EL PASO SHOOTING - ACT OF POLITICAL INTIMIDATION (TERRORISM) FOR ENFORCING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION LAWS

EL PASO SHOOTING - ACT OF POLITICAL INTIMIDATION (TERRORISM) AGAINST TRUMP ADMIN FOR ENFORCING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION LAWS:

OHIO SHOOTING - CAREFULLY PLOTTED SMOKESCREEN USED TO MAKE EL PASO SHOOTING APPEAR AS ACT OF RETALIATION OVER RACISM & ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION AND TO PUSH CONGRESS TO PASS GUN CONTROL.

IT’S NOT ABOUT RACISM, IT’S PURE POLITICAL INTIMIDATION OVER ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION.

I’M NOT OPPOSED TO GUN CONTROL BUT POLITICAL INTIMIDATION, FALSE CLAIMS OF RACISM AND KILLING INNOCENT PEOPLE IS NOT HOW IT SHOULD BE LEGISLATED.


Post Sources: ABC News, CBS News, Fox News, MSNBC, Youtube


****** Trump: Hate has no place in our country; El Paso shooting is being treated as a case of ‘domestic terrorism’


President Donald Trump on Sunday weighed in on two mass shootings that occurred 13 hours apart in Texas and Ohio, acknowledging “perhaps more has to be done” to address gun violence.

“We’ve done actually a lot,” Trump told reporters of his administration’s work on the issue, “but perhaps more has to be done.”

Trump, who made the comments to reporters on a tarmac in New Jersey after a weekend spent at his golf club in Bedminster, has overseen a ban on so-called bump stocks, but has not pursued large-scale gun control efforts. His predecessor, President Barack Obama, took executive actions on gun control, including on background checks and mental health.

Early Sunday, a shooter opened fire in Dayton, Ohio, killing nine people in the city’s Oregon District, a popular downtown area. The shooter was shot and killed by responding officers. Hours before on Saturday, a shooter opened fire at an El Paso, Texas, shopping center, killing at least 20 people. A 21-year-old white supremacist is in custody in the Texas domestic terrorism case.

Speaking broadly of the two recent mass shootings, Trump said, “I just want to say that these are two incredible places, we love the people.”

The President, who has regularly used incendiary language at rallies across the country, added, “Hate has no place in our country and we’re gonna take care of it.”
Praising law enforcement, Trump added that the massacres could have been worse. “It would have been unbelievable. It (was) horrible but it would have been so much worse,” he said.

Trump then said he would be making an official statement around 10 a.m. ET Monday on the mass shootings.

Earlier Sunday, Trump tweeted, “God bless the people of El Paso Texas. God bless the people of Dayton, Ohio,” and, separately, ordered American flags to be flown at half-staff as “a mark of solemn respect” for the victims of the tragedies.

Trump called the El Paso, Texas, shooting an “act of cowardice” on Saturday and said there “are no reasons or excuses that will ever justify killing people.”

The President also relayed earlier in a tweet that he had spoken with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, about the El Paso shooting and had offered the “total support” of the federal government to the state.

“Today’s shooting in El Paso, Texas, was not only tragic, it was an act of cowardice. I know that I stand with everyone in this Country to condemn today’s hateful act. There are no reasons or excuses that will ever justify killing innocent people,” Trump tweeted Saturday night.

Trump ended his comments to reporters Sunday stating “on behalf of our first lady and myself, condolences to all. We have to get it stopped. This has been going on for years.”
Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown wrote in a tweet Sunday that “thoughts and prayers are not enough, we have a responsibility to act.”

“We are also angry — angry that shooting after shooting politicians in Washington and Columbus refuse to pass sensible gun-safety laws to protect our communities,” Brown said.

Three sources have identified the suspect as 21-year-old Patrick Crusius of Allen, Texas.

The case appears to meet the statutory definition of domestic terrorism, Bash said. Saturday’s shooting at an El Paso shopping center — which left at least 20 people dead and 26 injured — “appears to be designed to intimidate a civilian population, to say the least,” he said.

“We’re going to do what we do to terrorists in this country, which is to deliver swift and certain justice,” Bash said.

El Paso County District Attorney Jaime Esparza said the suspect faces capital murder charges and will be eligible for the death penalty.

“We will seek the death penalty,” he said.

Racist ‘manifesto’ posted on 8chan
Authorities are investigating a racist, anti-immigrant screed that they believe was posted by a man who opened fire Saturday morning, shortly after 10:30 a.m. local time.

About 20 minutes earlier, a post on the online message board 8chan believed to be from the suspect laid out a dark vision of America overrun by Hispanic immigrants. The 2,300-word document, which police called a “manifesto,” was attached to a post that said, “I’m probably going to die today.”

The writing is filled with white nationalist language and racist hatred aimed at immigrants and Latinos. It blames immigrants and first-generation Americans for taking away jobs.

The writer cited a fear that an influential Hispanic population in Texas would make the state a “Democratic stronghold,” though he said “the Republican Party is also terrible,” because the GOP is in his mind pro-corporation, which could lead to more immigration.

The writer of the document said they had held these beliefs for years before Donald Trump was elected President.

It took less than a month to plan the shooting, the author says.

The mass shooting happened in one of the largest and safest cities on the US-Mexico border, a place central to the Trump administration’s hardline stance on immigration and a city that Rep. Cesar Blanco called “ground zero” of the administration’s family separations policy.

El Paso County had an estimated population of 840,000 people as of July 2018, according to the US Census Bureau. An estimated 83% were Hispanic or Latino.

Saturday’s shooting is at least the third atrocity this year where a shooting suspect is thought to have posted to 8chan in advance of an attack.

Before the mass shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand, in March, an account believed to belong to the gunman posted a link to an 87-page white nationalist manifesto on Twitter and 8chan.

And 73 minutes before the deadly shooting at Congregation Chabad synagogue in Poway, California, in April, someone identifying himself as the suspect in that attack posted a link to a hate-speech-filled manifesto hyperlinked on 8chan.

A week bookended by shootings
The El Paso shooting was one of several that happened across the country over the last eight days. It was followed just 13 hours later by another mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio.

At least nine people were killed and at least 26 were injured in a popular nightclub district by a lone gunman, identified as 24-year-old Connor Betts. Dayton Police said the suspect is dead.

Last Sunday, a 19-year-old gunman wearing tactical gear opened fire at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in California, killing three people, including a 6-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl.

And gunfire erupted Tuesday at another neighborhood Walmart in Mississippi, killing two employees and wounding a police officer. At least 34 people were left dead across all four scenes.

The first call of an active shooter in El Paso went out at 10:39 a.m. local time, El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen said. The first officer arrived on scene at the Walmart near the Cielo Vista Mall six minutes later.

Adria Gonzalez was walking by the meat section on a Saturday morning shopping trip with her mom when she heard the shots.

She said she stepped up to see what was happening and that’s when she saw the shooter near the main entrance, wearing headphones or earmuffs and carrying a gun.
“I could only think about getting my mom and others out of the store,” she said. “We gotta get out of here.”

After she saw the shooter, Gonzalez said she saw a grade-school aged boy get shot in the leg, a man bleeding on the floor and another man, covered in blood, reaching for a nearby child.

“We heard two to three shots, four to five shots, then six to seven shots,” Gonzalez told CNN.

She and her mother took off — along with about 40 other people, Gonzalez said. They waited in a storage area of the store until they no longer heard the gunfire.

“You see this happening in the movies, but when you live it yourself, when you see a person killing, the blood everywhere, you are in shock,” she said.

‘I never knew there was an odor to blood’

Officials from two local hospitals said they had received at least 24 people.

Thirteen people were taken to University Medical Center of El Paso, spokesman Ryan Mielke told CNN, and one of them has died. Two children with non-life-threatening injuries were transferred to a children’s medical facility, Mielke said.

Eleven victims were transported to the Del Sol Medical Center, Dr. Stephen Flaherty said.

Eight are in stable condition and three are in critical condition, and the patients ranged in age from 35 to 82, he said.

Of the 20 killed, three were Mexican nationals, according to a tweet from President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Of the 26 injured, six were Mexican, Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard wrote on Twitter.

“The ages and genders of all these people injured and killed are numerous in the age groups,” Allen, the police chief, said Saturday. “The situation, needless to say, is a horrific one.”

The next day, when asked why he used the word “horrific” to describe the scene, Allen told reporters, “There’s not words you can place to say something like that. You have to see it for yourself.”

“When I first got to this job,” he said, “I never knew there was an odor to blood, but there is … I can’t tell you what it means … It will leave an impression that you’ll never forget.”

ELIJAH CUMMINGS DEFENDS HIS 23 YR BALTIMORE REPRESENTATION (SO DO THE RATS)

ELIJAH CUMMINGS DEFENDS HIS 23 YR BALTIMORE REPRESENTATION (SO DO THE RATS):

WAS TRUMP RIGHT? IS BALTIMORE STILL “THE WIRE”??

