5/14/2017

AMBASSADOR/POPE FRANCIS/TRUMP PEOPLE/CALLISTA GINGRICH: “Less than two weeks before a potentially tense and diplomatically delicate meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, President Trump has apparently settled on nominating Callista Gingrich, the wife of Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, as the United States ambassador to the Holy See, according to two people close to […]

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5/14/2017

FBI/JAMES COMEY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “President Donald Trump, who has reportedly been isolated and frustrated by the negative coverage engulfing his administration in recent days, may be considering a major reorganization of his White House staff, according to report from Mike Allen of the news website Axios on Sunday [5-14-17]. Trump is said to have […]

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5/14/2017

FBI/JAMES COMEY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The calls for an impeachment investigation into President Trump have continued to mount in the wake of his controversial dismissal of FBI Director James Comey. In an op-ed released by the Washington Post on Saturday, Harvard constitutional law professor Laurence H. Tribe states that ‘The time has come for Congress to […]

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5/14/2017

FBI/POLITICS: “Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday [5-14-17] that the Senate should refuse to confirm a new FBI director until the Department of Justice appoints a special counsel to lead a probe into allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. ‘I think there are a lot of Democrats who feel that way,’ […]

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5/13/2017

MISC: “I was thrilled to be back @LibertyU. Congratulations to the Class of 2017! This is your day, and you’ve earned it. ➡️http://45.wh.gov/yC4dRy” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, May 13, 2017 01:57pm […]

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5/12/2017

LEGAL/RUSSIA/TRUMP PEOPLE/PAUL MANAFORT: “The Justice Department last month requested banking records of Paul Manafort as part of a widening of probes related to President Donald Trump’s former campaign associates and whether they colluded with Russia in interfering with the 2016 election, according to people familiar with the matter. In mid-April, federal investigators requested Mr. Manafort’s […]

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5/12/2017

ECONOMY/TAXES/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump says the perfect medicine for the economy’s sluggish growth is a big tax cut. Mr. Trump and his advisers say that leaving more money in the hands of businesses and consumers will lead to more spending and investment, lifting economic growth, which has been stuck in a 2-percent-a-year rut. Indeed, […]

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5/12/2017

ATTORNEY GENERAL/CRIME/DRUGS/OBAMA/TRUMP PEOPLE/JEFF SESSIONS: “Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered federal prosecutors late Thursday [5-11-2017] to pursue the toughest possible charges and sentences against crime suspects, reversing Obama administration efforts to ease penalties for some nonviolent drug violations. The dramatic shift in criminal justice policy, foreshadowed during recent weeks, is Mr. Sessions’s first major stamp on […]

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5/12/2017

LEGAL/RUSSIA/TRUMP TAXES: “President Trump’s lawyers say his income tax returns do not show income from Russian sources or debt owed to Russians, with the exception of $95 million paid by a Russian billionaire for a Trump-owned estate in Florida and $12.2 million in payments in connection with holding the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow in […]

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5/12/2017

TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A tweet from President Donald Trump on Friday [5-12-17]suggesting that he might have taped phone conversations from the White House made waves in Washington, but some former employees and a former associate said it wasn’t a surprise to them that he would mention taped conversations. As a businessman, Mr. Trump sometimes taped […]

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5/12/2017

CONFLICT OF INTERESTS/POLITICS/TREASURY: “A Treasury Department unit that specializes in combating money-laundering will share financial records with an expanding Senate probe into possible ties between Russia and President Donald Trump and his associates, according to people familiar with the matter. The Senate Intelligence Committee requested the records from Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, […]

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5/12/2017

FBI/LEGAL/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A growing number of legal experts say President Trump has opened himself up to a charge of obstruction of justice this week when he said ‘this Russia thing with Trump’ was on his mind when he fired FBI Director James B. Comey. The federal law against obstruction of justice, a felony, is […]

