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Tulsi Gabbard leaves Democratic Party, denounces it as 'elitist cabal'
Tulsi Gabbard argues the Democrats have given into 'cowardly wokeness' and 'anti-white racism'.
Former Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard announced she left the Democratic Party on Tuesday, denouncing the organization as an "elitist cabal."
Gabbard, who retired from the House of Representatives in 2021, attacked the institution in a nearly 30-minute video posted to her YouTube account. She did not announce plans to join the Republican Party or adopt any other political affiliation, however.
"I can no longer remain in today’s Democratic Party that is now under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness, who divide us by racializing every issue & stoke anti-white racism," Gabbard said in an excerpt posted to Twitter.
She went on to call on other moderate Democrats to follow in her footsteps.
"I believe in a government that is of the people, by the people and for the people. Unfortunately, today's Democratic Party does not. Instead, it stands for a government that is of, by and for the powerful elite," she continued. "I'm calling on my fellow common sense, independent-minded Democrats to join me in leaving the Democratic Party."
Gabbard's announcement served as the inaugural episode of the Tusli Gabbard Show, a podcast she is now running.
Former Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard announced she left the Democratic Party on Tuesday, denouncing the organization as an "elitist cabal."
Gabbard, who retired from the House of Representatives in 2021, attacked the institution in a nearly 30-minute video posted to her YouTube account. She did not announce plans to join the Republican Party or adopt any other political affiliation, however.
"I can no longer remain in today’s Democratic Party that is now under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness, who divide us by racializing every issue & stoke anti-white racism," Gabbard said in an excerpt posted to Twitter.
She went on to call on other moderate Democrats to follow in her footsteps.
"I believe in a government that is of the people, by the people and for the people. Unfortunately, today's Democratic Party does not. Instead, it stands for a government that is of, by and for the powerful elite," she continued. "I'm calling on my fellow common sense, independent-minded Democrats to join me in leaving the Democratic Party."
Gabbard's announcement served as the inaugural episode of the Tusli Gabbard Show, a podcast she is now running.
online today!
Going out with a bang...
Alabama gets approval for first US execution using nitrogen gas
BIG News ! China moves to ban wild animals as food.
In response to:
Xinhua Headlines: China vows to discard game meat consumption
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-12 18:30:34|Editor: huaxia
In the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak, China's top legislature has adopted a decision on banning illegal trading of wildlife and eliminating consumption of wild animals. The move is an opportunity for the country to rachet up wildlife conservation system and reframe people's relationship with wildlife.
by Xinhua writers Zhang Yizhi and Ma Yujie
FUZHOU, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Zeng Xianlin, a 45-year-old forest ranger, has not taken a day off since late January, despite the coronavirus outbreak.
For nearly two months, Zeng, in Ninghua County of eastern China's Fujian Province, spends hours every day wading through the thick woods hunting for illegal animal-capturing activities.
He discovered six bird-poaching nets during the period.
In the neighboring county of Mingxi, local forestry police also saved 117 wild animals and arrested four suspects for setting traps and illegal poaching.
Since the outbreak of novel coronavirus, forestry departments and police across the country have been stepping up efforts in cracking down on illegal wildlife trading as wild animals are the possible intermediate hosts of the deadly virus, which the World Health Organization has just declared it as a pandemic due to its large-scale global infectivity.
China suspended illegal trading and transportation of wild animals shortly after the outbreak. The move became a permanent ban on Feb. 24, when the country's top legislature adopted a decision on thoroughly prohibiting illegal trading of wildlife and eliminating the consumption of wild animals to safeguard people's lives and health.
The decision is of far-reaching significance not only in people's dietary habits but a big industry as well.
According to a report published by the Chinese Academy of Engineering in 2017, over 14 million people participated full-time or part-time in China's wildlife breeding industry in 2016, creating an output value of more than 520 billion yuan (about 74.6 billion U.S. dollars). Among them, there were nearly 6.63 million people employed in the game meat industry, generating an annual output value of 125 billion yuan in 2016.
