The TRUMP POTUS "Tribute" & "Tribulations" of the Politically Incorrect....!

Rep. Trent Franks resigning from Congress

By Elizabeth Zwirz
Fox News

Arizona Congressman Trent Franks has announced his decision to resign from Congress, according to a statement he released Thursday on the matter.

Franks said he will leave his seat on Jan. 31, 2018 following complaints from two of his employees with whom he discussed the subject of becoming a surrogate for him and his wife, who he said had difficulty with fertility.

The House Ethics Committee had previously released a statement announcing an investigation into the congressman regarding possible sexual harassment.

"Pursuant to the Committee's action, the Investigation Subcommittee shall have jurisdiction to determine whether Representative Trent Franks engaged in conduct that constitutes sexual harassment and/or retaliation for opposing sexual harassment, in violation of House Rules, law, regulations, or other standards of conduct," the statement said.

In Franks' resignation letter said he "absolutely never physically intimidated, coerced, or had, or attempted to have, any sexual contact with any member of my congressional staff."

"However, I do want to take full and personal responsibility for the ways I have broached a topic that, unbeknownst to me until very recently, made certain individuals uncomfortable."

The congressman elaborated on his and his wife's difficulty with fertility and adoption through the years and wanted to have another child, in addition to their twins. He said because of his "familiarity and experience with the process" he "clearly became insensitive" about how discussing surrogacy "might affect others."

Franks said he learned of the committee's intention to open an inquiry into the matter and doesn't believe he'd have a fair investigation "before distorted and sensationalized versions of this story" brought criticism onto those involved.

"It is with the greatest sadness, that for the sake of the causes I deeply love, I must now step back from the battle I have spent over three decades fighting," he wrote.

Upon leaving the House floor on Thursday, Franks was consoled by fellow Republican members, including Reps. Louis Gohmert, R-Texas, Robert Aderholt, R-Ala., and Andy Biggs, R-Ariz.

Franks is currently serving his eighth term in Congress -- he was first elected in 2002.

The congressman serves on the Armed Services Committee and the Judiciary Committee and is also a member of the House Freedom Caucus.

He's known to be a staunch fiscal and social conservative with a pro-life stance on abortion. He sponsored House-passed legislation to make it a crime for any person to perform an abortion if the age of the fetus is 20 weeks or more.

Before being elected into Congress, Franks was a small business owner and later served in the Arizona Legislature, according to his website biography.

According to the page, Franks is a strong proponent for smaller government and "believes in personal responsibility, strong national defense, free enterprise, protecting the innocent, and in the timeless truths and principles of the United States Constitution."

Fox News' Mike Emanuel and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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WILL ROY MOORE WIN BECAUSE OF GLORIA ALLRED? CONSERVATIVES SAY LAWYER HANDED VICTORY TO ALABAMA SENATE CANDIDATE

BY JOHN HALTIWANGER
ON 12/8/17 AT 3:39 PM

One of the women accusing Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore of assaulting her as a teenager said on Friday she added the date and venue to an inscription from Moore in her high school yearbook, prompting attacks on her credibility and the competence of her lawyer, Gloria Allred. Many conservatives accused the attorney of mishandling the situation and claimed she'd essentially handed victory to Moore just four days before the election.

Beverly Young Nelson told ABC News she amended an inscription from Moore in her high school yearbook, adding the date and location. Nelson maintained the rest of the note was written by Moore, though he and his lawyers have repeatedly stated he did not sign the yearbook. The inscription states: "To a sweeter more beautiful girl I could not say Merry Christmas. Christmas 1977. Love, Roy Moore, DA. 12-22-77 Olde Hickory House."

In November, Nelson claimed Moore attempted to force her to perform a sex act when she was a teenager in the 1970s and he was the deputy district attorney of Etowah County and in his 30s. She offered the yearbook inscription as evidence to bolster her accusation. At the time, Nelson and her lawyer, Allred, said the inscription was written by Moore and did not mention that Nelson had added the date and location. But Nelson's acknowledgement she wrote part of the note somewhat contradicts that. Some have since claimed Nelson admitted she "forged" the inscription, but this is not the case.

Allred held a press conference on Friday and brought a report from forensic document expert that said the note and signature were written by Moore and said the date and location were written by Nelson to "remind herself who Roy Moore was." It was not clear from her comments when Nelson made those additions.

But many conservatives now seem to believe this is proof Nelson's story was false and, even if they don't, they feel Allred has helped guarantee a win for Moore against his Democratic opponent Doug Jones.

"Gloria Allred might as well have made a $10 million in-kind contribution to Roy Moore," Rich Lowry, editor of the right-leaning National Review, tweeted Friday.

In another tweet, conservative commentator Ben Shapiro expressed similar sentiments: "So does Moore now win by 8 points or 10 points? Well done, Gloria Allred." Shapiro rejected the notion Nelson's admission she added the date and location undoubtedly proves she "forged" the inscription, but said it "doesn't matter politically" because "this will be the peg to dismiss her story."

David French, also of National Review, suggested Nelson has opened the door for all of the women accusing Moore of sexual misconduct (there are nine in total) to be discredited. "One part of one woman’s story was wrong, so they’re all wrong. That’s the reasoning we’ll deal with," French tweeted.

Right-wingers known to be loyal to President Donald Trump, who's endorsed Moore, approached Friday's revelation with much less caution. The president's son, Donald Trump Jr., tweeted, "I wonder if Gloria Allred got a conflict waiver before being so helpful to the other side of her case???"