HOW MANY BLACK MEN HAS CUMMINGS HELPED TO (SECRETLY) INCARCERATE INSTEAD OF HELPING THEM TO BECOME GAINFULLY EMPLOYED?

CONGRESSMAN ELIJAH CUMMINGS (“THE BULLY”) IS KNOWN TO RETALIATE AGAINST ANYONE WHO DOESN’T AGREE WITH HIM OR CHALLENGES HIM.

IN FACT, MANY OF HIS CONSTITUENTS ARE AFRAID OF HIM WHICH EXPLAINS WHY HE’S BEEN IN PUBLIC OFFICE 23 YRS.

SO WILL CUMMINGS USE HIS CONGRESSIONAL JUDICIAL COMMITTEE POWER TO RETALIATE AGAINST PRES TRUMP OVER HIS BOLD TWEETS ABOUT BALTIMORE?

WILL CUMMINGS RETALIATE AGAINST ALL THE JOURNALISTS & BLOGGERS WHO REPORTED ON THIS STORY?

STAY TUNED.


Post Sources: Baltimore Sun, DW News, Fox News, NBC News, Turning Point USA, Washington Examiner, Youtube



**** The trouble with Trump's tweets about Baltimore is that they are true


President Trump’s recent tweets about Baltimore, rats, and the city’s political leadership have roiled Washington and prompted another round of cries of “racism” from the usual race hustlers, who are seeking out every camera they can find. But rather than focus on whether or not Trump is a racist, how about we focus on the man’s words? Are they true?

Yes, they are.

First elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1995, Elijah Cummings has represented Maryland’s 7th Congressional District (which includes Baltimore City) for the past 23 years. Prior to that, Cummings was an elected member of Maryland's House of Delegates, representing District 39 (also Baltimore City) beginning in 1983. In all, Cummings has represented Baltimore for 36 years.

What has Baltimore to show for Cummings’ years of representation? Here are a few examples. In 2017, 13 high schools in the city of Baltimore were found to have zero students — not a single one — who were proficient in math. And out of the 3,804 students in all who took the state math proficiency test, only 14 were proficient.

Baltimore’s schools perform this poorly despite the fact that residents of Baltimore pay 3.2% city income tax, the maximum local income tax rate allowed by state law in an already high-tax state. Take that as further proof that throwing money at problems doesn’t necessarily solve them.

Crime in Baltimore is, simply put, out of control. With over 2,000 violent crimes per 100,000 people, in the year 2017 Baltimore was well within the most dangerous 1% of U.S. cities.

And then, there’s the rats, the mention of which generated much of the ire directed at Trump. He claimed that Baltimore is “rat infested," causing some left-wing pundits to claim he was using code to refer to “black and brown people.” Yet, once again, the issue is whether he was right. And he was. The city has a very real rat infestation problem.

Baltimore’s rats have long been the subject of commentary in the news and in social media. From both sides of the political aisle, everyone from Barack Obama and Bernie Sanders to Ben Carson and Baltimore’s former Mayor Catherine Pugh (who resigned in May amid federal and state corruption investigations) have been outed on the web for having publicly commented on the city’s filth and squalor in years past. A 2018 video has surfaced of Pugh touring her miserable city and nearly gagging on her own words as she exclaimed, “You can smell the rats … Oh my God, you can smell the dead animals.”

So, yes, there are rats. A lot of rats. So many rats that one citizen created a full feature-length documentary film about Baltimore’s rats. The city and county themselves launched the “Rat Attack Program” to battle the epidemic, sadly without much success.

On Monday, Baltimore’s local Fox broadcasting affiliate WBFF was reporting on Trump’s tweetstorm when, as if sensing its opportunity for two seconds of fame, a rat ran through the frame effectively photobombing the Fox45 reporter’s live shot!

As a black American pundit, I am often asked whether I think Trump is a racist. I do not, but the answer I always give is that I don’t care. What I care about is the truth.

The point is that the overarching focus on race accomplishes nothing. And if the focus is simply on truth, then in this case, Trump is unquestionably right.

That Baltimore’s political leadership has failed its constituents is inarguable. That's why those same political figures, along with the race hustlers of the day, repeatedly pull out the same card they’ve been playing for decades. They get away with it by accusing their own accusers of racism. They choose to focus on accusations of intent rather than substance of the issue.

Baltimore is steeped in squalor, and the black community there bears the brunt of its inept, corrupt political leadership. Trump hasn't had time to cause that in his less than three years in office. But in less than three seconds, his tweet has shone a glaring spotlight onto it, and that bright light is causing the rats to scurry.

TRUMP AS PRESIDENT - I WILL NOT CRITICIZE (MEXICO DEAL)

TRUMP AS PRESIDENT - I WILL NOT CRITICIZE (MEXICO DEAL):

I WILL PRAY FOR PRES TRUMP BUT I WON’T PUBLICLY CRITICIZE HIM.

NO MAN IS PERFECT; ONLY GOD ALMIGHTY.

OUR IMMIGRATION SYSTEM WAS VERY BROKEN & CONGRESS REFUSED TO FIX IT.

HAVE WE BECOME SO POLITICALLY CORRECT, MEDIA DRIVEN AND DIVISIVE THAT WE NO LONGER CARE ABOUT WHAT IS LEGALLY & MORALLY CORRECT ACCORDING TO CONSTITUTIONAL LAW??

WHY CRITICIZE A LEADER WHO IS ONLY TRYING TO LEGALLY HELP BOTH AMERICAN CITIZENS & ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS EXPERIENCE THE AMERICAN DREAM?

GOD BLESS OUR NATION

GOD BLESS THE U.S. MILITARY

GOD BLESS MEXICO FOR AGREEING TO SIGN THIS DEAL.


Post Sources: CBS News, Fox News, Reuters, Washington Post


**** Trump’s big win leaves critics sputtering

Because President Trump emerges as a clear winner from his week-long confrontation with Mexico over our neighbor’s lax enforcement of its southern border, reflexive Trump critics will scramble to find some way of containing what is a clear Trump triumph, which came with assists by Vice President Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who conducted the key negotiations.

Already we have heard about long-term damage to trust between the North American allies, about investor nervousness and Trump’s unpredictability.

This sort of flailing-about to deny the obvious says nothing about Trump and much about those critics who can no more admit he played high-stakes poker and won a round on border security than they can admit that the president delivered a magnificent tribute to the heroes of Normandy on Thursday.

Much of the media has overheated now and, like an engine that has run too long without an oil change, has begun to seize up, stall, even melt.

That Trump has contributed to the slow wreck of American media is undeniable.

It’s a feature, not a bug, of his presidency to attack, attack, attack the media elites. And no matter how often center-right journalists counsel him to abandon the Stalinist “enemy of the people” rhetoric, he hasn’t because it triggers a flaming hatred among the ideologies of the left, with platforms and elites eager to signal each other that they are part of the tribe menaced by this Godzilla from Trump Tower.

Voters, though — not just the “Twitter Democrats” but voters of all ages and ideologies — are a pretty smart bunch. Assume for a moment that they know, generally, that tariffs are a lousy idea in terms of economic growth. Assume as well that they know that tariffs can be an instrument of national power in confrontations unrelated to economic growth.

Assume that voters know our competition with China is far more than an economic race, but rather a complex geopolitical rivalry that both sides wish to keep contained short of open conflict and that is waged through proxies, cyber-confrontations, intellectual-property battles, freedom-of-the-seas disputes and the relative size and power of our armed forces and those of our allies.

In that context, tariffs on Chinese goods are just part of an overall negotiation toward a new normal that is in everyone’s interest.

So “tariffs bad, free trade good” is simplistic. “Free trade is good and agreed-upon international conventions are required for genuinely free trade and tariffs may be necessary to achieve those conventions” is accurate. And widely understood.

“Alliances are good” is simplistic. “Alliances in which allies actually do what they promise with regard to percentage of GDP spent on national defense while not increasing dependence on Russian natural gas” is complex but accurate.

Hard as it is for the Manhattan-Beltway echo chamber to believe, sounding sophisticated isn’t actually being sophisticated. Trump’s record is mixed, but not this week.

This week, even as Joe Biden began to melt (the headline in Saturday’s Times of London online edition was “Democrats raise doubts over Joe Biden’s stamina for presidential nomination race” — never a good sign when the neighbors notice these things), Trump put together back-to-back big successes. Historian and classicist Victor Davis Hanson speculates that Trump’s enemies are so addicted to hating him that, in a classic addict pattern, all behaviors are bent in service of the addiction.

This weekend and next week will separate the outrage addicts from the serious journalists. Trump would be very well advised to take this tariff weapon off the table with regard to Mexico.

It probably wouldn’t work a second time unless the Mexicans failed to deliver even a halfhearted effort.

It’s not the sort of threat you can use twice, and doing so would undo the enormous win he can rightfully paint this to be at rally after rally as Campaign 2020 gets underway.

If Trump invited Democrats back to the White House for immigration reform and border security talks right now, urging them to be as serious as the Mexican government has been about the border crisis, it might actually work.

