July 15, 2019

Collins: Trump should delete tweets on Democratic congresswomen

BY JORDAIN CARNEY - 07/15/19 01:14 PM EDT

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) on Monday said President Trump should delete his tweets telling four Democratic congresswomen of color to "go back" to their home countries, calling his rhetoric "way over the line."

https://twitter.com/Phil_Mattingly/status/1150814128858161152

Collins, who is up for reelection in a state won by Hillary Clinton in 2016, is the first Republican lawmaker to explicitly call for Trump to delete his tweets from Sunday.

Though Republicans have largely remained silent about Trump's tweets, there is growing pushback from some members of the party.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a close ally of Trump's, urged the president to avoid personal attacks, calling on him to focus on criticizing Democratic policies rather than personal attacks. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) called Trump's tweets "wrong," adding that the citizenship of the four congresswomen is "as valid as mine."

more
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/453099-collins-trump-should-delete-tweets-on-democratic-congresswomen

July 15, 2019

Al Green to force impeachment vote following incendiary Trump tweets

Source: The Hill


BY JULIEGRACE BRUFKE - 07/15/19 01:15 PM EDT

Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) said Monday that he plans to force a vote on impeachment this month in the wake of President Trump’s inflammatory tweets telling a group of progressive Democratic congresswomen to "go back" to where they came from.

Green — who unsuccessfully forced a vote on impeachment in 2017, with just 58 Democrats supporting the effort on the floor — said he feels he needs to take action due to the president’s recent rhetoric.

"I will again, this month, bring impeachment to a vote on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives for bigotry in policy, harmful to our society," he tweeted. #RacistPresident #ImpeachNow

https://twitter.com/RepAlGreen/status/1150806611465838592

In a press conference streamed on Facebook Live, the Texas Democrat said he plans to move forward before Congress breaks for its August recess, adding “to tolerate bigotry is to perpetuate bigotry, especially when you can do something about it.”

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/453100-al-green-to-force-impeachment-vote-following-incendiary-trump-tweets

July 15, 2019

Prosecutors Reveal Jeffrey Epstein Had Fake Passport That Listed Residence as Saudi Arabia

by Matt Naham | 11:43 am, July 15th, 2019

Federal prosecutors continue to reveal more and more information about what was locked away in a safe at accused child sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s Upper East Side mansion. Prosecutors said they were “made aware” on Monday that Epstein’s safe contained cash, diamonds and an expired passport.

The government mentioned this while making its case that Epstein should not be let out of jail ahead of trial, arguing that he is about as big of a flight risk as there is.

Although the passport was issued in the ’80s and is currently expired, other details about it raised some eyebrows. For one, the passport has a photo that appears to be of Epstein, but it has a different name on it. Secondly, it was a foreign-issued passport and listed his residence as Saudi Arabia.

https://twitter.com/eorden/status/1150779192201699332

Epstein was also said to have “piles of cash” in that safe.

https://twitter.com/Pervaizistan/status/1150776588113448961

more
https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/prosecutors-reveal-jeffrey-epstein-had-foreign-passport-that-listed-residence-as-saudi-arabia/

July 15, 2019

Trump Attacks Congresswomen in Unhinged Presser: 'They Hate Our Country' With a Passion,...

Trump Attacks Congresswomen in Unhinged Presser: ‘They Hate Our Country’ With a Passion, ‘They Hate Jews’

By Colby HallJul 15th, 2019, 1:08 pm

In his first public comments since Sunday morning tweets described by many as racist, President Donald Trump defended his tweets, according to White House reporters assembled on the South Lawn for a “Made in America” press event.

Trump took questions in a contentious back-and-forth from the press and continued to hit Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) for “hating Israel” and three other freshman congresswomen, namely Rep. Ayana Pressley, Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the last of which he blamed for Amazon not building a East Coast headquarters in Queens, New York.

Trump said of the four Congresswomen “they are very unhappy. I’m watching them, all they do is complain. All I’m saying, if they want to leave, they can leave.” He then turned his focus of derision on Rep. Omar, saying ” I look at the one, I look at Omar. I don’t know, I never met her. I hear the way she talks about Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda has killed many Americans. She said, ‘You can hold your chest out, you can –” when I think of America, when I think of Al Qaeda, I can hold my chest out.'”