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5/12/2017

CLIMATE CHANGE: “BlackRock Inc said on Friday [5-12-17] that it voted in favor of a successful shareholder proposal calling for more climate change reporting by Occidental Petroleum Corp (OXY.N), in the first sign the world’s largest asset manager was backing up its tough new talk on environmental matters. Backers of the resolution called its passage […]

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5/12/2017

MISC: “Today, I welcomed the Victory Christian Center School. Good luck @ the Team America Rocketry Challenge! #TARC Watch: http://45.wh.gov/Bvi5d1” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, May 12, 2017 04:16pm […]

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5/12/2017

TRUMP FAMILY/MELANIA: “Today, @FLOTUS hosted a Military Mother’s Day Event in the East Room of the WH. It was an honor to stop by, say hello, & introduce Melania! https://t.co/wNVB0PYoef” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, May 12, 2017 04:09pm […]

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5/12/2017

FBI/JAMES COMEY/POLITICS: “Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has agreed to brief the full Senate next week on the firing of FBI Director James Comey, a spokesperson for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters Friday [5-12-17]. ‘Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein’s office has confirmed to Senator Schumer’s office that Mr. Rosenstein will come to brief the […]

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5/12/2017

FBI/JAMES COMEY/LEAKS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump on Friday [5-12-17] warned former FBI Director James Comey not to leak information to the news media while dismissing criticism that his aides gave contradictory accounts of how the White House handled Mr. Comey’s firing. ‘James Comey better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before […]

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5/12/2017

2016 ELECTION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/VOTER FRAUD: “The man Donald Trump appointed Thursday [5-11-17] to be vice chair of a commission to investigate voter fraud repeatedly backed Trump’s unfounded charge that millions voted illegally in the 2016 election. President Trump signed an executive order creating the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity and named Kansas Secretary of […]

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5/12/2017

FOREIGN POLICY/FRANCE/POLLS: “President Donald Trump might want to skip visiting France anytime soon. Apparently, the French are not big fans of Trump. They even dislike him more than they dislike Russian President Vladimir Putin. A new poll conducted by Suffolk University surveyed 1,000 French voters about how they view former and current world leaders. According […]

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5/12/2107

ETHICS/FBI/JAMES COMEY/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump’s statement that he discussed the FBI’s Russia investigation with former Director James Comey has raised red flags among legal experts who said such conversations would be improper. ‘There generally shouldn’t be communications about pending investigations and if you need an explanation why, see: Watergate, basically,’ said Kathleen Clark, […]

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5/12/2017

CHINA/FOREIGN POLICY: “China just agreed that the U.S. will be allowed to sell beef, and other major products, into China once again. This is REAL news!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, May 12, 2017 06:20am […]

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5/12/2017

FBI/JAMES COMEY/RUSSIA: “When James Clapper himself, and virtually everyone else with knowledge of the witch hunt, says there is no collusion, when does it end?” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, May 12, 2017 05:54am […]

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5/12/2017

TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “As a very active President with lots of things happening, it is not possible for my surrogates to stand at podium with perfect accuracy!… Maybe the best thing to do would be to cancel all future ‘press briefings’ and hand out written responses for the sake of accuracy???” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, May […]

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5/11/2017

FBI/JAMES COMEY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump said he was planning to fire former FBI Director James Comey regardless of any advice from the Justice Department, because Mr. Comey was a ‘showboat’ who he claimed had lost the faith of his employees. In an interview with NBC News on Thursday [5-11-17], Mr. Trump offered his […]

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5/11/2017

MIKE PENCE/TRUMP EXEC ORDERS/VOTER FRAUD: ” ‘Establishment of the Presidential Commission on Election Integrity’ The order creates a commission, led by Vice President Mike Pence, to investigate allegations of voter fraud and voter suppression in the U.S. voting process. The commission, called the ‘Presidential Commission on Election Integrity,’ will review vulnerabilities in the election system. […]

