Jim Bakker? Tammy Faye's
criminal ex-husband who denied raping Jessica Hahn and denied that he
was gay and/or bisexual? That drama queen and grifter is back in the
news. Ed Mazza (Huffington Post) reports:
Televangelist
Jim Bakker, who was at the heart of one of most notorious religious
scandals of the 1980s, says he’s in desperate need of cash right now.
And if he doesn’t get $1 million, he will lose everything and be homeless.
“If
everyone that watches this program will give $1,000, we’ll be able to
pay our bills and stay on the air,” he said on his show on Tuesday.
“Otherwise we got about another maybe a month.”
[. . .]
He said on Tuesday that those who give him money will reap other benefits.
“I
guarantee you God’s going to do something,” he said, later adding:
“God’s gonna bless you as you give, because when you give, you’re gonna
receive.”
There's so much above that I don't understand.
First
of all, how can he need money in 2025? He's been saying for two
decades that we had reached the end of times. Is someone hitting a
snooze button on that?
If
he really believed the end of times was going to happen in 2005, is
that why he didn't do a better job planning for his golden years?
Third, should he be making promises in God's name?
Fourth, he expects his viewers -- most of whom are on fixed incomes -- to each donate $1,000 to him?
Fifth, he can't just charge for the blow jobs he's probably already giving?
He's
a scam artist and for that he will be in the pits of hell. That'll
give him plenty of time to think about all the people he ripped off over
the years and how he abused the word of the Lord repeatedly.
Wednesday, May 7, 2025. Chump Land, a land of losers starting at the
top with the Convicted Felon Donald Chump and descending all the way
down via his many incompetent Cabinet members and nominees -- like Doug
Collins who's working to keep Congress from interacting with veterans,
like Pete Hegseth who is one scandal after another, like Chump's latest
vile and disgusting nominee Ed Martin.
Another day in Chump Land:
They weren’t patriots or warriors, heroes or hostages.
And everyone who entered the Capitol during the Jan. 6 riots deserved
jail time, and hundreds didn’t deserve pardons. Oh, and it was not an FBI sting operation.
That’s not a Democrat talking. That’s Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who says he has told President Donald Trump that he won’t support Trump’s nomination of Ed Martin as U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., because of Martin’s brotherhood with the insurrectionists and rioters.
To answer her question, the Democrats and at least
one Republican -- Thom Tillis -- have found some self-respect. Whether
or not others will follow remains to be seen?
Ben Mathis-Lilley (SLATE) observes, "The
concept of how much 'political capital' a presidential administration
has is a vague and subjective one, but occasionally an event will come
along and clarify at least how much capital other politicians think
it has. In the case of the Donald Trump 2.0 regime, one of those events
might be underway: District of Columbia U.S. Attorney nominee 'Eagle' Ed Martin’s chances of being confirmed by the Republican-held Senate are reportedly 'in peril'."
Chump's already spent a huge amount of his dwindling political capital
on unqualified nominees -- people like Pete Hegseth who created one
scandal after another on a daily basis. Now he's pimping Ed. Annie Grayer, Paula Reid and Manu Raju (CNN) report:
North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, a GOP swing vote, informed
the White House on Monday he would not support the president’s nominee,
Ed Martin, for the job.
Tillis, who serves on the powerful Senate Judiciary
Committee responsible for advancing Martin to a full Senate vote, also
met with Martin Monday. Given the narrow margins on the panel, Tillis’
opposition could be enough to derail his nomination.
[. . .]
GOP Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, who serve on the panel,
have privately expressed concerns about supporting Martin, as CNN has
previously reported. But Cornyn, who faces a tough reelection battle,
said Tuesday he would vote for Martin if he came up for a committee
vote.
“The president won an election on November the fifth, and I
think he’s entitled to some deference on his choices,” Cornyn said.
But upon learning that Tillis was against Martin’s
nomination, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said “that would suggest
that he’s not probably going to get out of committee.”
John
Cornyn is in difficult place. He's running in the primary against Ken
Paxton who's trying to play More Thumpier Than Thou. And Cornyn's
already pissed off a number of voters with a previous nomination. His
office received more e-mails objecting to Tulsi Gabbard's nomination
than any other topic in the last five years. People had many objections
in their e-mails. But for many Trumpers, their biggest objection was
that they did not feel that a cult member should be confirmed to a
Cabinet position. By not standing with his voters back then, he has
made it easier for Paxton to mount a serious challenge.
I never thought I would have to write something like this.
As a
former Capitol Police officer who stood on the front lines during the
January 6th insurrection, I know firsthand the price of defending
democracy. I saw the hatred, the violence, and the chaos that day. I
looked into the eyes of people who were trying to kill me and my fellow
officers. We stood our ground to protect the Capitol—to protect every
Senator, every Representative, and the very rule of law.
So when I
heard that the Trump team is trying to install Ed Martin as the next
U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., I felt a wave of disbelief and
outrage. We cannot stay silent. We cannot let this happen.
If you don’t know who Ed Martin is, here’s what you need to
understand: He’s not just a political figure. He’s not just an attorney.
He is someone who represented and supported the very people who tried
to overturn the 2020 election through violence. He defended the
insurrectionists who desecrated our Capitol and endangered the lives of
police officers, lawmakers, and staffers.
And now, he’s being
considered for one of the most powerful prosecutorial roles in the
country—in the very city where the attack took place.
Let me be clear: Ed Martin is not fit to serve as U.S. Attorney for D.C.
We
need leaders in law enforcement who respect the rule of law, who uphold
democratic norms, and who are committed to justice for all Americans.
Ed Martin has made it clear through his words and actions that he does
not share those values. His nomination is a direct threat to the safety
of people like me, to the legacy of those who fought to protect our
democracy, and to the future of this nation.
I know what it means
to be targeted. I’ve lived it. I’ve also accepted a pardon from
President Biden because I refused to apologize for doing my job. But if
Ed Martin is confirmed, he will wield the power of the federal
government to go after people like me, to rewrite history, and to reward
those who tried to destroy this country.
Rebecca (" chump's rewarding all the crooks and criminals"), Ruth ("Chump would like to disappear us all") and Betty ("Pam Bondi looks the other way intentionally ")
note the way that Chump is embracing these insurrections who broke the
law and continue to threaten government officials. This needs to come
to an end immediately. Republicans on the Committee who can't find
their spines on this issue are saying it is okay to threaten judges and
their families with violence, that is okay to attempt an overthrow of
democracy. If that's where the Republican Party wants to stand now,
they're going to have some big problems in future elections.
Every day in Chump Land sees more attacks from Chump, more assaults on our democracy. Even the headlines note the destruction "Mass Firings Throw U.S. National Parks Into Chaos Ahead of Peak Season." Maxine Joselow (WASHINGTON POST) adds, "The
Trump administration has temporarily suspended an air-quality
monitoring program at national parks across the country, according to an
internal email obtained by The Washington Post and two people familiar
with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the
decision is not public.". Idiotic, yes, but in keeping with Scrooge
Chump's attitude re: dolls and pencils (kids only need 3 dolls and 5
pencils). America has 63 national parks. Who needs 63 national parks?
