Michael Cohen

Wannabe Dictator Trump’s New Attack on Kavanaugh Accusers: ‘Look Into the Lawyers’

Posted by on September 24, 2018 at 12:55 pm. 1 Comments :

Trump has made it a priority in his administration to assault the institutions that comprise most of what best defines America. Most notably, the media which he repeatedly refers to in Stalinist terms as “the enemy of the people” (which has not worked out very well for him). But he is also a devout foe of academia, science, the arts, intelligence, and even religion when it doesn’t serve his purposes. But no institution has taken more of the brunt of Trump’s animus than the law.

Donald Trump

In the past short but unbearable two years, Trump has expressed his disdain for the agencies of the government that draft, maintain, and implement the law. He rages against Congress for not bowing down to his authority and passing his favorite legislative initiatives like funding the border wall. He regards the FBI as beholden to secretive, subversive, “Deep State” forces intent on destroying his presidency. He puts more faith in the words of Vladimir Putin than he does in his own intelligence professionals with regard to whether Russia unlawfully interfered with the 2016 (and 2018) election.

Perhaps the most battered victim in the field of law enforcement is the Department of Justice itself. Trump has relentlessly pummeled his own attorney general, Jeff Sessions, with withering insults and open disrespect. He recently stated that “I have no attorney general.” And of course, he fired his director of the FBI, James Comey, and replaced him with Christopher Wray, who then became the new designated butt of Trump’s malice. And Trump’s hatred for the FBI and the DoJ goes even deeper to lower level officials like Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, and Bruce Ohr.

Now in the midst of a melodrame involving his morally flawed Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, Trump is becoming more desperate and more disparaging. With the number of accusers coming forward with tales of sexual misconduct by Kavanaugh growing, Trump has segued from attacking the accusers themselves to attacking their legal representation (video below):

“These are highly unsubstantiated statements from people represented by lawyers. You should look into the lawyers, their representation.”

That’s a disturbing outburst from a president of what is supposed to be a free democracy. Trump explicitly makes known his suspicion of “people represented by lawyers.” Which is pretty funny considering that he is represented by an army of them. But on the other tiny hand, it’s also understandable in that his long-time personal attorney, Michael Cohen, is now cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller, and providing testimony that is likely damaging to Trump. Another factor driving Trump’s dislike of lawyers could be concluded just by looking at who his lawyers are (I’m looking at you Rudy Giuliani).

What’s more, Trump’s admonition to – the media? – that they “should look into the lawyers,” portends the sort of government heavy-handedness that is characteristic of totalitarian regimes. And it may even be a bit of an anti-Semitic dog whistle to his base that automatically assumes an evil undercurrent to their imagined Jewish domination of the law (and banking, and Hollywood, and whatever else their rancid imaginations dream up). That’s especially suspicious since Michael Bromwich (a Jewish lawyer who also represents Andrew McCabe) just joined the legal team representing Christine Blasey Ford.

What exactly does Trump hope to achieve with an examination of the lawyers representing Kavanaugh’s accusers? Does he think they will be exposed as collaborators in the Deep State? Will he discover some cabal of commie subversives? Maybe he thinks they’re all ambulance chasing money grubbers. Does he hope that when “looked at” they will run for cover and leave their clients without a defense?

Trump is obviously afraid of lawyers. He frequently threatens to sue anyone that looks at him funny. But he eventually skulks away in cowardice and disgrace. He has suffered numerous defeats at the hands of lawyers representing those he has harmed in business. For instance, earlier this year he was ordered to pay $25 million to the defrauded students of Trump University.

The most visible legal opponent of Trump, Stormy Daniels’ attorney Michael Avenatti, scares Trump so badly that he has never tweeted about him even once. And Trump still has more than a dozen other women who have made charges of sexual harassment and assault against him, and may file lawsuits of their own. So maybe Trump’s proposal to have the lawyers looked into is just his latest attempt to silence and/or bully them. Yeah, that’ll work.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Tucker Carlson Gets Creamed By Stormy Daniels’ Lawyer, Michael Avenatti in Hilarious Fox News Throwdown

Posted by on September 13, 2018 at 9:26 pm. 4 Comments :

The single most repulsive character on the Fox News Cartoon Network is, without a doubt, Tucker Carlson. He has assumed the position of the Grand Wizard of the white nationalist movement with his frequent tirades that literally regurgitate the racist tropes of the hate mongers of the right. A recent example of that took place just last week on a show where Carlson couldn’t figure out how diversity strengthens America.