Now the whole industry will soon be reshuffled.
ENDANGERED INDUSTRY
Breeding wild animals in some remote hilly regions has been encouraged to boost the rural economy. Bamboo rat is one of the star animals in recent years.
Ou Xiaoren, 50, has been raising bamboo rats in Fujian's Youxi County for nearly a decade.
In 2012, he invested 1.8 million yuan in a bamboo rat farm, and the animal has helped him rake in 800,000 yuan in profit every year. In its heyday, the farm kept over 10,000 bamboo rats.
Now his thriving business has been brought to a standstill. He still has 2,000 rats on the farm, which cost him over 1,000 yuan a day.
According to the decision by China's top legislature, wild animals that are not included in the livestock catalog are banned from consumption. The country is still working on a full list of wild animals.
"I'm waiting for the final word every day," he said. "It's like sitting on thorns, and I have no idea what to do now."
Local forestry authorities have asked him to calculate his overall investment for possible compensation.
Some breeders are looking for a way out. Qiu Jinwang, an owner of a snake farm in Fujian's city of Wuyishan, said his company may shift to develop the medical value of the snakes once snake consumption is outlawed.
Yu Shengkui, who raises 1,200 blue peacocks in a village in Minhou County, Fujian, said he is planning to train the peacocks for flying performances as a new way of running the farm for income.
Xinhua Headlines: China vows to discard game meat consumption
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-12 18:30:34|Editor: huaxia
In the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak, China's top legislature has adopted a decision on banning illegal trading of wildlife and eliminating consumption of wild animals. The move is an opportunity for the country to rachet up wildlife conservation system and reframe people's relationship with wildlife.
by Xinhua writers Zhang Yizhi and Ma Yujie
FUZHOU, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Zeng Xianlin, a 45-year-old forest ranger, has not taken a day off since late January, despite the coronavirus outbreak.
For nearly two months, Zeng, in Ninghua County of eastern China's Fujian Province, spends hours every day wading through the thick woods hunting for illegal animal-capturing activities.
He discovered six bird-poaching nets during the period.
In the neighboring county of Mingxi, local forestry police also saved 117 wild animals and arrested four suspects for setting traps and illegal poaching.
Since the outbreak of novel coronavirus, forestry departments and police across the country have been stepping up efforts in cracking down on illegal wildlife trading as wild animals are the possible intermediate hosts of the deadly virus, which the World Health Organization has just declared it as a pandemic due to its large-scale global infectivity.
China suspended illegal trading and transportation of wild animals shortly after the outbreak. The move became a permanent ban on Feb. 24, when the country's top legislature adopted a decision on thoroughly prohibiting illegal trading of wildlife and eliminating the consumption of wild animals to safeguard people's lives and health.
The decision is of far-reaching significance not only in people's dietary habits but a big industry as well.
According to a report published by the Chinese Academy of Engineering in 2017, over 14 million people participated full-time or part-time in China's wildlife breeding industry in 2016, creating an output value of more than 520 billion yuan (about 74.6 billion U.S. dollars). Among them, there were nearly 6.63 million people employed in the game meat industry, generating an annual output value of 125 billion yuan in 2016.
Now the whole industry will soon be reshuffled.
ENDANGERED INDUSTRY
Breeding wild animals in some remote hilly regions has been encouraged to boost the rural economy. Bamboo rat is one of the star animals in recent years.
Ou Xiaoren, 50, has been raising bamboo rats in Fujian's Youxi County for nearly a decade.
In 2012, he invested 1.8 million yuan in a bamboo rat farm, and the animal has helped him rake in 800,000 yuan in profit every year. In its heyday, the farm kept over 10,000 bamboo rats.
Now his thriving business has been brought to a standstill. He still has 2,000 rats on the farm, which cost him over 1,000 yuan a day.
According to the decision by China's top legislature, wild animals that are not included in the livestock catalog are banned from consumption. The country is still working on a full list of wild animals.
