By Jack Davis. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump stirred the waters Saturday by suggesting that former Sen. Scott Brown would make a “very good” vice president.
Brown was the GOP’s choice to fill the U.S. Senate seat for Massachusetts that opened with the death of Sen. Ted Kennedy in 2009. He won a special election in 2010 but then lost to Elizabeth Warren in 2012. Brown moved to New Hampshire where in 2014 he challenged Democrat Sen. Jeanne Shaheen but lost in a close election.
Talk of the vice presidential spot began when, during a Portsmouth, New Hampshire., rally Brown was hosting, Trump asked Brown whether he would run again for office.
A member of the audience proposed a Trump-Brown ticket for the GOP in 2016.
“Vice president – hey, that sounds like it could, hey, hey, very good,” Trump responded.
“Hey, you know what? And he’s central casting. Look at that guy. Central casting,” he added. “He’s great. Great guy and a great, beautiful, great wife and family. So important.” (Read more from “Trump Just Hinted at His Potential Vice President Pick – Some Conservatives Will Be LIVID” HERE)
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Donald Trump Ramps up Attacks on Ted Cruz, Says ‘He’s a Nasty Guy’
By Jonh Santucci. With two weeks left before voters in Iowa cast the very first votes in the 2016 presidential election, Republican front-runner Donald Trump is turning up the heat on his fiercest rival in the Hawkeye State -– Sen. Ted Cruz.
“I don’t think Ted Cruz has a great chance, to be honest with you,” Trump told ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos in an interview on “This Week” Sunday. “Look, the truth is, he’s a nasty guy. He was so nice to me. I mean, I knew it. I was watching. I kept saying, ‘Come on Ted. Let’s go, okay.’ But he’s a nasty guy. Nobody likes him. Nobody in Congress likes him. Nobody likes him anywhere once they get to know him. He’s a very –- he’s got an edge that’s not good. You can’t make deals with people like that and it’s not a good thing. It’s not a good thing for the country. Very nasty guy.”
On the campaign trail, Trump is now questioning the freshmen Texas senator for a loan, first reported by The New York Times, that Cruz took out from Goldman Sachs during his 2012 Senate run that he failed to disclose in federal campaign finance documents. (Read more from “Donald Trump Ramps up Attacks on Ted Cruz, Says ‘He’s a Nasty Guy'” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2016-01-17 23:08:462016-04-11 10:53:43Trump Just Hinted at His Potential Vice President Pick – Some Conservatives Will Be LIVID
By Hadas Gold. Two of the top searched questions on Google for Hillary Clinton are likely not about the themes her campaign hopes to highlight.
“Will Hillary Clinton get prosecuted?” is most searched question on Google ahead of the Democratic debate on Sunday night. “Will Hillary Clinton win the nomination?” is second and “What did Hillary Clinton do that is illegal?” is the third.
For Sanders, the top question is much more positive. “Why is Bernie Sanders so popular?” followed by “Can Bernie Sanders win?” and “How old is Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders?” (Read more from “This Is Google’s Top Search (Hint: It’s About Hillary Clinton)” HERE)
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Hillary: FBI Has Not Interviewed Me Yet
By Daniel Halper. Hillary Clinton claimed on CNN this morning that she has not yet been interviewed by the FBI in regards to its investigation into her email server. Clinton made the claim in response to a question from CNN State of the Union host Jake Tapper.
Watch here:
(Read more from “Hillary: FBI Has Not Interviewed Me Yet” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2016-01-17 23:05:572016-04-11 10:53:44This Is Google’s Top Search (Hint: It’s About Hillary Clinton)
Ted Wade hasn’t cared about politics enough to cast a vote in a U.S. presidential election for almost a quarter of a century, back when he supported Ross Perot’s independent candidacy in 1992.
But Republican Donald Trump’s 2016 White House bid has motivated Wade to get involved and he plans to support the real estate mogul in Nevada’s nominating caucus next month. Trump is a “non-politician” who can fix the “chaos” in Washington, he says.