Fox News, Tucker Carlson, Michael Avenatti

But what occurred on Thursday night’s episode went even farther into the abyss off wingnuttery (video below). Carlson hosted Michael Avenatti, the lawyer for Stormy Daniels, in a what turned into a demolition of Carlson’s already splintered reputation. It began with Carlson introducing some of the ground rules for the TV debate. He said that Avenatti…

“…”has now agreed to appear on our set provided we give him time to state his case, and of course we’re happy to do that. In the past he’s also demanded that we stop referring to him by a certain unflattering nickname [Creepy Porn Lawyer]. We haven’t agreed to that demand, but tonight, as a gesture of goodwill, we will not use that nickname, because we’re always grateful when guests are brave enough to show up in person, including in this case.”

So Carlson made two promises in order to get Avenatti to agree to appear on the program. And Carlson almost immediately broke both of them. His first interruption occurred within seconds of Avenatti’s response to the first question he was asked. And from the start, Carlson’s program featured chyrons that repeatedly used the “Creepy Porn Lawyer” epithet. It was a demonstration of the infantile nature of Carlson and the State TV outlet that employs him. Avenatti weighed in following the show:

Carlson asked his first question, which had to do with what the rational response would be to an act of cyber war by Russia. Avenatti began his answer by saying that “Well, Tucker, I understood that I was coming on your show tonight to talk about the case involving my client…” And that was as far as Avenatti got when Carlson burst in with his first interruption. Avenatti told Carlson that:

“You’ve gotta stop interrupting me, cause one of the conditions of me coming on tonight was that you were not going to do what you do routinely to guests, which is talk over them and interrupt them. So just let me finish with my answer.”

Then Carlson asked his question again, and Avenatti got a little further into his answer when Carlson again broke in, and Avenatti scolded him saying “There you go interrupting me again.” It’s clear how this interview was going to go from just these first few minutes. Avenatti was trying to give substantive responses to Carlson’s inquiries, but Carlson obviously didn’t like that Avenatti’s points included condemnations of Trump for colluding with Russia. So Carlson had to prevent that sort of truth from getting out to his willfully ignorant audience.

Despite Carlson’s introduction that claimed that he didn’t want to engage in insults, he excused his interruptions as “clarifications” because, as he stated, Avenatti didn’t understand the questions. But Avenatti wasn’t going to sit there and have Carlson call him stupid. He shot back at Carlson with a question of his own: “Why don’t you call Trump the creepy porn president” due to his having unprotected sex with a porn actress while his wife and four month old baby were at home. Carlson got glassy-eyed and stuttered as he tried to change the subject. Then, after acting like a wild buffoon, Carlson told Avenatti to “settle down.” It was hilarious.

Then Carlson goes totally off the rails with an assertion that makes no sense at all. He said that Avenatti should be paying his client, Stormy Daniels, because he has an expensive suit and she’s performing in strip clubs. Huh? What does that have to do with anything? Does Carlson think that any lawyer who is better off financially than his client should be giving the client money?

Avenatti then nailed Carlson for not knowing that Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to two campaign finance felonies. Carlson tried to claim that they were not violations, but you can’t plead guilty to something that isn’t a crime. Having lost this point, Carlson swings back to why Daniels is performing in “depressing strip clubs,” as if it were Avenatti’s role to tell her what to do. Avenatti replied that she’s doing what she wants and that “This is America” and “if a women wants to perform in a strip club she does so even though people like you demean her.”

You know that Avenatti was winning this debate by the way that Carlson was losing his composure. He actually ended up yelling at Avenatti because he refused to allow Carlson to continually interrupt him. And when Avenatti grew tired of Carlson’s belittling of his client, he asked Carlson about his own porn habits. That shut Carlson up momentarily. And when Avenatti asked Carlson if he thought that people who view porn should watch his show, Carlson whimpered “I’m not even sure what that question means.” Then Carlson cut Avenatti off from responding to his closing lecture by declaring that he was out of time.

There is one lesson that everyone watching this segment ought to take to heart: No one should ever – for any reason – appear on Tucker Carlson’s program. He will lie to your face about the conditions of the agreement to appear. And then he will endeavor to steer the conversation to whatever tangential topic he thinks he can best malign you with. Avenatti actually handled Carlson brilliantly throughout the “interview,” but it was still an exercise in futility that accomplished nothing. Carlson’s mind can not be changed, and neither can the minds of his dimwitted viewers.

