https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/tru...kushpmg00000009


Trump Booed At Davos For Criticizing ‘Fake’ Media

The president dismissed reports that he ordered the firing of Special Counsel Robert Mueller as “fake news.”

By Golly. Trump was right. There was voter fraud.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/steve-curtis-former-colorado-gop-chairman-sentenced-for-voter-fraud/?ftag=COS-05-10aaa0g&utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+New+Content+(Feed)&utm_content=5a6d407304d30165a2c1aa36&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter

GREELEY, Colo. -- The former chairman of the Colorado Republican Party was sentenced to four years of probation and 300 hours of community service for voter fraud. Steve Curtis blamed a "major diabetic episode" for causing him to vote his ex-wife's absentee ballot in October 2016.

Curtis, 57, told District Judge Julie Hoskins Friday it was "a customary thing" for him to fill out his wife's ballot and he didn't know it was illegal, but he said he didn't remember doing it.

In October of 2016, Kelly Curtis called the Weld County Clerk and Recorder's Office to obtain her mail-in ballot. She was told she had already voted, CBS Denver reports.

The Weld County District Attorney's Office investigated and, using DNA evidence and handwriting analysis, alleged that Steve Curtis forged his wife's name on her ballot and mailed it to the clerk's office.

"He knew exactly what he was doing," said Deputy District Attorney Tate Costin during the trial's closing arguments. "He received it in the mail, opened it, voted, signed it, sealed it back up and sent it in. If he were going to sign a name during this confused diabetic state, wouldn't he sign his own name? Why her name? She hadn't even lived in the house for 11 months."

During the sentencing hearing Friday morning, Curtis shared a lengthy history of mental and physical ailments, and continued to claim he still doesn't remember signing his ex-wife's ballot.

"It was a normal and customary thing in my house with my prior wife and with Kelly (Curtis), to fill out their ballots. … I didn't know that was illegal," Curtis said Friday to Weld District Court Judge Julie Hoskins, according to the Greeley Tribune. "But at no time did I plan this, and I still don't remember doing it."

"He committed a selfish and arrogant crime," Coston said during Friday's sentencing. "This was not a product of a diabetic blackout. He did this out of spite and thought he'd get away with this. He not only took away his ex-wife's right to vote in the 2016 election, but this affected the nation. His one fraudulent vote created an insecurity in our system and created discomfort throughout the country. He is educated, successful and intelligent, yet he has never once taken responsibility for what he did and has blamed everything and everyone, including the sytem. Bottom line, he has absolutely no respect for the the law."

Coston asked the judge for a sentence including jail time with probation. Judge Hoskins instead decided on a penalty of four years probation and 300 hours of community service.

Steve Curtis, said District Attorney Michael Rourke following the December verdict, "saw an opportunity to vote twice in one of the most important presidential elections in recent history and intentionally defrauded our system. No matter the political party you belong to, we must always stand up to those who strip away the rights of others."

Steve Curtis served as the chairman of the Colorado Republican Party from 1997-99, and worked as recently as August 2017 as a talk show host on the radio station KLZ-AM 560 in Denver. The station's website no longer reflects Curtis's employment.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politic...-re-not-n841526

Millennials think things in the country are off on the wrong track but at the same time, they're optimistic about their own futures, according to a new NBC News/GenForward survey.

Nearly two-thirds of millennials (63 percent) think things in this country are off on the wrong track. Only 18 percent think the country is generally headed in the right direction, and another 18 percent aren't sure.

Sixty-three percent of millennials also disapprove of the way President Donald Trump is handling his job, with nearly half (46 percent) saying they strongly disapprove. Only 2 in 10 (19 percent) approve of Trump.

Even among those millennials who said they voted for Trump in the 2016 presidential election, 22 percent disapprove of him now.

It’d be great if Trump were right about the economy, but he’s not


01/29/18 10:40 AM—UPDATED 01/29/18 10:49 AM
By Steve Benen


Donald Trump boasted over the weekend, “Our economy is better than it has been in many decades.” I wish that were true. It’s not.

But the president is nevertheless convinced that everyone will be convinced of his awesomeness if only he can (a) persuade the nation that we’re in the midst of an economic boom; and (b) demand credit. To that end, Trump is painting a portrait that doesn’t reflect reality.

Take, for example, the president’s remarks on Friday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

“After years of stagnation, the United States is once again experiencing strong economic growth…. Since my election, we’ve created 2.4 million jobs, and that number is going up very, very substantially. “

Neither of these claims is accurate. Economic growth in 2017 – Trump’s first year in office – wasn’t bad at 2.3%, but GDP growth was better in 2010, 2014, and 2015. What’s more, while the president apparently hopes everyone has forgotten his campaign vows, GDP growth wasn’t just slower than it was across much of Barack Obama’s second term, it’s also short of Trump’s misguided promises.