About one in 10 Americans who plan to cast a vote this election will do so for the first time in years, if ever, and Trump holds a decided edge with them, according to polling by Reuters/Ipsos.
These voters offer Trump a pool of voters who could be decisive either in the Republican primaries or a general election. They could be crucial for Trump in early-voting states such as Iowa and South Carolina, where his nearest rival, Senator Ted Cruz, is putting pressure on Trump and enjoys a strong base of support with more traditionally conservative voters.
In Reuters/Ipsos polling from June to December 2015, 27.3 percent of these “new” voters said they would vote for Trump, higher than his poll numbers among independents and Republicans who regularly vote. (Read more from “Many ‘Lost’ Voters Say They Have Found Their Candidate in Trump” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2016-01-17 23:04:122016-04-11 10:53:44Many ‘Lost’ Voters Say They Have Found Their Candidate in Trump
With the next Republican presidential primary debate around the corner, Rand Paul’s supporters are nervous he will hurt his chances by boycotting that event, as he did the last one, if he again doesn’t qualify for the main stage.
“Skipping the undercard debate, he got a lot of free press doing that, but I think it only works once,” State Rep. Keith Ammon, R-New Boston, told the Washington Examiner shortly before Paul took the stage at a town hall in Ammon’s district.
Ammon and his colleague, Rep. Eric Eastman, R-Nashua, both endorsed Paul early and expressed confident in his ground operation in New Hampshire. But the two state legislators suggested that skipping the next GOP debate, the final one before voting kicks off with the Iowa caucuses, could backfire for the already low-polling candidate.
Paul wouldn’t be rewarded with “the same attention” if he pulls the move a second time around, Ammon said.
Indeed, it would be difficult for the senator to draw a similar amount of publicity for the same stunt. After Paul announced his decision to skip the undercard debate, he was invited to appear on “The Dr. Oz Show,” “The Daily Show” and other cable news and talk radio programs. (Read more from “Rand Paul Supporters Just Sent Him a Major Warning: ‘Don’t Skip…'” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2016-01-17 23:02:132016-04-11 10:53:44Rand Paul Supporters Just Sent Him a Major Warning: ‘Don’t Skip…’
The United States is to repay Iran a $400 million debt and $1.3 billion in interest dating to the Islamic revolution, Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday.
The repayment, which settles a suit brought under an international legal tribunal, is separate from the tens of billions of dollars in frozen foreign accounts that Iran can now access after the end of nuclear sanctions.
But the timing of the announcement, one day after the implementation of the Iran nuclear accord, will be seen as pointing to a broader clearing of the decks between the old foes.
US President Barack Obama defended the settlement in a televised statement from the White House, saying it was for “much less than the amount Iran sought.”
“For the United States, the settlement could save us billions of dollars that could have been pursued by Iran. There was no benefit to the United States in dragging this out,” he said. (Read more from “US to Pay Iran $1.7 Billion in Debt and Interest: Kerry” HERE)
Listen to this analysis of Iran’s despicable actions toward our sailors last week; the discussion on Iran starts at 6:10:
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2016-01-17 23:00:272016-04-11 10:53:44US to Pay Iran $1.7 Billion in Debt and Interest: Kerry
“Stand down,” says the actor playing the CIA station chief in Michael Bay’s new film, “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi.” He’s speaking to the security team that wants to go help Americans under siege less than a mile away in a U.S. diplomatic compound under fierce attack. His order keeps the team from leaving for a crucial 20 minutes, before they decide to ignore him and go anyway.
It’s the pivotal — and most controversial — scene in the new film, a movie that Bay insists steers clear of politics, but which is bound to spark much political discussion nonetheless. On Friday — the movie’s opening day — the Washington Post quoted the now-retired CIA station chief, identified only as Bob, as strongly denying he ever issued such an order or anything like it.