Well-known Trump supporter Jack Posobiec tweeted "the entire host of accusations" against Moore has been proved false "by the fraud perpetuated by Gloria Allred."

"In shocking news, accuser Beverly Young Nelson is a liar, Gloria Allred is a liar and Roy Moore is probably the only honest guy in this whole mess," right-wing radio host Bill Mitchell tweeted.

Moore joined the chorus of conservative voices attacking Nelson's credibility on Friday. He tweeted Nelson had admitted she lied, adding, "Let’s count how many national outlets will ignore the fact that she admits to lying." Nelson's comments from Friday morning have been widely covered by the national media, and it is incorrect to state she admitted to lying.

Meanwhile, the president planned to hold a rally in Pensacola, Florida, on Friday to urge Alabama voters to support Moore. Trump's approval rating hit a historic low of 32 percent this week, a Pew Research Center poll showed, so it's unclear whether his endorsement will serve in Moore's favor.

A recent Big League-Gravis poll gave Jones a slight edge over the Republican candidate accused of sexual misconduct with teenage girls in his 30s. The poll of 1,276 likely voters showed Jones leading Moore 48 percent to 44 percent. The election is on December 12.

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Why are California's homes burning? It isn't natural disaster it's bad planning

By RICHARD HALSEY
DEC 07, 2017 | 11:20 AM

Large, high-intensity wildfires are an inevitable and natural part of life in California. The destruction of our communities is not. But many of the political leaders we elect and planning agencies we depend upon to create safe communities have failed us. They have allowed developers to build in harm's way, and left firefighters holding the bag.

The fires raging in Los Angeles County and Ventura are an urgent signal that we need to start asking the hard questions — about the true cost of expanding the local tax base with new residences in high fire hazard zones. We need to stop having the same conversation over and over again, a conversation laced with non-sequiturs and focused on outdated, ineffective solutions. The devastating loss of life, the destruction of so many family homes, and the dangers faced by those who protect us demand nothing less.

Some blame the current rash of wildfires on dead trees in forests—even if those fires are nowhere near a forest, or dead trees. (Members of Congress seem to have bought this explanation and they're now pushing a bill sponsored by Rep. Bruce Westerman [R-Ark.] that would encourage more logging in the West.) Some blame climate change, claiming, for example, that rising temperatures are responsible for the devastating Tubbs fire in Santa Rosa in October — despite the fact that a bigger and just as fierce fire burned much of the same area in 1964. (Climate change is making our fire seasons worse, but it isn't responsible for every big fire.) Yet others blame firefighters for creating dense stands of chaparral in fire suppression efforts—when that's the only way chaparral naturally grows, dense and impenetrable.

We need to recognize that fire disasters aren't natural, they’re social. And they require social solutions.

The standard procedure to reduce wildfire risk is to clear habitat. We have spent millions of dollars doing this for nearly a century. Nevertheless, our homes keep burning. That's because while vegetation management such as fuel breaks and prescribed burns can help during non-extreme fire events, they do little to suppress extreme events. But if anyone questions vegetation management in the backcountry, the typical response is that the projects will work as designed for 90th percentile weather conditions. That's absurd. Imagine if we designed buildings to withstand only 95th percentile earthquake movements, or what you would feel as a result of a magnitude 2.5. We need to protect communities from fires that actually do the damage.

How do we do this? As University of Colorado geographer Gregory Simon has observed, since we are choosing to spread cities farther and farther out into wildland areas, we need to recognize that fire disasters aren't natural, they're social. And they require social solutions.

Planning agencies need to push back against pro-development forces in government, whose willingness to build in known fire corridors borders on criminal neglect. The recent devastation of the community of Fountaingrove in Santa Rosa, for example, was both horrible and predictable. (The area has now burned twice in 53 years.) Local leaders need to restrict development in such areas.

In the smaller picture, local governments need to impose strict fire codes in new communities throughout California, require older communities to retrofit their properties, and enforce proper defensible space regulations. That means 100 feet of thinned vegetation, not bare ground. Hundreds of feet of bare ground make a home the target for wind-driven embers.

Such policies would cost significantly less than the $9.4 billion wildfire-related claims submitted statewide as of Friday.

We also need to examine the best practices of other fire-prone regions. Communities in Australia often install external, under-eave/rooftop sprinklers, which have proven quite effective in protecting structures during wildfires. (Australians understand that wet homes do not ignite.) Such systems should be standard in all new developments in high fire hazard zones. It is likely they would have protected many of the homes consumed in Ventura's Thomas fire this week.

Agencies like Cal Fire need to begin addressing the question, "How do we protect lives and property?" rather than "How can we stop a wildfire?" Right now, Cal Fire is focused on the latter, with its misguided Vegetation Treatment Program. A focus on the former would mean at least noting land-use problems in planning documents. It would mean spending as much time and money on helping people retrofit homes ason vegetation treatments. Communities including Idyllwild and Big Bear have taken advantage of FEMA pre-disaster grants to replace flammable roofing and install ember-resistant vents. Such long-term solutions, unlike fuel breaks, do not require costly maintenance.

Trees, shrubs, grasses or homes will all provide the necessary fuel for a wildfire. It's part of California's story. As we do with earthquakes and floods, our goal should be to reduce the damage when wildfires arrive, not pretend we can prevent them from happening at all. That mindset starts at the planning department, not the fire station.