As for job numbers, while I enjoyed the “since my election” feint – Trump wants credit for the jobs created in the months before he took office – the simple reality is that job growth fell to a six-year low in 2017. To date, the White House hasn’t even tried to explain this development.

At Davos, the president also pointed to the stock market and stock prices six times, failing to note that Wall Street growth was actually more robust under Obama.


In the same speech, Trump added, “The world’s largest company, Apple, announced plans to bring $245 billion in overseas profits home to America. Their total investment into the United States economy will be more than $350 billion over the next five years.”

No, actually, it won’t. As Vox explained, “What Apple actually promised was to make $30 billion in domestic capital investments, most of which will be data centers, offices, and Apple Store real estate upgrades rather than actual manufacturing facilities. The $350 billion measure is a rough five-year estimate of Apple’s total ‘contribution’ to the American economy. If you’re playing Infinite Golf on your iPhone and make an in-app purchase, that contributes to GDP. Since the contribution is routed through Apple, your spending becomes part of the Apple contribution to the American economy. It’s a semi-fake measure that’s basically a long-winded way of saying that Apple is a very big company.”

My point isn’t that the economy is somehow awful. It’s clearly not. I’m also not suggesting that Trump has somehow ruined the economy. He hasn’t.

But Trump, with few genuine accomplishments, is searching desperately for evidence of his success, which has led him to believe the economy “is better than it has been in many decades.” It’s a claim that props up his entire presidency: we should overlook the scandals, the corruption, the incompetence, the mismanagement, the lies, and the assaults on our institutions and political norms, the argument goes, because Trump is leading the nation to broad prosperity.

Whether this is a suitable trade-off would be a subject worthy of debate if it weren’t a sham. Job growth wasn’t bad in Trump’s first year, but it fell far short of what Americans have seen over the last several years. Growth wasn’t bad, either, but Americans have seen better growth – recently.

What’s more, the problem extends beyond the dishonesty of the pitch. There are also policy consequences to consider: if the president believes, genuinely but falsely, that he’s created the strongest economy “in many decades,” it will affect his thinking about how to make things better.

Will he president who already thinks he’s created an economic utopia for all fight for a higher minimum wage? How about his willingness to demand investments in education and infrastructure ? Will he encourage the Fed to prioritize growth over curbing inflation?

Or will he deem all of this unnecessary since he’s already the healthiest economy “in many decades,” facts be damned?

Maybe Trump knows his economic record is underwhelming, and he’s just straight up lying. Perhaps the amateur president is confused and has convinced himself that his talking points are accurate.

Either way, wouldn’t it be better for everyone, including Trump, if he had an accurate grasp of economic realities?

Paul Krugman Retweeted
Eric Umansky
‏Verified account @ericuman
2h2 hours ago

Trump has made 31 claims about companies adding or saving American jobs thanks to his intervention -- adding up to 2.4 million jobs.

We checked. More than *90 percent* of the jobs haven't materialized.

CBS News
‏Verified account @CBSNews
3h3 hours ago

"Why would I take my time to go sit and listen to a liar?" At least eight Democratic lawmakers are now intending to boycott President Trump's State of the Union address on Tuesday.

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/st...rump-ncna842411

William Kristol The state of the Republican union is in danger. Can it can survive Trump?

I’m not in the business of telling anyone they have to stay in the GOP anymore.

William Kristol is the founder and editor-at-large of the Weekly Standard. He served in senior roles in the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations

Bill Kristol says: If you had asked me nine months ago, I would have said I think the Republican Party can survive Trump. I think they can sort of bracket Trump, limit what the damage does and move to get beyond him. I'm less confident about that now.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/31/politics/state-of-the-union-reaction-poll/index.html

CNN Instant poll: Trump gets least positive reaction in at least 20 years

By Ryan Struyk, CNN

Almost half of Americans who watched President Donald Trump's first State of the Union address -- 48% -- say they had a "very positive" impression of the speech, down from 57% of speech-watchers after his first address to match Barack Obama's rating after his first State of the Union address, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS.

It's the lowest net positive rating for a State of the Union address since at least 1998, when CNN first asked the question. There is no equivalent poll for addresses before 1998.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/a-top-russ...ration?ref=home

A Top Russian Spy’s Visit To D.C. Last Week Shows Putin’s Still Playing the Trump Administration

Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Chief Sergei Naryshkin came just before Trump punted new sanctions and issued a useless ‘oligarch’ list. What message did he bring from Moscow?

