The Perfectly Legal Corruption No One Cares About

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The buzz this week in the news was all about corruption. OK, it was about one very specific type of corruption – the President paying women to not go public with allegations of affairs they say happened 12 years ago. But this is Washington, DC, sex scandals are only the tip of the corruption iceberg. Only, unlike anything involving Donald Trump, most of them are perfectly legal and the media has little to no interest in reporting on them. . .

There have been more than 260 settlements costing more than $17 million, paid for by you and me, so our elected Members for Congress can avoid being held responsible for things they’re now clutching their pearls over the President having done with his own money.

But as sleazy as that is, there’s something worse, something much more corrupt happening every election cycle. And, since Congress is the body that sets the rules, it’s perfectly legal.

Two reports this week showed how Members of Congress, safe Members who have had no risk of losing their reelection bids, shoveled money to members of their families for “work” they do for their campaigns. . .

People who face no real challenge on Election Day still raise a lot of money too. Some of it is for commercials to remind people to vote, some is passed around to other campaigns to raise the stature and influence of the Member, and some is used to pay staffers for a campaign that is, for all intents and purposes, unnecessary and non-existent. (Read more from “The Perfectly Legal Corruption No One Cares About” HERE)

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Here’s How Much the Mueller Investigation Has Cost Taxpayers

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By The Daily Caller. The Mueller investigation has cost taxpayers $25 million, according to documents released Friday by the Department of Justice.

The special counsel’s investigation into Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 election has been ongoing since May 2017. The latest numbers released by the department show that, in a six-month time period from April 1, 2018, to Sep. 30, 2018, there were over $4.5 million in expenditures. . .

Mueller’s investigation has so far proven no hard evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia but has implicated various campaign aides in unrelated crimes. Trump campaign staff Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Rick Gates and George Papadopoulos have all been targeted by the broad scope investigation.

(Read more from “Here’s How Much the Mueller Investigation Has Cost Taxpayers” HERE)

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Mueller Probe Has Cost Taxpayers More Than $25 Million, Spending Report Reveals

By Fox News. Taxpayers have spent more than $25 million on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, according to the latest spending report released Friday.

Between April 1 and Sept. 30 of this year, the special counsel has spent $4.56 million on the investigation.

“The Department will continue to dedicate and leverage resources to maintain strong program and financial management controls,” the report stated. “Management takes its program and financial accountability seriously and is dedicated to ensuring that funds are used in a responsible and transparent manner.”

Of the $4.56 million, $2.9 million went to “Personnel Compensation and Benefits” – $1 million of that went to special counsel employees’ salaries and benefits, and $1.9 million was “reimbursable” for Justice Department employees on detail with the special counsel’s office.

The special counsel’s office spent $942,787 on “Rent, Communications, and Utilities,” nearly $60,000 on printing, supplies, and materials; and Mueller’s team spent $580,098 on transportation and travel, with the majority of those funds going to “temporary duty relocation of DOJ employees detailed” to the special counsel’s office. (Read more from “Mueller Probe Has Cost Taxpayers More Than $25 Million, Spending Report Reveals” HERE)

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Trump Unconcerned About Impeachment: The People Would Revolt

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By GOP USA. President Trump warned against efforts to impeach him Tuesday, raising the specter of a popular uprising against a Congress that did that.

Mr. Trump issued his caution in an Oval Office interview with Reuters news agency, saying he wasn’t worried that Democrats, more of whom are publicly demanding he be removed from office, will be in control of the House next month.

“I’m not concerned, no,” he added. “I think that the people would revolt if that happened.” . . .

“It’s hard to impeach somebody who hasn’t done anything wrong and who’s created the greatest economy in the history of our country,” he told the British wire service. (Read more from “Trump Unconcerned About Impeachment: The People Would Revolt” HERE)

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Dems’ Post-Midterm Strategy to Bring Down Trump Emerges

By Fox News. California Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff disclosed in an interview Sunday that Democrats are in talks with counsel for former Trump attorney Michael Cohen to “bring him back” for further testimony, less than two weeks after Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress in 2017 about an abandoned Trump Tower project in Moscow.