House Democrats passed an immigration bill last week. Senate Republicans could quickly pass their own version to get a joint House-Senate conference with White House participation.

Everyone could win: the United States and Mexico, the president and the House speaker, both parties, the undocumented in this country seeking regularization, and the desperate and easily exploited poor of Central America.

TIGER WOODS AWARDED MEDAL OF FREEDOM (BACK ON TOP)

TIGER WOODS AWARDED MEDAL OF FREEDOM (BACK ON TOP):

TIGER’S APPEARANCE BEARS THE BATTLE SCARS OF A WOUNDED SOLDIER BUT HE REMAINS NO.1 IN GOLF.

IT IS POSSIBLE TO BOUNCE BACK IN LIFE AFTER EMBARRASSING SCANDALS AND BEING PERSONALLY ATTACKED.

GOD BLESS TIGER & HIS CHILDREN,

Post Sources: AP, ESPN, Youtube


**** Medal of Freedom awarded to 'true legend' Tiger


President Donald Trump awarded golfer Tiger Woods the nation's highest civilian honor on Monday, describing the 43-year-old as a "true legend" who transformed golf and then fought through years of injury to return to the sport's summit.

Trump awarded Woods with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Woods is the fourth golfer to earn that distinction and certainly the youngest.

While he dominated the sport for more than a decade, he won his first major in nearly 11 years at last month's Masters tournament, a comeback that captivated the sporting world.

"Tiger was back on top," Trump declared during the Rose Garden ceremony.

Trump described the litany of victories Woods has obtained during his remarkable career and the injuries that almost derailed it.

"This evening, we are in the presence of a true legend, an extraordinary athlete who has transformed golf and achieved new levels of dominance," Trump said during the presentation. "He's also a great person. He's a great guy."

Jack Nicklaus, a previous recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, was among several golfers to congratulate Woods in messages on their Twitter accounts.

Woods was joined at the ceremony by his mother, Kultida; daughter, Sam Alexis, 11; son, Charlie Axel, 10; and girlfriend, Erica Herman.

Woods' father, Earl, passed away more than a decade ago. Woods' longtime caddie Joe LaCava also attended.

Woods became emotional as he spoke of his parents, and he thanked those who have supported him over the years, saying, "You've seen the good and bad, the highs and lows, and I would not be in this position without all of your help."

Woods tweeted after the White House ceremony:

President George W. Bush presented the Medal of Freedom to Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer. Obama presented it to Charlie Sifford, sometimes referred to as the "Jackie Robinson of golf." Woods noted that he named his son after Sifford. "He was like the grandpa I never had," Woods recalled.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is given to individuals who have made "especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors," according to the White House.

Presidents have complete discretion over whom they honor with the medal.

KIM KHARDASHIAN’S QUEST TO BECOME ATTORNEY IS REAL.....STOP HATING

KIM KHARDASHIAN’S QUEST TO BECOME ATTORNEY IS REAL.......STOP HATING:

I SUPPORT KIM’S JOURNEY TO COMPLETING HER LEGAL APPRENTICESHIP & PASSING THE BAR.

KIM IS USING HER FAME, PRIVILEGE & VOICE TO HELP FREE WOMEN LIKE CYNTOIA BROWN AND IMPOVERISHED YOUNG MEN.

DON’T HATE HER JUST BECAUSE SHE’S BEAUTIFUL.

KUDOS TO YOU KIM.


Post Sources: TMZ, Youtube


**** KIM KARDASHIAN
I WANNA BE A LAWYER.... Celeb Attorney Says She's Got the Chops!!!


Kim's attorney, Shawn Holley, tells TMZ ... Kim's been authentically interested in the law for a long, long time and adds she's truly interested in being a justice warrior.

Kim Kardashian wants to take the law into her own hands ... by becoming an attorney, and she's aiming to get it done within 3 years.

Kim revealed her legal aspirations -- saying she's actively studying to be a lawyer -- in a Vogue profile. She's not attending a law school, but she does have a master plan to take the bar exam by 2022. 

In order to prepare for that, she has begun a 4-year apprenticeship at a San Francisco-based law firm ... which she got started last summer with support and consulting from Van Jones and attorney Jessica Jackson.

Her reason for embarking on this difficult road ... Alice Marie Johnson.

As you know ... Kim played a huge role in getting the ex-con released early by lobbying President Trump and even showing up to talk to him face-to-face.
Well, turns out that experience had a bigger impact on Kim than some might've expected. She says, "I’m sitting in the Roosevelt Room with, like, a judge who had sentenced criminals and a lot of really powerful people and I just sat there, like, Oh, sh*t. I need to know more."

Kim adds, "I would say what I had to say, about the human side and why this is so unfair. But I had attorneys with me who could back that up with all the facts of the case. It’s never one person who gets things done; it’s always a collective of people, and I’ve always known my role, but I just felt like I wanted to be able to fight for people who have paid their dues to society."

Interestingly enough, Kim's been told in the past by her own attorneys that she's got the chops to be a real deal attorney. Looks like she's taking that to heart. Of course, she'd be following in the footsteps of her father, Robert Kardashian.

For the record ... Kim does NOT need to go to law school in order to become a licensed lawyer. She just needs to pass the bar, which she's studying to do right now. Good luck!!!

————————————————————-


***** State-by-State Guide to Law Apprenticeships:


Here is some basic information about eight states’ rules for bar admission for apprentices. Please see each state’s bar admissions rules for additional details and information on how to register as an apprentice.

California: California’s complete bar admission rules are at this link.  Requires 4 years of study in a law office, at least 18 hours per week, 5 hours of direct supervision, monthly exams, bi-annual progress reports to the CA State Bar. Supervising attorney must have 5 years of active law practice in the state.
Vermont: Vermont’s updated bar admission rules are at this link. See Rule 7 [previously Section 6(g)(1)]. Requires 4 years of study in a law office. Supervising attorney must have 3 years of experience. 

Virginia: Virginia’s complete Law Reader Program rules are at this link. Requires 3 years of law office study, 40 weeks per year, 25 hours per week, with 3 hours per week of direct supervision by attorney. Supervising attorney must have at least 10 years of experience. Note that the apprentice may not be employed by or compensated by the supervising attorney.

Washington: Washington’s complete bar admission rules are at this link. The Admission to Practice Rule (APR) 6 Law Clerk Program requirements can be found here. Requires 4 years of employment in a law office, an average of 32 hours of work/study per week, 3 hours per week of direct attorney supervision.  Supervising attorney must have 10 years of experience. Apprentices must pay an annual fee of $1,500. Note that the apprentice must be employed by the attorney.
States requiring some law school, but not the full three years:

Maine: Maine’s complete bar admission rules are at this link.  See Rule 10(c)(5).  Maine requires at least two years of law school study, followed by one year of study in a law office.
New York:  New York’s complete bar admission rules are at this link. See Section 520.4.  New York requires at least one year of law school. The remaining law study may be done in a law office, so long as there is an aggregate of four years of law school study and law office study.

* Wyoming: Unfortunately Wyoming updated their bar admission rules in 2015, eliminating the law office study program. Until then, Wyoming required 1 year of law school and 2 years of a law study program, or 2 years of law school and 1 year of a law study program to be eligible to take the state bar exam.
And the very limited circumstances in which law office study is relevant in West Virginia:

West Virginia: A person who has attended 3 years of law school at a non-ABA-accredited law school in a state where attendance at such school would make the person eligible to take the bar exam in that state may become eligible to take the West Virginia bar exam by doing an additional three years of law office study.The updated rules (as of January 1, 2013) are in Rule 3.0(a)(2)(a) at this link. Note that, as of July 2014, the Rules for Admission to Practice Law on the West Virginia Judiciary website have not been updated. If you read the old rules on that site, you could conclude that West Virginia requires no legal education whatsoever (thanks to the confusing appearance of the word “or”).

FURLOUGHED FED EMPLOYEE SUPPORTS SHUTDOWN & BORDER WALL (HOW MANY MORE?)

FURLOUGHED FEDERAL EMPLOYEE BOLDLY SUPPORTS SHUTDOWN & BORDER WALL:

HOW MANY MORE DO?

WHY IS CONGRESS ALLOWING SHUTDOWN TO DRAG ON?

IS THIS SHUTDOWN REALLY ABOUT THE WALL?

OR IS IT SECRETLY ABOUT “DRAINING THE SWAMP” & CONTROLLING WASTE, FRAUD AND ABUSE OF GOVT MONEY?

IS THIS SHUTDOWN SECRETLY BEING USED BY CONGRESS TO LEGALLY GET RID OF LONG TERM FEDERAL GOVT EMPLOYEES OVER THE AGE OF 60??

OR IS IT ABOUT NATIONAL SECURITY?

INQUIRING MINDS OF AMERICAN VOTERS WANT TO KNOW THE TRUTH.


Post Sources: Fox News, WJLA, YouTube


**** Furloughed federal employee says she supports Trump's push for a border wall


Several times during the partial government shutdown, President Donald Trump has claimed that federal workers are on his side.

