questions from reporters in the Oval Office, Trump was "nowhere to be seen" following a "massive stock sell off that began the moment the bell rang." Cooper noted that the Dow Jones Industrial Average was "down almost 900 points," while the Nasdaq Composite "took the worst beating" of the day, down by four percent after the conclusion of trading on Monday. He also remarked that today marked the biggest single-day decline since September of 2022.

"More than an hour after markets closed, the White House did finally put out a statement touting the president's economic agenda and first term record on the economy. It didn't mention the massive drops today, nor what sparked it," Cooper said. "The culprit wasn't a poorly received report of jobs, GDP or consumer spending. as is often the case. It was what the president himself said."

Cooper then aired an excerpt of an interview the president gave to Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo, in which he waffled when she asked him if he was "expecting a recession this year."

"I hate to predict things like that. There is a period of transition because what we're doing is very big. we're bringing wealth back to America. That's a big thing," Trump said. "And there are always periods of, it takes a little time."

Cooper then noted that Trump was similarly cagey with reporters on Air Force One when they asked for clarity on what he told Bartiromo, with one reporter pointing out that he "hesitated" at the recession question.

"I tell you what, of course you hesitate. Who knows?" Trump responded. "All I know is this: We're going to take in hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs."

Cooper contrasted Trump's tone with that of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who proclaimed in a recent interview that there was "no chance" of a recession. He observed that Trump has "no such confidence," which he said was "notable" given his recent bullish attitude after the February jobs report showed the U.S. economy adding more than 100,000 new jobs.

"Perhaps it's not surprising he didn't want to be on camera today as the markets crashed. After all, he has often tied a president's performance as a leader to the stock market," Cooper said. "During a brief dip in the markets in late October and early November, Trump blamed it on Democrats."

According to Cooper, "one line [Trump] used repeatedly throughout much of 2024" was that a Democratic victory would result in a poor economy.

"If Harris wins this election, you will quickly have a Kamala Harris economic crash," Trump said. "You're going to have a crash."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Matt Gaetz

Gaetz Ethics Report To Be Released -- So Mattie-Poo Threw A Tantrum

Just in time for Christmas…or maybe New Years…there will be an extra-special present under the tree for followers of the many, many, many sex scandals of our favorite Florida ex-Congressman, Matt Gaetz. CNN reported today that the House Ethics Committee voted earlier this month to release the ethics report on Senor Sexcapade.

The report is supposed to be made public after the House casts its final vote before Christmas, which may come later this week…if Speaker Johnson can get off his knees from praying that Donald Trump will leave him the fuck alone and let him get a Continuing Resolution passed, a deal that has been in the works for weeks and was scheduled to be voted on by Friday.

But noooooooo. The newly-hatched Terrible Awful Disgusting Out-of-Control Duo of Donald Trump and Elon Musk today decided that the Johnson bill should be killed and were crowing on social media by this evening that the compromise negotiated between Republicans and Democrats to extend funding for the government until March was dead. Trump also threw in a demand that the debt ceiling be raised in early January so it would happen on “Joe Biden’s watch” according to reports late today.

In the middle of all this, with a government shutdown looming and two days to pass something new to avert the United States government being closed over the Christmas holidays, came the news that the gooey details on Matt Gaetz uncovered by the Ethics Committee will be made public. Gaetz resigned from Congress in mid-November in a bid to keep the House ethics report from being released and muddy up the already churning waters of his impending Senate confirmation to be the next Attorney General.

Gaetz withdrew his nomination when whispers about what might be revealed in the ethics report began spreading through Capitol Hill. This left Gaetz totally dangling, without his seat in the House that might have given him more power to influence the Republican members of the ethics committee.

So, what did Matt do yesterday? Why, he took to X to whine about how unfair it all is, that’s what he did. “I was charged with nothing: FULLY EXONERATED. Not even a campaign finance violation. And the people investigating me hated me.”