Richard Halsey is the director of the California Chaparral Institute.

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Pipe bomb explodes in subway passage near Port Authority Bus Terminal, one suspect in custody

A small pipe bomb went off near the Port Authority Bus Terminal on Monday, and the suspect was immediately taken into custody, police sources said.

The blast happened in an underground subway passage just 200 feet from the terminal at West 42nd St. and Eighth Ave., the sources said.
Po
Four people in total were wounded at the scene, the FDNY confirmed, all of whom have non-life-threatening injuries.
Police found an explosive device on the suspect, who had wires attached to his body, one source added.
Authorities evacuated the A, C and E trains, but didn’t find any structural damage.
“It's pretty chaotic over there right now,” said a law enforcement source with knowledge of the situation.
A small pipe bomb went off near the Port Authority Bus Terminal on Monday, and the suspect was immediately taken into custody, police sources said.
The blast happened in an underground subway passage just 200 feet from the terminal at West 42nd St. and Eighth Ave., the sources said.
Port Authority cops immediately arrested the suspect, who was injured in the explosion. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital and is expected to survive, sources said.
Four people in total were wounded at the scene, the FDNY confirmed, all of whom have non-life-threatening injuries.
Police found an explosive device on the suspect, who had wires attached to his body, one source added.
Authorities evacuated the A, C and E trains, but didn’t find any structural damage.
“It's pretty chaotic over there right now,” said a law enforcement source with knowledge of the situation.
Investigators are combing through subway surveillance video to figure out from where the assailant may have entered the area.
Several blocks of Eighth Ave. were shut down as emergency vehicles flooded the area.
Mayor de Blasio has been briefed about the ongoing situation, as has President Trump.
Gov. Cuomo was photographed with MTA Chair Joe Lhota inside the Times Square subway station being briefed on the situation.
The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force has been added to the team investigating the explosion.
The early morning blast sent a wave of panic through the busy area, as commuters scrambled to safety.
Ulises Sanchez, 53, saw people come pouring out on the street after the blast went off.
“A lady told me, ‘Go away. There was an explosion down there,’” said Ulises Sanchez, 53. “Everybody was trying to get out.”
Witnesses recalled a stampede of people out of the subway and the sprawling bus terminal, with reports of more people injured in the rush.
Former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton, speaking on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," said preliminary information suggests the man is in his 20s, possibly from Bangladesh, "who supposedly was setting the device off in the name of ISIS, so definitely a terrorist attack, definitely intended."
The man has been in the country for about seven years, Bratton said.
No group has taken responsibility for the attack, and the NYPD hasn’t confirmed a motive.
The blast comes amid calls from ISIS to attack the Big Apple during the Christmas season
rt Authority cops immediately arrested the suspect, who was injured in the explosion. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital and is expected to survive, sources said.

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vreihen said:

Busy week for the swamp drain.....

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vreihen said:

Me thinks that the best bet for the elephant party is to back him in the election, and then un-seat him the day after he is sworn in (if he wins) to force another Alabama special election. He'll get free congressional medical benefits for life, but I'm sure that the elephants will take that tradeoff over losing a critical senate seat to the donkeys.....

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There is absolutely no bottom to the new swamp. None.

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House, Senate Republicans Reach Deal on Final Tax Bill
Agreement lowers top individual rate to 37%, sets 21% corporate rate
Dec. 13, 2017 12:16 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON—House and Senate Republicans on Wednesday reached an agreement on the final version of a tax bill, clearing the way for the GOP to complete one of their biggest legislative priorities before Christmas.
The full details will be released later this week, and votes are set for next week.
“I think we’ve got a pretty good deal,” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch of Utah told reporters in the Capitol.
The agreement would set the top individual tax rate at 37%, down from today’s 39.6%, a person familiar with the deal said. The corporate rate would be 21% and would take effect in 2018, the person said. That is higher than the 20% Republicans had agreed on.
The agreement is also expected to eliminate the corporate alternative minimum tax, the person said. That was a late addition to the Senate bill that many companies had opposed.

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Bernie Sanders probe proves FBI really is in tatters

Jake Novak
Published 20 Hours Ago
CNBC.com

* The FBI probe of Jane Sanders, wife of Senator Bernie Sanders, is reportedly still ongoing.

* The enduring probe is the latest example of the growing politicization of the FBI and other federal agencies.

* The government's overall credibility is suffering its worst crisis in decades.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and his wife are still in trouble with the FBI.

But it's the American people who are really in trouble.

A new report from a local Vermont publication, which has been all over the story, suggests that the FBI's probe of Jane Sanders for her role in alleged bank fraud is far from over. Witnesses are still being interviewed and a grand jury may soon be impaneled.

Sanders is in the middle of accusations that while she was president of Burlington College, she and other administrators misled bank loan officers about the real number of donations pledged to the college. Those false figures were used to secure a loan for a major campus expansion that flopped and led to the college's closing in 2016.

It first came to light back in May of this year that the FBI was looking into the matter, and had begun to do so while Barack Obama was still president. At the time, it was the first sign of trouble for Sanders' brand as an above-reproach progressive.

His political fortunes are now still in jeopardy. But beyond Bernie's future, this story is the latest example of the serious threat to the credibility of America's federal law enforcement system.