Not Chump. He never visits a national park. He'd pass out due to all
the booze he drinks. Out in the hot sun, he'd just pass out. So who
needs 63 working national parks? Maxwell Adler and Skylar Woodhouse (BLOOMBERG NEWS) note,
"President Donald Trump said Tuesday the federal government would not
finance California’s high-speed rail project, escalating tensions over
the state’s long-delayed infrastructure plan." Nothing ever goes right
for Chump. Micah McCartney (NEWSWEEK) notes,
"One of the highest-profile events of the ongoing United
States-Philippines Balikatan military exercise—the sinking of a
decommissioned warship—was canceled Monday after the doomed vessel sank
before the shooting could even get underway." They don't go right when
he plans to sink a ship. They don't go right when he loses voters. Kate Plummer (NEWSWEEK) reports:
Two
people who voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 election have since said
they "feel betrayed" by the president after their son was detained in
Georgia.
Argentine American couple Martin Verdi
and Debora Rey told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution they felt let down
by the administration after their son, Agustin Gentile, 31, a green
card holder, was sent to Stewart Detention Center in South Georgia. With
roughly 1,700 detainees, the center is the country's second-largest
immigrant jail.
[. . .]
Gentile, a
father of two, was stopped by officials in February after returning from
a trip abroad and landing at Los Angeles International Airport. DHS
officials confiscated his green card and Argentine passport and directed
him to report to a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) office in
Raleigh, North Carolina, where he lives. Officials there detained him
and sent him to a local county jail. He was then transferred to Stewart
Detention Center.
Gentile was
convicted in 2020 of infliction of injury and sentenced to three years'
probation, according to court records seen by The Atlanta
Journal-Constitution. The case was closed in 2023.
He moved with his family from Argentina to the U.S. in the 1990s as a toddler.
Debora
Rey told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "[Trump] didn't say he was
going to do this, that he was going to go after people who have been
here for a long time. He said he was going to go after all the criminals
who came illegally.
A
New York immigration lawyer has described a recent surge in the
detention and deportation of undocumented Irish individuals from the US,
a result of the Trump administration's recent crackdown.
"Every
single bit of this is tragic and cruel", said New York lawyer Brian
O'Dwyer, referring to the Irish people being rounded up and deported
since February.
As chairman
emeritus and founder of the Emerald Isle Immigration Centre, with
offices in Queens and the Bronx, O'Dwyer has received reports of
individuals being detained during routine check-ins with US Immigration
and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Many of these individuals had been
working to regularize their status under deferred action arrangements.
It comes as all Americans face a major new ID rule within days.
Everyone has a target painted on their back in Chump Land.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered the
abrupt cancellation of U.S. weapons flights to Ukraine in February —
without President Donald Trump’s knowledge — leaving top national
security officials blindsided and scrambling for answers, according to
internal records.
The sudden
cancellation of 11 military cargo flights in early February, carrying
pre-approved Biden-era aid, reportedly caught the White House, Pentagon,
and State Department completely off guard at the time.
However,
in a stunning look behind-the-scenes, via internal records from the
U.S. Transportation Command (TRANSCOM) that were seen by Reuters, the
verbal order originated from Hegseth’s office and sparked confusion not
just in Washington, but in Kyiv and Warsaw, where the shipments were
being coordinated.
Hegseth’s decision
reportedly came on the heels of a Jan. 30 Oval Office meeting on Ukraine
policy. While aid was discussed, three sources told Reuters that Trump
gave no explicit order to halt assistance — raising serious questions
about Hegseth’s interpretation of the president’s intent.
I
think it raises serious questions about Hegseth's competence. We
already knew he wasn't qualified for the job. But he's the type of man
Chump's attracted to -- like that 80s male soap star back in the day. Adam Nichols (RAW STORY) notes:
According to an exclusive report from Reuters,
the canceled flights sparked panicked communications from Ukraine and a
scramble to get the planes in the air. A week later, the artillery was
headed to the war-torn country, with an additional cost of $2.2 million,
Reuters reported.
[. . .]
Records reviewed by Reuters showed the cancellations cost $2.2 million.
It
“points to an at-times haphazard policy-making process within the Trump
administration and a command structure that is unclear even to its own
ranking members,” the report stated.
“The
multiday pause of the flights, confirmed by five people with knowledge
of it, also shows confusion in how the administration has created and
implemented national security policy.”
How
many times is the Hegseth going to hit the fan? How many times is
Donald Chump going to shirk his duties and continue to cover for
Hegseth?
Hegseth
was already in hot water after revelations that he shared sensitive
attack plans against Houthi rebels in Yemen in two Signal group chats.
According to a Monday report from The Wall Street Journal, Hegseth has
used Signal - which is only approved for extremely limited, unclassified
communication use by the Pentagon - much more extensively than
previously known.
Sources who spoke to the WSJ
say the defense secretary has made over a dozen Signal chats to discuss
all manner of DOD policy and issues with relevant parties - including
representatives from foreign governments and partner nations. According
to the sources, Hegseth has used Signal to discuss potentially sensitive
information both on his personal phone, and on unsecure lines in the
Pentagon. In other instances, it's Marine Col. Ricky Buria - a Hegseth
aide - who posts information onto Hegseth's Signal chats on his behalf.
Buria was, according to sources, the individual who posed air strike
plans against the Houthis in a chat with Hegseth's wife and brother.
Gabe Whisnant (NEWSWEEK) notes, "In
one instance, Hegseth directed his aides via Signal to notify foreign
government officials about an ongoing military operation, the Journal reported.
The defense secretary also used Signal to coordinate media appearance,
plan foreign travel, manage his schedule and discuss other unclassified
but sensitive issues, the report said. The Journal reported that
Hegseth set up many of the Signal chats himself and sent messages from
an unsecured line at the Department of Defense, as well as from his
personal phone. Rhian Lubin (INDEPENDENT) explains,
"Among the most sensitive messages Hegseth reportedly sent on the app
was to instruct aides to inform U.S. allies overseas about an unfolding
military operation, according to the newspaper, citing two people
familiar with his management. The former Fox News host reportedly sent
the messages from an unsecured line in his Pentagon office from his
personal phone."
Hegseth
is the disaster that never ends which is only a surprise if you never
grasped that he had no training for the job of Secretary of Defense. No
wonder he needed to install a beauty salon near his office so he can be
camera ready in an instant. Camera ready is all the TV personality has
really ever done. And hate to be the one to point it out but if you're
spending all that money on hair and make up, whomever is doing that make
up needs to stop covering the Psoriasis patches on Hegseth's
skin. Use a foundation to cover the entire face because all you're
doing is making the patches stand out more by piling make up on them and
not the surrounding areas.