Schiff suggested Cohen will return voluntarily. If Schiff becomes the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee when Democrats retake the House in January, as expected, he would have the power to subpoena Cohen to testify and provide documents — but Cohen would retain the option of pleading his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination. . .

Schiff also suggested Cohen could provide information on potential campaign-finance violations by the president. Cohen separately pleaded guilty in August to several charges brought by prosecutors in the Southern District of New York (SDNY), including five counts of tax evasion, one count of making false statements to a financial institution, one count of willfully causing an unlawful corporate contribution and one count of making an excessive campaign contribution. (Read more from “Dems’ Post-Midterm Strategy to Bring Down Trump Emerges” HERE)

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The Federal Judge Overseeing Michael Flynn’s Sentencing Just Dropped a Major Bombshell

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By The Federalist. On Tuesday, attorneys for Michael Flynn filed a sentencing memorandum and letters of support for the former Army lieutenant general in federal court. The sentencing memorandum reveals for the first time concrete evidence that the FBI created multiple 302 interview summaries of Flynn’s questioning by now-former FBI agent Peter Strzok and a second unnamed agent, reported to be FBI Special Agent Joe Pientka.

Further revelations may be forthcoming soon following an order entered late yesterday by presiding judge Emmet Sullivan, directing the special counsel’s office to file with the court any 302s or memorandum relevant to Flynn’s interview.

Flynn, who served briefly as President Donald Trump’s national security advisor, pleaded guilty more than a year ago to making false statements to federal investigators during a January 24, 2017 interview. During that interview, Strzok and (presumably) Pientka questioned Flynn about a telephone conversation the Trump advisor had with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

While Flynn’s sentencing memorandum methodically laid out the case for a low-level sentence of one-year probation, footnote 23 dropped a bomb, revealing that the agents’ 302 summary of his interview was dated August 22, 2017. As others have already noted, the August 22, 2017 date is a “striking detail” because that puts the 302 report “nearly seven months after the Flynn interview.” When added to facts already known, this revelation takes on a much greater significance.

First, text messages between Strzok and former FBI Attorney Lisa Page indicate that Strzok wrote his notes from the Flynn interview shortly after he questioned the national security advisor on January 24, 2017. Specifically, on February 14, 2017, Strzok texted Page, “Also, is Andy good with F 302?” Page responded, “Launch on f 302.” Given Strzok’s role in the questioning Flynn, the date (three weeks from the interview), the notation “F 302,” and Page’s position as special counsel to Andrew McCabe, it seems extremely likely that these text exchanges concerned a February 2017, 302 summary of the Flynn interview. (Read more from “The Federal Judge Overseeing Michael Flynn’s Sentencing Just Dropped a Major Bombshell” HERE)
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Federal Judge Wants More Information About the Shady Meeting the FBI Used to Nail General Flynn

By Townhall. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan is demanding prosecutors for Robert Mueller’s Special Counsel explain a January 2017 meeting between then National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and a pair of FBI agents at the White House. One of those agents was Peter Strzok, who was fired this year for serious misconduct and political bias. He was sent by disgraced Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe and fired FBI Director James Comey.

More from Fox News:

U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan ordered Mueller late Wednesday to turn over all of the government’s documents and “memoranda” related to Flynn’s questioning. The extraordinary demand puts Mueller under the microscope, and sets a 3:00 p.m. EST Friday deadline for the special counsel’s office to produce the sensitive FBI documents.

Explaining why Flynn was not warned about the possible consequences of making false statements, one of the agents wrote in the 302 cited by Flynn’s lawyers that FBI brass had “decided the agents would not warn Flynn that it was a crime to lie during an FBI interview because they wanted Flynn to be relaxed, and they were concerned that giving the warnings might adversely affect the rapport.”