While there is a scant amount of comic relief from seeing Carlson squirm, it’s still unproductive and only serves to spike his ratings. That potentially gives him attention from a larger pool of Deplorables when he should be booted off the air for advancing the agenda of neo-Nazis and violent, racist extremists. The sooner he gets canned for advocating his race war, the better for America.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Frantic Gaslighting: Trump Accuses Lester Holt of ‘Fudging’ Interview Where He Incriminated Himself

Posted by on August 30, 2018 at 12:42 pm. 3 Comments :

Thursday morning most of the media was focused on the first public memorial service for the late Sen. John McCain. So as the nation was united in paying tribute to McCain, Donald Trump naturally took to his Twitter throne and fired off a series of frighteningly incoherent outbursts at what he regards as “the enemy of the people.” It’s his way of continuing to show contempt for a man that had the audacity to challenge him.

Donald Trump

The substance of Thursdays’ tweetstorm was typically centered on his aversion to, and fear of, the free press and the Constitution. He began by taking a swipe at a perennial foe, CNN. Trump lashed out at the network’s boss, Jeff Zucker, and called on AT&T to fire him. Think about that. The president of the United States is issuing orders to a private company in order to control their executive management. That’s pretty much the definition of fascism.

But Trump didn’t stop there. The next tweet in the tantrum was aimed at NBC and their news anchor, Lester Holt. What Trump said was obviously pulled from the recesses of a deeply disturbed mind. It was based on nothing resembling reality, but it did serve to advance his mission to Make America Stupid Again:

This is a perfect example of Trump disseminating utter bullcrap to his pathetic and glassy-eyed cult followers who will believe anything Dear Leader disgorges. The interview with Holt was not “fudged” in any way, and Trump offers no evidence to support his charge. The entire interview is posted online for all to see. Trump’s sole purpose in hurling this lie is to mitigate the fact that he incriminated himself in that interview. Trump told Holt that he fired FBI director James Comey because of the Russia investigation.

So Trump literally confessed to obstruction of justice on national television. Now he’s trying to back out of it by saying the interview was doctored. But everyone knows that he’s making that up out of pure desperation. And by doing so he only makes things worse by being so transparently dishonest and by bringing attention back to his guilt. Even Fox News was taken aback by Trump’s glaringly false allegation.

Trump continued his Twitter tirade with a more generalized attack on what he called the “totally dishonest” media. He said that “Truth doesn’t matter to them,” and that “they only have their hatred & agenda.” This is coming from the man who has been documented as telling more than 4,200 lies since his poorly attended inauguration (which he lied about). And he’s also the man whose whole presidency has been marinated in hate and bigotry. He can’t go a single day without tossing around vicious and infantile insults at anyone he perceives as insufficiently worshipful.

Finally (for the time being), Trump circled back around to CNN to reiterate some completely fake allegations about a recent story concerning his troubles with his personal attorney, Michael Cohen. Cohen’s lawyer, Lanny Davis, had told CNN that Cohen might tell special counsel Robert Mueller that the President knew about the infamous Trump Tower meeting with the Russians before it occurred. Davis later backpedaled and said that he could not actually confirm that. Note that he did not say it wasn’t true, only that he was no longer comfortable with the comment. That’s probably because it could put his client in legal jeopardy because it contradicted what Cohen told Congress.

Subsequently, Trump, Fox News, and other rightist media began accusing CNN of flubbing the story. But they actually got it right. It was Davis who admits that he made a statement that he would no longer stand by. That isn’t CNN’s fault, especially since they also had other sources corroborating their reporting. They continue stand by the story.

The fact that Trump would take this time, as the nation is still mourning the passing of John McCain, to trot out his self-serving delusions, is indicative of his utter lack of character and class. He simply isn’t able to allow anyone else to have the spotlight for a day or two. But the ludicrous charge that Lester Holt tampered with the video of his interview shows that Trump will propound any lie, no matter how outrageous and unfounded, to deceive the nation. And that sort of dishonesty has been the hallmark of his tenure so far in the White House.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Donald Trump Seeking Immunity From Mueller in Exchange for Flipping on Don Jr And Melania

Posted by on August 25, 2018 at 11:33 am. 4 Comments :

The past week has seen a flurry of unprecedented activity in Washington concerning the criminal probe of Donald Trump and his Confederacy of Crooks. Most noteworthy are the felony convictions and guilty pleas by Trump’s campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and personal attorney, Michael Cohen. With respect to the latter, Trump was even implicated as a co-conspirator in unlawful campaign finance transactions.