Now, we’re hearing from one of those workers.

“I’m very strongly behind it, yes,” Amanda Schimone said. “I just believe in what we are doing. I believe in the President’s policies and Secretary Nielsen’s policies, and supporting the border patrol agents.”

Schimone spent 26 years in the U.S. Air Force before retiring in 2012. Now, she works at the Department of Homeland Security’s federal law enforcement training center in Cheltenham, Maryland.

“We train all the federal agents, through all the different agencies. Not just DHS, but FBI, the state department, that kind of thing,” she said.

Despite the fact that’s she been furloughed since the shutdown began, Schimone says she supports the border wall on behalf of her colleagues who patrol the border every single day.

“If you had a tool that would help you do your job better and to be able to have border security – they’re my coworkers – I don’t know them personally, but if they say that’s what they need to do their job, than I support them 100 percent,” she said.

Schimone’s husband also works for the federal government, but is not impacted by the partial government shutdown. She says they’re relying on his income plus a pension she gets from the U.S. Air Force to pay their bills while her DHS paychecks are on hold.

“We’ve put away money, we have a financial planner, we’ve been really cognizant of doing that,” she said. “My credit card bills, they’re just getting the minimum payment right now.”

Still, she knows there are a lot of federal employees who are struggling financially due as the shutdown drags on.

“I do have for empathy for them. I do understand that some people live paycheck to paycheck,” she said.

She also understands that a lot of people may not like her perspective on the government shutdown. And she says that’s okay.

“I don’t judge people,” she said. “They have a right to their opinion, and I have a right to mine.”

At the very least, she hopes people will listen to what she has to say.

“Do I like being furloughed? No. But I understand and I support them,” she said. “I realize America is where people really want to be, but I think there’s a right way to come into our country, and not illegally. And so that’s one of the reasons why I do support the border wall.”

She hopes the president and Congress can soon agree on funding for the wall, and get the government back open.

“Maybe negotiate the amount that President Trump wants or some type of other immigration policies, but it sure would be nice if they would try to work together,” she said. “No negotiations makes me feel like they don’t care about the Department of Homeland Security.”

JEFF SESSIONS IS OUT AS DOJ CHIEF; WHO IS MATTHEW WHITAKER?

JEFF SESSIONS IS OUT AS DOJ CHIEF; WHO IS MATTHEW WHITAKER?

TRUMP vs SESSIONS BATTLE FINALLY COMES TO AN END.


Post Sources: ABC News, Youtube


***** What we know about Matthew Whitaker, man who replaces Jeff Sessions


Matthew Whitaker, tapped by President Donald Trump as acting U.S. Attorney General, once made a key reception in a Rose Bowl football game, ran as a conservative Republican for the U.S. Senate in Iowa, and wrote an opinion piece arguing that special counsel Robert Mueller was "going too far" in his investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

Whitaker, 49, was named the acting head of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) after Jeff Sessions resigned Wednesday after being asked to do so by Trump, according to a letter Sessions sent to the president.

Trump has long been angered by Sessions' decision to recuse himself in March 2017 from the Russia investigation headed by Mueller.

Whitaker had been Sessions' chief of staff.

"We are pleased to announce that Matthew G. Whitaker, Chief of Staff to Attorney General Jeff Sessions at the Department of Justice, will become our new Acting Attorney General of the United States. He will serve our Country well....," Trump tweeted after accepting Sessions resignation.

Whitaker's appointment was met almost immediately with calls from the Democratic leadership for him to recuse himself from overseeing the Mueller probe.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi slammed the appointment as an attempt to quash the Russia probe.

"It is impossible to read Attorney General Sessions’ firing as anything other than another blatant attempt by @realDonaldTrump to undermine & end Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation," Pelosi tweeted.

"Given his record of threats to undermine & weaken the Russia investigation, Matthew Whitaker should recuse himself from any involvement in Mueller’s investigation. Congress must take immediate action to protect the rule of law and integrity of the investigation. #FollowTheFacts."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also called on Whitaker to recuse himself from the probe.

"Given his previous comments advocating defunding and imposing limitations on the Mueller investigation, Mr. Whitaker should recuse himself from its oversight for the duration of his time as acting attorney general," Schumer said in a statement.

Schumer later tweeted that: "Clearly, the President has something to hide."

Whitaker, a lawyer from Iowa, joined the Department of Justice in August 2017. It was his second stint at the DOJ, where he was appointed U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa in June 2004 by then-President George W. Bush. He resigned from the DOJ in 2009 after Barack Obama became president.

In his first tenure at the DOJ, Whitaker served on the Controlled Substances and Asset Forfeiture Subcommittee for the Attorney General's Advisory Committee and also served on the agency's White Collar Crime and Violent and Organized Crime subcommittees.

A month before joining the DOJ for the second time, Whitaker penned an opinion piece for CNN.com criticizing Mueller's Russia investigation.

"Last month, when President Donald Trump was asked by The New York Times if special counsel Robert Mueller would be crossing a line if he started investigating the finances of Trump and his family, the President said, 'I think that's a violation. Look, this is about Russia," Whitaker, then a CNN legal commentator, wrote in the August 2016 piece.

"The President is absolutely correct. Mueller has come up to a red line in the Russia 2016 election-meddling investigation that he is dangerously close to crossing."

Whitaker wrote that he found the possibility of Mueller digging into Trump's finances as part of the Russian probe "deeply concerning to me."

"He [Mueller] is only authorized to investigate matters that involved any potential links to and coordination between two entities -- the Trump campaign and the Russian government," Whitaker wrote. "People are wrongly pointing to, and taking out of context, the phrase 'any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation' to characterize special counsel's authority as broad."

He also defended Donald Trump Jr. in a CNN interview for taking a controversial meeting in June 2016 with a Russian lawyer claiming to have damaging information about Hillary Clinton, then-candidate Trump's opponent for the White House.

"Anybody would have taken that meeting," Whitaker said in the July 2017 CNN interview.

Whitaker earned a master of business administration and a law degree at the University of Iowa. He also played tight end for the University of Iowa Hawkeyes football team that lost to the University of Washington Huskies in the 1991 Rose Bowl game in Pasadena, California.

"One of the greatest experiences I ever had as a Hawkeye was playing in that Rose Bowl game and having a catch," Whitaker said in the 2015 article in the Hawkeye Nation, a website for University of Iowa sports fans. "To this day I can brag to anyone who will listen that I had a catch in the Rose Bowl."

In 2014, Whitaker ran for the Republican nomination to fill the Senate seat vacated by Democrat Tom Harkin. He finished fourth in the Republican primary won by Joni Ernst, who went on to win the general election.

Following his foray into politics, Whitaker went back to practicing law, becoming managing partner of Des Moines-based law firm, Whitaker Hagenow & Gustoff LLP.

From 2014 to 2017, he served as the executive director of FACT, The Foundation for Accountability & Civic Trust.

Whitaker has also been a member of the University of Iowa Political Science Department Advisory Board and the National Association of Former U.S. Attorneys.

CHRISTINE FORD vs KAVANAUGH - 36 YRS AGO WHO REMEMBERS ALL DETAILS ACCURATELY?

CHRISTINE FORD vs BRETT KAVANAUGH - 36 YRS AGO WHO REMEMBERS ALL DETAILS ACCURATELY?

DIDN’T THIS INCIDENT OCCURR IN HIGH SCHOOL?

I’M NOT MOCKING CHRISTINE FORD NOR AM I TRYING TO SOUND HYPOCRITICAL BUT WHY IS IT ALWAYS LIKE THIS FOR GOP SCOTUS COURT NOMINEES? WHY??

I WAS TRYING TO REMAIN SILENT BUT I HAD TO SPEAK UP.

THIS DRAMA IS NOT ABOUT PROTECTING WOMEN, IT’S STRAIGHT POLITICAL THEATER.


Post Sources: BBC News, Fox News, NBC News, Washington Post, Youtube


***** Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh hearing: Key takeaways so far


With a seat on the Supreme Court hanging in the balance, Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh are appearing in front of senators to state their case and share their stories. Here are some of the key takeaways so far.

Everyone knew what Christine Blasey Ford was going to say before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday morning. Her formal opening statement was released to the public on Wednesday evening.

Reading what she was going to say and hearing her speak it, in a quiet, sometimes faltering voice, are two very different things, however.

The committee hearing began with statements by Republican chairman Chuck Grassley and ranking Democrat Dianne Feinstein, and the exchanging accusations of political obfuscation and procedural misconduct threatened to cover the proceedings in a political fog.

For a taut 20 minutes, however, Ms Ford cut through the fog with searing emotion. She spoke of traumatic memories and decades of shame; of a civic duty to come forward and recent months of hounding media and death threats.

The images of her speaking - the first glimpse the public at large has had of her besides a few grainy photos - will linger well beyond Thursday's hearing or even Brett Kavanaugh's ultimate professional fate.