While
Donald Chump does not care about national security -- as evidenced by
the stolen documents he hid at his Florida slum and as evidenced by his
security appointees -- Senator Jack Reed actually does care and he
issued the following statement on Friday:
WASHINGTON,
DC – Over the past 100 days, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s tenure
at the Pentagon has been marked by sweeping ideological purges,
scandals, and the unjustified firings of senior military leaders.
On
Thursday, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate
Armed Services Committee, spoke on the Senate floor to address Secretary
Hegseth’s damaging misconduct and the long-term consequences for the
U.S. military.
A video of Senator Reed’s remarks may be viewed here.
A transcript of Senator Reed’s floor speech follows:
REED:
Mr. President, I rise to discuss my concern about the chaos that is
roiling the Department of Defense. Sunday will mark the 100th day of
Pete Hegseth serving as Secretary of Defense. During his confirmation
hearing, Mr. Hegseth said, quote, “[President Trump] wants a Pentagon
laser focused on warfighting, lethality, meritocracy, standards and
readiness. That’s it. That is my job.” Well, Mr. President, Secretary
Hegseth is failing the mission President Trump gave him. His actions
over the past 100 days have done nothing but distract the Pentagon and
undermine its warfighting, lethality, meritocracy, standards, and
readiness.
In his first 100 days, Secretary
Hegseth has terminated or weakened programs and processes that are the
bedrock upon which the military recruits personnel and trains
servicemembers to go into battle. For example, in February, the
Secretary announced his plan to slash the civilian workforce by 5 to 8
percent, terminate probationary workers, and institute a hiring freeze.
These severe measures have only meant more work for the remaining
employees, and more costly work for military officers and contractors to
cover the gaps, or simply not carry out missions.
The
Secretary has also launched a number of efforts to eliminate diversity
and inclusion programs, which have led to more limited recruiting
efforts, attempts to separate honorably serving transgender
servicemembers, dissolving social clubs at the military academies,
banning and removing books from the Naval Academy, and inspiring
walkouts by students at DOD schools abroad over book bans and curriculum
changes. I joined the Army in 1967 and served on active duty for 12
years, and the idea that dependent children of military personnel, in
DOD schools, would protest the Secretary of Defense, to me was
inconceivable, but it’s happened. This shows, I think, great anxiety in
the ranks of our military personnel all across the globe.
The
Secretary is also failing his duty to lead the Department by example.
On March 24, Mr. Hegseth demonstrated a severe lack of judgment when he
texted classified military intelligence on the unclassified and unsecure
Signal app to at least two group chats, including one with his wife,
brother, and personal lawyer. That information, if intercepted by an
adversary, would endanger the lives of our servicemembers deployed
downrange. The Secretary also installed a “dirty line” – an unsecure
internet connection – in his Pentagon office so he could more easily
send texts and personal emails. Such actions violate the laws and
protocols that every other military servicemember is required to
follow. The Department of Defense Office of Inspector General is
conducting an investigation of Mr. Hegseth’s mishandling of classified
information, and I look forward to its findings.
Just
hours ago, we learned of press reports that National Security Adviser
Mike Waltz may be fired this week because of his own actions around the
Signal incident. If true, I welcome the message of accountability that
it would send. Mr. Waltz made a significant mistake in adding a
reporter to a sensitive Signal chat, and his failure of judgment could
have had serious national security consequences. I respect that he took
responsibility for his mistake. In contrast, Secretary Hegseth has
refused to take responsibility for his own misconduct, which in my view
was far more egregious than Mr. Waltz’s.
Indeed,
the fallout from this incident has further eroded the already dismal
credibility that the Secretary brought to the Pentagon. The Secretary’s
inner circle of hand-picked advisers have nearly all resigned or been
fired. His chief of staff was dismissed amid allegations of
incompetence and unsettling personal behavior. Three of his senior
policy advisors were fired for allegedly leaking sensitive information,
which they all staunchly deny. And his top spokesman resigned after
losing confidence in the Secretary, writing, quote, “The building is in
disarray under Hegseth’s leadership,” and, quote, “The last month has
been a full-blown meltdown at the Pentagon — and it’s becoming a real
problem for the administration.” This chain of events is extraordinary
and underscores the concerns I raised at Secretary Hegseth’s nomination
hearing. He does not possess the temperament nor the management skills
needed to lead the Pentagon.
There have been
multiple news reports that Secretary Hegseth spends much of his day
focused on perceived leaks and that he has become paranoid, lashing out
at aides and senior military leaders, convinced that they are
undermining him. He has threatened his top military advisors, including
then-acting Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Grady and
Joint Chiefs Director General Sims, with polygraph tests in order to
prove that these distinguished military leaders are not liars.
The
Secretary’s office should be leading the Pentagon, allowing the rest of
the Department to be laser-focused on their missions. But again,
President Trump and Secretary Hegseth have made that very difficult due
to the internal disarray they have created by firing key military
leaders.
These firings include the Chairman of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Chief of Naval Operations, the Commander
of Cyber Command, the U.S. Military Representative to NATO, the Vice
Chief of the Air Force, the Secretary of Defense Senior Military Aide,
and the top uniformed lawyers, or Judge Advocates General, of each of
the military services. As I’ve said before, if you want to break the
law, you start by getting rid of the lawyers.
These
are not minor positions. They are vital to the Department’s mission,
and when left unfilled, the military loses focus and missions are
compromised. These officers were fired without a plan to replace them,
which is crippling our military’s effectiveness during a perilous
time. More importantly, these officers were fired without explanation,
which leads to the worst possible outcome for a military force – fear
throughout the ranks that one should not speak up, should not refuse an
illegal order, and should not call out abuse nor question decisions.
General
and flag officers are charged with providing their unbiased “best
military advice” to the civilian leaders of the Department of Defense.
Servicemembers are expected to give candid feedback to their leaders and
peers, and commanders expect troops to give them the facts, straight
and true, because lives are on the line. Similarly, Congress expects
candor from senior officers to provide their best judgment — without
fear of retribution — for both the security of our country, and that of
the 2 million servicemembers who put themselves in harm’s way.
But
firing officers as a political litmus test poisons this military
ethos. It sends an immediate signal to troops that providing their
unbiased best military advice might have career-ending consequences.
I will take a brief moment to discuss the officers who have been dismissed.
General CQ Brown
General
CQ Brown served as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and was
fired, without explanation, not even halfway into his four-year term.
He was visiting our troops on the southern border when he was abruptly
dismissed by the President without even the courtesy of a warning.
General Brown served our nation honorably for more than four decades and
led the Joint Chiefs with dedication and skill. The Senate approved
his nomination by a vote of 83-11. To date, the Trump Administration
has given no justification for his dismissal.
Seven
full weeks passed without a confirmed Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.
General Dan Caine has now been confirmed and is working hard to get up
to speed. Given what happened to his predecessor, General Caine must
realize that in addition to his duties as the Chairman, he must also
deal with the political intrigue consuming the Pentagon. I hope that
General Caine will always provide his best military advice to the
President and the Secretary of Defense, even if that advice not what
they would want to hear.