Donald Trump, Melania, Don Jr

Also in the news were two of Trump’s closest associates who were granted immunity by federal prosecutors. David Pecker is the publisher of the National Enquirer, a tabloid that has gone to great lengths to shield Trump from negative publicity, while harshly attacking his opponents. He has also been a Trump friend and ally for more than two decades. Allen Weisselberg is the long-time chief financial officer of the the Trump Organization with knowledge of nearly everything that goes on behind the closed doors of Trump’s criminal enterprise. The fact that both of these people were offered and accepted immunity indicates that they were complicit in illegal activities and that they have information to share.

Not wanting to get left holding the bag, Trump himself is reported to be seeking an immunity deal. After all, why should he take the fall if he can point his bony fingers at other dumb suckers? Sources say that Trump is willing to spill his guts about the meeting with Russian operatives at Trump Tower that was set up by his son Don Jr. and Manafort. Nearly everyone involved in that secret meeting has lied repeatedly about what took place. And that includes Trump, who recently outed himself as having deliberately deceived the nation. Consequently, it will be interesting to get his testimony about what actually occurred, if he can be relied on to tell the truth (a longshot at best).

What’s more, Trump has been carefully watching the case of Rep. Duncan Hunter, who was just indicted on corruption charges. Hunter was the second person in congress to endorse Trump’s presidential campaign. It’s tangentially noteworthy that Trump’s first congressional endorser, Chris Collins, has also been indicted. And his third is the embattled Attorney General, Jeff Sessions.

Of particular interest to Trump is Hunter’s legal strategy of blaming his wife for any wrongdoing. It’s a bold move that most defendants (or decent people) would shy away from. But Trump appears to regard it as a show of strength and a sign of masculinity. Therefore, he is also offering the special counsel incriminating information on his wife, Melania. The First Lady has not been been implicated yet in any of the shady dealings by Team Trump, but the President believes he can link her to nefarious activities due to her being an immigrant with suspect loyalties to America.

This concession to the Mueller and company is a stark turnaround for Trump who has expressed in no uncertain terms his utter disdain for “flippers.” He regards them as “rats” and conversely sees people who resist cooperating with law enforcement as being loyal to their fellow mobsters. But then Trump is getting some very dodgy legal advice which he says comes from the shows he watches on TV.

It is not known whether Mueller is considering immunity for Trump. For one thing, he doesn’t appear to have any information on the sort of bigger fish that immunity is generally granted to hook. He is the biggest flounder in the cesspool. Furthermore, his request just smells like another stab at desperation to avoid being impeached, indicted, and imprisoned himself. For those and other reasons, Trump may be disappointed in his quest to escape responsibility for his misdeeds and corruption. Perhaps he’d have more luck if he had an embarrassing video of Vladimir Putin in a Moscow hotel with urinating hookers. Oh wait, that was Trump too.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Trump Tells Fox News that He Has ‘Many Friends Involved’ in Criminal Activity Who Lie to the Feds

Posted by on August 24, 2018 at 9:34 am. 1 Comments :

In what passes for an “interview” on Fox News, the co-host of Fox and Friends, Ainsley Earhardt presided over Donald Trump doing his best impression of a Mafia boss to date (video below). His language resembled the lingo of classic movie gangsters as he delivered veiled threats, like the one where he warned that the stock market would crash if he were impeached (nice economy you have there. It sure would be a shame if something happened to it).

Donald Trump, Godfather

Earhardt never bothered to challenge Trump on any of his ludicrous assertions and lies. Fox gets away with this because they are the President’s shadow cabinet and the source for virtually all information he receives. Eventually the discussion turned to the question of whether his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, would cooperate with law enforcement officials. Trump might just as well have adopted a James Cagney accent and started snarling “You dirty rat.”

When Earhardt wasn’t staring adoringly at Trump, and tossing him the softest of balls, she sat quietly as he lectured her, and the Fox News audience of cultists, on the culture of crime family etiquette. He lauded his campaign chairman Paul Manafort for not caving in to the coppers by squealing on Trump. And he denigrated Cohen for ratting out his ex-boss and coming clean to the G-Men investigating Trump’s criminal conduct.