So-called 302 reports are ostensibly contemporaneous accounts by agents of what is said during their interviews with witnesses and subjects, as well as other critical details like interviewees’ demeanor and descriptions of where the interview took place. They are often critical pieces of evidence in false statements cases where, as in the Flynn case, the FBI typically does not audio- or video-record interviews.

(Read more from “Federal Judge Wants More Information About the Shady Meeting the FBI Used to Nail General Flynn” HERE)

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California Rep Claims Trump Could ‘Face Jail Time’

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By The Washington Examiner. California Rep. Adam Schiff said Sunday he believes President Trump could spend time in jail once he leaves the White House, after his former attorney Michael Cohen implicated him in campaign finance violations.

“My takeaway is there’s a very real prospect that on the day Donald Trump leaves office, the Justice Department may indict him. That he may be the first president in quite some time to face the real prospect of jail time,” the California Democrat said on ABC’s “This Week.”

Schiff, who likely will lead the House Intelligence Committee next year, has been a persistent critic of Trump’s during special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. Trump referred to him on Twitter last month as ” little Adam Schitt.” (Read more from “California Rep Claims Trump Could ‘Face Jail Time'” HERE)

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Top House Dems Raise Prospect of Impeachment, Jail for Trump

By AP. Top House Democrats on Sunday raised the prospect of impeachment or almost-certain prison time for President Donald Trump if it’s proved that he directed illegal hush-money payments to women, adding to the legal pressure on the president over the Russia investigation and other scandals. . .

Rep. Jerry Nadler, the incoming chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, described the details in prosecutors’ filings Friday in the case of Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, as evidence that Trump was “at the center of a massive fraud.” . . .

In the filings, prosecutors in New York for the first time link Trump to a federal crime of illegal payments to buy the silence of two women during the 2016 campaign. Special counsel Robert Mueller’s office also laid out previously undisclosed contacts between Trump associates and Russian intermediaries and suggested the Kremlin aimed early on to influence Trump and his Republican campaign by playing to both his political and personal business interests. (Read more from “Top House Dems Raise Prospect of Impeachment, Jail for Trump” HERE)

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5 Jaw-Dropping Moments From Trump’s WILD Meeting With Pelosi and Schumer

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President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., had a wild meeting at the White House Tuesday, when a debate over government funding for a border wall spontaneously erupted in front of the press and ended with Trump vowing to take the blame for a potential government shutdown.

Kicking things off, Trump welcomed the press to the meeting and discussed the issues they would talk about. The tone was set when Trump joked to Schumer about wall funding being “easy” and Schumer snidely corrected him, “It’s called funding the government, Mr. President.”

Trump predicted that he might not come to an agreement with the Democratic leaders. Calling on Pelosi to say something, she said the government “should not have a Trump shutdown.”

That set the president off.

Trump was eager to defend his position, arguing that he has the votes for a wall in the House but that Schumer’s Senate Democrat obstructionism is blocking wall funding in the Senate. Pelosi did not want to have this debate in front of the press.

Disagreements intensified. An argument over whether strong border security necessitates a physical wall devolved into squabbles over the state of the economy and over the margin of victory for Democrats and Republicans in the 2018 midterms.

At one point, Schumer shot at Trump: “When the president brags that he won North Dakota and Indiana, he’s in real trouble.”

Schumer and Pelosi repeatedly stated that they had come in “good faith” to prevent a government shutdown. But Trump had had it with both of them. The president insisted on funding for a wall and vowed to take the blame for a government shutdown, if that’s what it takes.

So what did we learn?

First, Trump and the Democratic leaders are living in different realities on wall funding. There’s likely not much room for compromise there. The Democrats got what they want when Trump said he’d take the blame for a shutdown. Trump got what he wanted by putting them on the spot in front of television cameras. After this performance, it’s hard to imagine either side backing down from a government shutdown.