He continued “When she talked about the world trade center being knocked down. He remembered the famous “Some people?” These are people that come in my opinion, hit our country. You can say what you want. To get a list of all of the statements they’ve made. If they are not happy here, they can leave.” He finished “They can leave, and you know what? I’m sure there will be many people that want to miss them.”

According to CNN White House Reporter, Kaitlan Collins Trump responded to a question about the racist nature of his Sunday tweetstorm by saying “not at all” continuing by saying ” if somebody doesn’t want to be in our country, they should leave.” It is not clear where he gets the idea that any of the four freshman Congresswomen do not want to be in our country.

https://twitter.com/kaitlancollins/status/1150804787816013826

President Trump spoke at length, ultimately claiming that these four Congresswomen “hate our country with a passion” before oddly lamenting how the “Democrat party” would be making a big political mistake by getting behind these four individuals.

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https://www.mediaite.com/donald-trump/trump-attacks-congresswomen-in-unhinged-presser-they-hate-our-country-with-a-passion-they-hate-jews/

July 15, 2019

DOJ Must Take Position In Trump Bid To Shut Down House Probe, Court Says

Source: Talking Points Memo



By Josh Kovensky
July 15, 2019 10:45 am

An appeals court on Monday ordered the Justice Department to state its position in a case that President Trump filed to shut down a House investigation of his finances.

The government must file an amicus brief by Aug. 6, the court said, in a case where Trump hired personal attorneys to prevent his longtime accountant from complying with a Congressional subpoena for his financial records.

After a D.C. federal judge upheld the subpoena, Trump filed an appeal.

During oral arguments on Friday, judges at the D.C. appeals court repeatedly questioned the President’s personal attorney William Consovoy about whether his representation of Trump extended to the President in his official capacity.

Read more: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/trump-justice-department-mazars

July 15, 2019

Feds Producing Data For States To Do Anti-Immigrant Redistricting Overhaul

Source: Talking Points Memo



By Tierney Sneed
July 15, 2019 11:33 am

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has directed the Census Bureau to prepare to offer states the data they’d need to do a redistricting overhaul that would boost “Republicans and Non-Hispanic Whites,” in the words of a deceased GOP consultant.

That the administration is taking that step is not surprising, given that President Trump said that it would last week while announcing that the 2020 census would not have a citizenship question.

But the government formally put that intention in writing in a regulatory notice that was published over the weekend.

The document was an update to a previous notice about the the government’s plans for the 2020 census that confirmed that the survey would not include a citizenship question due to the Supreme Court decision blocking it.

Read more: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/citizenship-data-states-redistricting-bureau-directed-data

July 15, 2019

As #RacistPresident Trends Americans Demand Republicans Speak Out as They Stay Silent - En Masse...

As #RacistPresident Trends Americans Demand Republicans Speak Out as They Stay Silent – En Masse – on Trump’s Nativism

By DAVID BADASH / JULY 15, 2019 / 10:35 AM

Americans are furious after now two days of President Donald Trump's racist and nativist tweets attacking four progressive Democratic U.S Congresswoman who are also women of color. Trump told them to "go back" to the countries they came from (three of the four were born in the U.S. and all are citizens) then doubled down by accusing them of "racist hatred."

#RacistPresident is now one of the top five trending topics on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/TheTweetwit/status/1150753314574721024

Many are speaking out, but the silence from Republicans in Congress is deafening.

There are 197 Republicans in the House and 53 Republicans in the Senate. That's 250 Republican lawmakers, all of whom represent people of color, women, and people whose families were born outside the U.S.

Out of the 250 Republicans, so far only one has made any attempt to criticize the President, and even then the one who did also said he supported the President's policies.

Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy, whose own actions in the past have drawn the ire of many, tweeted that Trump "was wrong to say any American citizen, whether in Congress or not, has any ‘home’ besides the U.S."

more
https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2019/07/americans-demand-republicans-in-congress-speak-as-they-stay-silent-on-trumps-racist-nativism/

July 15, 2019

William Dannemeyer, the U.S. House's worst homophobe ever, has died

For seven terms, the Orange County Republican led a vicious campaign against "militant homosexuals" and people with AIDS. His legacy lives on in the current GOP.

By John Gallagher Saturday, July 13, 2019

Over the years, there’ve been some pretty awful characters serving in Congress. But no one was as terrible as William Dannemeyer. Only his fellow Republican counterpart in the Senate, Jesse Helms, came anywhere near as close to him for the sheer viciousness of his anti-LGBTQ hatred. Dannemeyer, who died this week at the age of 89, built his career on demeaning, belittling and attempting to punish LGBTQ Americans.

During his 14 years in the House of Representatives, Dannemeyer led an unrelenting attack on LGBTQ rights. He almost invariably referred to gay people as “militant homosexuals” and described being gay as an “alternative lifestyle” and even a “game plan.”

Perhaps the pinnacle of Dannemeyer’s bigotry came in 1989, when he inserted a statement called “What Homosexuals Do” into the Congressional Record.

“Militant homosexuals do not want you to know of the behavior that defines their existence,” Dannemeyer began. “They do not want you to know that the average homosexual has homosexual sex two or three times per week.” Dannemeyer than described what “the average homosexual” did for sex, including oral sex, “receptive anal penetration,” “golden showers,” rimming, and “using what are euphemistically termed ‘toys’ such as one man inserting dildoes, certain vegetables, or lightbulbs up another man’s rectum.”

Dannemeyer insisted that he needed to expose these practices because he believed that “ilitant homosexuals cringe at the thought of what these graphic images mean in the minds of most Americans.”

Instead of his peers rising up in support, Dannemeyer found himself criticized by Democrats and even by other conservatives for being too salacious. “Talk about prurient interest,” complained Democratic Rep. Andy Jacobs Jr. Dannemeyer dismissed the criticism and doubled down on his bigotry.

more
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2019/07/william-dannemeyer-u-s-houses-worst-homophobe-ever-died/

July 15, 2019

Pelosi announces resolution condemning Trump for racist tweets

Source: Politico


By HEATHER CAYGLE 07/15/2019 12:34 PM EDT

House Democrats are drafting a resolution to condemn President Donald Trump’s racist tweets against Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other high-profile freshman congresswomen.

“This weekend, the President went beyond his own low standards using disgraceful language about Members of Congress,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote in a letter to House Democrats announcing the party's plans.

"This morning, the President doubled down on his attacks on our four colleagues suggesting they apologize to him," she added. "Let me be clear, our Caucus will continue to forcefully respond to these disgusting attacks.”

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Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2019/07/15/pelosi-announces-resolution-condemning-trump-for-racist-tweets-1415889

July 15, 2019

Son of Joe Lieberman contemplates a run for U.S. Senate in Georgia

Political Insider 1 hour ago

By Jim Galloway Greg Bluestein Tamar Hallerman

So far, the dominant themes of the Democratic side of the 2020 U.S. Senate contest in Georgia has been its slow formation and leftward drift, even as Republican incumbent David Perdue rakes in boatloads of campaign cash.

Former Columbus mayor Teresa Tomlinson waited until May 1 to make her formal entry, delayed in part by Stacey Abrams’ deliberations about her future. Clarkston Mayor Ted Terry jumped in last week, promising to carry the progressive flag.

But now we’re hearing of another potential contender who could further diversify the Democratic field.

Matt Lieberman is an entrepreneur, author and former educator. He’s also the son of former U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, who served as Al Gore’s running mate in the 2000 presidential contest but was an independent by the end of his political career.

We’re told that Lieberman is seriously considering a bid, telling friends he’s “fed up” with Perdue. Lieberman would be the second child of a former senator in a row to challenge Perdue. Michelle Nunn, daughter of Georgia’s Sam Nunn, was the Democratic nominee in 2014.

more
https://www.ajc.com/blog/politics/the-jolt-son-joe-lieberman-contemplates-run-for-senate-georgia/HvoKBs05uUqwjUDnaaOhLL/