Trump also waxed philosophical about the art of “flipping.” He characterized it as crooks making up stories to escape severe sentences for crimes they’ve committed. In reality, it’s an agreement between suspects and law enforcement to secure cooperation in order to catch bigger crooks. Lying under these circumstance is rare because it would result in the deal being voided and the suspect receiving an even harsher sentence than was originally anticipated. Trump said that this common and useful practice “ought to be illegal.” But he also said that he’s very familiar with it:

“I know all about flipping. For 30-40 years I’ve been watching flippers. […] I’ve seen it many times. I’ve got many friends involved in this stuff. It’s called ‘flipping’ and it almost ought to be illegal.”

That’s an extraordinary comment. In essence Trump is bragging that many of his friends are criminals who have been entangled in police investigations. He doesn’t say whether they were the flippers or the targets of the flipping. But either way they were involved in illegal activities as kingpins or cohorts with information to trade. And isn’t difficult to believe that Trump had these kinds of disreputable friends considering the bad character of Trump’s associates in his campaign and his presidency. In fact, anything other than a confederacy of crooks would seem totally out of character for this president.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Dotard Report: Trump Confides to Fox News that He Gets His Legal Advice ‘By Watching Shows’ on TV

Posted by on August 23, 2018 at 1:21 pm. 5 Comments :

The presidency of Donald Trump has been a slow motion disaster for the past twenty months. But the velocity of his crumbling regime has been ramping up in recent days. His campaign manager, Paul Manafort, was convicted on eight felonies. His personal attorney, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to eight felonies as well. Plus, Cohen testified that Trump was in on the hush money payments to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal.

Donald Trump

On Thursday morning the temperature continued to rise. Daveid Pecker, the publisher of the National Enquirer, and a close Trump pal, was granted immunity in order to provide information about Trump’s illegal campaign finance affairs. So fearing the worst, Trump took refuge in his “safe space” that he knows will always offer comfort, consolation, and a shield from any and all criticism – Fox News.

Ainsley Earhardt of Fox and Friends was dispatched to rub salve on the President’s wounds (video below). And she really came through. Asking a series of softball questions that Trump could swat away with ease, Earhardt sat through the entire twelve minutes nodding like a bobble-head doll. She didn’t challenge Trump on a single subject, despite his flagrant and easily provable lies. For instance, Trump rattled off false statistics about employment; he said that James Comey is Robert Mueller’s best friend; he alluded to imaginary crimes that Hillary Clinton committed; and he claimed that the FBI raided Manafort’s home at 5:00 in the morning with guns. None of that, and most everything else he said, is true.

One particular exchange in this televised tongue bathing stood out as a revealing confession by Trump. Earhardt asked him about Cohen’s testimony at his pleading that Trump directed him to make the hush money payouts. And Trump’s answer was, to say the least, peculiar:

Earhardt: He [Michael Cohen] said in one story that you didn’t know anything about the payments. And now he’s saying that you directed him to make these payments. Did you direct him to make the payments?
Trump: He made the deals. He made the deals. And by the way, he pled to two counts that aren’t a crime. Which nobody understands. I watched a number of shows. Sometimes you get some pretty good information by watching shows. Those two counts aren’t even a crime. They weren’t campaign finance. […] A lot of lawyers – on television – and also lawyers that I have say that they are not even crimes.

Notice that Trump’s response did not address whether he directed Cohen to make the payments. He said twice that Cohen “made the deals,” but never denied that he directed Cohen to do so. Then Trump quickly pivots to an absurd statement that Cohen pleaded to two counts of something that isn’t a crime. Of course, anyone who isn’t brain-dead knows that you can’t plead guilty to a crime that doesn’t exist. It’s like saying “I plead guilty to eating brussel sprouts. And I’ll do it again, dammit” As it turns out, there is no law against eating brussel sprouts and, thus, nothing to plead to. He’s absolutely correct when he says that “nobody understands” this. Somebody needs to explain it to Trump. I’d suggest a kindergarten teacher, because they have experience with stubbornly immature students.

However, what was truly disturbing is when Trump disclosed where he gets his legal advice. He’s the President of the United States and has whole departments of lawyers working for him in the White House and the Justice Department, as well as his personal legal team. And yet, he tells Earhardt that his legal expertise comes from “watch[ing] a number of shows.” “Sometimes,” he says, “you get some pretty good information by watching shows.”