Once Ms Ford concluded, the fog descended again. Thanks in large part to a disjointed format that featured five-minute segments alternating between veteran sex-crimes prosecutor Rachel Mitchell, a surrogate questioner for the Republicans, and Democratic senators, there was little flow to proceedings.

It was as if viewers were flipping back and forth between a CourtTV criminal cross-examination and a public-access television congressional hearing.

Democrats succeeded in gleaning a few memorable moments from Ms Ford. She said she was 100% certain that Brett - referring to Mr Kavanaugh repeatedly by his first name - was the teenager who assaulted her.

She also, in reply to a question by Vermont Democrat Pat Leahy, recounted how the enduring recollection she has from the incident was Mr Kavanaugh and his friend, Mark Judge, laughing as they stumbled down the stairs after the alleged attack.


Ms Mitchell, in her interrogation, pulled at a number of threads in Ms Ford's story.

Who drove her to and from the house on the night of the party?

Why did she tell Senate investigators that she couldn't meet them in Washington because she was afraid of flying if she frequently travelled by air for pleasure?

Did she or did she not share her 2012 therapist records with a reporter from the Washington Post?

That final line of questioning is key, since it's those records that help corroborate that Ms Ford had spoken about the assault well before Mr Kavanaugh became a candidate for the Supreme Court.

The other questions seemed more geared toward undermining Ms Ford's credibility - the kind of strategy useful during depositions or trials to undermine a jury's trust in a witness or, perhaps, force them to crack under the accumulated pressure of the interrogation.

Every five minutes, however, Democrats threw Ms Ford a lifeline.


In the end, however, Ms Mitchell herself seemed slightly exasperated by the format she was working under. When it comes to trying to arrive at the accurate recollection of trauma, she said, "there's no study that shows that this setting, in five-minute increments, is the best way to do that.

As the first half of the hearing drew to a close, the senators began to argue about entering various outside statements into the record, only to be interrupted by one of Ms Ford's lawyers.

"Can we be excused?" he asked.

With the partisan fog thick again, it's a sentiment many Americans may have shared.

CUOMO EASILY DEFEATS CYNTHIA NIXON; WON’T RUN AGAINST TRUMP IN 2020

ANDREW CUOMO EASILY DEFEATS CYNTHIA NIXON; WON’T RUN AGAINST TRUMP IN 2020:

CUOMO IS A POWERFUL POLITICIAN WHO RECOGNIZES THAT TIMING IS EVERYTHING.

CUOMO KNOWS TRUMP REMAINS A FORMIDABLE BUSINESS LEADER TO CAMPAIGN AGAINST.


Post Sources: Democrat and Chronicle, Fox News, USA Today, Youtube


***** How New York Gov. Cuomo was able to crush Cynthia Nixon in the Democratic primary


Gov. Andrew Cuomo left little to chance in his Democratic primary fight against Cynthia Nixon, a race that drew national attention.

Cuomo, a master at using the levers of power in government, turned all the resources of his campaign and office to his advantage.

He was able to use more than $21 million in campaign spending to tout his record over the past eight years and beat back attacks on scandals that have rocked his administration to land a blowout victory Thursday over the neophyte Nixon.

"We have provided real-life progressive solutions. You cannot have the word 'progressive' without the word 'progress.' It doesn’t work," Cuomo said at a news conference Friday.

Cuomo beat Nixon 66 percent to 34 percent in the primary, on par with his primary victory over Zephyr Teachout in 2014.

Turnout up

The margin of victory came amid a surge in voter turnout: 24 percent of total enrolled Democrats cast a ballot on Thursday compared to 10 percent in 2014.

Cuomo was able to galvanize union support that eluded him in 2014 and that aided turnout along with a Democratic base that is more engaged following President Donald Trump's election.

Turnout was also boosted by heavily contested primaries in the New York City area, in particular, that led to seven Democratic incumbents in the Senate to lose their seats — a remarkable result in a state where incumbents rarely lose.

The Democrats' ire was directed mainly at the former eight-member Democratic Independent Conference, who had aligned with Republicans over much of the past seven years in the Senate, drawing criticism that they blocked progressive legislation.

Six of the eight ex-IDC members lost in primaries, including its former leader Jeff Klein, D-Bronx, who spent $2 million on his race but still fell to Alessandra Biaggi in a race that stretched into Westchester.

“Voters again made it clear that this is a new day and politics as usual are no longer acceptable," said Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins, D-Yonkers, who heads the mainline Democratic Conference and brokered a unity deal with Klein in April that didn't stave off IDC challengers.

Cuomo's power

It wasn't just that Cuomo blanketed the airwaves with television ads and ads on social media.

He used the power of his office to boost his standing, which drew criticism from his foes, but nonetheless helped him.

"When others were underestimating us, he did not — and he spent accordingly," Nixon said at the opening of her concession speech.

Nearly 1 million property-tax rebate checks were sent out before the primary, when they typically don't go out until late fall and through the winter.

Cuomo's office said the process became more efficient, so the checks went out earlier this year.

Others saw it different.

"The Senate was complaining most loudly about delays in the checks in previous years, and this year’s earlier posting could be seen as a response to those complaints that conveniently serves the governor’s interests as well," said E.J. McMahon, who heads the fiscally conservative Empire Center for Public Policy.

Cuomo will face Republican candidate Marc Molinaro on the November ballot, as well as several third-party candidates, including Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins, Libertarian candidate Larry Sharpe and Serve America Movement candidate Stephanie Miner.

Cuomo's aggressiveness also came with peril.
He held a huge ceremony the Friday before the primary to tout the opening of the second span of the Gov. Mario Cuomo Bridge in the Hudson Valley, only for the span's opening to be delayed several days.

And in the days leading up to the primary, Cuomo's campaign was embroiled in controversy over an anti-Semitic mailer it sent out about Nixon -- which the campaign later admitted was inappropriate.

Winning voters

Cuomo used the massive power of his office to his benefit.

Cuomo has the disposal of a state fleet of aircraft, allowing him to make multiple stops per day to discuss policy, make announcements and in recent months bash the Trump administration — which played well with Democrats in the primary.

Cuomo took 195 trips in state planes and helicopters in 2017, the New York Times reported earlier this month, which was significantly more than other big-state governors.

State agencies also put out a series of mailers ahead of the primary, including one from the Department of Motor Vehicles that encouraged residents to vote with the line.

"Governor Andrew M. Cuomo is expanding access and opportunity to New Yorkers to register to vote,” one read, according to the New York Post.

Cuomo, though, credited his strong record and apathy toward Trump as the reason for his success on Primary Day.

uomo targeted Trump more than Nixonduring the campaign, touting his experience in office compared to Nixon.

He said Friday he understands the sentiment of voters, pointing to his record that includes a higher minimum wage, paid-family leave, free SUNY tuition for income-eligible students and a property-tax cap.

His primary ticket all won: Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul beat New York City Councilman Jumaane Williams; and Tish James, the New York City public advocate, won a four-candidate race for attorney general.
"A progressive Democrat, a Democrat in New York state. These are not ivory tower academics. These are not pontificators," Cuomo said Friday.

"New York Democrats, these are hard-working men and women. They are middle class; they are working families. They have real problems, and they need real help in life."

JOHN MCCAIN IS DEAD - POLITICAL BATTLE FOR HIS SEAT BEGINS BEFORE HE IS BURIED

JOHN MCCAIN IS DEAD - POLITICAL BATTLE FOR HIS SEAT BEGINS BEFORE HE IS EVEN BURIED:

AUGUST 29, 1936 - AUGUST 25, 2018

MCCAIN LEFT BEHIND MIXED POLITICAL LEGACY, HOWEVER HE SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO REST IN PEACE AND STILL HONORED FOR HIS U.S. MILITARY SERVICE.

I SEND MY PRAYERS AND CONDOLENCES TO HIS FAMILY.


Post Sources: ABC News, BBC News, CNN, MSNBC, Washington Post, Youtube


****** John McCain's death means potential legal battle to fill his Senate seat


With the news that Arizona Senator John McCainhas passed away due to complications from brain cancer, the speculation over who will succeed him in the position he has held since 1987 has begun in earnest.

The timing of McCain’s death results in a complicated process that could end up in a court battle in a state that will be key to determining the balance of power in the U.S. Senate this midterm cycle.

According to Arizona state law, the governor appoints a replacement for any vacancy in a U.S. Senate seat who will hold it until the "next eligible general election."

That person must belong to the same political party of the person who held the seat.

That means Doug Ducey, Arizona's Republican governor, would appoint a Republican to fill McCain's seat until the next general election or until the governor decided to call a special election.

However, the most relevant piece of election code in this situation is that the candidate filing deadline for the election cannot be fewer than 90 days before a primary for that special election.

The State of Arizona Election Procedures Manualstipulates that the vacancy "must occur sufficiently before" that deadline to gather signatures to get on the primary ballot.

Since the Arizona primaries will be held this Tuesday, the filing deadline for candidates would have had to have been May 30 for a special election to comply with state law.