Back when this story first emerged, it was already something attorney Alan Dershowitz called a dangerous example of a tit-for-tat political use of the FBI to criminalize politics. At that point, it seemed like Dershowitz might be getting ahead of himself: It looks more like that assessment was on the money.

Now we know this probe is still going on, as is the widening and expanding scope of special counsel Robert Mueller's probe of alleged Russian collusion in the 2016 election.

It's not that the crimes or alleged crimes in these cases aren't important. But only the most naive observer would maintain these probes aren't at least somewhat politically motivated. And you'd have to be similarly naive not to notice that something has changed in American politics and federal law enforcement in the last several years.

What's changed is that an old deal that helped America avoid this kind of banana republic nonsense has been broken. Essentially, that deal went like this: Every four years, the voters got to choose the winners and losers in the national political arena. The winners got the spoils of power, and in return for the losers going away relatively quietly, they were mostly spared from politically-motivated legal punishment.

But then we learned in 2013 that the IRS was wrongly targeting conservative and Tea Party groups with audits and other bureaucratic red tape.

Then we had Hillary Clinton's refusal to go quietly after her election loss in 2016. She's spent much of the year since the election in full outcry mode, and even pushed out a new book complete with a national tour. Her refusal to slink off more quietly — as John Kerry, Michael Dukakis, Mitt Romney and others did — has led to a number of unique results. One of them is that new FBI Director Chris Wray hinted Thursday that Clinton could still be charged for her email scandal. That certainly looks like more tit-for-tat.

This was exactly the kind of broken deal that brought down President Richard Nixon. His attempted use of federal tools to punish his enemies and cover up his own crimes not only forced his resignation, but it came with overwhelming bipartisan approval at the time.

But with the growing perception at least by non-Democrats that the Mueller probe is tainted, it seems less likely any conclusion his team comes to will be accepted by any solid majority. The latest Rasmussen Reports poll shows that just 35 percent of Republicans and just 46 percent of independents believe Mueller is conducting an impartial investigation.

Those numbers seem likely to get a lot worse now that more stories about the partisan political activities of members of his team are leaking out. And polls like this are a brutal commentary on the current political climate as a whole.

Now none of us should shed any tears for Clinton, Jane Sanders or even Trump if they are found guilty of any real crimes. That's not the point. But it is worth crying over an entire set of federal law enforcement and regulatory agencies that are becoming less and less credible every day.

In the Sanders case, it's not that the probe should be dropped. But it is problematic that this relatively simple case involving just one small erstwhile college and a small bank is taking so long to resolve. It seems to have begun just as Senator Sanders was challenging then-President Obama's chosen successor, Hillary Clinton. It continues just as Sanders is becoming an enduring thorn in the current president's side.

This appears to make the probe's extended shelf life clearly more about politics than anything else. Love or hate Bernie Sanders, that's simply not right.

At some point in this dangerous game of chicken, someone needs to quit the political vendettas and put things right. That moment seems less likely to happen than ever right now.

Commentary by Jake Novak, CNBC.com senior columnist. Follow him on Twitter @jakejakeny.

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FAKE NEWS STORY ABOUT CHUCK SCHUMER IMPLODES AFTER PRO-TRUMP CONSPIRACY THEORISTS CLAIM SOURCE WENT DARK

BY MICHAEL EDISON HAYDEN
ON 12/13/17 AT 4:13 PM

A story that had been teased out seductively on social media as being true abruptly sank into a fiery fake news wreck before ever reaching orbit on Tuesday.

The teasing on Tuesday included a Facebook post: “Michael Cernovich and I are going to end the career of a U.S. Senator,” wrote the Trump-supporting proprietor of GotNews.com, Charles C. Johnson.

Cernovich, an ally in the conservative media sphere, took to Twitter to make a similar boast. “I am in possession of a sexual harassment complaint filed against one of Senator Gillibrand’s colleagues,” the right-wing provocateur wrote on Tuesday, referring to Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who has engaged in a verbal back-and-forth with President Donald Trump about long-standing sexual misconduct allegations against the president.

Jack Posobiec, who with Cernovich was involved in pushing the so-called #Pizzagate conspiracy, a fake news story that linked Democrats to a completely made up pedophile ring, wrote on Twitter: “If you thought the media was outraged over the flawless Conyers takedown, wait until [it’s] a sitting U.S. Senator.” He was referring to Representative John Conyers, who recently stepped down amid sexual misconduct allegations.

By Wednesday morning, however, it became apparent that there would be no takedown of a U.S. senator. Cernovich deleted his tweet, and Johnson wrote on his website that he was offering up a reward in exchange for answers about what went haywire with the promised scoop.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office told Newsweek he was to have been the victim of the fake news story—one purporting to tie him to sexual harassment allegations that never happened. Not only did Johnson and Cernovich have no story to deliver, but the Capitol Police were called in to investigate who exactly was trying to set up Schumer.

The implosion of the nonstory is an example of how volatile the flow of information can be in this “fake news” era. Today’s bombshell can rapidly turn into tomorrow’s criminal investigation, thanks in part to the insatiable online thirst for headline-making scoops.

Twitter has been "weaponized" for harassment by users like Mike Cernovich, according to critics. Will @jack act? My latest: https://t.co/3A3VsM4GJH

— Michael Edison Hayden (@MichaelEHayden) December 9, 2017

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“The document is a forged document and every allegation is false,” Matt House, Schumer’s communications director, said in a statement to Newsweek about a mysterious email that apparently first arrived in Johnson’s hands. “We have turned it over to the Capitol Police and asked them to investigate and pursue criminal charges because it is clear the law has been broken. We believe the individual responsible for forging the document should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law to prevent other malicious actors from doing the same.”