Second, Pelosi and Schumer do not want this debate to air in front of the press. It’s harder to cast Trump as a villain when he’s in the same room insisting on protecting Americans from violent criminal illegal aliens and drug-pushing gangs.

Third, though the media hate this president because he insults them, he once again proved he is the most transparent and media-friendly American president in living memory. Can you imagine any other president allowing this debate to play out in front of the press? (For more from the author of “5 Jaw-Dropping Moments From Trump’s Wild Meeting With Pelosi and Schumer” please click HERE)

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Woman Sues Orchestra for Pay Discrimination. There’s Just One Problem.

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The first chair flutist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is suing the organization, claiming she receives $70,000 less than her male counterpart because she is a woman.

Elizabeth Rowe, who joined the BSO when she was 29 after a blind audition, which, according to the Washington Post involved playing “behind a brown, 33-foot polyester screen” so no one knew her gender or race. Rowe is now 44, and knows that John Ferrillo, a 63-year-old man, makes nearly $70,000 more than her, because his salary was disclosed in a tax filing, since the BSO is a nonprofit organization.

Ferrillo has been with the BSO since 2001. Rowe has been with the orchestra since 2004. Ferrillo was also lured away from the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the Post reported, by offering to pay him “twice what the orchestra’s rank-and-file-make.”

But the biggest difference between the two? Rowe plays the flute, while Ferrillo plays the oboe. Two very different instruments. So, this is not a case of unequal pay for equal work. BSO provided the Post with a statement, in which it “defended its pay structure, saying that the flute and oboe are not comparable because, in part, the oboe is more difficult to play and there is a larger pool of flutists.” . . .

To be fair to Rowe, she didn’t want her lawsuit to become public. The Post reports that she only wanted her bosses to know about the lawsuit, but the Boston Herald discovered the suit and spoke to Rowe. Her lawsuit will test the Massachusetts Equal Pay Law, which her lawsuit claims requires the orchestra she needs to be paid the same or more than a male in a comparable position. She contends lead oboist is comparable. The BSO says otherwise. (Read more from “Woman Sues Orchestra for Pay Discrimination. There’s Just One Problem.” HERE)

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Watch: Google CEO Forced to Explain Why Trump’s Photo Appears When You Search for ‘Idiot’

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By Raw Story. Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Tuesday found himself having to explain why his company’s search engine retrieves photos of President Donald Trump when a user enters in a search for the word “idiot.” . . .

“We provide search today for any time you type in a keyword… we have gone out and stored copies of billions of pages in our index, and we take the keyword and match it against the pages and rank them based on over 200 signals,” Pichai replied. “Things like relevance, freshness, popularity, how other people are using it. And based on that, you know, at any given time, we try to find the best results for that query.”

(Read more from “Watch: Google Ceo Forced to Explain Why Trump’s Photo Appears When You Search for ‘Idiot'” HERE)

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Google Must Sway Congress on Regulations or Tech Will Face ‘Direct Threat,’ Says Cybersecurity Expert

By CNBC. Google could run into problems with privacy policies if Congress is more receptive to consumer advocates than to the company’s views on regulations, former Facebook privacy and public policy advisor Dipayan Ghosh told CNBC on Tuesday.

“If things do go in that direction, then I think the business model underlying Google, and companies like Google, will be under a more direct threat,” he said on “Closing Bell.”

The comments came after Google CEO Sundar Pichai appeared before a congressional committee, the first time Google parent Alphabet has sent an official to Capitol Hill for a hearing since skipping a Senate hearing on foreign interference in elections earlier this year.

Pichai testified before the House Judiciary Committee, whose members pressed him on a variety of concerns including data privacy, transparency and Google’s development of a censored search engine in China.