Admiral Lisa Franchetti
Secretary
Hegseth also dismissed Admiral Lisa Franchetti, who served as the 33rd
Chief of Naval Operations. She was the first woman to lead the Navy,
and the first to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Admiral
Franchetti served in leadership roles at every level throughout the
Navy, both ashore and at sea, and with postings around the globe. She
was a trailblazer, team builder, and inspiration to many. The Senate
approved her nomination by a vote of 95-1. Again, the Trump
Administration has given no justification for her dismissal.
To
date, the Administration has not nominated a new Chief of Naval
Operations. It has been two months since Admiral Franchetti was
dismissed, and the Navy remains without a Senate-confirmed Chief of
Naval Operations at a time when the service is involved in the most
combat operations since World War II in the Red Sea.
General Timothy Haugh
General
Timothy Haugh served as the Commander of U.S. Cyber Command and
Director of the National Security Agency. As the commander of Cyber
Command, General Haugh led the most formidable cyber warfighting force
in the world, responsible for detecting, deterring, and overseeing cyber
operations against America’s adversaries – particularly China, Russia,
Iran, North Korea, and various terrorist organizations. General Haugh
had a distinguished 34-year career within Air Force cyber and
intelligence organizations, including multiple command assignments.
I
am extremely concerned that press reports indicate that Laura Loomer, a
fringe conspiracy theorist, convinced President Trump to dismiss
General Haugh and fire a slew of expert staff on the National Security
Council for no discernible reason. Now, when a conspiracy theorist can
get into the President’s office and convince him to fire an officer of
General Haugh’s caliber – and others on the National Security Council –
there’s not only something wrong with that individual, there’s something
wrong with the President who would listen to them without consulting
others.
The Senate unanimously confirmed
General Haugh to his post in December 2023, and, once again, the Trump
Administration has given no explanation for his dismissal. The Trump
Administration has not selected a new CYBERCOM commander, and it’s
unclear if there is any sense of urgency to fill this position.
Secretary Hegseth has given a priceless gift to China, Russia, Iran, and
North Korea by purging leadership from one of our most vital national
security commands.
Vice Admiral Shoshana Chatfield
Vice
Admiral Shoshana Chatfield served as the United States Military
Representative to NATO, the first woman to hold this position. She held
a vital leadership role within the alliance, particularly as it related
to coordinating international support to Ukraine. Admiral Chatfield
was among the finest military officers our nation had to offer, with a
38-year career as a Navy helicopter pilot, foreign policy expert, and
preeminent military educator, including as President of the Naval War
College.
The Senate unanimously confirmed Vice
Admiral Chatfield to her post in December 2023. The Trump
Administration has given no justification for her dismissal, and has not
nominated any replacement to this critical posting at NATO.
General James Slife
General
James Slife was the U.S. Air Force Vice Chief of Staff – the second
highest ranking officer in the Air Force. He spent most of his 36-year
career as a special operations helicopter pilot. He deployed many times
around the world and flew countless combat missions in perilous
conditions. General Slife risked his life repeatedly for our nation and
led his fellow special operators and Airmen with distinction.
The
Senate unanimously confirmed General Slife to his post in December
2023. The Trump Administration has given no explanation for his
dismissal, nor nominated any officer to help lead the Air Force.
Lieutenant General Jennifer Short
Lieutenant
General Jennifer Short was the first female Senior Military Assistant
to the Secretary of Defense. She advised the Secretary and served as
the representative for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
coordinating policy and operations across the Joint Staff, combatant
commands, and with the U.S. interagency. A command pilot with more than
1,800 flight hours, including more than 430 combat hours in the A-10,
she flew in operations Southern Watch, Iraqi Freedom, and Enduring
Freedom, and commanded Airmen at the squadron, wing, major command, and
combatant command levels.
The Senate unanimously confirmed her to her post. The Trump Administration has given no explanation for her dismissal.
Judge Advocates General
Finally,
I am deeply concerned by Secretary Hegseth’s dismissal of the Judge
Advocates General of the military services. These officers, known as
“TJAGs,” are the most senior uniformed lawyers in the military.
These
officers each served more than 30 years in uniform as military
lawyers. They were strictly apolitical and held fundamental roles
ensuring that balanced, legal counsel was part of every military policy
discussion. These officers provided legal oversight that spanned
military justice, operational law, administrative compliance, government
ethics, and U.S. adherence to the Law of Armed Conflict.
These
unprecedented firings, along with the firings of the Inspectors
General, should alarm everyone about the commitment of the President,
and the Secretary of Defense, to the rule of law for the military, and
also within the United States and across the world.
Mr.
President, the Defense Department is one of the most complex
institutions in the world, with a budget of nearly $900 billion and a
workforce of nearly 3 million military and civilian personnel. It is an
organization that requires strong leadership, stability,
predictability, and trust. These qualities are critical because we ask
the Department’s men and women to risk their lives every day in service
of their country. Mr. President, those men and women who gave their
lives, and all those who still serving at this moment, deserve the
best. They deserve a leader who is as laser focused on readiness,
lethality and the mission as they are. Not someone who treats his
position as Secretary as a performative exercise complete with a Twitter
feed dominated with workout videos.
Our
servicemembers deserve better. They deserve someone who is focused on
them, not focused on himself. If Secretary Hegseth does not improve
his job performance, the conditions at the Pentagon will continue to
deteriorate and something worse is bound to happen. I hope Secretary
Hegseth takes note.
I yield the floor.
How bad is it for Hegesth? Even another beleaguered Cabinet member feels he can take shots at Hegseth publicly. David Gilmour (MEDIAITE) notes:
Transportation
Secretary Sean Duffy criticized the Pentagon on Fox News Monday after a
U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter caused two commercial flights to be
diverted near Washington’s Reagan National Airport last week.
According
to the FAA and NTSB, air traffic control ordered a Delta Airbus A319
and a Republic Airways Embraer E170 to execute “go-arounds” around 2:30
p.m. after the helicopter, inbound to the Pentagon heliport, was
instructed to circle the building before landing. The FAA characterized
the Black Hawk as a priority air transport aircraft.
[. . .]
“The
question becomes, who are the VIPs? Who are they?” Duffy asked,
implying high-ranking military personnel were treating D.C. airspace
like their personal sky lane. “The top brass at the White House – they
take a Suburban, or a Tesla, or they take their own car. Who do these
generals think they are, that they have to take helicopters to go to
meetings?”
“Who was it?” host Laura Ingraham pressed.
“I don’t know who it was,” Duffy replied.
“Who do we ask?” the host said. “I mean you’re the transportation secretary, how do you not know?”
“The FAA doesn’t know, we asked the DOD,” Duffy said.
Then,
in a pointed swipe at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s promise of
Pentagon “transparency,” he remarked: “The DOD has promised radical
transparency, they should tell us who is qualified to take a helicopter
out of the Pentagon. I don’t know but they have to tell us.”
“Can we call Pete Hegseth?” Ingraham teased.
“I should actually,” Duffy replied.