“There never was a stand-down order,” the base chief was quoted by the Post as saying. “At no time did I ever second-guess that the team would depart.” (Read more from “’13 Hours’ Book Author Defends Pivotal ‘Stand Down’ Scene” HERE)
By Kevin Whitson. In what is becoming typical Donald Trump bravado, the provocateur is upping the ante on Hillary Clinton’s bid for president of the United States. The Desmoines Register reported Friday that Trump has rented out a movie theater at Urbandale, Iowa, and is giving away free tickets to the new film 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi.
“Mr. Trump would like all Americans to know the truth about what happened at Benghazi,” said Trump’s Iowa campaign organizer Tana Goertz. The film, which does not directly mention President Obama or Hillary Clinton, is based on the actual events that took place in Benghazi, Libya when Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, Information Management Officer Sean Smith, and two former Navy Seals Tyrone Woods, and Glen Doherty were killed by terrorists on September 11, 2012.
(Read more from “This Might Be the Most Powerful Shot Trump Has Ever Taken at Hillary – It’s Not Anything He Said…” HERE)
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Hillary Clinton Defends Donald Trump
By Donovan Slack. He has said she “lies like crazy” and has “caused tremendous death.”
She has said he has “a penchant for sexism” and dinged him for “bigotry” and “bullying.”
But there is apparently one thing on which they agree: New York is awesome.
Just this once, Trump's right: New Yorkers value hard work, diversity, tolerance, resilience, and building better lives for our families. -H
Hillary Clinton on Friday issued a personal tweet defending Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump against criticism from Texas Sen. Ted Cruz that Trump isn’t conservative enough because he has “New York values.”
Trump, Clinton tweeted, “just this once” was right when he came to the defense of New Yorkers. (Read more from “Hillary Clinton Defends Donald Trump” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2016-01-15 22:39:572016-04-11 10:53:45This Might Be the Most Powerful Shot Trump Has Ever Taken at Hillary – It’s Not Anything He Said…
By Laurel Brubaker Calkins and Kevin Cirilli. Republican presidential contender Ted Cruz should be disqualified from the race because he isn’t a “natural-born citizen,” a fellow Texan claims in a “birther” challenge filed against the senator in a U.S. court.
The suit seeks a court definition of the term to clarify whether Cruz — who was born in Canada to an American mother — can or can’t serve if elected.
“This 229-year question has never been pled, presented to or finally decided by or resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court,” Houston attorney Newton B. Schwartz Sr. said in his 28-page complaint. “Only the U.S. Supreme Court can finally decide, determine judicially and settle this issue now.”
Claiming that “time is of the essence” because of the rapidly approaching Iowa caucuses and March 1 Super Tuesday primaries, Schwartz asked that the case be expedited for resolution by the nation’s highest court as soon as possible.
Republican front-runner Donald Trump pressed the issue during a televised candidate debate Thursday evening in South Carolina, saying he’s bringing up Cruz’s Canadian birthplace “because now he’s doing a little bit better” in the polls. Trump insisted that Cruz receive a judgment from the courts because it would be bad for Republicans to have the issue hanging over their presidential or vice-presidential nominee. (Read more from “Now, Lawsuit Filed Against Cruz Eligibility by Texas Attorney” HERE)
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Ted Cruz Is a U.S. Citizen at Birth, Natural Born Is a Different Question
By Lawrence Sellin. According to Public Law 414, June 27, 1952, An Act: To revise the laws relating to immigration, naturalization, and nationality and for other purposes [H.R. 5678], Title III Nationality and Naturalization, Chapter 1 – Nationality at Birth and by Collective naturalization; Nationals and citizens of the United States at birth, the relevant section being:
SEC. 301. (a) The following shall be nationals and citizens of the United States at birth:
(7) a person born outside the geographical limits of the United States and its outlying possessions of parents one of whom is an alien, and the other a citizen of the United States who, prior to the birth of such person, was physically present in the United States or its outlying possessions for a period or periods totaling not less than ten years, at least five of which were after attaining the age of fourteen years: Provided That any periods of honorable service in the Armed Forces of the United States by such citizen parent may be included in computing the physical presence requirements of this paragraph.