Shares of Alphabet had a relatively uneventful day, falling 1.5 percent before climbing to close up nearly 1 percent at $1,061.65. (Read more from “Google Must Sway Congress on Regulations or Tech Will Face ‘Direct Threat,’ Says Cybersecurity Expert” HERE)

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Facebook Censors Photo That Depicts Santa Claus Kneeling to Honor Baby Jesus

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Facebook has covered over a posting of a picture of Santa Claus kneeling before the Baby Jesus, warning viewers that the photo “may show violent or graphic content.”

A second warning beneath the obscured image of Santa on bended knee, reverentially adoring the Christ Child states, “This photo was automatically covered so you can decide if you want to see it.” . . .

Facebook explains on its site what it means by “Violence and graphic content:” . . .

The image in question — of the Savior of the World as an infant and a popularized version of a saint — was originally posted on December 1, 2015, with this accompanying poem explaining the touching illustration:

My dear precious Jesus, I did not mean to take your place,
I only bring toys and things and you bring love and grace.
People give me lists of wishes and hope that they came true;
But you hear prayers of the heart and promise your will to do.
Children try to be good and not to cry when I am coming to town;
But you love them unconditionally and that love will abound.
I leave only a bag of toys and temporary joy for a season;
But you leave a heart of love, full of purpose and reasons.
I have a lot of believers and what one might call fame;
But I never healed the blind or tried to help the lame.
I have rosy cheeks and a voice full of laughter;
But no nail—scarred hands or a promise of the hereafter.
You may find several of me in town or at a mall;
But there is only one omnipotent you, to answer a sinner’s call.
And so, my dear precious Jesus, I kneel here to pray;
To worship and adore you on this, your holy birthday.

(Read more from “Facebook Censors Photo That Depicts Santa Claus Kneeling to Honor Baby Jesus in Manger” HERE)

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Watch: CNN Reporter Appears to Use Sexual Slur, Immediately Claims He Doesn’t Know What It Means

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By Don Lemon. CNN’s Don Lemon immediately walked back an apparent sexual slur that he used on Wednesday night while appearing on a segment on CNN’s “Cuomo Prime Time.”

The segment originally started out with Cuomo talking about PETA’s list of “anti-animal language” and then transitioned into talking about “more serious things.”

At the end of the segment, Lemon told Cuomo: “Don’t be a chickenhead.”

The term “chickenhead” is a slang derogatory term that is used to describe someone who likes performing oral sex on a man and is considered to be especially degrading toward women.

(Read more from “Watch: CNN Reporter Appears to Use Sexual Slur, Immediately Claims He Doesn’t Know What It Means” HERE)

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THROWBACK: Don Lemon Didn’t Just Victim-Blame–He Perpetuated Multiple Rape Myths

By TIME. On Tuesday, CNN’s Don Lemon interviewed Joan Tarshis, one of more than a dozen women who have come forward over several years to accuse Bill Cosby of sexual assault. These allegations resurfaced after a comedian pointedly commented on them during a routine. This, in turn, prompted Barbara Bowman to ask publicly in an op-ed in The Washington Post, “Bill Cosby raped me. Why did it take 30 years for people to believe my story?” Former supermodel Janice Dickinson is now the 15th woman to come forward with allegations.

The allegations are hardly new, and the interview could have been an occasion for a serious and nuanced conversation about rape, about how survivors respond to and survive assault and about well-documented techniques used by serial abusers. Instead, what proceeded was appalling. Lemon, in a few brief lines, blamed the victim for not stopping her assault, while also managing to subtly convey a whole series of rape myths.

Lemon’s most repugnant suggestion was this: “You know, there are ways not to perform oral sex.” He went on to clarify that he meant the “using of the teeth” as a “weapon” to stop the alleged assault. Put crassly, “Why didn’t you bite his dick if you didn’t want to perform oral sex?” Lemon continued, “If you didn’t want to do it…” In other words, “you really wanted it.” (Read more from “THROWBACK: Don Lemon Didn’t Just Victim-Blame–He Perpetuated Multiple Rape Myths” HERE)

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