We'll
wind down with this from Senator Patty Murray's office and note how the
unqualified Doug Collins, VA Secretary, is trying to interfere in
Congress' interactions with veterans.
ICYMI:
After Trump Admin Refuses to Allow VA to Host Discussion on Women
Veterans’ Health Care, Senator Murray Meets with Women Veterans and
Advocates In Seattle
*** VIDEO of Senator Murray’s Exchange with VA Secretary HERE***
Washington, D.C. —Today, at a Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee oversight hearing
with U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Doug Collins,
U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former Chair of
the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, pressed Secretary Collins on how
the Trump administration’s mass firing of VA employes is hurting
veterans’ ability to get the health care they need—from jeopardizing VA
research, to creating new risks around the deployment of the Electronic
Health Record (EHR) system to additional VA Medical Centers, which the
Trump administration is insisting on moving ahead with despite
persistent and unresolved issues at the sites where it is currently
deployed. Murray also pressed Secretary Collins on new policies the
Trump administration recently rolled out that severely limit
Congressional engagement with veterans and VA for no legitimate reason.
“Secretary Collins, thank you for being here. Thank you for
taking the time to talk with me yesterday morning about the new policies
that you now have related to Congressional engagement,” Senator Murray began.
“For all of my colleagues: this new policy will limit our ability to
interact with veterans on a VA campus, as it did when I was denied the ability
to host a veteran and provider roundtable at the Seattle VA. I’ll note,
I have done that many times over my 30 years in the Senate. My staff
was told it was a new policy which had not been put into writing at the
time that I got denied. And I just want to reiterate my request, Mr.
Secretary, that you share that newly written policy with every single
member of Congress.”
“Senator, as you and I talked yesterday, this had been an
unwritten policy for years that had been applied differently. I went
back and checked it had been applied differently,” said Secretary Collins.
“I’ve never been denied before, I don’t know anybody else who
has. This is a new policy, and I think it’s important that you have it
in writing to every single member, so we all know that,” Senator Murray emphasized.
“It will be,” Secretary Collins affirmed.
“I’d also note that in our conversation yesterday, as well as
in your responses to nearly all of the oversight letters I’ve seen, you
are relying on this very broad explanation to everything
that…‘everything you do is to ensure veterans receive the care and
services they deserve.’ I want to take this opportunity, Mr. Secretary,
to remind you the people on this dais, both sides, have the same
purpose. Many of us have been doing this for decades. And oversight is
both constitutionally required, and it is critical for all of us to do
our jobs,” Senator Murray continued. “With that in
mind, I would ask you to rescind the memo from your Chief of Staff,
which allows him to personally sign off on any proposed or planned
engagement with any one of the 535 Members of Congress, which really
just stonewalls legitimate questions that we have.”
Secretary Collins responded, “Senator, that was a memo that
was, that’s a mischaracterization of that memo. It simply was
coordinating between OM and our legislative affairs office to make sure
that our OM staff, who actually deal with the budget side, which you do,
and our legislative affairs, were on the same page. Just as you
wouldn’t want to in your staff talking to the same group and basically
not being on the same page.”
Senator Murray pressed, “I have the letter, and it directly
says that every request we have, has to go through your Chief of Staff.
From our staff who want questions, from any of us who do, everything has
to be rerouted up to the top. That is going to take forever. That
denies us the ability for us to get the information we need.”
“We’ll make sure that all, you know—legislative inquiries,
the stuff that you need—you’re getting the oversight. I agree with you. I
served in Congress as well. Oversight is important. But also getting
you good information is important as well,” Secretary Collins dodged.
“I appreciate that. So, is that letter no longer in place, no longer applies?” Senator Murray inquired.
Secretary Collins continued, “That letter is…to streamline information so we can get you, actually, information quicker.”
“Streamlined all the way to the top, so our questions are never answered. That’s how we all read it,” pressed Senator Murray.
Secretary
Collins doubled down, “No, that is not the way the letter is written.
So, that is not the way the interpretation is.”
“I would ask you to go back and look. Because again, we have
oversight responsibility. We all take that very seriously…We need those
responses, we don’t need weeks and months to go through some—all the way
to the top and one guy sitting there deciding whether or not we get the
information,” continued Senator Murray.
“Well, there is no weeks and months. And that’s, you know,
the unfortunate part of the VA has been a bureaucracy issue. This is
what we’re trying to actually streamline to get you information,” Secretary Collins replied.
Senator
Murray made it clear, “I mean this: I’d like you to go back and look at
that letter and remind yourselves we all need the information.”
Senator Murray continued by asking Secretary Collins about the how
VA’s plan to fire more than 80,000 employees will affect the planned
deployment of the Electronic Health Record (EHR) system to new sites,
which VA is moving forward with despite serious and persistent issues
with the system at the sites where it is currently deployed, which
include two VA Medical Centers in Washington state—Joseph M. Wainwright
in Walla Walla and Mann-Grandstaff in Spokane.
Senator Murray asked, “As you know, fixing EHR and getting it
right for our veterans is about patient safety. During your hearing, I
expressed my concerns about VA moving forward with deploying the new
system at four additional new sites when it’s still experiencing very
serious issues at places in my state—Spokane and Walla Walla. And you
said that when it comes to EHR, you were going to ‘listen to our
clinicians’ and ‘listen to our hospitals.’ Weeks later, VA announced
plans to look at firing a staggering 80,000 employees this year. I want
to know did you ask these VA clinicians and hospitals about how those
cuts would affect future EHR deployments?”
“The issue of employment and EHR deployments are separate,” responded Secretary Collins. “We’re
not looking—again, I can’t emphasize this enough, none of the
reorganization that we’re looking at deals with frontline workers or
frontline employees—”
“That was not my question,” pressed Senator Murray.
“So
yes, we’ve included Dr. Evans, who runs our program, he’s been working
the program for well over a decade,” replied Secretary Collins.
Senator Murray continued her questioning: “I’ve been very
vocal, you know this, about VA’s troubling decision not to renew the
terms of researchers who are working on absolutely critical projects and
clinical trials for our veterans. There are planned trials that have
not started, there are ongoing trials that have been stopped, and there
are trials that have fallen apart due to staff layoffs. Yes or no, would
you agree that clinical trials stopping would have an impact on the
care for our veterans?”
“I think clinical trials are very important,” said Secretary Collins.
“And the good thing about it is, when we looked at it, there were
trials that were coming due that, just as they always do. I put a 90-day
stop on that so we can examine and make sure that everything’s going
good.”
“I understand, there’s a pause on this new policy.
Has a decision been made about what happens when that pause stops?”
pressed Senator Murray.
“We’re currently in the process of examining that,” replied Secretary Collins.
“So, clinical trials that are out there have no idea, they’ve got to wait 90 days and pray?” asked Senator Murray.
“At this point in time, like I said, some of those were
actually stopped at the end, and…we’re actually keeping some in line so
that they can continue, if need be,” Secretary Collins said.