The Russians clearly wanted the world to know that the head of their Foreign Intelligence Service, the SVR—which has been implicated directly in Moscow’s efforts to subvert American democratic processes—paid a not-so-secret visit to the Washington area last week for meetings with officials of the Trump administration.

That the man in question, Sergei Naryshkin, has been the specific object of U.S. sanctions did not seem to preclude his visit.
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Nor did the Kremlin appear concerned that the Trump administration might be embarrassed by the revelation, given that Naryshkin’s Washington sojourn came just as Trump’s team was considering what to do about new sanctions demanded by 98 out of 100 members of the U.S. Senate. Indeed, the administration was supposed to be compiling a list of oligarchs and officials close to Russian President Vladimir Putin who might face new or added sanctions: and Naryshkin turned up on that roster, too.

It's no secret as to why the Republicans along with Trump are attempting to discredit the DOJ and the FBI, when the facts come out that Trump colluded with the Russian, they can all make claims of a crooked and corrupted agency creating lies, funny how this wasn't a Conservative narrative when Blacks and minorities were decrying corrupted and crooked police forces throughout the country over the decades. So I guess that a few "bad apple" taints the entire agency and no crimes were actually committed?

The collusion Donald is talking everything BUT the Russian probe, he knows that the feds are closing in rapidly.

Oh I hope he flips. And Trumps flips out. LOL

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/attorneys-f...linkId=47654376

Attorneys for Rick Gates, an associate of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, have requested to withdraw from his case. They have filed their reasons under seal.

All of Gates' attorneys of-record, that is, the ones who have entered appearances with the court, are seeking to withdraw from the case. Attorneys Shanlon Wu, Walter Mack, and Annemarie McAvoy are all seasoned trial attorneys. Gates has reached the point in his case at which he must decide whether or not to pursue a plea deal. The fact that three experienced trial attorneys want off the case, suggests that Gates may be pursuing a plea deal.

Chris Hayes Retweeted
Mike Levine
‏Verified account @MLevineReports
1h1 hour ago

Three lawyers representing Trump associate Rick Gates in money-laundering case against him have asked to be dropped from the case. Meanwhile, Tom Green, a lawyer known for hammering out plea deals, stays on as counsel for Gates.

Donald Trump lied about his State of the Union ratings. Whyyyyyyyy?
Chris Cillizza

Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large


(CNN)On Thursday morning President Donald Trump said something that wasn't true.
"Thank you for all of the nice compliments and reviews on the State of the Union speech," he tweeted. "45.6 million people watched, the highest number in history. @FoxNews beat every other Network, for the first time ever, with 11.7 million people tuning in. Delivered from the heart!"
And I quote: "45.6 million people watched, the highest number in history."
This is not true.

Know how I know? Because, well, I typed "highest rated State of the union Speeches" into Google. And it sent me to the Nielsen website. There I learned that Trump's State of the Union speech on Tuesday night was actually the sixth most watched of all time. In fact, Trump's speech on Tuesday attracted 2 million fewer viewers than his SOTU-like speech last year. (Newly sworn-in presidents address Congress but the speech is not called a State of the union.)
Why lie about something that is so easily proven wrong? Good question! I have 3 theories:

1. Trump heard somewhere -- likely "Fox & Friends" -- that his State of the Union was the most-watched in history. So, he tweeted it. The end. Might he have misheard it from Fox (or wherever)? Sure. It's possible that it was the most-watched among a certain segment of the population and Trump just missed that part. Or, wherever he heard it just got it flat wrong.

2. Trump is unaware he is lying. Trump is someone who has spent much of his adult life telling himself a story about his own life in which he is the benevolent hero. I'm not sure that if he took a lie detector test and was asked about some of his prominent lies (inauguration crowd size, Muslims celebrating on New Jersey roofs on 9/11, etc.) he would fail. There is the real possibility he believes the untruths because, well, he needs to.

3. Trump knows he is lying and doesn't care. This follows the same logic as theory #2 except for the fact that Trump is self aware enough to know that he is deceiving people by pushing out untruths -- and he just doesn't care. If it works for him and the point he wants to make -- in this case: I am extremely popular and watchable -- then he says it. Whether it's, you know, true or not, is immaterial.

With the Super Bowl coming up Sunday, the idiot Trump will claim that his criticism of the players kneeling during the national anthem impacted the game to the extent that attendance was the lowest in history.