Trump doesn’t say which shows, but it’s a pretty safe bet it’s Fox and Friends or Sean Hannity. That would explain why he believes that someone can plead guilty to crimes that don’t exist. But if this is the source of his consultations on matters of law, he is in bigger trouble than he can possibly imagine.

For the record, this is the second time Trump has identified TV as his source for critical data on presidenting. In August of 2015, Trump responded to a question from Chuck Todd about who his advisors are for military issues. Trump said that “I watch the shows.” But then, what more would you expect from the Reality TV president?

It’s interesting that Trump credits television with providing so much good information. Because he still thinks that the press is, in the whole, corrupt and dishonest. He reiterated that when Earhardt asked him if the press is “the enemy of the people.” “Absolutely not,” he said. But went on to contradict himself saying that only “Eighty percent of the media is the enemy of the people.” So he gets his legal advice from the other twenty percent? With consultants like that, and TV lawyers like Rudy Giuliani implicating Trump in criminal acts every time he’s on the tube, Trump is headed for an extended stay in Leavenworth – or maybe Gitmo.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Michael Cohen’s Lawyer Drops Truth Bomb on Fox News: Rhetoric Without Facts is Too Common on Fox

Posted by on August 22, 2018 at 1:50 pm. NO Comments :

In the wake of the felony convictions of Donald Trump’s campaign manager, Paul Manafort, and personal attorney, Michael Cohen, Fox News has endeavored to trivialize these historically unprecedented events. Their tactics include sweeping these legal bombshells under other stories that don’t have the national scope of presidential corruption, but which fit into the Fox themes of wingnuttery and racism. Or they entirely dismiss the crimes as even being criminal (which Trump did himself Wednesday morning on Twitter).

Fox News, nuclear Bomb

Joining the parade of propaganda, Fox News host Eric Shawn interviewed Cohen’s attorney, Lanny Davis, on Wednesday’s episode of America’s Newsroom. Shawn thought he was going to bury Davis with a question that stuffed every Clinton cliche imaginable into thirty seconds of blather. But Davis wasn’t having it (video below):

Fox News: What do you say to those who say there should be a special counsel investigating the Clinton, the DNC, the dossier, Christopher Steele, and the way this was handled by the Department of Justice and FBI officials. Some of whom have been fired and certainly showed a distaste for Donald Trump becoming President of the United States.
Davis: First of all, you didn’t state a single fact involving the Clintons. And although I have a lot of friends at Fox, and have been a Fox guest on almost every show, that kind of rhetoric without facts is, unfortunately, too common on Fox shows. So state me facts of what Bill and Hillary Clinton actually have done that would suggest anything illegal suggesting a special counsel.

Shawn didn’t take Davis up on his request for facts. Davis did, however, masterfully let Fox News have it on their own air. Shawn’s question was reeking of bias and a predetermined mindset that Clinton is the real criminal. Never mind that she has been investigated for thirty years by hostile Republicans who still couldn’t find any trace of wrongdoing. Shawn’s reference to Steele and his dossier ignores the fact that much of it has been confirmed and that none of it has been proved untrue. And the only reason there is a distaste for Trump among law enforcement officials is because they know what he’s done. It’s like complaining that the police, after investigating, had a distaste for Charles Manson. Who wouldn’t?

What’s more, the knee-jerk reaction by Trump and so many of his sycophants/surrogates to point their fingers at the Clintons or Obama is merely their obvious attempt to change the subject by way of a scheme now known as “whataboutism.” Trump’s cult followers simply can’t focus on any of the facts about his crimes without resorting to whining about factless allegations involving retired Democrats.

That’s a pretty good indication that they have no coherent response to Team Trump’s crime spree. If they did they would present it, and not jingle their keys at the camera as a distraction. Then again, that’s just the sort of thing that compels the attention of babies and Trump supporters who have trouble comprehending the real world.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

https://twitter.com/MelsLien/status/1032270644652765184

Guilty Conscience? Trump Rattles Off Four Times ‘This Has Nothing to do with Russian Collusion’

Posted by on August 21, 2018 at 3:30 pm. 4 Comments :

Donald Trump’s campaign chairman and personal attorney/fixer are both officially felons. And now that there are verdicts in two of the most closely watched criminal cases of the year, Everyone was anxious to hear what the Unindicted Co-Conspirator-in-Chief would have to say about it. And if you were expecting a message of respect for the judicial process and the rule of law, you are going to be bitterly disappointed.