The document House was referring to is actually a series of apparently fake documents and screenshots that appear to tie Schumer to a specific staffer, according to what Johnson forwarded to Newsweek. (The woman in question has denied that the actions alleged by the documents ever took place.)

Johnson said he received the documents on Monday night from an anonymous email address, anon192@protonmail.com. Newsweek has viewed the files, and they unquestionably look genuine at first glance. It also seems likely it took the fabricator more than a few hours to put them together.

Cernovich sent Newsweek forwarded texts that he claimed were sent between Johnson and the source of the files. In them, the person tells an elaborate story about Schumer and praises Johnson and Cernovich for their work. “Lol I love this,” Johnson wrote back to the purportedly fake source about the allegations. “Fucking nuts, right?” the person writes back. “This is legit hilarious and awesome,” Johnson replies. Both Johnson and Cernovich told Newsweek they had no role in forging the documents.

“After communicating with the source through encrypted email and texts, the source went dark,” Johnson, who has been frequently accused of pushing conspiracies about such matters as Barack Obama’s sexuality, told Newsweek. “I sent the document to multiple journalists, lawyers and members of Congress, all of whom agreed that it should be investigated.”

One of those journalists was Cernovich, who last month fed BuzzFeed a story about sexual misconduct allegations surrounding Conyers. But Cernovich has also pushed numerous fake news stories that have smeared innocent people with baseless pedophilia allegations during his rise to media fame—which has been wedded in part to the rise of Trump, whom he supported for president throughout 2016. Cernovich told Newsweek he initially looked at the documents and screenshots and believed they were real.

“I thought I had something big, dude,” he said over the phone about why he promoted the fake story on social media before it was formally vetted. “I spent the whole day chasing it down before I realized it was a hoax.”

Asked who might have been responsible for sending the information, Cernovich posited that it could have been “4chan,” referring to an image-board site from which many far-right conspiracies originate, or the “alt-left.” Cernovich stressed to Newsweek that he never mentioned Schumer by name while teasing the fake story. He also stressed that other media outlets and personalities investigated the tip. (Other than Cernovich, Johnson and Posobiec, however, no media personalities bragged about it on social media.)

Critics of Cernovich, who point to his history of spreading fake news like #Pizzagate, pounced on his deleted tweets, calling them further evidence of the degree to which he could not be trusted as a source.

“Mike Cernovich [is] desperate for a win,” Sam Seder, an MSNBC contributor, wrote on Twitter. “Reporters should keep in mind, among other things, this guy is simply not a credible source.” Seder was fired from his position at MSNBC earlier this month after Cernovich dug up an old tweet of his and encouraged a calling campaign to get him ousted. Seder was rehired after Cernovich critics complained to MSNBC about the firing.

A petition is circulating around Twitter urging Jack Dorsey, the company’s co-founder and CEO, to ban Cernovich from the social media platform, in part for spreading stories like #Pizzagate, which was believed to be the impetus for a North Carolina man traveling to a D.C. pizzeria in late 2016 and firing off an AR-15 rifle. The petition also accuses Cernovich of “weaponizing” the platform to target people he doesn’t like with harassment.

One of those people is video satirist Vic Berger, whom Cernovich falsely insinuated was a pedophile in 2016, leading to what Berger said was a flood of death threats. Berger has publically criticized Cernovich and Posobiec for promoting fake stories on social media, which he has argued is dangerous.

When I asked Jack Posobiec why he doxxed Roy Moore's accuser, he tried to blame it on @VicBergerIV: https://t.co/x0fmQcVP9A

— Michael Edison Hayden (@MichaelEHayden) November 10, 2017

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“Cernovich and Posobiec are not journalists,” Berger told Newsweek about the fake story surrounding Schumer. “They are harassers out to cause harm to people they don't like. They have a long history of wanting people to be punished for things they didn't do.”

Newsweek reached out to Posobiec about his role in teasing the fake story about Schumer but did not immediately receive a response. In November, Posobiec, a Trump supporter with a large online presence, posted to his followers a Facebook photo and leaked information about Leigh Corfman, who earlier told The Washington Post that Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore tried to sleep with her in 1979, when she was a teenager and he was 32. After being accused of “doxing” the woman, potentially putting her life in danger, Posobiec deleted the tweets.

For his part, Johnson was banned from Twitter in 2015 for seeking support to “take out” DeRay McKesson, a Black Lives Matter activist.

Cernovich protested to Newsweek that the depiction of his behavior on social media—which includes insinuating that innocent people were pedophiles, pushing conspiracy theories and apologizing for rape—was unfair, and that he too had been a victim of targeted harassment on the platform.

Newsweek contacted the Capitol Police about Schumer’s office reporting the incident but did not immediately receive a response.

Johnson told Newsweek that he was offering a $10,000 reward for information about who sent him the bogus documents. In November, Johnson and Cernovich offered an entirely different kind of reward—$20,000 for credible information detailing sexual harassment allegations against “any sitting United States Senator or swing-district Representative,” according to a post on GotNews.com.