Senator Murray was the first woman to join the Senate Veterans’
Affairs Committee and the first woman to chair the Committee—as the
daughter of a World War II veteran, supporting veterans and their
families has always been an important priority for her. Senator Murray
has been a leading voice in the Senate speaking out forcefully against President Trump and Elon Musk’s mass firing of VA employees and VA researchers across the country and Elon Musk and DOGE’s infiltration of the VA, including accessing veterans’ sensitive personal information.
Last week at a hearing on veterans’ mental health, Senator Murray
pressed administration officials on the importance of transparency and
communication with Congress and how the Trump administration’s mass
firings might undermine care for veterans who have dealt with sexual
trauma. In February, Murray grilled Trump’s then-nominee for VA Deputy Secretary, Dr. Paul Lawrence, on the mass firings of VA employees and VA researchers. After pressing Doug Collins
on EHR and protecting women’s access to VA health care, including
lifesaving abortion care, at his nomination hearing, Senator Murray
voted against Doug Collins’s nomination to be VA Secretary in early
February, sounding the alarm
over Elon Musk and DOGE’s activities at the VA and making clear that
the Trump administration’s lawlessness is putting our national security
and our veterans at risk.
Last month, Senator Murray released a report
on how Trump’s mass firings at VA are already hurting veterans’
services and health care in Washington state and across the country.
Senator Murray and her colleagues have demanded that VA swiftly reverse moves to cut VA researchers, and have sent multipleletters pressing
Secretary Collins to sever Elon Musk and DOGE’s access to any VA or
other government system with information about veterans, and protect
veterans, their families, and VA staff from unprecedented access to
sensitive information.
Do you think Alien Musk kids himself that he can ride this out? That if he just waits a couple of months or even a year, people are going to like him again? Because that's not happening.
Not now.
Not ever.
We're on to him and his racism and his corruption and his disgusting and trashy ways. Reuters reports:
Democratic
lawmakers on key House committees raised concerns about potential
conflicts of interest from Elon Musk's dual roles as SpaceX CEO and a
Special Government Employee overseeing changes at NASA and the
Department of Defense, a letter sent to the agencies on Tuesday said.
The
letter addressed to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and NASA Acting
Administrator Janet Petro expressed alarm by House Democrats over Musk's
potential conflicts, given his role spearheading the Trump
administration's massive federal overhaul through the Department of
Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
"Mr. Musk's
dual role creates an inherent conflict of interest between SpaceX's
status as a large government contractor and DOGE's influence at agencies
overseeing SpaceX contracts, contract bids, and regulations governing
the company and its activities," the letter signed by the top Democrats
on the House Armed Services Committee and the committee on Science,
Space and Technology and others said.
Exactly. And there's never been a welfare queen as big as Alien Musk. Tara Suter (The Hill) reports:
Most
registered voters in Georgia disapprove of tech billionaire Elon Musk’s
role in government and cuts carried out by the Department of Government
Efficiency (DOGE), according to a poll released Tuesday.
In
the survey from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 56.1 percent of
respondents said they either “strongly disapprove” or “somewhat
disapprove” of “Elon Musk playing a prominent role in the Trump
administration.”
[. . .]
The poll also found chilly feelings toward DOGE’s cuts to the federal government among Peach State voters.
Just
more than half, or 51.5 percent, said they either “strongly disapprove”
or “somewhat disapprove” DOGE’s approach to shrinking the size of the
federal government, compared to about 42 percent who said that they
either “strongly approve” or “somewhat approve” of its work.
Tuesday, May 6, 2025. Crazy Chump is endangering us in more ways than
we could ever imagine and there's no one in the Cabinet to be
responsible and call out the risks he's creating for the American
people.
Starting with Lawrence O'Donnell last night on MSNBC.
It's not just me and it's not just you, Donald Chump comes off more and more
like the deceased father in the play OH DAD, POOR DAD, MAMMA'S HUNG YOU
IN THE CLOSET AND I'M FEELIN' SO SAD?
Donald
Trump gave a wide-ranging NBC interview, and his various answers led to
renewed discussion about his purported "cognitive decline."
Among
other things, Trump was asked, "Your secretary of state says everyone
who's here, citizens and noncitizens, deserve due process... Do you
agree?" The president then replied, saying, "I don't know... I'm not,
I'm not a lawyer. I don't know."
He's
not a lawyer? He's also not a first time president. He was president
from January 2017 to January 2021. Does he not know that? Does he not
know that he took an oath to uphold the Constitution back in January 2017
and again in January 2025? Has he never read the Constitution he took an oath to uphold?
Back to McAfee:
Former
Republican lawmaker Joe Walsh, for instance, pointed out that Trump
said of the economy, "I think the good parts are the Trump economy and
the bad parts are the Biden economy."
"He is a
horrible, pathetic human being. He’s everything you teach your children
NOT to be," Walsh said before discussing Trump's potential decline.
"There
should be coverage of Trump’s cognitive decline. Massive coverage," the
ex-congressman said. "Because it’s an issue. A huge issue."
And Walsh wasn't the only one.
Independent
journalist Aaron Rupar said that Trump's "Meet the Press interview was
just the latest illustration that dude's brain is gone."
This cognitive decline is on full display as REUTERS reports:
President
Donald Trump said on Monday he had nothing to do with the production of
an image that showed him dressed like a pope but said it was done in
jest.
"I just saw it last evening," Trump told
reporters in the Oval Office. He said his wife, Melania Trump, thought
it was cute. Some in the Catholic community have criticized the image.
He
just saw it Sunday evening? Possibly, he's lying. He is rather well
known for his non-stop lying. But maybe the brain's turned to complete
mush and he no longer remember that he actually posted the photo himself
to his own social media on Friday? It was reposted to White House
accounts on Sunday. But he put it up on his social media Friday. Does
he not remember that? Is he that far gone?
A
federal judge used President Donald Trump's own boastful words against
him to halt an executive order that took aim at a major Washington,
D.C., law firm, reported MSNBC.
U.S. Judge
Beryl Howell issued a permanent injunction to blockTrump from
retaliating against Perkins Coie due to the president's political
grievances. Trump's order had limited Perkins Coie lawyers' "access to
government buildings, revoked their security clearances and ordered
federal agencies to terminate contracts with the firm."
But
Judge Howell found that the Trump administration had "singled out
Perkins Coie based on the content of its speech and actions," which
infringed up on the firm and its attorneys' First Amendment rights.
To
make her ruling, Howell did something "unusual," according to MSNBC.
She "used Trump’s subsequent agreements with other firms — and his
boasts about them — as evidence against his administration."
Perkins
Coie was one of six law firms Trump targeted for representing his
"political opponents or whose lawyers were involved in investigations
into the president during his first term," MSNBC reported.
Howell
cited a Trump quote from an April event, when he claimed "Have you
noticed that lots of law firms have been signing up with Trump? $100
million, another $100 million, for damages that they’ve done. But they
give you $100 million and then they announce, ‘We have done nothing
wrong.’ And I agree, they’ve done nothing wrong. But what the hell,
they’ve given me a lot of money considering they’ve done nothing wrong."