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5/11/2017

ANDREW MCGABE/FBI: “Andrew G. McCabe has risen so fast at the F.B.I. that he has become a source of both admiration and resentment. So a favorite way to criticize him is to offer one of the most backhanded compliments in the bureau’s lexicon: He’s a great briefer. Mr. McCabe’s talent for briefing his superiors is […]

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5/11/2017

TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The federal agency that administers the nation’s presidential libraries criticized a viral tweet sent by the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum that appeared to poke fun at President Trump and his decision to fire James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director. The tweet, posted Tuesday, sought to snidely distinguish between Mr. Trump’s […]

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5/11/2017

VOTING: “A new study by the liberal group Priorities USA has found that Wisconsin’s tightened voter ID laws may have kept 200,000 mostly Democratic and African-American votes out of the 2016 presidential election. The report notes that ‘while states with no change to voter identification laws witnessed an average increased turnout of +1.3% from 2012 […]

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5/11/2017

FOREIGN POLICY/RUSSIA: “Yesterday, on the same day- I had meetings with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the FM of Ukraine, Pavlo Klimkin. #LetsMakePeace!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, May 11, 2017 04:54pm […]

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5/11/2017

FBI/JAMES COMEY/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The White House said Thursday [5-11-17] that removing FBI Director James Comey from his post may hasten the agency’s investigation into Russian meddling. ‘We want this to come to its conclusion, we want it to come to its conclusion with integrity,’ said deputy press secretary Sarah Sanders, referring to the FBI’s […]

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5/11/2017

CABINET/CLIMATE CHANGE/STATE/TRUMP PEOPLE/REX TILLERSON: “U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told representatives of Canada, Russia and other nations with Arctic territory that the U.S. needs time to develop its climate policy but is listening to other nations’ concerns. ‘We are appreciative that each of you has an important point of view, and you should know […]

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5/11/2017

FBI/JAMES COMEY/MIKE PENCE/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Vice President Mike Pence has once again delivered the White House line, in the face of growing contradictory evidence, on a charged topic related to Russia’s possible connections to the Trump campaign. In meetings on Capitol Hill and in interviews, Pence has said this week that Trump fired FBI director […]

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5/11/2017

CYBERWAR/TRUMP EXEC ORDERS: “U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order aimed at strengthening federal government cyber security and protecting the nation’s critical infrastructure from cyber attacks, a senior administration official said. A copy of the signed order was not immediately available.” -Dustin Volz, “Trump signs cyber security executive order: senior official,” Reuters, […]

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5/11/2017

FBI/INTELLIGENCE/JAMES COMEY/RUSSIA: “Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe Thursday [5-11-17] rejected assertions by the White House that FBI employees had lost faith in James Comey and that the bureau’s probe into Russian election meddling was one of its most minor concerns. ‘I hold Director Comey in the absolute highest regard. I have the highest respect for […]

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5/11/2017

2016 ELECTION/DAN COATS/INTELLIGENCE/LEAKS/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The highest-ranking intelligence official in Donald Trump’s administration disagrees with him: There’s no doubt that Russia was behind the series of hacks and leaks against Democrats that helped get Trump elected, he said. In the first annual report to the Senate Intelligence Committee, Trump-appointed Dan Coats, the new Director of […]

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5/11/2017

CABINET/DEFENSE/FOREIGN POLICY/TRUMP PEOPLE/JAMES MATTIS/TURKEY: “U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis voiced strong support for Turkey’s fight against PKK militants after talks with Turkey’s prime minister on Thursday [5-11-17], as Ankara fumes over a U.S. decision to arm Kurdish fighters in Syria it equates to PKK allies. Mattis expressed optimism that Washington and Ankara would work through […]

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5/11/2017

2016 ELECTION/FBI/INTELLIGENCE/JAMES COMEY: “The man who took over from ousted FBI Director James Comey declined to say on Thursday whether he ever heard Comey tell Donald Trump that the president was not a target of an investigation into possible collusion between Russia and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. In testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, acting […]