So even though the next general election in Arizona is in November, the timing of McCain’s passing likely ensures that whomever Ducey appoints to replace him will serve until 2020, the next general election year.

Matt Roberts, the communications director for the Arizona Secretary of State, confirmed to ABC News that under state election regulations, Ducey can appoint a replacement that will serve in McCain’s seat until 2020.

Democrats could challenge that relevant portion of state election guidance to try and force a special election in 2018, which would put both of the state's Senate seats up this cycle since retiring Sen. Jeff Flake's seat is also up.

When asked about potential plans to pursue legal action to force a special election in 2018, a spokesperson for the Arizona Democratic Party declined to comment on the subject, instead telling ABC News, "John McCain is an American hero and our thoughts are with him and his family at this difficult time."

A special election this year would force Republicans to defend two Senate seats this cycle in a state Donald Trump won by just four percentage points in the 2016 presidential election.

JEMELE HILL - FOOLISH ACTIVIST - FIRED BY ESPN

JEMELE HILL - FOOLISH ACTIVIST - FIRED BY ESPN:

JEMELE RUINED A GREAT JOB WITH ESPN TO HELP DEMOCRATS IN 2020.

SHE WAS HIRED AS A SPORTS COMMENTATOR NOT A POLITICAL ACTIVIST.

WILL DEMOCRAT LEADERS WHO HATE TRUMP NOW OFFER JEMELE A $10 MILLION CONTRACT??

IT’S NOT ABOUT VIOLATING FREEDOM OF SPEECH.

EVEN IF YOU DON’T LIKE TRUMP, HE IS STILL THE ELECTED U.S. PRESIDENT JUST AS OBAMA WAS.

THINK SMARTER BLACK YOUNG PEOPLE.

IF YOU WANT TO BE AN ACTIVIST, SAVE MONEY AND THEN LEAVE YOUR JOB AMICABLY FIRST.

YOU CAN NOT BE AN POLITICAL ACTIVIST AT WORK IN CORPORATE AMERICA UNLESS YOU WERE HIRED UPFRONT TO BE A PAID POLITICAL COMMENTATOR.

PERIOD.


Post Sources: NY Daily Post, Bleacher Report, ESPN, Fox News, Sports Illustrated, Your Black World, Youtube


***** Jemele Hill is out at ESPN


Jemele Hill needed to be out at ESPN. Hill knew it. ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro knew it. And, now, Jemele Hill is out at ESPN.

The marriage between ESPN and Hill — the controversial sports commentator who waded into politics and sparred with President Donald Trump — has long been stuck in irreconcilable differences. Since leaving “SportsCenter” earlier this year, she has barely worked, making a divorce the obvious conclusion.

A buyout of her reported $2.5 million per year contract has been completed and her last day will be Friday, according to sources.

On Saturday night, the author James Miller, who wrote a book about ESPN, first tweeted the newsof the breakup, calling it “amicable.” The timing, on a Saturday evening, was fortunate for Hill and ESPN in an attempt to lessen the news coverage of what had been a huge national story, both in politics and in sports. There had been rumblings last week of buyout talks between the two sides.

It is quite simple as to why the buyout happened: Hill wants to continue her involvement in politics, and ESPN wants out of politics.

Pitaro has made it clear ESPN is a sports network and does not want to be associated with politics, so he agreed to a buyout with Hill, according to sources. ESPN had no use for Hill on any of its programs after her ill-fated 6 p.m. “SportsCenter”with her former partner, Michael Smith, failed to deliver ratings. She first left Smith behind by quitting the show before the executive in charge of the program, Norby Williamson, had a chance to replace her. She would have been removed.

Nearly one year ago, on Sept. 11, 2017, Hill called Trump “a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself [with] other white supremacists.” Though it broke ESPN’s social media rules about commenting on politics unrelated to sports, then-network president John Skipper failed to suspend Hill. The White House called for Hill to be fired.

A little more than a month later, Skipper decided to suspend Hill after she criticized Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ anthem stance by tweeting, “Change happens when advertisers are impacted. If you feel strongly about JJ’s statement, boycott his advertisers.” She was off television for two weeks. ESPN called it a second offense. Hill said she regretted that she had “painted ESPN in an unfair light.”

Pitaro recently said he thinks the biggest misperception of ESPN is that it is political, and now he is putting action behind his words. Though the network’s on-air programming is mostly apolitical, it is hard to ask viewers to disassociate stances they read on social media when ESPN personalities are on TV, radio or writing for its website.

Nearly one year ago, on Sept. 11, 2017, Hill called Trump “a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself [with] other white supremacists.” Though it broke ESPN’s social media rules about commenting on politics unrelated to sports, then-network president John Skipper failed to suspend Hill. The White House called for Hill to be fired.

A little more than a month later, Skipper decided to suspend Hill after she criticized Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ anthem stance by tweeting, “Change happens when advertisers are impacted. If you feel strongly about JJ’s statement, boycott his advertisers.” She was off television for two weeks. ESPN called it a second offense. Hill said she regretted that she had “painted ESPN in an unfair light.”

Pitaro recently said he thinks the biggest misperception of ESPN is that it is political, and now he is putting action behind his words. Though the network’s on-air programming is mostly apolitical, it is hard to ask viewers to disassociate stances they read on social media when ESPN personalities are on TV, radio or writing for its website.

JOHN BRENNAN'S SECURITY CLEARANCE REVOKED BY TRUMP (NO LONGER NEEDED)

JOHN BRENNAN'S SECURITY CLEARANCE REVOKED BY TRUMP:

SINCE BRENNAN IS NO LONGER EMPLOYED WITH CIA WHY DOES HE STILL NEED HIS CLEARANCE?

TRUMP IS CORRECT TO REVOKE CLEARANCES OF FORMER GOVT OFFICIALS WHO ABUSE THEIR PRIVILEGE.

SECURITY CLEARANCES SHOULD NOT BE USED TO SPY ON OR INTIMIDATE OTHER CITIZENS UNLESS TO STOP TERRORISM.

TRUMP IS A MAN OF HIS WORD.


Post Sources: ABC News, Fox News, Washington Post, Youtube


******** Trump revokes security clearance of former CIA director John Brennan — a leading critic of the president


President Trump on Wednesday followed through on threats to strip the security clearance of former CIA director John Brennan, igniting a firestorm of criticism that the president was recklessly attempting to distract from his own political problems and silence high-profile critics.

Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced the decision at a White House briefing, reading a statement from Trump that accused Brennan of making “a series of unfounded and outrageous allegations — wild outbursts on the internet and television — about this Administration.”

Brennan, who led the CIA during most of President Barack Obama’s second term, has emerged as one of Trump’s fiercest critics, denouncing his performance at a summit with Russian President Vladi­mir Putin last month as “treasonous.” On Tuesday, Brennan lambasted Trump’s personal character after he derided former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman as a “dog.”

“Any benefits that senior officials might glean from consultations with Mr. Brennan are now outweighed by the risk posed by his erratic conduct and behavior,” Trump said in his statement. “Mr. Brennan has a history that calls into question his objectivity and credibility.”

Trump added that he is reviewing the security clearances of nine other former officials, including former FBI director James B. Comey, all of whom have criticized the president or been targeted by congressional Republicans seeking to discredit the Russia probe.

The move sent shock waves through Washington’s political class and the nation’s intelligence community, which has traditionally sought to avoid public partisanship but has been dragged into the debate as Trump has accused what he calls the “deep state” of seeking to undermine his presidency through leaks of sensitive material.

The president also has lashed out repeatedly against the ongoing investigation led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III into possible contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives accused of tampering in the 2016 presidential election.

Brennan was a longtime intelligence official who briefed three presidents and served as CIA station chief in Saudi Arabia, CIA chief of staff, director of the Terrorist Threat Integration Center, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, and assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism.

His former colleagues rallied to his defense, hailing his service to the nation, including a key role in the 2011 operation that killed Osama bin Laden.

In a tweet Wednesday, former vice president Joe Biden said Trump’s decision was “unbecoming of a President” and praised Brennan as someone who “has never been afraid to speak up.”

“If you think it will silence John, then you just don’t know the man,” he wrote.

Brennan reacted to the news by comparing Trump’s actions to those of “foreign despots and autocrats.”

“I never, ever thought I’d see it here in the United States,” Brennan said on MSNBC. “I believe all Americans need to take stock of what is happening right now in our government — how abnormal and how irresponsible and how dangerous these actions are. If Mr. Trump believes this is going to lead me to just go away and be quiet, he is very badly mistaken.”

Sanders cast Trump’s decision as the outcome of an ongoing review of former and current officials whose conduct has led the president to question their willingness to “protect classified information.”

But since aides first raised the specter of Trump’s stripping Brennan and several others of their clearances, security experts have described such a move as unprecedented and warned that words and actions protected by the First Amendment are not grounds to take a clearance away.

“As far as we know, this is the first time that a president of the United States has individually taken action against somebody’s security clearance,” said Mark Zaid, an attorney who represents government employees in security-clearance disputes.