Donald Trump

Trump spoke briefly after the convictions of Paul Manafort and Michael Cohen as he deplaned for a rally in West Virginia. His comments were a mix of sympathy, defiance, and self-serving bluster that demonstrated his contempt for the legal system that is still closing in around him:

After briefly expressing how sad he is about Manafort, who he said is “good man,” Trump launched into a defense of himself that no one asked him about. He had a desperate need to make sure that everyone knew that “It doesn’t involve me” and that “This has nothing to do with Russian collusion.” In fact, he mentioned the Russia affair four times in less than one minute. He closed by repeating that Manafort’s conviction had nothing to with Russian collusion, and then called it a “witch hunt” for the second time in this short clip.

Any first-year psychology student would recognize Trump’s anxiety and repetitious dialogue as the ravings of someone consumed by fear and knowledge of guilt. He continuously yowled his self defense more than he did any support for his former campaign chairman, Manafort. What’s more he didn’t mention Cohen’s name at all. That could signal his preference for Manafort, who some speculate will get a pardon. As for Cohen, he explicitly incriminated Trump in the Stormy Daniels hush money affair, so his prospects are much gloomier. That may explain why Trump couldn’t even say his name.

For the record, this does involve Trump. Cohen’s plea deal references him as the “candidate” with whom he conspired to suppress the Daniels story. And it surely has something to do with Russian collusion from the standpoint that Manafort convictions might persuade him to be more cooperative with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

It will be interesting to see what the Republicans in Congress have to say about Cohen’s pleading guilty to eight felony counts. During the Clinton administration they thought it justifiable to impeach the President for having lied about an extramarital affair. But Trump has now been implicated in both an affair and an illegal conspiracy to cover it up. Shouldn’t that warrant at least one of the Articles of Impeachment to be brought against him?

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Trump Confesses Collusion with Russia While His Lawyer Jay Sekulow Lies About Trump Tower Meeting

Posted by on August 5, 2018 at 3:06 pm. 1 Comments :

On Sunday morning’s edition of This Week, George Stephanopoulos asked Donald Trump’s attorney Jay Sekulow about his prior statements concerning the infamous meeting in Trump Tower. That was where Don Jr, Paul Manafort, Jared Kushner, and other Trump associates conspired with Russian operatives to acquire emails stolen from Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

Donald Trump

As a refresher, what Sekulow said at the time was that the meeting was an innocent gathering to discuss adoption issues. He further said that Donald Trump knew nothing about it and had no role in the false explanations that were disseminated to the press.

Of course, we now know that Trump dictated those phony excuses. And we know it because Sekulow admitted it in a letter to special counsel Robert Mueller. What’s more, Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, is said to be ready to testify that Trump was aware of the meeting before they took place, and approved of it. At this point that’s almost academic since the evidence shows that Trump was talking about the ill-gotten fruits of the meeting in public in advance of it.

Remember, this was a meeting in his own building, with his son, his son-in-law, and his campaign manager, to discuss Russian dirt on his opponent, during his campaign. Gee, why would anyone think he knew anything about it? Nevertheless, that was the position of Sekulow and the whole Trump regime. But on This Week Sekulow said this (video below):

“I was in the case at that point a couple of weeks and there was a lot of information that was gathering, and as my colleague Rudy Giuliani said, I had bad information at that time. I made a mistake in my statement. I talked about that before. That happens when you have cases like this.”

Actually, that is most definitely not what happens in cases like this. In cases like this it is imperative that attorneys collect and disseminate only well researched and documented information. Anything less is a flagrant disservice to their client, as is evident by what’s going on now. But that isn’t the worst thing about Sekulow’s remarks.

The worst part is that the entire statement is riddled with lies. If Sekulow had “bad information” at the time, then why didn’t he correct the record after he was able to get good information. He had over a year to do that. He had access to the people who attended the meeting. Why didn’t he get statements from them to set the record straight? In fact, why didn’t they offer corrections themselves without being prodded by Sekulow? They knew what he said on TV and they knew is was false. Every one of them let the lies fester for a year. And, of course, Trump himself knew that what his lawyer said wasn’t true, but he didn’t bother to correct him either.

What’s more, you have to ask why Team Trump told so many lies about the meeting in the first place. If they all considered it to be innocent and legal there should be no reason to invent fictional scenarios that were sure to be uncovered eventually. That’s not the way innocent people behave. And they allowed those lies to gather mold for months, purposefully deceiving the American people as well as the investigating authorities.