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5/10/2017

FBI/JAMES COMEY/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump weighed in publicly for the first time on his firing of James Comey, saying on Wednesday [5-10-17] that the FBI director ‘wasn’t doing a good job.’ His comments were part of an effort by the White House to explain and elaborate on the reason the president abruptly fired […]

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5/11/2017

FBI/INTELLIGENCE/JAMES COMEY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The White House just can’t get its story straight about why President Trump decided to fire FBI Director James Comey. When the move was initially announced — just before 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday [5-9-17] night — the White House pointed to a memo written by deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein […]

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5/11/2017

CIA/FOREIGN POLICY/NORTH KOREA: “The CIA has established a Korea Mission Center to address ‘the nuclear and ballistic missile threat posed by’ North Korea and its unpredictable leader, the US intelligence agency announced Wednesday. The creation of the center focusing on specific threats from the Korean peninsula will allow the CIA to ‘harness the full resources, […]

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5/11/2017

FOREIGN POLICY/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The White House did not anticipate that the Russian government would allow its state news agency to post photographs of an Oval Office meeting between President Donald Trump, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russia’s ambassador to the US, a White House official said. Photos of Wednesday’s [5-10-17] meeting, taken by […]

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5/11/2017

2016 ELECTION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/VOTER FRAUD: “President Trump planned to order a voter fraud investigation Thursday [5-11-17], thrusting back into the spotlight an issue that few other Republican leaders want to tackle as he tries to divert attention from the controversy over his firing of FBI Director James Comey. A White House official said Trump would […]

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5/11/2017

FOREIGN POLICY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump’s first three months in office have been a wild ride that has captivated the nation. But overseas, one of America’s diplomats has taken the rare step of breaking cover to bemoan how the current situation in Washington affects America’s dealings abroad. Dana Shell Smith, ambassador to the Arab […]

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5/11/2017

TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDERS: “By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and to protect American innovation and values, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Cybersecurity of Federal Networks. (a) Policy. The executive branch operates its information technology (IT) on behalf of […]

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5/11/2017

ELECTION/TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDERS/VOTER FRAUD/VOTING: “By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to promote fair and honest Federal elections, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Establishment. The Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity (Commission) is hereby established… Sec. […]

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5/10/2017

FBI/INTELLIGENCE/JAMES COMEY/POLITICS/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump’s stunning firing of the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, injected another volatile ingredient into the partisanship already engulfing the capital and threatened to overwhelm Republican efforts to turn their government control into legislative success. The decision to replace Mr. Comey also increased the prospect of another contentious confirmation fight […]

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5/10/2017

FBI/INTELLIGENCE/JAMES COMEY/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Days before he was fired, James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, asked the Justice Department for a significant increase in money and personnel for the bureau’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the presidential election, according to three officials with knowledge of his request. Mr. Comey asked for the resources during […]

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5/10/2017

CABINET/DEFENSE/FOREIGN POLICY/NATO/TRUMP PEOPLE/JAMES MATTIS: “Defense Secretary Jim Mattis traveled to the eastern edge of the NATO alliance on Wednesday [5-10-17] to pledge American solidarity with the Baltic nations, but he stopped short of giving his hosts in Lithuania what they wanted: a commitment to base Patriot missile-defense systems in the region. With Russia adopting an […]

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5/10/2017

FBI/JAMES COMEY/POLITICS/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, on Wednesday [5-10-17] defended President Trump’s firing of the director of the F.B.I., James B. Comey, resisting Democratic calls to challenge the president and support a broader inquiry of Russian interference in the election. ‘Today we’ll no doubt hear calls for […]

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5/10/2017

POLITICS: “The Democrats should be ashamed. This is a disgrace! #DrainTheSwamp https://t.co/UfbKEECm2V” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, May 10, 2017 07:14pm […]