“The very ‘witnesses’ DOJ deemed not-credible were assembled by House Ethics to repeat their claims absent any cross-examination or challenge from me or my attorneys. I’ve had no chance to ever confront any accusers. I’ve never been charged. I’ve never been sued. Instead, House Ethics will reportedly post a report online that I have no opportunity to debate or rebut as a former member of the body.”

That would be the “DOJ” Gaetz had been tapped to head up as Attorney General, at least until he wasn’t.

But Gaetz had an explanation, or a plea, or an excuse, or a something anyway, that he apparently thought will soften the blow when the report comes out. It seems that a more youthful version of the same twisted sicko he is today did some bad things he now wishes he hadn’t done.

“In my single days, I often sent funds to women I dated - even some I never dated but who asked.”

Did he ever. The Washington Post reported in late November that the House Ethics Committee had seen Venmo records showing that Gaetz had paid “more than $10,000 to two women who testified before the committee.” That would be the “witnesses” Gaetz found it necessary to put in quotes in his X post today. “Some payments were for sex, the witnesses testified to the committee,” the Post reported.

But let’s listen to the whining still emanating from Gaetz’ post on X:

“I dated several of these women for years. I NEVER had sexual contact with someone under 18. Any claim that I have would be destroyed in court -- which is why no such claim was ever made in court.”

Gaetz had plenty of opportunities to take the claims against him to court – with a lawsuit for defamation – but for some reason known only to Mattie-poo, he didn’t. Gee, I wonder why? Here’s Gaetz with his big wrap up, as of this morning:

“My 30’s were an era of working very hard – and playing hard too. It’s embarrassing, though not criminal, that I probably partied, womanized, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life. I live a different life now.”

Got that? Probably? Gaetz was walking around the floor of the House showing porno party-pics and bragging about his sexual conquests, apparently right up until he tied the knot.

A 2021 report on Wonkette gives you an idea of the probably playing hard that was going on, even in Gaetz’s office on Capitol Hill:

“A Hill source sent The Daily Beast a photo of a trash bin outside Gaetz’s office as lawmakers cleared out their offices at the end of a recent session. At the top of the heap was an empty Costco-size box of "Bareskin" Trojan condoms.”

Late this afternoon, Newsweek reported that Gaetz is “threatening to ‘expose’ the supposed ‘me too’ settlements of his former colleagues after the House Ethics Committee voted to release a report on its investigation of sexual misconduct accusations.”

At least one person is coming to his aid: Marjorie Taylor Greene. She released this statement late today: “If Congress is going to release one ethics report, they should release them all. I want to see the Epstein list. I want to see the details of the slush fund for sexual misconduct by members of Congress and Senators. I want to see it all.”

I don’t know for sure, so I’m going to just take a wild guess here, but I rather doubt there are many in the Republican Caucus in the House who “want to see it all.”

It’s the “all” about Gaetz himself that promises to be a thrill-ride if and when the ethics report finally sees the light of day. The House committee apparently took testimony from one witness who saw Gaetz having sex with a 17-year-old girl against the side of a pool table at a party. The committee heard more testimony that Gaetz was partial to drugs such as cocaine and ecstasy and used them with women whom he was paying for sex.

But not to worry: Gaetz assures us he was just “dating” the women to whom he “sent funds.”

Let us not forget that this man who has been credibly accused of having sex with an underage girl, paying for sex with women he flew to the Bahamas, and using drugs with prostitutes was nominated by Donald Trump to be the chief law enforcement officer in the land.

I guess the way things are going, we’ll have plenty of time to read the Ethics Committee report when the government is shut down over Christmas on the orders of Donald Trump and Elon Musk, because, you know, two civilians can just shut down the government anytime they want with the Republican Party in control of the House.

Oh, boy, are we in for a treat when Trump moves into the White House and Republicans are in control of both houses of Congress and Elon Musk is floating around Washington D.C. in a cloud of Ketamine helping decide what kind of a country we’re going to have.

Reprinted with permission from Lucian Truscott Newsletter.

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