And, for the first time, Trump himself has acknowledged that the subject of the Trump Tower meeting was to obtain dirt about Clinton from Russia. That’s a bombshell admission that also reveals that he lied when he told the press that it was about adoptions, and also when he dictated the lies that Don Jr told.

This tweet is confession that Trump colluded with Russia to get dirt on Clinton. It’s as simple as that. Furthermore, it isn’t legal and it isn’t done all the time. To the contrary, this has never been done, that anyone knows of. And it is strictly against the law to conspire with a foreign government to interfere with an election. It’s also illegal to accept cash, or anything of value (like stolen emails), without disclosing it in campaign finance reports.

Since we know that Trump and company have lied about whether there ever was a meeting with Russians, and then lied about the subject of the meeting, and then lied about the participants, and then lied about why they told the previous lies, then it’s a good bet that the lies Trump just told will also be exposed in short order. That being his claim that he didn’t know about the meeting. Anyone who believes that is terminally naive. It’s just a matter of time before the truth about this comes out, just like the truth about the meeting did. And when it does you can expect Trump start tweeting about illegal MS-13 immigrant children on a nationwide killing spree who refuse to stand for the national anthem.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Icky Facto? Fox News Defends Getting Campaign Dirt on Hillary Clinton from Hostile Foreign Countries

Posted by on July 27, 2018 at 11:53 am. NO Comments :

On Laura Ingraham’s Thursday night Fox News program she hosted former federal prosecutor and Fox contributor, Andrew McCarthy. The segment was focused on the recent bombshell disclosure about Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen. The report alleges that Cohen is prepared to testify that Trump knew in advance about the meeting his son and senior campaign staff had with Russian operatives pitching negative information from Hillary Clinton’s stolen emails.

Fox News Commies

Cohen’s testimony would make Trump’s repeated prior claims of having no knowledge of the meeting a lie (Trump lied? Shocking, isn’t it?). On Friday morning Trump reiterated his ignorance of the meeting in a tweet that also disparaged Cohen. But all of that was of little concern to Ingraham and her guests. For the most part the conversation was typically defensive of Trump and sought to malign Cohen’s credibility. Ingraham even offered the long-ago debunked excuse that the meeting was only about Russian adoptions and was an attempt to lobby Trump’s people to support repealing the Magnitsky Act that imposed sanctions on Russia. Don Jr’s own emails refuted that red herring with a subject line that read “Russia – Clinton – private and confidential.”

In addition to trying to dismiss and trivialize the significance of the Cohen revelations, Ingraham and company likewise argued that there wasn’t anything wrong with the apparent collusion by Trump with Russia to steal the 2016 presidential election. She actually defended the practice of getting campaign dirt from hostile foreign countries. Although she did manage to criticize Clinton in a bizarre rant (video below):

“Hillary Clinton paid for dirt that was assembled by the Russians in the form of the Steele dossier. She actually went further than meeting with someone. Her people actually paid for it. They got dirt and then it ended up making its way all the way through the U.S. government.”

Ingraham is to truth what Donald Trump is to, well, truth. Clinton did not pay for “dirt that was assembled by the Russians.” Her campaign paid an opposition research firm whose activities were first funded by a conservative Republican website. That firm hired a former British intelligence officer, Christopher Steele, to gather information about Trump and his associates. It was Steele, an American ally who the FBI regarded as credible and trustworthy, who assembled information that he obtained from his sources. The Russians had nothing to do with “assembling” the data, and Clinton had no interactions with Russians or Steele. And while portions of the dossier were cited in FISA warrant applications, they were merely a part of the evidence that the government presented.

So Ingraham was just mouthing off with a flurry of false, right-wing, Trump-sponsored talking points. And if that wasn’t bad enough, her guest, McCarthy, concurred with the opinion that there was nothing to see here:

“I don’t think that it’s bad if campaigns are turning to foreign governments for dirt. It’s not collusion. It’s not something that’s impeachable. It’s icky. But that’s what this is.”

Actually, when campaigns turn to foreign governments for dirt, that absolutely is collusion by definition. It is also conspiracy to aid and abet a foreign government’s interference with an election. And that’s both illegal and impeachable. But I’ll give McCarthy credit for at least admitting that “It’s icky.” I guess that’s a legal term that Fox News contributors use to sound smart.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.