With the stipulation that:
(b) Any person who is a national and citizen of the United States at birth under paragraph (7) of subsection (a), shall lose his nationality and citizenship unless he shall come to the United States prior to attaining the age of twenty-three years and shall immediately following any such coming be continuously physically present in the United State for at least five years: Provided That such physical presence follows the attainment of the age of fourteen years and precedes the age of twenty-eight years.
Ted Cruz fulfilled those requirements and is, therefore, a US citizen at birth and meets the Constitutional test outlined in the Supreme Court decision Rogers v. Bellei, 401 U.S. 815 (1971).
According the Department of State, Ted Cruz’s parents should have applied at a US Consulate for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad of a Citizen of the United States of America (CRBA) and/or a U.S. passport to have registered him as a U.S. citizen. Failure to promptly document a child who meets the statutory requirements for acquiring U.S. citizenship at birth may cause problems for the parents and the child when attempting to establish the child’s U.S. citizenship and eligibility for the rights and benefits of U.S. citizenship, including entry into the United States. By law, U.S. citizens, including dual nationals, must use a U.S. passport to enter and leave the United States.
Ted Cruz has not released any documents directly related to how and when he obtained US citizenship.
Being a US citizen at birth does not necessarily make you a “natural born citizen” and eligible for the Presidency.
Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution states that Congress shall have the power to establish a uniform rule of naturalization. That raises the question whether Ted Cruz can be a “natural born citizen” at all if he obtained citizenship through an act of Congress, which regulates naturalization?
The definition of “natural born citizen” itself is presently disputed depending on whether you make an “originalist” interpretation of the Constitution based on the wording and historical context at the time of its writing or consider the Constitution a “living” document interpreted based on changing societal and cultural circumstances.
The “originalist” interpretation was described as recently as September 2008 in a Michigan Law Review article entitled “Originalism and the Natural Born Citizen Clause” written by Lawrence B. Solum, then John E. Cribbet Professor of Law at the University of Illinois College of Law:
“What was the original public meaning of the phrase that establishes the eligibility for the office of President of the United States? There is general agreement on the core of its meaning. Anyone born on American soil whose parents are citizens of the United States is a natural born citizen.”
Donald Trump, for example, is clearly a “natural born citizen” by the “originalist” interpretation because he was born in the United States of parents both of whom were US citizens at the time of his birth.
Only since 2008 and the candidacy of Barack Obama, have those believing in a “living” Constitution interpreted “natural born citizen” as simply a citizen at birth of one US citizen parent. There are no Supreme Court decisions describing it in that way, but many decisions including statements referring to natural born citizens as US citizens of two US citizen parents, for example: The Venus, 12U.S. 253(1814), Shanks v. Dupont, 28 U.S. 242 (1830), Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393 (1856), Minor v. Happersett, 88 U.S. 162 (1875).
Many “living” Constitutionalists have also used statutory law to buttress their arguments, often incorrectly in my opinion, such as citing the Naturalization Act of 1790.
The Act established US citizenship of children of citizens born abroad without the need for naturalization:
“And the children of citizens of the United States that may be born beyond the sea, or out of the limits of the United States, shall be considered as natural born citizens: Provided That the right of citizenship shall not descend to persons whose fathers have never been resident in the United States.”
The Citizenship Act of 1795 (Act of January 29. 1795, Section 3, 1 Stat. 414, 415) repealed the 1790 law and replaced the phrase “natural born citizen” with “citizen:”
“And the children of citizens of the United States that may be born out of the limits and jurisdiction of the United States shall be considered as citizens of the United States: Provided That the right of citizenship shall not descend to persons whose fathers have never been resident in the United States.”
To demonstrate transparency, Ted Cruz should release documents directly related to how and when he obtained US citizenship, such as a CRBA.
Separately, there should be a resolution by proper adjudication of the dispute over the definition of “natural born citizen” and, thereby, eligibility for the Presidency; not simply amending the Constitution by press release or via the pronouncements of talking heads. (For more from the author of “Ted Cruz Is a U.S. Citizen at Birth, Natural Born Is a Different Question” please click HERE)
Watch a recent interview with Lawrence Sellin below:
Not that I know what the word really means, but because we spent an entire week discussing this Yiddish slang word uttered by Donald Trump, it evidently connotes what happened during last night’s debate.