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The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is expected Thursday to rescind rules that were aimed at ensuring a free and open internet, as protesters gathered online and in front of FCC headquarters to oppose the change.
Commission Chairman Ajit Pai's proposal marks a victory for big internet service providers such as AT&T Inc, Comcast Corp and Verizon Communications Inc that opposed the regulations - popularly known as net neutrality rules - and gives them sweeping powers to decide what web content consumers can access.
The move is opposed by Democrats, Hollywood and big internet companies like Google parent Alphabet Inc and Facebook Inc, which had urged Pai not to rescind the rules. The rules bar broadband service providers from blocking or slowing access to content, or charging consumers more for certain content.
Once repealed, several state attorneys general have said they will work to oppose the FCC ruling, citing problems with comments made to the FCC during the public comment period. Other critics have said they will consider challenging what they consider to be weaker enforcement.
Online protesters included celebrities like "Star Wars" actor Mark Hamill, while net neutrality supporters rallied in front of the FCC building in Washington ahead of the vote. Some Congress members were expected to attend the Washington protest before the vote.
The 2015 rules were intended to give consumers equal access to web content and prevent broadband providers from favoring their own content. Pai proposes allowing those practices as long as they are disclosed.
Michael Powell, a former FCC chairman who heads a trade group representing major cable companies and broadcasters, told reporters earlier in the week that internet providers would not block content because it would not make economic sense and consumers would not stand for it.

"They make a lot of money on an open internet," Powell said, adding it is "much more profitable" than a closed system. "This is not a pledge of good-heartedness, it's a pledge in the shareholders' interest."
A University of Maryland poll released this week found that more than 80 percent of respondents opposed the proposal. The survey of 1,077 registered voters was conducted online by the Program for Public Consultation at the University of Maryland from Dec. 6-8.
Democrats have said the absence of rules would be unacceptable and that they would work to overturn the proposal if it is approved. Advocates of the net neutrality rules also plan a legal challenge.
Pai's proposal is "like letting the bullies develop their own playground rules," said Democratic Senator Ed Markey.
Many Republicans back Pai's proposal but want Congress to write net neutrality rules. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the FCC would "return the internet to a consumer-driven marketplace free of innovation-stifling regulations."
A group of nearly 20 state attorneys general asked the FCC to delay the vote until the issue of fake comments is addressed.

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We tried to find the rabbi Roy Moore’s wife said they’re friends with. Here’s what happened

By Devra First
GLOBE STAFF
DECEMBER 13, 2017

At a campaign rally Monday night, Kayla Moore spoke in support of her husband, Roy, who at the time was running for Alabama senator. Last night, the seat went to opponent Doug Jones, a Democrat, whom Donald Trump congratulated via Twitter for his hard-fought victory. (“It never ends!” Trump tweeted, telling the truth.)

But before that all happened, Kayla Moore felt the need to declare how much she and Roy Moore like Jews. “One of our attorneys is a Jew. We have very close friends that are Jewish, and rabbis, and we also fellowship with them.”

Something about that last sentence didn’t quite pass the smell test. Were the Moores really fellowshipping with rabbis? There was only one way to find out. I decided I would try to call every rabbi in Alabama. Here is what happened.

I got a wild hair yesterday. I'm not sure anybody cares about this anymore today. But it was interesting. (This has nothing to do with food, by the way.)

— Devra First (@devrafirst) December 13, 2017

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I decided to try to call every rabbi in Alabama to see if any of them had ever fellowshipped with Roy and Kayla Moore, as the latter claimed in her now-infamous "one of our attorneys is a Jew" speech.

— Devra First (@devrafirst) December 13, 2017

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(Only one of the attorneys? Why not a whole team? Also, who are these people seeing for medical care?)

— Devra First (@devrafirst) December 13, 2017

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There aren't a ton of rabbis in Alabama, so calling them all seemed feasible. Congregations are disappearing. The younger generation has intermarried, moved away. The synagogue in Gadsden, where Roy Moore is from, closed in 2010. (It was fire-bombed by a Nazi in 1960.)

— Devra First (@devrafirst) December 13, 2017

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In Dothan, a guy started paying Jews to move there because he was worried his synagogue and community were dying. It kind of worked. https://t.co/WGsrHZr1l2

— Devra First (@devrafirst) December 13, 2017

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One rabbi I talked to guessed there are maybe 20 rabbis in the state. I didn't get to all of them, and I only heard back from about six before the sun set and Hanukkah was upon us.

— Devra First (@devrafirst) December 13, 2017

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One rabbi tried to get me to move to Birmingham. It sounds really nice. (He gets his kosher food shipped from Florida and keeps it in a massive freezer. One temple's website has a link to buy kosher wine. If you want to be observant in Alabama, you have to work for it a little.)

— Devra First (@devrafirst) December 13, 2017

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One rabbi wouldn't talk politics. He did talk about tikkun olam, repairing the world through one's own actions. "V?ahavta l?rayacha kamocha," he said: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." The whole Torah can be boiled down to that, Hillel said. The rest is just commentary.

— Devra First (@devrafirst) December 13, 2017

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He talked about empathy and the menorah as a symbol for the spark within each of us. It wasn't what I called to talk about. I didn't mind.

— Devra First (@devrafirst) December 13, 2017

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One synagogue's administrative assistant took a message. Has the rabbi ever fellowshipped with Roy and Kayla Moore, I asked. "Baby, I don't think so," she said and laughed hard.