"I'm waiting for the final word every day," he said. "It's like sitting on thorns, and I have no idea what to do now."
Local forestry authorities have asked him to calculate his overall investment for possible compensation.
Some breeders are looking for a way out. Qiu Jinwang, an owner of a snake farm in Fujian's city of Wuyishan, said his company may shift to develop the medical value of the snakes once snake consumption is outlawed.
Yu Shengkui, who raises 1,200 blue peacocks in a village in Minhou County, Fujian, said he is planning to train the peacocks for flying performances as a new way of running the farm for income.
(continued in my first comment below)
I guess we all knew he was very petty. But, even for him, this is extreme....or is it ?
Today from The Daily Beast;
In other News....2 hours ago from The Washington Post;
In response to:
Trump Says He Told Pence to Ignore Governors in Hard-Hit Areas If They Are ‘Not Appreciative’
Hunter Woodall
The Daily BeastMarch 28, 2020, 7:40 AM EDT
Shortly after the U.S. death toll from the coronavirus pandemic reached 1,500 on Friday, President Donald Trump took to the podium at a White House press briefing and complained that certain state’s governors are not “appreciative” enough of the federal government’s help—so much so that he said he’d told Vice President Mike Pence, the leader of the coronavirus task force, to skip calling governors of some hard-hit areas.
Trump singled out the Democratic leaders of Washington and Michigan, noting that he had advised Pence not to call them as the healthcare crisis plagues their states and people fall sick and die.
“He calls all the governors,” Trump said. “I tell him, I mean, I’m a different type of person. I say Mike, don’t call the governor of Washington, you’re wasting your time with him. Don’t call the woman in Michigan.”
“If they don’t treat you right, I don’t call,” Trump said.
Michigan’s health department is reporting 3,657 COVID-19 cases and 92 deaths. In Washington, there have been 3,700 cases, according to the state, and 175 deaths.
“We have done a hell of a job,” Trump said. “The federal government has really stepped up.”
Trump’s message to governors was that he wants “them to be appreciative.”
The president’s comments Friday come as the coronavirus pandemic continues to shut down American life and states across the nation show a lack of uniformity on aggressive public health measures aimed at preventing the spread of the virus.
Earlier this week, Trump began to push on an Easter timeline to re-open the country, despite warnings that such a timeline was unwise. Even some Republican governors have pushed back. Despite his earlier emphasis on Easter, he hedged when asked about the topic Friday.
“I certainly want to get it open as soon as possible, I don’t want it to be long,” Trump said. “But we also want it to open safe, otherwise, what did we do?”
At the start of the coronavirus task force briefing Trump said the nation’s governors “have been very gracious, for the most part.”
“A couple that aren’t appreciative of the incredible job,” Trump said. “They have to do a better job themselves, that’s part of the problem.”
He continued to praise his administration’s work, while scorning Washington Gov. Jay Inslee as “a failed presidential candidate.”
“He leveled out at zero in the polls,” Trump said. “He’s constantly chirping and I guess complaining would be a nice way of saying it.”
He then jumped to attacking another Democratic governor, Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer.
“Michigan, all she does is, she has no idea what’s going on,” he said. “And all she does is say, ‘Oh, it’s the federal government’s fault.’ And we’ve taken such great care of Michigan.”
Trump Says He Told Pence to Ignore Governors in Hard-Hit Areas If They Are ‘Not Appreciative’
Hunter Woodall
The Daily BeastMarch 28, 2020, 7:40 AM EDT
Shortly after the U.S. death toll from the coronavirus pandemic reached 1,500 on Friday, President Donald Trump took to the podium at a White House press briefing and complained that certain state’s governors are not “appreciative” enough of the federal government’s help—so much so that he said he’d told Vice President Mike Pence, the leader of the coronavirus task force, to skip calling governors of some hard-hit areas.
Trump singled out the Democratic leaders of Washington and Michigan, noting that he had advised Pence not to call them as the healthcare crisis plagues their states and people fall sick and die.