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5/10/2017

ECONOMY/TRADE DEALS: “Prices for foreign goods shipped to the U.S. rose for the fifth consecutive month in April, signaling broader-based inflation pressure even though oil prices have cooled. Import prices increased 4.1% in April from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Wednesday. While the movement of import prices is heavily influenced by oil prices, […]

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5/10/2017

CABINET/CLIMATE CHANGE/INTERIOR/TRUMP PEOPLE/RYAN ZINKE: “Four U.S. states have sued Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, the Interior Department and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to block new leases of public lands for coal mining, according to papers filed on Tuesday in Montana federal court. State prosecutors for California, New Mexico, New York and Washington are arguing […]

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5/10/2017

CABINET/EDUCATION/PROTESTS/TRUMP PEOPLE/BETSY DEVOS: “A week after President Donald Trump suggested his administration might cut $25 million in capital funding to historically black colleges and universities, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos told Bethune-Cookman University’s class of 2017 that she ‘is fully committed to your success’ — a line that was met by deafening boos from the students […]

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5/10/2017

CLIMATE CHANGE/ENERGY/POLITICS: “In a blow to administration efforts to free the oil and gas industry from Obama-era environmental rules, a Senate resolution to revoke a rule to limit leaks and flaring of methane from oil and gas production on federal lands fell short of votes 49-51 on Wednesday [5-10-17]. The surprise vote outcome came after […]

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5/10/2017

FOREIGN POLICY/STATE/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE/REX TILLERSON: “President Donald Trump is set to meet with Russia’s foreign minister Wednesday [5-10-17] morning amid a political furor over Mr. Trump’s decision to fire the director of the FBI in the midst of an investigation into whether associates of Mr. Trump colluded with the Russian government to influence the […]

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5/10/2017

FAKE NEWS/MEDIA: “The Roger Stone report on @CNN is false – Fake News. Have not spoken to Roger in a long time – had nothing to do with my decision.” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, May 10, 2017 07:57am […]

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5/10/2017

CABINET/COMMERCE/CENSUS: “As work gears up for the 2020 Census, the bureau announced on Tuesday [5-9-17] that Director John Thompson will leave the agency next month instead of at the end of the year. ‘As I pursue opportunities in the private sector, please be assured that I will continue to be supportive of the administration’s priority […]

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5/10/2017

FBI/JAMES COMEY/RUSSIA: “Watching Senator Richard Blumenthal speak of Comey is a joke. ‘Richie’ devised one of the greatest military frauds in U.S. history. For…years, as a pol in Connecticut, Blumenthal would talk of his great bravery and conquests in Vietnam – except he was never there. When…caught, he cried like a baby and begged for […]

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5/10/2017

FBI/JAMES COMEY/RUSSIA: “Comey lost the confidence of almost everyone in Washington, Republican and Democrat alike. When things calm down, they will be thanking me!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, May 10, 2017 06:27am […]

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5/10/2017

JAMES COMEY/POLITICS/RUSSIA: “The Democrats have said some of the worst things about James Comey, including the fact that he should be fired, but now they play so sad!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, May 10, 2017 06:10am […]

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5/10/2017

FBI/INTELLIGENCE/JAMES COMEY/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE/MICHAEL FLYNN: “Federal prosecutors have issued grand jury subpoenas to associates of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn seeking business records, as part of the ongoing probe of Russian meddling in last year’s election, according to people familiar with the matter. CNN learned of the subpoenas hours before President Donald Trump […]

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5/10/2017

FBI/INTELLIGENCE/JAMES COMEY/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “After President Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, questions immediately arose about the President’s motivations for his dismissal — and for the recent firings of two other then-President Barack Obama-appointees who were in the middle of conducting investigations linked to Trump. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Comey’s firing was […]

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5/9/2017

JAMES COMEY/POLITICS/RUSSIA: “Cryin’ Chuck Schumer stated recently, ‘I do not have confidence in him (James Comey) any longer.’ Then acts so indignant. #draintheswamp” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, May 9, 2017 09:42pm […]