Again,
has the cognitive decline become so great that he no longer can
remember what he's saying in public and on camera? Cognitive decline
would explain his nonsense about two dolls and five pencils. Elizabeth Crisp (THE HILL) quotes former Mike Pence aid Marc Short:
“I
think it’s really damaging messaging,” said Short, who now co-chairs
the conservative Advancing American Freedom, Pence’s policy and advocacy
organization. “I think everybody understands he’s very financially
wealthy, but beginning to tell the American people how many dolls or how
many pencils they can have, I think, suggests a little bit of an
elitism perspective.”
President
Donald Trump's cognitive ability was questioned again Monday after he
rambled his way through a simple question regarding the White House's
decision to reopen Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in California.
Trump
bizarrely likened the decision to being a "movie maker" when questioned
by a reporter in the Oval Office. "Well, I guess I was supposed to be a
movie maker. We're talking—we started with the movie making and will
end. I mean, it—it represents something very strong, very powerful in
terms of law and order," he said.
When
Trump first announced the decision Sunday, he said it was aimed at
keeping dangerous criminals far away from people they want to hurt,
according to a post on his social media platform Truth Social. Trump
also mentioned a museum dedicated to the prison as he darted from
tangent to tangent.
"Our
country needs law and order. Alcatraz is, uh, I would say, the
ultimate, right? Alcatraz. Sing Sing and Alcatraz. Eh, the movies. But,
uh, it's right now a museum, believe it or not, a lot of people go
there. It housed the, uh, most violent criminals in the world, and
nobody ever escaped. One person almost got there. But they, as you know
the story, they found his clothing rather badly ripped up," he said.
The
episode has once again caused Americans to question their leader's
cognitive ability. Some even compared Trump's rambling to that of former
President Joe Biden.
He's
got a whole Cabinet of crazy backing him up. That includes the hideous
Junior. Marcia detailed the dangers of the two last night in "Chump and Junior are destroying America's future." Junior is crazed. And he's losing power as a result.
We
didn't take a position here re: vaccines and autism. As I explained
many times, in my offline life, I fundraise for autism and it had ripped
the community apart, ripped families apart. So I didn't have that
discussion, I focused on fundraising and on science. Then crazy Junior
had to haul his steroid ass into the political arena. And that's why I
had to come out publicly as against the notion that vaccines cause
autism. Grasp that I've fundraised decades and never had to take a
stance on that because it had destroyed families, that debate.
And Junior was part of that destruction.
So
some good news there is that among families who make large donations --
including one family in particular in the Bay Area -- Junior has no
pull.
What he's done, the totality of it all,
has turned people against him. The nonsense he's pulled has made a
large number of people stop embracing him and his con job.
Autism researchers and advocates are pushing back against the creation of an autism database
– meant to track the health of autistic people in a major research
study – and pointing to the ways such databases could be misused.
While
the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) denies it’s a
registry, the agency did confirm a sweeping database of autistic people
will power a $50m study on autism. The health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, said last week that he plans to announce results from the study within months.
A petition
against the registry gained thousands of signatures in a single day,
jumping from 2,500 to nearly 35,000 signatures within 24 hours.
“I’m
a quiet person who likes to just be in the background,” said first-time
petition creator Ryan Smith, a parent of two neurodiverse children
living in Idaho. He also didn’t want to make himself a target.
It's
garbage like that move by Junior that's decimated his support, that's
driven people who thought he listened to them and cared about their
families away from him for good. Hes a con artist and he's exposed
himself. Some BLUESKY reaction.
The
messaging app seen being used by President Donald Trump's former
national security advisor, Michael Waltz, is temporarily suspending
services following a reported hack.
"Out of an abundance of
caution, all TeleMessage services have been temporarily suspended," a
spokesperson for TeleMessage's parent company, Smarsh, said.
A
recent photo of Waltz indicated he was communicating on TeleMessage
with Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, director
of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and special envoy Steve Witkoff.
The
latest news highlights enormous gaps in the Trump administration's
cybersecurity measures. Experts have warned that sensitive data could
quickly land in the wrong hands, making apps like Signal and TeleMessage
obvious — and apparently easy — targets for foreign adversary hacking
groups.
Waltz was ousted from his national
security advisor role on May 1, alongside his deputy Alex Wong. While
it's unclear what the exact reasoning was for the demotion, inside
sources told The Guardian last week that the president had briefly
considered firing Waltz after he accidentally added The Atlantic editor
Jeffrey Goldberg to a Signal group chat that contained discussions about
war plans in Yemen.
Given the
latest news, the situation could be even worse than we thought. Not
only was Waltz previously using an unmodified version of Signal to
discuss highly sensitive information — a major deviation from Department
of Defense protocol — but the Signal knockoff he was spotted using is
incredibly vulnerable to hacking as well.
As
404 reports, the hacker was unable to obtain messages between Waltz and
his accomplices. However, they did access to data related to the Customs
and Border Protection (CBP) agency, the crypto exchange Coinbase, and
other financial institutions.
The data included names and contacts of government officials, as well as usernames and passwords for the app's backend.
"I would say the whole process took about 15-20 minutes," the hacker told the publication. "It wasn’t much effort at all."
"If
I could have found this in less than 30 minutes then anybody else could
too," they added. "And who knows how long it’s been vulnerable?"
We
have a huge security problem that Chump refuses to address. Instead he
has us all at risk because he won't take the needed measures and fire
the incompetents. That includes the ridiculous Pete Hegseth who
continues to wreck the Defense Dept. Haley Britzky and Natasha Bertrand (CNN) report:
US
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has ordered senior Pentagon
leadership to cut the number of four-star generals and admirals by at
least 20% across the military, according to a memo signed by Hegseth
dated Monday and obtained by CNN.
As of 2023, there were 37 four-star generals and admirals across the entire military.
The
memo also directs the Pentagon to cut the number of general officers in
the National Guard by 20%, and to cut the total number of general and
flag officers across the military by 10%. There are currently about 900
general and flag officers — those with the rank of one star or higher —
across the military.
In his memo, Hegseth wrote
that the cuts are a “critical” step toward “removing redundant force
structure to optimize and streamline leadership by reducing excess
general and flag officer positions.”
I
guess I just don't understand what qualifies a weekend talk show host
to make such determinations. I hope that real events don't bitch slap
Hegseth across the face. I don't care if he gets slapped but I do care
if real events pull the US into some conflict and suddenly we're short
staffed because a TV personality was convinced that "I would say over a
third are actively complicit" (his words) are 'woke' and so he got rid
of needed generals. Did that come to him while he was under the dryer?
While he was getting a blow out?
Hegseth has never been qualified for this job but he remains in it.
This
administration is insane from the top down and they are putting future
generations at risk with what they are doing to education, science and
medicine. They are putting us all at risk by refusing to follow basic
security protocols. They are putting us all at risk with the disaster
that is now our FAA.