“He calls all the governors,” Trump said. “I tell him, I mean, I’m a different type of person. I say Mike, don’t call the governor of Washington, you’re wasting your time with him. Don’t call the woman in Michigan.”
“If they don’t treat you right, I don’t call,” Trump said.
Michigan’s health department is reporting 3,657 COVID-19 cases and 92 deaths. In Washington, there have been 3,700 cases, according to the state, and 175 deaths.
“We have done a hell of a job,” Trump said. “The federal government has really stepped up.”
Trump’s message to governors was that he wants “them to be appreciative.”
The president’s comments Friday come as the coronavirus pandemic continues to shut down American life and states across the nation show a lack of uniformity on aggressive public health measures aimed at preventing the spread of the virus.
Earlier this week, Trump began to push on an Easter timeline to re-open the country, despite warnings that such a timeline was unwise. Even some Republican governors have pushed back. Despite his earlier emphasis on Easter, he hedged when asked about the topic Friday.
“I certainly want to get it open as soon as possible, I don’t want it to be long,” Trump said. “But we also want it to open safe, otherwise, what did we do?”
At the start of the coronavirus task force briefing Trump said the nation’s governors “have been very gracious, for the most part.”
“A couple that aren’t appreciative of the incredible job,” Trump said. “They have to do a better job themselves, that’s part of the problem.”
He continued to praise his administration’s work, while scorning Washington Gov. Jay Inslee as “a failed presidential candidate.”
“He leveled out at zero in the polls,” Trump said. “He’s constantly chirping and I guess complaining would be a nice way of saying it.”
He then jumped to attacking another Democratic governor, Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer.
“Michigan, all she does is, she has no idea what’s going on,” he said. “And all she does is say, ‘Oh, it’s the federal government’s fault.’ And we’ve taken such great care of Michigan.”
In other News....2 hours ago from The Washington Post;
In response to:
Trump takes immediate step to try to curb new inspector general’s autonomy, as battle over stimulus oversight begins
By
Jeff Stein and
Devlin Barrett
March 28, 2020 at 5:44 p.m. EDT
Immediately after signing the historic $2 trillion coronavirus aid package, President Trump sought to curb oversight provisions in the bill by asserting presidential authority over a new inspector general’s office.
The move could presage a major battle between the White House and Capitol Hill as the Trump administration moves to implement the new law.
In a White House signing statement released Friday evening, Trump questioned the constitutionality of the law’s requirement that a new Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery notify Congress immediately if the administration “unreasonably” withholds information requested by investigators....
Trump takes immediate step to try to curb new inspector general’s autonomy, as battle over stimulus oversight begins
By
Jeff Stein and
Devlin Barrett
March 28, 2020 at 5:44 p.m. EDT
Immediately after signing the historic $2 trillion coronavirus aid package, President Trump sought to curb oversight provisions in the bill by asserting presidential authority over a new inspector general’s office.
The move could presage a major battle between the White House and Capitol Hill as the Trump administration moves to implement the new law.
In a White House signing statement released Friday evening, Trump questioned the constitutionality of the law’s requirement that a new Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery notify Congress immediately if the administration “unreasonably” withholds information requested by investigators....
Biden Says He Needs Your Vote Today On "Super Thursday": The Man Belongs In A Nursing Home
Seriously, it's pathetic. He doesn't know where he is (he's got that wrong on numerous occasions) or what day it is. He's already older than the oldest president in history AFTER HE FINISHED BEING PRESIDENT. And his mind is shot. Are the Democrats serious about this guy? Yes they say? Serious as a heart attack? Oh wait... that would be Sanders. Their other nonagenarian candidate teetering on the brink.
"We hold these truth's to be self l'evident. All men and women created by the... go ...ahhh... by... you know the thing!" ~Joe Biden
I don't know which is scarier, that an Alzheimer's patient is running for president, or that half the people in this country would actually vote for him. What does that tell you about mental health in America?