Last month, the White House said that along with Brennan and Comey, the president was scrutinizing former CIA director Michael V. Hayden, former national security adviser Susan E. Rice, former director of national intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. and former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe.

On Wednesday, Sanders expanded that list to include former acting attorney general Sally Q. Yates, former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, former FBI agent Peter Strzok and Justice Department official Bruce Ohr, who was recently demoted.

Yates was fired by Trump last year after she defied the president and ordered federal attorneys not to defend his controversial travel ban. Strzok and Page, two of Trump’s favorite targets on Twitter, became the centerpiece of Republicans’ efforts to discredit Mueller’s Russia probe after anti-Trump texts between the two were revealed last year. Strzok was fired over the texts this week.

Ohr is also a frequent object of GOP criticism; he was named by Republicans in a memo earlier this year that targeted his ties to the former British intelligence officer who wrote the controversial dossier on the Trump campaign’s alleged contacts with Russian officials.

The timing of the announcement suggested that the president may also have been trying to distract public attention from saturation media coverage of accusations in Manigault Newman’s new book that Trump made racist statements before he took office that were captured on tape.

After Sanders’s briefing Wednesday, the White House released the written statement from Trump bearing the date July 26 — before quickly releasing an identical statement with the date removed. That led some of Trump’s critics to conclude that he had made the decision on Brennan’s security clearance weeks ago but that the White House strategically delayed an announcement for maximum political benefit.

“This might be a convenient way to distract attention, say from a damaging news story or two,” Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) said on Twitter. “But politicizing the way we guard our nation’s secrets just to punish the President’s critics is a dangerous precedent.”

Some Republicans, including Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.), applauded Trump’s move. In a statement, Paul sought to take credit for the idea of revoking Brennan’s clearance.

“I urged the President to do this,” Paul said. “I filibustered Brennan’s nomination to head the CIA in 2013, and his behavior in government and out of it demonstrate why he should not be allowed near classified information.”

Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian, called Trump’s action unprecedented, saying he knew of no historical example of a president’s trying to “dehumanize and embarrass an outstanding intelligence officer like John Brennan. There has always been a bipartisan spirit of support since the CIA was created in the Cold War.”

Brinkley suggested that the closest antecedent was President Richard Nixon’s attempts to use the Internal Revenue Service to harass people on his “enemies list” and Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s congressional hearings to try to identify and punish suspected communists inside the U.S. government in the 1950s.

“The public outcry of Brennan being stripped will echo long and far in the annals of American history,” Brinkley said. “It will be seen like McCarthyism — a dark stain on our democracy.”

Nearly 4.1 million Americans have federal government security clearances of varying levels up to “top secret,” according to government estimates. In some cases, former officials retain their clearances and are called on to provide advice or input on classified or highly sensitive matters, experts said. Some former officials also have jobs that require a security clearance.

It is not clear how much of an impact Trump will have if he seeks to strip others of their clearances. Comey and McCabe have said their security badges were automatically demagnetized after they were fired.

But the action was the latest in a long battle between Trump and top members of the intelligence and national security communities. During the 2016 campaign, a bipartisan group of national security experts, including Hayden, signed a pair of “Never Trump” letters asserting that he “lacks self-control and acts impetuously,” has demonstrated “erratic behavior” and is “fundamentally dishonest.”

Since taking office, Trump has faced criticism that he has been reckless in his own handling of sensitive information, including disclosing highly classified material during an Oval Office meeting last year with the Russian foreign minister and ambassador to the United States. And at his Florida retreat, Mar-a-Lago, Trump appeared to discuss the U.S. response to a North Korean missile launch in full view of patrons.

Questions also have been raised about Trump’s staff, including son-in-law Jared Kushner, whose security clearance was downgraded in February before he was granted a permanent clearance in May. Former White House staff secretary Rob Porter was granted clearance despite allegations that he had been violent toward two ex-wives, which he has denied.

“This is not merely erratic, it’s somewhat dangerous, using clearances to get at political opponents,” Eliot Cohen, a former State Department counselor during the George W. Bush administration who organized one of the “Never Trump” letters, said of the president’s decision on Brennan.

Rep. Adam B. Schiff (Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said on Twitter that Trump’s move demonstrates “how deeply insecure and vindictive he is — two character flaws dangerous in any President.”

“An enemies list is ugly, undemocratic and un-American. I also believe this action to silence a critic is unlawful,” Schiff said in a tweet.

Republican reactions were more muted. Last month, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (Wis.) minimized Trump’s threats, suggesting that the president was merely “trolling people.” Ryan’s office declined to comment Wednesday.

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who, after tangling with Trump on foreign policy issues, is not seeking reelection called the president’s action a “banana republic kind of step.”

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said Brennan has been “far too political” in his commentary about Trump. But she added that recently retired intelligence officials generally have worthwhile expertise to offer and called Trump’s move “unwise.”

OMAROSA VICIOUSLY STABBED APRIL RYAN IN THE BACK TOO (SEAN SPICER)

OMAROSA VICIOUSLY STABBED APRIL RYAN IN THE BACK TOO:

APRIL RYAN'S JOURNALISM CAREER WAS THREATENED BY OMAROSA DUE TO APRIL NOT APPEARING IN OMAROSA'S WEDDING.

JIMMY KIMMEL ALSO SAID SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH OMAROSA.

TRUMP THREATENS TO SILENCE OMAROSA WITH NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT LAWSUIT.


Post Sources: Fox News, MSNBC, Washington Post, Youtube


******* CNN's April Ryan slams Omarosa: 'She stabbed in the back, the neck, the eyeballs'


CNN’s April Ryan said Omarosa Manigault Newman stabbed her in the back and attempted to end her career when their once-friendly relationship soured.

“It was really ugly. It was so ugly,” Ryan said during an appearance on SiriusXM’s “Karen Hunter Show” on Tuesday.

Manigault Newman has been on a media blitz in support of her new book, “Unhinged,” and she has played various secret recordings of Trump and his staffers that she said were collected during her time working in the White House.

Ryan was on “The Karen Hunter Show” to promote her own book, when was asked asked if there's a section on Manigault Newman -- whom she considered a friend before the former Trump aide turned on her.

"I talk about her taping me. I warned everybody. I talk about her taping me. We had that fight between the Oval Office and the press office,” Ryan said. “It probably stemmed from the fact that she was very upset with me because I ...wouldn't be in her wedding and people were telling me she was very upset that I chose not to be in her wedding.”

The CNN contributor said that in addition to the wedding party beef, Manigault Newman turned on her in order to help Trump go after the media.

“She stabbed in the back, the neck, the eyeballs and in the front. She tried to cut my head off and put it on a platter and serve it up to Donald Trump,” Ryan told Hunter.

The feud between Ryan and Manigault Newman goes back to at least February of last year, when The Washington Post published a story headlined, “‘This is . . . Nixonian’: Reporter was taped by White House in heated exchange”. The Post’s Paul Farhi wrote that Ryan then claimed Manigault Newman said the CNN political analyst “was among a handful of journalists on whom the White House was keeping ‘dossiers’ of negative information.”

At the time, Manigault Newman called Ryan a “liar” and admitted to having a tape, while Ryan said she was considering legal action regarding the recording.

Ryan -- she's White House correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks, in addition to her gig at CNN -- then told the SiriusXM host that Manigault Newman attempted to spread lies about her relationship to Hillary Clinton.

“I was very upset about that and we'll take care of what she said and the lies that she was spreading that is career-ending and I was doing this for about 20 years, when she did this,” Ryan said. “She said I was taking money from Hillary Clinton. I said, ‘Are you kidding me?’”

The Post also reported that Manigault Newman sent Ryan a note citing an unnamed story that tied her to Clinton.

“This story suggests that as a reporter, you are (or were) a paid Clinton surrogate. I pray this is not true! This could be hurtful to your legacy and the integrity of your work,” Manigault Newman reportedly wrote to Ryan at the time.

Ryan told the radio host that Manigault Newman wanted to “kill” her career, and that the truth could be easily proven.

“Now, here I am, a divorced single mother of two girls who works hard, and it's not just about taking food off my table. You are hurting my children. I'm a fierce mama bear. She lied on me,” Ryan said.

Ryan also claimed that Manigault Newman urged Trump's former press secretary, Sean Spicer, not to call on her during White House briefings.

Manigault Newman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

OMAROSA SINGLE-HANDEDLY DERAILS ANY CHANCE OF TRUMP’S RE-ELECTION (OUCH)

OMAROSA SINGLE-HANDEDLY DERAILS ANY CHANCE OF TRUMP’S RE-ELECTION (OUCH):

DEMOCRATS & GOP LEADERS WHO HATE TRUMP CAN THANK OMAROSA.

TRUMP IS NOT A POLITICIAN BUT HE LEARNS THE HARD WAY HOW DIRTY THE GAME OF POLITICS IS PLAYED.

EVENTUALLY FICKLE MAINSTREAM MEDIA PUNDITS WILL TURN ON OMAROSA.

