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Tag: foreign interference
#EndorseThis: Jimmy Kimmel Says Buh-Bye To Sarah Sanders

#EndorseThis: Jimmy Kimmel Says Buh-Bye To Sarah Sanders

Jimmy Kimmel is just as astonished as everyone else by Trump’s interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos — especially that exchange when he essentially invites the Russians (or the Chinese, or whoever) to help him win reelection in 2020. In the same interview, the president says his own FBI director is “wrong” to insist such offers of illegal meddling be reported to law enforcement.

But at least there’s something to celebrate this week: the imminent departure of press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who stopped doing her job three months ago. She’s going home to Arkansas at the end of June. Kimmel delivers a very special farewell to the woman whose abusive mendacity from the White House press podium became its own legend.

“She’s a special lady,” Kimmel admits. And he knows just who (or what) can take her place.

Click for laughs.

 

 

Senate Republicans Kill Bill Requiring Candidates To Report Foreign Interference

Senate Republicans Kill Bill Requiring Candidates To Report Foreign Interference

Senate Democrats on Thursday attempted to pass legislation that would help protect elections from foreign interference — but were rebuffed by Republicans, who quickly blocked the attempt.

It all began when Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) tried to get the Senate to take up his bill that would legally require campaigns to go to the FBI if a foreign government or power offers information meant to influence a political campaign. The bill is in response to Russia’s nefarious interference in 2016, and is even more important in light of Trump’s admission that he wouldn’t report any attempts at foreign interference to the FBI.

But Republicans, led by Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), immediately blocked Warner’s attempt to get a vote on the bill.

“I’m deeply disappointed that the majority has rejected this request before I can even lay out why I think it’s needed,” Warner said on the Senate floor after Blackburn’s objection. “This legislation is pretty simple, it would require any campaign that receives offers of assistance from an agent of a foreign government … to report that offer of assistance to law enforcement.”

Blocking such a common-sense piece of legislation is a sign Republicans don’t care at all about Trump’s admission that he’d collude with foreign powers in 2020 if given the chance.

In fact, Republicans have been trying to defend Trump’s despicable admission — which all but invites hostile foreign powers to interfere in our democratic process.

While it’s disturbing that Republicans would object to Warner’s bill, it’s not all that surprising.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has been refusing to consider any bills related to election security — proudly calling himself the “grim reaper” as he blocks any bills passed by House Democrats. And McConnell is the one who blocked former President Barack Obama from making any forceful statement about Russia’s election interference in 2016 while it was taking place.

All in all, Republicans simply don’t care that hostile foreign powers like Russia are interfering in our elections. Because if they did, they would be doing something to stop it, rather than defending Trump’s words and sitting on their hands.

Published with permission of The American Independent. 

IMAGE: Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN).

GOP Leader McCarthy: Trump Would Never Do What He Said He’d Do

GOP Leader McCarthy: Trump Would Never Do What He Said He’d Do

On Thursday morning, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy defended Trump’s admission that he would collude with foreign governments by saying there is no way Trump would actually do what he said.

“I think if you ask the president, he would be very clear about it — not allowing any foreign countries to interfere in our elections,” McCarthy said at his weekly press conference.

In fact, when Trump was asked about foreign interference in our elections, he was very clear that he would welcome it.

“I think I’d take it,” Trump said Wednesday when asked how he would deal with countries like Russia or China offering dirt on his political opponents. Trump begged Russia to interfere in the 2016 election, and they did so just hours later when hackers targeted Hillary Clinton’s emails.

On Wednesday, Trump opened the door for any foreign entity — friendly or not — to do the same, and suggested they could get in his good graces by passing along dirt about his political opponents.

“I think you might want to listen. There isn’t anything wrong with listening. If somebody called from a country, Norway, [and said] ‘we have information on your opponent, oh, I think I’d want to hear it,” Trump said Wednesday.

Rather than condemn Trump’s desire to undermine America’s elections, McCarthy claimed Trump said the opposite of what everyone heard.

Published with permission of The American Independent.

Trump: Inviting Foreign Meddling Is Fine Because ‘I Just Met With Queen Of England’

Trump: Inviting Foreign Meddling Is Fine Because ‘I Just Met With Queen Of England’

In a Thursday morning Twitter meltdown, Trump doubled down on his position that he would absolutely collude with foreign adversaries for political gain in the future.

“I meet and talk to ‘foreign governments’ every day. I just met with the Queen of England (U.K.), the Prince of Whales [sic], the P.M. of the United Kingdom, the P.M. of Ireland, the President of France and the President of Poland. We talked about ‘Everything!'” Trump wrote, before deleting the tweet and reposting it with “Wales” spelled correctly.

“Should I immediately call the FBI about these calls and meetings? How ridiculous! I would never be trusted again. With that being said, my full answer is rarely played by the Fake News Media. They purposely leave out the part that matters,” Trump concluded.

Trump is trying to defend himself after video aired of him telling ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that he would not contact the FBI if a foreign government offered him dirt on political opponents.

“It’s not an interference, they have information — I think I’d take it,” Trump said in response to a question about whether he would accept information from adversaries like Russia or China. Trump went on to say that the FBI does not have enough resources to deal with campaigns alerting them when foreign governments try to illegally influence American elections.

“If I thought there was something wrong, I’d go maybe to the FBI — if I thought there was something wrong,” Trump said.

With these comments, Trump was essentially inviting foreign governments to seek to influence him by providing dirt on his opponents.

And in his Thursday morning tweets, Trump absurdly tried to claim that these nefarious actions would be no different from normal diplomatic relations like meeting with the queen on a state visit to the U.K.

The invitation to foreign governments to interfere in elections on Trump’s behalf drew immediate and widespread outrage.

“‘Unfit to be President’ is a gross understatement,” former CIA chief John Brennan wrote on Twitter. Trump “is undeserving of any public office, and all Americans should be outraged,” he added.

Even Trump’s most loyal sycophants on Fox and Friendsattacked him on Thursday morning for inviting help from foreign adversaries.

In the 2016 campaign, Trump begged Russia to help his campaign by hacking into his opponent’s emails. Hours later, Russian operatives began trying to illegally access the email accounts of Hillary Clinton and high-level staffers on her campaign.

The Mueller Report lays out numerous instances of Trump campaign officials chatting with Russian actors and welcoming any dirt they may have had on Clinton. Trump later lied about one of those meetings, which took place in Trump Tower in New York, the same building as his campaign headquarters.

In the end, Trump is willing to put his own personal ambitions over the law and fair democratic elections. He wanted foreign interference in 2016, and is asking for it again in 2020.

Published with permission of The American Independent. 

IMAGE: Queen Elizabeth II with Donald Trump at Buckingham Palace.