Lord save us!
"We hold these truth's to be self l'evident. All men and women created by the... go ...ahhh... by... you know the thing!" ~Joe Biden
I don't know which is scarier, that an Alzheimer's patient is running for president, or that half the people in this country would actually vote for him. What does that tell you about mental health in America?
Lord save us!
Obama, Schiff, You got a lotta 'splainin' to do
New Russia Transcripts Appear To Show Schiff, Obama Officials Knew Trump Was Not Colluding With Russia.
Newly released transcripts from House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff’s (D-CA) closed door Russia investigation hearings show that former Obama officials and Schiff appeared to know that there was little to no evidence that the Trump campaign colluded with Russian officials during the 2016 election.
Here is what former Obama officials testified to when asked during Schiff’s hearings if they had or had seen evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia:
Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper: “I never saw any direct empirical evidence that the Trump campaign or someone in it was plotting/conspiring with the Russians to meddle with the election.”
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power: “I am not in possession of anything – I am not in possession and didn’t read or absorb information that came from out of the intelligence community.”
Former National Security Adviser Susan Rice: “I don’t recall any intelligence or evidence to that effect.”
Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch: “I can’t say that it existed or not.”
Former Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes: “I saw indications of potential coordination, but I did not see, you know, the specific evidence of the actions of the Trump campaign.”
Despite the testimonies contained in the 53 transcripts, Schiff repeatedly promoted the now-debunked claim that the Trump campaign had colluded with Russia during the 2016 election and went as far as to say that he had “direct evidence” that it happened.
Donald Trump Jr. told The Daily Wire, “Sounds like it was 53 up, 53 down. None of the former Obama admin people were able to testify that they had seen evidence of collusion. These are probably the same people that the New York Times, CNN and WaPo quote as ‘former US officials’ saying that there totally was clear evidence of collusion.”
Clapper, who had testified that he had no evidence of collusion, said two years later when he was a paid CNN contributor, “What was the Trump campaign doing the same time was essentially aiding and abetting the Russians.”
The transcripts were released after Republicans pressured Schiff to release them and Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell informed Schiff that the transcripts were cleared to be released after redactions had been made.
Schiff reportedly panicked over releasing the transcripts because he knew what is is now public: that the things that he was claiming in public did not match what officials were testifying to behind closed doors.
A source close to the White House told The Daily Wire yesterday, “Schiff really is panicking In a state of panic, Schiff has been making sloppy mistakes. It was a colossally stupid mistake on his part to send his staff out to find out what role Grenell had in the process, it gave Grenell’s allies in the Intelligence Community the perfect opportunity to disclose that the redactions took place before Grenell got there. Some of Schiff’s other mistakes will play out over the next couple of days.”
Newly released transcripts from House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff’s (D-CA) closed door Russia investigation hearings show that former Obama officials and Schiff appeared to know that there was little to no evidence that the Trump campaign colluded with Russian officials during the 2016 election.
Here is what former Obama officials testified to when asked during Schiff’s hearings if they had or had seen evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia:
Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper: “I never saw any direct empirical evidence that the Trump campaign or someone in it was plotting/conspiring with the Russians to meddle with the election.”
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power: “I am not in possession of anything – I am not in possession and didn’t read or absorb information that came from out of the intelligence community.”
Former National Security Adviser Susan Rice: “I don’t recall any intelligence or evidence to that effect.”
Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch: “I can’t say that it existed or not.”
Former Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes: “I saw indications of potential coordination, but I did not see, you know, the specific evidence of the actions of the Trump campaign.”
Despite the testimonies contained in the 53 transcripts, Schiff repeatedly promoted the now-debunked claim that the Trump campaign had colluded with Russia during the 2016 election and went as far as to say that he had “direct evidence” that it happened.
Donald Trump Jr. told The Daily Wire, “Sounds like it was 53 up, 53 down. None of the former Obama admin people were able to testify that they had seen evidence of collusion. These are probably the same people that the New York Times, CNN and WaPo quote as ‘former US officials’ saying that there totally was clear evidence of collusion.”