For the past 7 months, everyone has been saying that Donald Trump has finally met his demise, only to be proven spectacularly wrong. The reason they were wrong time and time again is simple: the other candidates and the moderators always attacked Trump from the left, particularly on immigration. Instead of hurting him, it always fueled Trump’s appeal. Americans are tired of being lectured to on the issue of immigration, and Trump was speaking to where most voters are at this point.
But as I noted earlier this week, nobody has really attacked Trump from the right and exposed his lack of command of both the Constitution and conservative values. Cruz finally did that last night and Trump was left sputtering. He was lacking any good come-back lines for the first time in the race. He was diminished to defending New York values. Cruz turned the tables on him by looking like the macho, anti-PC crusader, while Trump went all emotional with his non-sequitur about 9/11. He was also caught promoting a left-wing law professor. Trump even used the “on the soil” argument for citizenship which ironically is the left-wing version of birthright citizenship that is used to justify anchor babies – the very issue through which Trump gained initial prominence for opposing. He played into Cruz’s caricature of him perfectly.
Had the debate ended here, it wouldn’t surprise me if Cruz went on to catch Trump in the national polls. And I still believe, on net, Cruz will benefit more than anybody else. But Trump came roaring back in the second half of the debate. Much like the earlier debates, Trump got asked questions about immigration and was delivered the gift that keeps giving – the straw man of Jeb Bush attacking him from the left on the issue. Between immigration, trade, and the presentation of his business career, Trump resurrected the version of himself that much of the voters clearly have come to love.
The only problem for Trump, however, is that many people watched only the first half of the debate. Moreover, his opponent is not Jeb Bush. Bush is irrelevant at this point in the race. His opponent is Cruz, and many Trump supporters will now see a viable alternative who is speaking to their anger.
The challenge for Trump headed out of this debate is to keep up the persona he exhibited in the second hour and stay on message as a conservative, especially on the issue of immigration. But if he is going to continue to make his closing argument about being insulted by Cruz’s taunt of “New York values,” he’s making a colossal mistake. Some of the elite conservative media might feel insulted by Cruz’s comments, but they need to learn that the center of gravity for conservative voters is in the South and the West, and very much anchored in rural culture. There are very few primary voters who will agree with Trump on this exchange. He is needlessly allowing Cruz to get to his “right” and paint him as a Manhattan liberal.
On another note, the true winner of the debate is Maria Bartiromo. Who would have thought we’d live to see a time when a moderator would actually ask the questions about Muslim immigration (100,000 green cards a year) and the broad question of mass migration. Jeff Sessions loomed large at the debate.
Unfortunately, all of the candidates dodged the question in some manner. They all seemed to feel comfortable parlaying the issue exclusively into national security and the question of “vetting” but refused to discuss the general cultural problems with mass migration and the influx of Sharia-adherent immigrants, in particular. This is about a lot more than ISIS. We’ve had the cultural and security concerns that arise from mass migration and the radicalization of Muslim immigrants long before 2013.
The moderators also deserve credit for finally discussing the rise in crime. Once again, this was a missed opportunity for several of the candidates to bring up the get-out-of-jail free agenda and distinguish themselves from the Washington group think on criminal justice.
On a final note, the conservative media will make a big deal of Marco Rubio, but ultimately he is still not speaking to where voters’ hearts lie at this juncture. And worse for him, Chris Christie continues to gain prominence and this debate will only continue the perfect establishment chaos that is preventing Rubio from making this a three-man race.
On net, this debate will only secure the status quo as a two-man race, albeit Cruz will likely gain on Trump in the coming days. (For more from the author of “Cruz Schlongs Trump, Trump Schlongs Jeb” please click HERE)
By Bradford Richardson. Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz on Thursday said National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden is a “traitor” who should be “tried for treason,” shifting away from the praise he expressed for Snowden in 2013.