The party of Lincoln has slowly become the party of hate, racism and ignorance but more pronounced by the election of Donald Trump who exemplifies the very meaning of hate and racism by his own actions. I've voted several times in past elections for a Republican candidate because of the ideals and thoughts displayed by said candidate but we are seeing a manifestation of politics never observed in past times since Richard M. Nixon, a man that destroyed the integrity of a nation and confidence in our national leaders. Ironically history repeats itself by Trump's ability to criticize the very fiber of our political system only for one purpose, personal gain for himself and no one else but ignorance within the party's yes men go along with this dysfunction falsely believing their actions will promote the party. Once again, we will see a blood bath in November when the Democrats overtake both Senate and House in the people's hopes of stemming the damages done by one man who's only endeavor was to promote himself and 'To hell with the party" mentality. It's sad and regrettable that the Republicans have stoop so low in attempts to move it's party forward.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) delivered a harsh rebuke against fellow Republicans who agreed to release a memo by House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes against the wishes of the U.S. intelligence community.

Nunes on Friday released the memo after President Donald Trump declassified it. The memo alleges that officials at the FBI and Department of Justice displayed active bias against the Trump campaign in the early stages of the Russia investigation, which was later taken over by special counsel Robert Mueller.

In a statement shortly before the memo’s release, McCain didn’t pull any punches.

“In 2016, the Russian government engaged in an elaborate plot to interfere in an American election and undermine our democracy,” McCain said. “Russia employed the same tactics it has used to influence elections around the world, from France and Germany to Ukraine, Montenegro and beyond.”

McCain said Russia’s interference has, at best, sown political discord and succeeded in “dividing us from each other.” Attacking the intelligence community is not how to fix the discord, he said.

Ahead of its impending releases, the FBI took the extraordinary step of issuing a public statement to express its “grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo’s accuracy.”

“The latest attacks against the FBI and Department of Justice serve no American interests ― no party’s, no President’s, only Putin’s,” McCain added. “The American people deserve to know all the facts surrounding Russia’s ongoing efforts to subvert our democracy, which is why Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation must proceed unimpeded. Our nation’s elected officials, including the president, must stop looking at this investigation through the lens of politics and manufacturing political sideshows. If we continue to undermine our own rule of law, we are doing Putin’s job for him.”

On Thursday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan to demand that Nunes be removed from his position.

“Congressman Nunes’ deliberately dishonest actions make him unfit to serve as Chairman, and he must be removed immediately from his position,” she said.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/nationa...e-fraud-n844201

The House memo doesn’t prove the Mueller probe is a fraud

WASHINGTON — House Republicans and their allies have long argued that the House memo released Friday would demonstrate that the Trump-Russia investigation had its roots in an FBI fraud.

But the Republican memo doesn’t support that theory, even if everything alleged in it is true. (And Democrats, the FBI and the Justice Department insist that much in the memo is deeply misleading.)

https://www.yahoo.com/news/watergate-reporter-carl-bernstein-says-123827035.html

Watergate Reporter Carl Bernstein Says 'Authoritarian' Trump Has Plunged the U.S. into It's Darkest Days Since McCarthy With Memo Release
Newsweek Tom Porter,Newsweek 8 hours ago

Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein has said that America is living through its darkest days since Senator Joseph McCarthy’s anti-Communist “witch hunts.”

In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper Friday, Bernstein criticized Republican Devin Nunes, Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, for the release of a memo allegedly showing partisan bias in the FBI investigation into the Trump camp’s contact with Russia.

As some Republicans suggested the memo exposed a scandal at the heart of the FBI worse than Watergate, the reporter who was one of the duo who exposed the White House's involvement in the 1972 Watergate break-in, said it was Republicans who had got it wrong.

Bernstein called the memo a “disingenuous partisan document.”

“We may well have not seen such dark days for American democracy and its institutions since the days of Joe McCarthy,” Bernstein said, referring to the notorious anti-communist purges orchestrated by the Wisconsin Republican senator in the 1950s. “In the case of McCarthy, it was a senator, not the president of the United States, who was a demagogic authoritarian.”

The GOP memo alleges that the request to begin surveillance of former Trump adviser Carter Page was based on material contained in the notorious dossier compiled about Trump by former British spy Christopher Steele.

The memo notes that Steele's efforts were funded in part by the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, and that a failure to mention this when obtaining the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Fisa) warrant is evidence of negligence or possible partisan bias.

The memo does not mention the role of a Republican mega-donor in funding the research.

Bernstein said that the memo is a “red herring,” being used by the Trump administration to derail Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

“If indeed there is exonerating evidence there, the president ought to have enough faith in our institutions, including inspectors general, the FBI, oversight committees. Right now we need to know what the Russians did, whether or not the Trump organization was involved in some way,” he said.
“In the whole Cold War, the Russians were not able to do what Putin has done through Donald Trump to destabilize the U.S. and its Democratic institutions."

He went on to say that he hopes the Republican Party "gets ahold of its senses."

"It was the Republican Party who was always toughest on the Russians. ... [Republicans] were the heroes of Watergate because they were open to the truth."