Clapper, who had testified that he had no evidence of collusion, said two years later when he was a paid CNN contributor, “What was the Trump campaign doing the same time was essentially aiding and abetting the Russians.”
The transcripts were released after Republicans pressured Schiff to release them and Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell informed Schiff that the transcripts were cleared to be released after redactions had been made.
Schiff reportedly panicked over releasing the transcripts because he knew what is is now public: that the things that he was claiming in public did not match what officials were testifying to behind closed doors.
A source close to the White House told The Daily Wire yesterday, “Schiff really is panicking In a state of panic, Schiff has been making sloppy mistakes. It was a colossally stupid mistake on his part to send his staff out to find out what role Grenell had in the process, it gave Grenell’s allies in the Intelligence Community the perfect opportunity to disclose that the redactions took place before Grenell got there. Some of Schiff’s other mistakes will play out over the next couple of days.”
Elizabeth Hurley at 54
Posted today;
"Anyone who is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else." ~ Benjamin Franklin
"Anyone who is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else." ~ Benjamin Franklin
Impeachment "Road Map" unsealed for Robert Mueller's use.
"All in all, it's just another brick in the wall...." 
Most witnesses lined up, lots of evidence mounting, and now an important document
unsealed.
This week, another step/brick was put in place towards the eventual impeachment of Dirty Don Trump.
In the words of Michael Avenetti, "buckle up sweatheart, it's going to be a tough ride."
Most witnesses lined up, lots of evidence mounting, and now an important document
unsealed.
This week, another step/brick was put in place towards the eventual impeachment of Dirty Don Trump.
In the words of Michael Avenetti, "buckle up sweatheart, it's going to be a tough ride."
In response to:
Judge Unseals Watergate Report That Led To Articles Of Impeachment Against Nixon
The so-called Road Map could inform how special counsel Robert Mueller handles his investigation into the Trump campaign and Russia.
By Carla Herreria
A federal judge on Thursday granted a request to unseal part of a Watergate report known as the Road Map which gives details about President Richard Nixon’s involvement in covering up the Watergate break-in and was used to inform articles of impeachment against him.
The Road Map, which was sent to the House Judiciary Committee in 1974, could be used as precedent for how Special Counsel Robert Mueller will end his investigation into whether Trump’s presidential campaign colluded with Russia.
Politico first reported the Road Map’s release on Thursday.
Chief U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell released part of the Road Map at the request of George Shepard, who served in Nixon’s defense team during Watergate.
In the order obtained by Politico, Howell said the National Archives told her the report consists of a “two-page summary statement, followed by 53 individually numbered statements” and 97 documents supporting those statements.
The National Archive also said 81 of the documents had already been made public, whether in a House Judiciary Committee report or “elsewhere in the public domain.”
In addition to the Road Map’s partial release, Howell ordered the Justice Department to contact the individuals named in the remaining 16 documents to see whether they object to the report’s release.
In September, three legal scholars had also filed a petition to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia asking for the Road Map to be unsealed.
The September request was filed by Brookings Institution senior fellow Benjamin Wittes; Jack Goldsmith, former senior official for the Justice Department under President George W. Bush who is now a law professor at Harvard; and Stephen Bates, a law professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and the former federal prosecutor working for Kenn Starr, whose investigation resulted in the impeachment of President Bill Clinton.
“We did so because the document is of significant historical interest and significant contemporary interest,” Wittes, Goldsmith and Bates explained in the legal blog Lawfare, where Wittes is editor-in-chief.
“The Road Map is one of the few significant pieces of Watergate history that remains unavailable to the public,” they continued. “The document is also keenly relevant to current discussions of how Mueller should proceed.”
Judge Unseals Watergate Report That Led To Articles Of Impeachment Against Nixon
The so-called Road Map could inform how special counsel Robert Mueller handles his investigation into the Trump campaign and Russia.