Rachel Maddow outlined
that last night on MSNBC. My hope was to note that. Despite the fact
that MSNBC has posted three segments of her show and one segment in a
mix of other shows, they didn't post the FAA segment which was the most
important one of last night. I'm not a MORNING JOE fan and ignore it.
But the FAA story is too important and they've discussed it this
morning.
How are there not Congressional hearings regarding the above revelations?
Again,
Chump is a menace. He is not a public servant, he's a greedy crook.
He's is not interested in the public safety, he is only interested in
lining his own pockets.
"I POST TO MY TRUTH SOCIAL LATE AT NIGHT!" HE HEAVED AND SOBBED. "I DO SO BECAUSE THAT'S ALL I CAN DO AT NIGHT NOW. I HAVE A LIMP NOODLE! MY ANACONDA IS DEAD! THE DOCTOR TOLD ME I WAS IMPOTENT AND I SAID 'OF COURSE, I'M IMPOTENT! I'M THE MOST IMPORTENT PERSON IN THE WORLD! NO ONE IS MORE IMPOTENT THAN ME!' THEN HE EXPLAINED TO ME THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 'IMPOTENT' AND 'IMPORTANT.' I ASKED HIM ABOUT VIAGRA AND HE SAID IT WOULDN'T WORK, THAT I'M 78 AND I'LL NEVER SEE AN ERECTION AGAIN! NO MORNING WOOD, NO AFTERNOON WOOD, NO EVENING WOOD, NO NIGHT TIME WOOD! WOOD LESS! ALL MY TREES HAVE BEEN CHOPPED DOWN!"
RANTING SOMETHING ABOUT HOW HE DIDN'T FEEL SORRY FOR HIMSELF, HE JUST FELT SORRY FOR THE WOMEN HE WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO RAPE, CHUMP BEGAN STREAKING AROUND THE OVAL OFFICE UNTIL THE SECRET SERVICE SHOT HIM WITH A TRANQ DART.
That appears to be the motto of the Chump administration and, by server, they mean public servants who are not allowed to take personal gifts nor to profit from their government positions. Hasn't stopped them one bit.
Trashy Garbage, as Trina long ago dubbed her, is only one member of the Chump Crime Syndicate. Carl Gibson notes another criminal scheme:
President Donald Trump is continuing to blur the lines between the federal government and his private businesses as his family rolls out its latest cryptocurrency project.
The New York Times reported that Trump's son, Eric, recently appeared at a conference in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) alongside Zach Witkoff, who is a co-founder of the Trump family's World Liberty Financial cryptocurrency company. The two announced that the government of Abu Dhabi (the capital city of the UAE) was investing $2 billion into the Binance cryptocurrency exchange — the largest crypto market by volume — using a so-called "stablecoin" (a cryptocurrency designed to have a constant value close to $1) developed by the Trump family's company.
According to the Times, that deal is likely to net the Trump family a profit in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The Times' David Yaffe-Bellany wrote that World Liberty's work has "created conflicts of interest with no precedent in modern U.S. history" given the amount of foreign investors typically barred from making conventional political contributions chipping in large sums of money.
Justin Sun — a Chinese-born billionaire who runs the TRON cryptocurrency exchange — is a top investor in World Liberty. After Trump was elected, he bought $75 million worth of World Liberty's $WLFI coins. That purchase came after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused him of manipulating one of TRON's cryptocurrencies. The Times reported that the SEC then asked a judge to pause the investigation into Sun after Trump was reelected last year.
Quid pro quo. Tit for tat. Pay to play. Call it what you will, it's putting democracy up for sale and it's not just unethical, it's illegal. Nikki McCann Ramirez (ROLLING STONE) offers another example:
Donald Trump and his family continue to cash in on cryptocurrency from entities looking to curry influence with the president and his administration - which is simultaneously working to deregulate the industry.
At a crypto conference in the United Arab Emirates, Eric Trump and Zach Witkoff announced that the Trump family's stablecoin - World Liberty Financial's USD1 - will be the vehicle for the state-backed Emirati investment firm MGX to invest $2 billion into Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange.
The announcement comes weeks after Binance founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao claimed he had "no discussions of a Binance US deal with … well, anyone."
The transaction comes with a host of ethical baggage. For starters, World Liberty Financial (a decentralized exchange "inspired by Donald J. Trump"), is co-created and managed by Trump's family - as well as that of Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who has been functioning like a shadow secretary of State -and will now have direct financial ties to Binance, which in November 2023 pleaded guilty to financial crimes including money laundering, sanctions violations, and unlicensed operations. The exchange was slapped with heavy restrictions on operations within the U.S. On top of that, the transaction involves a foreign government with clear political interests in the United States. Much like Trump used his hotels as vehicles for foreign entities to court favor with the presidency, the signal being broadcast by World Liberty Financial is that the Trumps are open to investments.
Chump and his cabinet are betraying the country to line their own pockets. This is far worse than The Teapot Dome Scandal. It is The Chump Criminal Syndicate. Josh Meyer (USA TODAY) notes:
Just two of the cryptocurrency investments owned by Trump-affiliated entities have made at least $300 million in trading fees alone on sales of his meme coin and other digital currency since January, according to ethics watchdogs, Democratic lawmakers, crypto analysts and other experts.
Greater potential profits lie in the Trump entities’ stake in the value of the meme coin and their other Trump-themed crypto investments, these analysts and other experts say.
Last week, another of the Trump family's crypto ventures, World Liberty Financial, announced that one of its digital coins is being used by an Abu Dhabi investment firm for a $2 billion investment in cryptocurrency exchange Binance. Democratic lawmakers and crypto analysts said the deal was a conflict of interest that could earn World Liberty at least $27 million per year.
Crypto isn’t Trump's only source of funds since returning to office. The president profits from real estate, his Truth Social platform and a range of branded merchandise, experts say.
[. . .]
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, ranking Democrat on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, told USA TODAY he’s launching an investigation into Trump’s profits as president.
Robert Reich takes on the corruption of the Chump Criminal Syndicate and the media's lackadaisical manner of portraying it:
Words matter. When the media points out Trump’s “potential conflicts of interest,” as it has in recent days when describing Trump’s growing crypto enterprise, it doesn’t come close to telling the public what’s really going on — unprecedented paybacks and self-dealing by the president of the United States, using his office to make billions.
The correct word is corruption.
Trump holds a private dinner at the White House for major speculators who purchase his new cryptocurrency, earning him and his allies $900,000 in trading fees in just under two days. One senator calls this “the most brazenly corrupt thing a president has ever done.”
He’s doing other things as brazen if not more brazenly corrupt.
He collects a cut of sales from a cryptocurrency marketed with his likeness.
He promotes Teslas on the White House driveway on behalf of a multibillionaire who spent a quarter of a billion backing him during the 2024 election.
He posts news-making announcements on Truth Social, the company in which he and his family own a significant stake. Truth Social thereby becomes the world’s semi-official means of knowing Trump’s thinking and policies.