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5/9/2017

FBI/INTELLIGENCE/JAMES COMEY/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump fired Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey on the recommendation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Mr. Rosenstein said in his letter recommending Mr. Comey’s dismissal that the FBI director shouldn’t have spoken publicly last summer after closing an investigation into former […]

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5/9/2017

ATTORNEY GENERAL/CRIME/DRUGS/TRUMP PEOPLE/JEFF SESSIONS: “Attorney General Jeff Sessions is expected to soon toughen rules on prosecuting drug crimes, according to people familiar with internal deliberations, in what would be a major rollback of Obama-era policies that would put his first big stamp on a Justice Department he has criticized as soft on crime. Mr. Sessions […]

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5/9/2017

FBI/INTELLIGENCE/JAMES COMEY/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump on Tuesday [5-9-17] fired FBI Director James Comey after his attorney general and deputy attorney general recommended his removal. ‘The FBI is one of our nation’s most cherished and respected institutions and today will mark a new beginning for our crown jewel of law enforcement,’ Trump said in […]

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5/9/2017

FDA/TRUMP PEOPLE/SCOTT GOTTLIEB: “The U.S. Senate on Tuesday [5-9-17] voted 57-42, mostly along part lines, to confirm Scott Gottlieb as the new commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Gottlieb, a veteran health-care investor and physician, is well known to many drug-industry executives. He worked for years as a consultant to companies including GlaxoSmithKline […]

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5/9/2017

JOBS: ” ‘Manufacturing openings, hires rise to highest levels of the recovery’ https://t.co/txFZDYYIOe” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, May 9, 2017 04:38pm […]

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5/9/2017

EDUCATION/HOLIDAYS: “It was an honor to welcome the Teachers of the Year to the WH last month. Today, we honor and thank all teachers! #NationalTeachersDay” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, May 9, 2017 12:19pm […]

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5/9/2017

FBI/INTELLIGENCE/JAMES COMEY/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump’s decision to fire the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the midst of the bureau’s probe into his campaign associates’ possible links to Russia added impetus to calls for a special counsel to handle the case. The sudden move by Mr. Trump on Tuesday galvanized Democrats, […]

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5/9/2017

FBI/HILLARY/INTELLIGENCE/JAMES COMEY: “FBI Director James Comey erroneously told Congress last week that former Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin forwarded ‘hundreds of thousands’ of emails to her then-husband’s laptop — and the bureau is looking for a way to clean up the error. The emails were forwarded to Anthony Weiner’s computer via a backup system for […]

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5/9/2017

FOREIGN POLICY/MILITARY/NATO/SYRIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump approved plans to directly arm Kurdish fighters battling Islamic State in Syria, U.S. officials said Tuesday [5-9-17], paving the way for an offensive against the extremist group’s de facto capital but angering Turkish allies who view the Kurdish fighters as terrorists. The decision to arm the YPG, the […]

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5/9/2017

CABINET/EDUCATION/PROTESTS/TRUMP PEOPLE/BETSY DEVOS: “A leading civil rights group on Monday [5-8-17] called for the resignation of top leaders at a historically black university where Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is set to deliver the commencement address. The NAACP Florida State Conference is urging the university president and board chairman of Bethume-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida, […]

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5/9/2017

2016 ELECTION/FBI/INTELLIGENCE/RUSSIA: “The White House responded to hours of Senate testimony Monday [5-8-17] by saying there was still no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee that he was not aware of any evidence demonstrating collusion, but also said he […]

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5/9/2017

CLIMATE CHANGE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “European officials have unleashed a diplomatic offensive to dissuade President Donald Trump from nixing the Paris Agreement, as the risk of a U.S. pullout threatens to derail the 2015 global deal against climate change. The push, spearheaded by the European Union, comes as thousands of government, environment and business representatives gathered […]