By Carla Herreria
A federal judge on Thursday granted a request to unseal part of a Watergate report known as the Road Map which gives details about President Richard Nixon’s involvement in covering up the Watergate break-in and was used to inform articles of impeachment against him.
The Road Map, which was sent to the House Judiciary Committee in 1974, could be used as precedent for how Special Counsel Robert Mueller will end his investigation into whether Trump’s presidential campaign colluded with Russia.
Politico first reported the Road Map’s release on Thursday.
Chief U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell released part of the Road Map at the request of George Shepard, who served in Nixon’s defense team during Watergate.
In the order obtained by Politico, Howell said the National Archives told her the report consists of a “two-page summary statement, followed by 53 individually numbered statements” and 97 documents supporting those statements.
The National Archive also said 81 of the documents had already been made public, whether in a House Judiciary Committee report or “elsewhere in the public domain.”
In addition to the Road Map’s partial release, Howell ordered the Justice Department to contact the individuals named in the remaining 16 documents to see whether they object to the report’s release.
In September, three legal scholars had also filed a petition to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia asking for the Road Map to be unsealed.
The September request was filed by Brookings Institution senior fellow Benjamin Wittes; Jack Goldsmith, former senior official for the Justice Department under President George W. Bush who is now a law professor at Harvard; and Stephen Bates, a law professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and the former federal prosecutor working for Kenn Starr, whose investigation resulted in the impeachment of President Bill Clinton.
“We did so because the document is of significant historical interest and significant contemporary interest,” Wittes, Goldsmith and Bates explained in the legal blog Lawfare, where Wittes is editor-in-chief.
“The Road Map is one of the few significant pieces of Watergate history that remains unavailable to the public,” they continued. “The document is also keenly relevant to current discussions of how Mueller should proceed.”
Trump FINALLY admits collusion !
Today from the Huffington Post
(continued in first comment below)
In response to:
Trump Finally Admits His Campaign Colluded With Russia At Trump Tower Meeting
The latest version of the 2016 meeting with a Kremlin-linked lawyer basically undercuts numerous Trump claims.
WASHINGTON ? Forty times President Donald Trump has posted statements on Twitter asserting “NO COLLUSION” with Russia during the 2016 election. He made the claim standing next to Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki last month, and then a day later during a Cabinet meeting at the White House.
Sunday, he negated all of that by admitting that his campaign had tried to collude with Russia to win the presidency, after all.
Trump wrote in an 8:35 a.m. post on Twitter that the purpose of a June 9, 2016, gathering at Trump Tower was “to get information on an opponent, totally legal and done all the time in politics ? and it went nowhere. I did not know about it!”
That new admission, however, is completely at odds with the statement Trump crafted for use in the July 2017 news story that first reported the Trump Tower meeting. In that statement, he falsely claimed that the session attended by his eldest son and other high-ranking campaign aides was “primarily” about the adoption of Russian children.
“Donald Trump is every attorney’s worst nightmare,” said Rick Wilson, a Republican political consultant and prominent Trump critic. “He combines a complete lack of personal discipline with an impulse to place himself at ever greater risk of prosecution. He’s the ‘Bad Idea Jeans’ of presidents.”
Just a half hour after Trump’s new tweet, Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow admitted that he had put out falsehoods last year when he also claimed that the meeting was about adoption.
“I had bad information at that time and made a mistake in my statement,” he said on ABC’s “This Week” program, before continuing attacks on the integrity of special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in U.S. politics, a strategy Trump personally began from the time he took office.
Sekulow ? whose career has made him an expert on school voucher and religious freedom cases, not criminal law – claimed that meeting with Russians tied to their country’s government with the goal of getting assistance to win a U.S. election was not illegal.
“The question is how would it be illegal?” Sekulow said. “The question is, what law, statute or rule or regulation has been violated? No one has pointed to one.”
In reality, numerous criminal lawyers have pointed out that colluding with a foreign power to win an election or even attempting to do so may constitute conspiracy against the United States.