“It is now clear that Snowden is a traitor, and he should be tried for treason,” Cruz said in a statement to The New York Times.
“Today, we know that Snowden violated federal law, that his actions materially aided terrorists and enemies of the United States, and that he subsequently fled to China and Russia,” he continued. “Under the Constitution, giving aid to our enemies is treason.”
Cruz struck a different tone when Snowden first went public with classified details about NSA snooping in 2013.
“If it is the case that the federal government is seizing millions of personal records about law-abiding citizens, and if it is the case that there are minimal restrictions on accessing or reviewing those records, then I think Mr. Snowden has done a considerable public service by bringing it to light,” he said at an event hosted by The Blaze in 2013. (Read more from “Cruz Hammers Snowden, Labels Him a Treasonous Traitor” HERE)
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Cruz Has Problems With Goldman Sachs Loan
By Mick McIntire. As Ted Cruz tells it, the story of how he financed his upstart campaign for the United States Senate four years ago is an endearing example of loyalty and shared sacrifice between a married couple.
“Sweetheart, I’d like us to liquidate our entire net worth, liquid net worth, and put it into the campaign,” he says he told his wife, Heidi, who readily agreed.
But the couple’s decision to pump more than $1 million into Mr. Cruz’s successful Tea Party-darling Senate bid in Texas was made easier by a large loan from Goldman Sachs, where Mrs. Cruz works. That loan was not disclosed in campaign finance reports.
Those reports show that in the critical weeks before the May 2012 Republican primary, Mr. Cruz — currently a leading contender for his party’s presidential nomination — put “personal funds” totaling $960,000 into his Senate campaign. Two months later, shortly before a scheduled runoff election, he added more, bringing the total to $1.2 million — “which is all we had saved,” as Mr. Cruz described it in an interview with The New York Times several years ago. (Read more from “Cruz Has Problems With Goldman Sachs Loan” HERE)
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Reasons That Cruz’s Goldman Sach’s Loan Will Continue to Give Him Grief
By Jennifer Rubin. He is still indebted to Goldman. (“As for the Goldman Sachs loan, it remains outstanding, though the balance has been reduced to between $50,000 and $100,000.”) Goldman, among other things, employs hundreds of workers on H-1B visas. Cruz used to advocate a huge increase in the number of H-1B visas, without, of course, saying he was on the hook to Goldman. . .
He didn’t simply “forget” to file the disclosure; he made up a self-reverential story to go with it. “Liquidate everything” really meant “get a honking-big loan from my wife’s company.” This will underscore his slipperiness on other issues, such as his stance on immigrant legalization. Can we take anything he says at face value?
Cruz’s campaign is built on the populist, anti-establishment narrative. That is how he won his Senate race in the first place and why it was a good reason for him to conceal the loan at a critical time in that race. (“Mr. Cruz, a conservative former Texas solicitor general, was campaigning as a populist firebrand who criticized Wall Street bailouts and the influence of big banks in Washington. It is a theme he has carried into his bid for the Republican nomination for president.”). . .
It is hard to say this is an oversight. . .Voters can surely draw the inference that he wanted to hide the loan. As the Times report noted, “Other campaigns have been investigated and fined for failing to make such disclosures, which are intended to inform voters and prevent candidates from receiving special treatment from lenders.” Saying this all got reported later when his seat was won is hardly an excuse. It’s evidence that Cruz was hiding the ball when it mattered to his election. . .
Oh, it was not just Goldman. The Times report says that “in the first half of 2012, Ted and Heidi Cruz obtained the low-interest loan from Goldman Sachs, as well as another one from Citibank. The loans totaled as much as $750,000 and eventually increased to a maximum of $1 million before being paid down later that year. There is no explanation of their purpose.” Citibank was another Wall Street firm tied up in the housing disaster. (Read more from “Reasons That Cruz’s Goldman Sach’s Loan Will Continue to Give Him Grief” HERE)