SHE WILL PAY FOR HER SALACIOUS, TWO-FACED BEHAVIOR.

LIFE CAN BE LONELY AT THE TOP, EVEN LONELIER AT THE BOTTOM.


Post Sources: Chicago Tribune, CNN, Fox News, PBS News, Politico, Youtube


****** Trump campaign files arbitration action against Omarosa, who was not the first outgoing staffer offered a cushy job


Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. And, perhaps, your potential leakers closer yet.

President Donald Trump's political operation has made a regular practice of providing soft landing-pads for discarded staffers, offering nebulous jobs at big salaries to aides who have been pushed out of his West Wing.

The revelation this week that former White Houseassistant Omarosa Manigault Newman was offered a high-paying job on Trump's re-election campaign in return for signing a non-disclosure agreement was the clearest demonstration yet of how a slot in the Trump orbit is being used to take care of loyalists — and protect against potential liabilities.

Manigault Newman, who contends in her new book that she was offered a hush-money contract with the Trump campaign paying $15,000 a month, is hardly the first erstwhile staffer to find a lucrative off-ramp in the expanse of pro-Trump political organizations. The former staff members have found a wide range of rehabilitation within Trump's orbit: his re-election campaign, the Republican National Committee, and outside groups that support both him and Vice President Mike Pence.

Keith Schiller, the president's former bodyguard who served for eight months as director of Oval Office operations, has been paid the same $15,000 by the Republican National Committee as a security consultant for its national convention — in 2020 in Charlotte.

John McEntee, Trump's former personal aide, is paid 14,000 a month by the Trump re-election campaign.

One-time Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski joined Pence's Great America PAC in May, and former press secretary Sean Spicer was announced in June to replace him as the "senior advisor and spokesman" for pro-Trump super PAC America First Action.

Manigault Newman told MSNBC's "Hardball" on Monday, "They told me I could work from home, I didn't have to come in if I didn't want to. ... I could choose between the RNC, America First or the Trump campaign." She says she said no.

Now she has released a book filled with unsavory White House inside stories — Trump says the ones about him are false — and has been playing recordings of the president and others on TV.

That's exactly what he wanted to avoid, and his presidential campaign filed an arbitration action against her on Wednesday, alleging she had breached a confidentiality agreement she had signed.

The outside groups have also become magnets for Trump backers who were not brought into the administration, like Katrina Pierson and Trump daughter-in-law Lara Trump.

The all-in the-family approach to taking care of stalwarts is nothing new. But the systematic approach with which Trump White House veterans have been offered plush gigs is.

According to aides, it reflects a reality that for some the lucrative private sector jobs that are typically available to exiting White House officials never materialized, while for others, it serves as a way keep them nearby and quiet.

Some current and former staffers have struggled to find post-White House jobs — given the conflicted feelings on the Trump administration in Washington — making the campaign or a super PAC an attractive paycheck.

And Trump, despite his reality-television catch-phrase, is loath to fire anyone from his inner circle, preferring to keep receiving their public and private adoration.

"When Gen. Kelly came on board he told me she was a loser & nothing but problems," Trump tweeted about Manigault Newman on Monday. "I told him to try working it out, if possible, because she only said GREAT things about me - until she got fired!"

OMAROSA SAID GREAT THINGS ABOUT TRUMP UNTIL SHE WAS FIRED

OMAROSA SAID GREAT THINGS ABOUT TRUMP UNTIL SHE WAS FIRED:

IF ANYONE IN OBAMA'S WHITEHOUSE SECRETLY RECORDED MEETINGS WOULD THE MEDIA CELEBRATE THEM??

OMAROSA SAID "EVERYONE WILL BOW DOWN TO TRUMP" BEFORE SHE WAS FIRED BY JOHN KELLY.

OMAROSA CALLED TRUMP "TRAILBLAZER FOR WOMEN" BEFORE SHE WAS ESCORTED BY SECRET SERVICE OUT OF TRUMP'S ADMINISTRATION.

IF OMAROSA WILL TURN ON TRUMP.....A MAN WHO MADE HER FAMOUS, SHE WILL TURN ON ANYONE....SHE CAN'T BE TRUSTED & GIVES BLACK WOMEN A BAD NAME.


Post Sources: CNN, Twitter, MSNBC, Youtube

Donald J. Trump
(@realDonaldTrump)
..."really bad things. Nasty to people & would constantly miss meetings & work. When Gen. Kelly came on board he told me she was a loser & nothing but problems. I told him to try working it out, if possible, because she only said GREAT things about me - until she got fired!"

OMAROSA TWO-FACED SNITCH vs APRIL RYAN & TRUMP (TALE OF TWO BLACK WOMEN)

OMAROSA TWO-FACED SNITCH vs APRIL RYAN & TRUMP (TALE OF TWO BLACK WOMEN):

OMAROSA IS NOT A VICTIM & COMMITTED A CRIME; LAWYER UP.

SECRETLY RECORDING WHITE HOUSE CONVERSATIONS IS A NATIONAL SECURITY CRIME.

OMAROSA USED TRUMP & BLACK JOURNALISTS LIKE APRIL RYAN UNTIL NEITHER OF THEM NO LONGER MATTERED TO HER.

THE MEDIA SHOULD NOT HAIL OMAROSA AS A SHERO.

CLEARLY OMAROSA DOES NOT UNDERSTAND DEFINITION OF THE WORD "LOYALTY".


Post Sources: Washington Examiner, NY Times, Washington Beacon, CNN, Youtube


******* April Ryan warns Omarosa not to name-check her: 'Your lies and crazy behavior are catching up to you'


Omarosa Manigault Newman and April Ryan traded barbs Sunday after the former reality TV star said the White House exploited American Urban Radio Networks' Washington bureau chief by leaking a colorful, unflattering story about her departure from the Trump administration.

"Don’t reference me or use my name. Keep my name out of your mouth," Ryan wrote on Twitter. "You have done enough. Your lies and crazy behavior are catching up to you. Can you say National Security breach? Lawyer up!"

Ryan's comments follow Manigault Newman's explosive interview Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press," which aired a tape the former star of "The Apprentice" recorded in the Situation Room of White House chief of staff John Kelly talking to her about "leaving" her role in the Trump administration. The tape has raised concerns that Manigault Newman breached national security protocol by taking a recording device into what is supposed to be among the most secure parts of the presidential complex.

"He knew that John Kelly was going to take me into the Situation Room, and lock me in there, threaten me, and say that things were going to get ugly for me, and there would be damage to me reputation," Manigault Newman said Sunday, referring to President Trump. "And you know what, the next day there was damage to my reputation because they then put out a story using and exploiting an African-American reporter to say that I was running around the residence and trying to break into a Christmas party, which is ludicrous."

Ryan additionally slammed Manigault Newman as "evil" during a Sunday appearance on CNN's "Reliable Sources."

"She was complicit, but she was doing all this knowing that there was going to be a payoff in the end for her, and then once she got upset with him or he got upset with her or whatever happened, she decides to turn on him," Ryan said of Manigault Newman's initial support of Trump, despite now calling him "a racist, a bigot and a misogynist.” "She’s not a friend, she’s a liar, and I would say she’s evil," Ryan added.

Manigault Newman is promoting her book, "Unhinged," which is set to be released Aug. 14. Ryan also has a memoir coming out. Ryan's "Under Fire" will be widely available from Sept. 1.

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***** April Ryan Calls Omarosa ‘Evil’ and a ‘Liar’


April Ryan, White House correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks and a CNN contributor, called former Trump administration aide Omarosa Manigault Newman a "liar" and "evil" on Sunday.

Ryan, a frequent critic of the Trump administration, appeared on CNN's "Reliable Sources" where she told host Brian Stelter about her own dealings with Newman.

The former Trump aide and reality TV contestant said earlier on Sunday that she had provided NBC a recording she made of her firing from the administration. Newman had worked on Trump's campaign and then in the administration for about a year before White House Chief of Staff John Kelly fired her.

She had previously known the president from being on "The Apprentice," the reality TV show hosted by Donald Trump before he was won the 2016 presidential election.

Ryan first explained her current relationship with the former Trump aide.

"I've known Omarosa for years and we are not friends anymore," she said.

The CNN contributor said that while working in the Trump administration, Newman made moves to derail her career and reporting.

"She's not a friend; she's a liar and I would say she's evil," Ryan said.

"I hope she can respond to that at some point soon, calling her ‘evil,’" Stelter said.

"She will. I'm sure she will," Ryan said.

Newman has been making media appearances to promote her new book, Unhinged.

Ryan is not the only one to criticize Newman recently. Trump himself called her a "lowlife" on Saturday. The president followed up his comments on Monday via tweet, saying "Wacky Omarosa" was "vicious, but not smart" and "People in the White House hated her."

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway's husband, George Conway, a Democrat, also said that claims Trump made racial comments about him were untrue. Pollster Frank Luntz also said Newman's claims he heard Trump make racial slurs were "flat-out false."