— Devra First (@devrafirst) December 13, 2017

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"Sorry, it's not me," one rabbi said. "I have not had any contact with Roy Moore or his wife," e-mailed another, who mentioned he had just seen the movie "Spotlight." "Most of the Jews here are liberals," another told me.

— Devra First (@devrafirst) December 13, 2017

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Everyone's best guess for the rabbi to whom Kayla Moore was referring was a man named Noson Leiter, who believed Roy Moore would face off against "the gay terrorists" and that Moore has a track record of fighting for public policy based on "biblical values and not perversion."

— Devra First (@devrafirst) December 13, 2017

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Leiter has also been in the news for saying Hurricane Sandy was "divine justice" on account of New York's being so gay and all.

— Devra First (@devrafirst) December 13, 2017

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Maybe the Moores may have a "one Jew per category" policy -- one attorney friend, one rabbi friend.

— Devra First (@devrafirst) December 13, 2017

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Anyway, I didn't find a rabbi who had fellowshipped with the Moores. Or one who had even met them. Their loss, because the rabbis I talked to were kind and generous and full of empathy. Today might be a good day for the Moores to reach out.

— Devra First (@devrafirst) December 13, 2017

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People are ripping Trump for a White House statement with a blindingly obvious flaw




https://www.aol.com/article/news/20...ment-with-a-blindingly-obvious-flaw/23308272/




he White House released a statement on Thursday that made English lovers everywhere facepalm.
The statement was released as President Donald Trump touted his promise to slash regulations on federal agencies.
Check out the first line in the statement:

View image on Twitter

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"We will get rid of the redundancy and duplication that wastes your time and your money." — President Donald J. Trump
The quote is from a speech Trump gave on June 9, and it was unintentionally hilarious then, too.
"Redundancy" and "duplication" mean the same thing, making the appearance of both of those words, well ... redundant.

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Lisa Bloom's and Jill Harth's statements to The Hill
BY THE HILL STAFF - 12/15/17 11:00 AM EST

Read extended excerpts from the statements that women’s rights attorney Lisa Bloom and New York businesswoman Jill Harth gave in response to The Hill’s story on payments arranged and contemplated to Donald Trump accusers during the 2016 election.

Excerpts from statement of attorney Lisa Bloom concerning her discussions arranging donors to support women considering coming forward with allegations against Donald Trump during the 2016 election:

“As I'm sure you can appreciate, as an attorney I am bound by confidentiality laws and therefore cannot answer some of your questions, but the following should address most.

“You'll recall the very polarized and hostile atmosphere of [the] 2016 presidential election. Emotions were running high, there were incidents of violence on the campaign trail, and threats of violence were a real and abiding concern. Nonetheless, several brave women came forward to accuse Donald Trump of harassment and assault, starting with Jill Harth, the first woman to bravely speak out - months before the Access Hollywood recording was released. Jill referred a second Trump accuser to The Bloom Firm, Trump Woman Accuser #2 ("TW2"). Other women came forward as well. By October 2016, I was working with four accusers.

“In keeping with our usual practice, we vetted the women who accused Trump. For example, our vetting of the woman that we, in good faith believe is TW2, included conducting a background check, asking her for photos (which she said she had) to corroborate her story or portions thereof, review of her social media, factual research, and following up with two other women identified by TW2 to corroborate material parts of her story. To date TW2 has not retracted her story and I still believe her when she says Donald Trump assaulted her.

“Sexual assault victims are typically afraid and often change their minds about coming forward. This is particularly true when the accused is wealthy and powerful because victims realize that they are putting their own reputation and ability to earn a living on the line, should they decide to take on powerful men. Multiply that well-founded fear times 1,000 in this case. So it was understandable that TW2 very much wanted to tell her story one day, changed her mind the next day, and on, and on. My job is not to make that big decision for a victim, but to advise her of the pros and cons and help her reach her goal.

“In fact, after we vetted TW2 and agreed to represent her, we advised her of the risks of speaking out and she decided that she did not want to come forward. We respected her decision and parted ways. I wished her the best and she sent me words of appreciation.

“Ultimately, two women were willing to go on the record and two were not. On November 3, 2016, Jane Doe (Accuser #3) agreed to speak at a press conference at my office. During the lead-up to the press conference and after, she and I received multiple death and rape threats. Moments before the press conference was scheduled to begin, Jane Doe backed out. I understood why. She was afraid. My heart went out to her as did many who could understand her fear and pain. Of course I respected her decision and helped her remove herself from the narrative.

“At that point, several donors came forward with offers of financial help to ensure the safety of the women who would come forward. I was happy to relay those offers of funds for relocation to a safer community and round the clock security.”

“After the aborted November 3, 2016, press conference involving Jane Doe, TW2 contacted me again and said that she had changed her mind again and wanted to come forward. She said that she was moved by the plight of Jane Doe and wanted to speak out. She asked to be compensated, citing concerns for her safety and security and over time, increased her request for financial compensation to $2 million, which we told her was a non-starter. We did relay her security concerns to donors, but none were willing to offer more than a number in the low six figures, which they felt was more appropriate to address her security and relocation expenses.”

“After TW2 agreed to come forward again, she again changed her mind several times. We patiently talked her through the pros and cons. Ultimately, we flew to Virginia to meet with her. She was not in the hospital. She said she was at home. We invited her to meet with us at the hotel restaurant and she accepted. Ultimately, after another heartfelt discussion, she decided that she did not want to come forward, and we respected her decision.