That Sekulow had misstated the origin of the July 2017 statement provided to The New York Times and attributed to Donald Trump Jr. became clear earlier this year, in a leaked letter from Trump’s legal team to Mueller’s office. In it, lawyers stated that Trump had dictated the statement written aboard Air Force One as it flew back from the G-20 summit in Germany. At the time, Trump and his White House had falsely claimed that he had only offered his input into the crafting of the statement.
While Trump has claimed since taking office that “no collusion” occurred between his campaign and Russia and that Mueller was conducting a “witch hunt,” Trump’s acceptance of Russian help has been out in the open since the final month of the 2016 campaign.
Throughout that October, Trump cited emails disseminated by WikiLeaks on a near daily basis ? even though he began receiving briefings in August 2016 that told him that U.S. intelligence agencies had determined those emails had been stolen by Russian spies. U.S. intelligence made that assessment public in an Oct. 7 statement.
Trump Finally Admits His Campaign Colluded With Russia At Trump Tower Meeting
The latest version of the 2016 meeting with a Kremlin-linked lawyer basically undercuts numerous Trump claims.
WASHINGTON ? Forty times President Donald Trump has posted statements on Twitter asserting “NO COLLUSION” with Russia during the 2016 election. He made the claim standing next to Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki last month, and then a day later during a Cabinet meeting at the White House.
Sunday, he negated all of that by admitting that his campaign had tried to collude with Russia to win the presidency, after all.
Trump wrote in an 8:35 a.m. post on Twitter that the purpose of a June 9, 2016, gathering at Trump Tower was “to get information on an opponent, totally legal and done all the time in politics ? and it went nowhere. I did not know about it!”
That new admission, however, is completely at odds with the statement Trump crafted for use in the July 2017 news story that first reported the Trump Tower meeting. In that statement, he falsely claimed that the session attended by his eldest son and other high-ranking campaign aides was “primarily” about the adoption of Russian children.
“Donald Trump is every attorney’s worst nightmare,” said Rick Wilson, a Republican political consultant and prominent Trump critic. “He combines a complete lack of personal discipline with an impulse to place himself at ever greater risk of prosecution. He’s the ‘Bad Idea Jeans’ of presidents.”
Just a half hour after Trump’s new tweet, Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow admitted that he had put out falsehoods last year when he also claimed that the meeting was about adoption.
“I had bad information at that time and made a mistake in my statement,” he said on ABC’s “This Week” program, before continuing attacks on the integrity of special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in U.S. politics, a strategy Trump personally began from the time he took office.
Sekulow ? whose career has made him an expert on school voucher and religious freedom cases, not criminal law – claimed that meeting with Russians tied to their country’s government with the goal of getting assistance to win a U.S. election was not illegal.
“The question is how would it be illegal?” Sekulow said. “The question is, what law, statute or rule or regulation has been violated? No one has pointed to one.”
In reality, numerous criminal lawyers have pointed out that colluding with a foreign power to win an election or even attempting to do so may constitute conspiracy against the United States.
That Sekulow had misstated the origin of the July 2017 statement provided to The New York Times and attributed to Donald Trump Jr. became clear earlier this year, in a leaked letter from Trump’s legal team to Mueller’s office. In it, lawyers stated that Trump had dictated the statement written aboard Air Force One as it flew back from the G-20 summit in Germany. At the time, Trump and his White House had falsely claimed that he had only offered his input into the crafting of the statement.
While Trump has claimed since taking office that “no collusion” occurred between his campaign and Russia and that Mueller was conducting a “witch hunt,” Trump’s acceptance of Russian help has been out in the open since the final month of the 2016 campaign.
Throughout that October, Trump cited emails disseminated by WikiLeaks on a near daily basis ? even though he began receiving briefings in August 2016 that told him that U.S. intelligence agencies had determined those emails had been stolen by Russian spies. U.S. intelligence made that assessment public in an Oct. 7 statement.
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