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5/8/2017

ATTORNEY GENERAL/RUSSIA/SALLY YATES/TRUMP PEOPLE/MICHAEL FLYNN: “Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates told Congress on Monday [5-8-17] she had warned a top White House official that then-national security adviser Mike Flynn had misled the vice president and others about his conversations with a top Russian diplomat, and that it had put him at risk of blackmail. […]

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5/8/2017

TRUMP FAMILY/DONALD JR: “Donald Trump Jr. took an Indiana victory lap Monday [5-8-17], speaking at the state Republican party’s spring dinner just more than one year after the state’s primary propelled his father toward the presidential nomination. The President’s eldest son issued a call to action to the Indiana Republicans, noting that recent victories like […]

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5/8/2017

INTELLIGENCE/OBAMA/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE/MICHAEL FLYNN: “Then-President Barack Obama warned President-elect Donald Trump in November against hiring retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn as his national security adviser, former Obama administration officials confirmed to CNN. Obama warned Trump about Flynn during their Oval Office meeting on November 10, days after Trump was elected president. Obama’s concerns, which […]

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5/8/2017

EX-IM BANK/TRUMP PEOPLE/SCOTT GARRETT: “Less than two years ago, Scott Garrett, then a Republican congressman from New Jersey, took to the floor of the House of Representatives and laced into his colleagues for resurrecting an institution that ’embodies the corruption of the free enterprise system.’ The institution he derided was the Export-Import Bank. He could […]

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5/8/2017

AFRICAN AMERICANS/BUDGET/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “When President Trump signed a $1.1 trillion spending bill on Friday [5-5-17], he zeroed in on a tiny sliver of it, suggesting that he might disregard $20 million in funding for loan subsidies and other aid to historically black universities. Two nights later, after a storm of criticism, the White House […]

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5/8/2017

AFGHANISTAN/FOREIGN POLICY/MILITARY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Senior Trump administration and military officials are recommending sending several thousand additional American troops to Afghanistan to try to break a military deadlock in the 15-year war there, in part by pressuring the Taliban to negotiate with the Afghan government. The added troops would allow American advisers to work with a […]

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5/8/2017

CONFLICT OF INTERESTS/ETHICS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP FAMILY/JARED KUSHNER: “It was the first major piece of legislation that President Trump signed into law, and buried on Page 734 was one sentence that brought a potential benefit to the president’s extended family: renewal of a program offering permanent residence in the United States to affluent foreigners investing money […]

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5/8/2017

SALLY YATES: “Biggest story today between Clapper & Yates is on surveillance. Why doesn’t the media report on this? #FakeNews!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, May 8, 2017 05:50pm […]

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5/8/2017

FBI/RUSSIA: “The Russia-Trump collusion story is a total hoax, when will this taxpayer funded charade end?” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, May 8, 2017 05:46pm […]

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5/8/2017

FAKE NEWS/RUSSIA: “Director Clapper reiterated what everybody, including the fake media already knows- there is ‘no evidence’ of collusion w/ Russia and Trump.” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, May 8, 2017 05:41pm […]

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5/8/2017

IMMIGRATION/TRAVEL BAN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “On Monday [5-8-17] morning, President Trump’s campaign website featured his December 2015 statement about ‘preventing Muslim immigration.’ Later that afternoon, it did not. The deletion of the statement appeared to come after Cecilia Vega of ABC News asked at Monday’s White House press briefing about the statement: ‘If this White House […]

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5/7/2017

HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA)/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich slammed the GOP health care bill on CNN’s ‘State of the Union’ Sunday [5-7-17] morning, calling it ‘inadequate’ and saying his party was ‘trying to fulfill a campaign promise’ in pushing it through. The former presidential candidate said Medicaid covers 700,000 people in his state, a third […]

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5/8/2017

FOREIGN POLICY/MIKE PENCE: “Honored to welcome Georgia Prime Minister, Giorgi Kvirikashvili to the @WhiteHouse today with @VP Mike Pence. https://instagram.com/p/BT1xH1ngciK/” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, May 8, 2017 12:42pm […]

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