“I can say unequivocally that we did not communicate with Hillary Clinton nor anyone from her campaign. We did not communicate with the Democratic National Committee or Perkins Coie (the DNC law firm) about the Trump accusers.

“Your questions seem to imply that we were trying to use the prospect of donor funds to entice women to come forward against their will. Nothing can be further from the truth. Some clients asked for small photo licensing fees while others wanted more to protect their security. During this difficult and stressful time for everyone involved more than one Trump accuser, including TW2, sent me many, kind appreciative messages thanking me for the sensitivity that I showed them and the time that I spent helping them weigh their options. Months later TW2 sent me more appreciative texts and even a personal gift handmade by her daughter.

“We are a small, private civil rights firm. We do many cases pro bono -- for a fee or significantly reduced rate. Our pro bono fee agreements generally say that in the unlikely event the client earns money from photo licensing or media deals, we take one third. This rarely happens, and when it does, it’s generally only a few thousand dollars. But it seems fair to us to have this possibility to help us make payroll, pay rent, insurance and other significant business costs, and our clients are happy to agree to it.

“I have spent my career representing women and some men who have been the victims of sexual harassment and assault. I am gratified at the change we are experiencing as a society where we are saying enough -- and where people who have not been victims are doing what they can to support those who are. I hope that these changes will substantively alter the environment so women no longer have to put up with sexual misconduct. And I hope that those who come forward will no longer have to pay the heavy price that victims of the past had to pay. And I sincerely hope that anyone who has done these terrible things will no longer be afforded the privilege of serving the nation, regardless of political party. As I write this, I am in Washington D.C. with another pro bono client, Marion Brown, who I represented against Democratic Congressman John Conyers.”

Excerpts of Lisa Bloom statement concerning her assistance to client Jill Harth:

“I always find it curious that people question how civil rights attorneys like me get paid, when no one asks how much money Donald Trump's lawyers make. We do many pro bono cases at my law firm, The Bloom Firm. In these cases we help people for free or at a sharply reduced rate. This was the case for all four of the Trump accusers we represented in 2016.

“Without revealing any particular client's agreement, our standard pro bono agreement for legal services provides that if a media entity offers to compensate a client for sharing his or her story we receive a percentage of those fees. This rarely happens. But, on occasion, a case generates media interest and sometimes (not always) a client may receive an appearance fee. As a private law firm we have significant payroll, rent, taxes, insurance and other expenses every week, so an arrangement where we might receive some compensation to defray our costs seems reasonable to us and is agreed to by our clients.

“Jill Harth was the first woman to bravely speak out about sexual harassment and assault against Donald Trump -- months before the Access Hollywood recording was released. She had filed a sexual harassment case against Donald Trump and had given sworn deposition testimony about his harassment of her in the 1990's. Hence no one could claim that she was making up the story in 2016. In addition, her ex-husband was a corroborating witness to her allegations. My team and I worked hard reviewing her legal documents, conducting legal research, talking at length to Jill and witnesses, advising and advocating for her. I will not reveal the details of any of that work.

“I was proud to represent her and I still am. For months, Jill was the only woman brave enough to speak out about being sexually harassed by Donald Trump. She endured a tidal wave of hate for it. It was very painful for her. And as a New York City makeup artist, Jill lost jobs after she came out publicly against Donald Trump. I believed that people wanted to donate to help her, so we set up the GoFundMe account. Other donors reached out to my firm directly to help some of the women I represented.

“We did not communicate with Hillary Clinton nor anyone from her campaign on any of this.

“We are not assisting Jill Harth with the sale of her memoir, nor would we take any of her book sales. I do look forward to reading her book.”

Excerpts of statement of Jill Harth concerning attorney Lisa Bloom’s work on her behalf:

“Nothing that you’ve said to me about my mortgage or the Go Fund Me that was created to help me out financially affects the facts or the veracity of my 1997 federal complaint against Donald J. Trump for sexual harassment and assault. In fact, my comments about him during his candidacy were only made in response to him opening the Pandora’s box about the complaint.

“I went to a rally for Trump in January 2016 in South Carolina. We met and we had an understanding that we would let ‘sleeping dogs lie’ in regards to that old complaint. But once the media rediscovered the complaint, Donald responded to it by repeatedly denigrating and disparaging me and releasing an old National Enquirer article from the 1990’s that he planted.

“The media stole photos off my website and social media and used them without permission or payment. Lisa Bloom helped me protect my copyright for my website and to get some compensation for the photos that were already being used. Lisa Bloom guided me with who to tell my story to as it was being done anyway inaccurately without me saying a word. I was besieged by media requests then, and still am today, because Donald continues to stir the pot by supporting others who are accused of doing the same thing he has done to me. He continues to call me a liar and uses the White House as a weapon against me.

“Having to retell my experiences of Donald Trump's harassment is the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I consider myself lucky to have had Lisa Bloom by my side after my old lawsuit resurfaced. She advised me with great competence and compassion. As we were telling our stories, all of us were hit with frightening threats, hate, and lies dredged up by Trump’s investigators.

“Another accuser, who I knew and referred to Lisa, asked for monetary assistance so she could relocate. She kept changing her mind about whether she wanted to tell her story and ultimately she didn’t, which I understand. Lisa was patient and kind to her, as Lisa always was with me.”

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